BigRedX

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1497908625' post='3321308'] Just seen BRX's response. That makes sense. So how do IEM's work and is that what I need here? [/quote] Id suggest that you start by having a read through the [url=http://basschat.co.uk/topic/205633-in-ear-monitors-help-needed/]IEM thread[/url]. AFAICS, the pro IME systems are still high quality analogue, although digital units with suitably low latency are starting to appear. However if you do go for a digital system you still need to be aware of cumulative latency. While the latency of each of your individual devices in your signal chain may be low, once they are all combined, you could well be left with unsuitably high latency. The problem is that every digital device will add it's own latency converting the signal from analogue to digital and back again. This wouldn't be a problem if the signal remained in the digital domain from your wireless transmitter on your bass to the receiver for your IEMs. But it doesn't.

The latency of any Bluetooth headphones will always be too high as the protocol simply hasn't been designed for this kind of real-time, timing critical application.

First gig playing bass with [url=https://inisolation.bandcamp.com]In Isolation[/url] on Saturday at The Chameleon in the sweltering heat. Learnt the full set of 12 songs in 3 weeks and 4 rehearsals. Full of deceptively complex bass lines which made me work much harder