BigRedX

With the right set up and amplification you can more "conventional" bass sounds out of the bass VI. There was a band who supported the Terrortones and couple of years back whose bass player had one, and if I hadn't seen that he was using a Bass VI, I wouldn't have known that it wasn't a "normal" bass guitar. You definitely need to shim the neck the increase the break angle over the bridge and fit strings with a heavier low E and A to get the best out of the Fender/Squier versions, then you might also want to change the bridge. None of this is cheap. When the Bass VI was selling for around £300 they were good value, now they are closer to £400 with all the modifications that need to made out of the box, the attraction is less obvious.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1507664187' post='3387150'] I take it your not a supporter of local live music? Blue [/quote] I know that this comment wasn't aimed at me, I feel the need to reply. It irks me that people assume because you are a musician that you like all kinds of music. I got into playing because although I do like music, the stuff I really like (i.e. the music I like enough to want to buy it on record CD etc.) is fairly rare and if I didn't write and play it myself there would be even less of what I considered interesting music. I'm all for supporting my local live music scene, so long as it is putting on music that I actually want to hear. Otherwise it can "go and do one". I certainly have no interest in going to see bands churning out covers as a soundtrack for drunken idiots in pubs looking for a fight. It is also unfortunate that the few local bands whose music I do currently enjoy are boring to watch live and little idea of what makes an entertaining live show.

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1507572667' post='3386445'] Its the string spacing that I'm most concerned about really. I'm a pretty good finger picker on guitar and that was the angle I was thinking of, but it'd more useful if I could swap between finger style bass and finger picked. I did dredge through YouTube and almost to a man they use a pick and treat it as a low tuned guitar rather than a bass with some interesting chord and drone options. [/quote] After failing originally to get on with my Squier VI I went back to my 1960s Burns Sonic short-scale bass and found it far more useful from both a sonic and playing PoV for two notes chords and drone string bass lines. If I just want very down-tuned guitar options the baritone guitar is far more versatile.

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1507291374' post='3384542'] It might be worth checking what software the uni actually uses before you splurge out either way (apologies if you already have) ProTools is now on a monthly license and would mean that you're not tied to a mac if you're not that way inclined. Also question whether a laptop is essential, will a desktop potentially work? [/quote] I personally wouldn't touch ProTools with a bargepole until they drop the iLok requirement. I appreciate that copy protection is probably a requirement, but the company behind iLok are simply too unreliable for a supposedly professional piece of software.

You need to phone Bernie. He doesn't "do" email.

I have the Squier VM version, which I've been playing off an on for the past year and a bit. Despite now playing in two post-punk/goth influenced bands I still haven't been able to find a real use for it. If I want a bass guitar type of sound all my bass guitars even the other short scale ones sound better; if I want a low pitched guitar type sound my Harley Benton Baritone guitar is more comfortable to play. For me the biggest obstacle to getting something useable out of mine is the typical Fender narrow neck. All my standard guitars are noticeably wider at the nut, and that coupled with the thicker than guitar strings means that the string spacing is just too uncomfortable for me to get used to. I'd happily own another Bass VI type instrument if it had a 42+mm nut and some more substantial sounding pickups like a set of Burns Tri-Sonics. Unfortunately the Fender/Squier versions simply isn't the Bass VI for me. Mine will be on eBay shortly... Also being a guitarist I have no problem playing with a pick and IMO to get the best out of it you do need to be able to use a pick. However a guitar finger picking type technique works almost as well, and if you really can't get on with a pick you should try to master that as an alternative.

[quote name='subaudio' timestamp='1507559708' post='3386341'] This is all great stuff folks, thank you all very much It's for a mini dissertation and I needed other opinions than my own. You've really helped me out so thanks again [/quote] We'll be reporting you to your college/university for plagiarism ;-)

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1507549191' post='3386205'] I've not heard anything yet which produces the low end pulse of a rhythm section better than a bass guitar and drums. There have been plenty of attempts, but none have come close in my opinion. Music tends to go full circle at various rates. In the 80s it was suggested that electric guitars were being ousted by synths and keyboards, but that was just another fad. [/quote] While the feel of human musicians is generally better and more quickly captured in a recording than trying to program the same thing, the sounds are undeniably less good.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1507550860' post='3386229'] Hey not knocking it, each to there own, Mr Sociable. [/quote] If I want to be sociable, I'm happy to have a conversation with the telly off. On the rare occasions that I actually want to watch TV I don't want to be continually interrupted so I miss important bits of the plot or dialog.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1507546791' post='3386162'] Not if you simply plug it into a good Hi-Fi system, like I do. [/quote] I simply use a pair of non-bassy headphones. My experience of "family" TV viewing both as a kid and as an adult, is that it is an excuse for others to talk all the way through anything that you want to watch, which is why my prefer method of watching is by myself on a small screen with headphones on and no distractions.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1507542744' post='3386107'] Yes. [/quote] No

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1507462303' post='3385557'] Thanks G I emailed Ashdown late last night and [size=5]got a reply!![/size] I've been invited to send the head into their headquarters in Essex where they'll service and repair the head [size=5]Free of charge!! [size=4]Love it when I get proper service especially as I haven't even given them any money - they're just protecting their reputation.[/size][/size] [size=5][size=4]I'll keep you all apprised.[/size][/size] [/quote] You lucky bastard! When my Superfly amp developed this problem (mine manifested as an inability to switch on in the first place) alongside the high pitched whining problem, Ashdown simply did not want to know. They fobbed me off with several excuses before stopping answering my emails altogether. In the end I binned the amp as it was too unreliable to use in any circumstances and unsellable in that condition. IMO they have done nothing to protect their reputation. They'd need to be giving me an awful lot of free stuff before I would ever consider using anything that said Ashdown on it again.

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1507300496' post='3384632'] Tried that. Hate watching TV on screen smaller than the ones back in the 50s. Nothing like a 50" widescreen with a good sound system. [/quote] A decent sized lap top screen from a couple of feet away has the same impact as a big screen on the other side of the room with the added advantage that you're not forever twisting your neck to side from one side of the screen to another. Most sound systems IME are terrible. The "surround" sound is over directional, bass is massively pumped up and all they seem to do is make the explosions sound impressive while drowning out the dialog. Actually this might be an advantage so you can't tell just how terrible the script is. IME watching on a small screen means that you concentrate on the actual story and not on the spectacle which has got to be a good thing.

I got rid of my TV in 2010 and TBH I haven't missed it in the slightest. Anything I want to watch gets watched on my laptop when I feel like it and not when the broadcaster thinks I should be watching it. I also didn't have a TV for most of the 80s, due to the fact that I simply couldn't afford one, and if I had any spare cash it would have been used to buy more synths not a TV.

Should there be a law saying that you can't mention Christmas until the day after Bonfire Night? But in answer to the OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e874vKfYfuU

It's funny how we still post times and days when TV programmes are being broadcast when any sensible person will watch it at their leisure on whatever catch-up service is streaming it.

[quote name='alittlebitrobot' timestamp='1507213041' post='3383971'] yeah, what's the story? What's that vertical bit between the A and D strings? [/quote] That would have had the bridge cover bolted to it.

First ever public performance: Venue: A community centre somewhere in Loughborough. Age: 15 (1976) Bass/Amp: I didn't have a bass at that point. I was playing an acoustic guitar fitted with a piezo pickup going into a Carlsbro Wasp 10W transistor amp. The other members of the band played acoustic guitar and percussion (mostly bongos). Set List: We played 3 semi-improvised instrumentals of our own composition - I can't remember any titles. This performance was part of a music evening organised by the teachers of various musical instrument evening classes. The band was made up of myself and two of my friends who all were in the same year at school and attended one of the "folk guitar" classes. The rest of the evening was made up of teenagers playing mostly classical music with varying degrees of competency. We were much louder and a lot less disciplined than the others, most of the audience were left perplexed by our music. First proper gig in a proper gig venue: Venue: The Ad Lib Club, Nottingham (later went on the become much better known as The Garage) Age: 20 (1981) Bass: Burns Sonic Bass. I also played a home-made electric guitar on some of the songs. Amp: Whatever the headlining band had brought - probably a Carlsbro Stingray or an HH of some description. My guitar was amplified by my Carlsbro Wasp amp. Set List: Mostly songs from the band's (The Midnight Circus) third cassette album "Do Modern Atoms Wear Fashionable Clothes?" which we had just finished recording earlier in the week, plus our two tracks "Silicone Baby" and "The Hedonist Jive" from the Angst In My Pants" EP which had featured on John Peel's radio programme a few months earlier. This was the only gig the The Midnight Circus ever did which featured the same line up of the band that was on the recordings, but because we didn't know who was going to be available to play when we said we'd do the gig, we decided to play as "The Sickle Clowns" (fans of The Pretty Things will get it). To be honest I can't really remember much about the gig other than being very nervous because we were woefully under-rehearsed. It could only get better from here...

BassPod. Any version from the BassPod XT onwards. You will need a separate foot controller for some models if you want to change patches mid-song but you can pickup the FBV Shortboard for under £40 second hand

[quote name='borntohang' timestamp='1507041934' post='3382956'] Regarding low tuned Rics - one thing to remember is the propensity for tail lift with high-tension strings. I assume with the right gauges it wouldn't be an issue, but at the very least I'd be cautious about converting one with the vintage truss-rods. [/quote] The thicker the strings you use the lower the tension generally - in a standard 5-string set the low B string will by far have the lowest tension, so stringing a Ric B-D rather than E-G would most likely be helping to prevent tail-lift.

In order for a songwriter to receive PRS performance royalties the follow conditions have to apply: The songwriter is a member of the PRS (or similar PRO - performing rights organisation - if they are operating in country other than UK) The song must be registered with the PRS (or the PRO for their country) The performance must have been logged and the data sent to the PRO of the country in which the performance occurred. The actual amount of performance royalties paid depends on when and where the performance happened - and there are different criteria for live and broadcast performances - and the duration of the individual songs that make up the performance. Finally the amount paid to any individual songwriter will also depend on who else has a share of the performance royalties of the song such as co-composers and publishers and what percentage share each of the interested parties actually has.

Join a band.

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1507032025' post='3382838'] I had sold my XT a few years before. I almost bought another instead of the Helix. But in the end I was trying to get 1 rig for both guitar and bass. Job done! [/quote] When I add up the value of all the gear that I currently have that could potentially be replaced by a Helix, it would almost pay for itself.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1506791735' post='3381184'] Looks like Jon Shuker has embraced the challenge in the past , and you know it'll be top quality [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/customgallery.html"]http://www.shukergui...tomgallery.html[/url] [/quote] It's not really a Ric though is it? It's a Shuker bass with a body that is similar in shape to a Ric.

[quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1507029334' post='3382804'] [url="http://www.smoothhound-innovations.com/"]Smoothhound system[/url]? The transmitter is probably shallower than a Boss pedal when plugged in. British made. Inexpensive. Works really well [/quote] Depends on what other digital devices you have in your signal chain and how sensitive your are to signal latency. The Smoothhound system has quite high latency which in itself isn't a problem but could be if you have other devices adding to the overall latency of your signal.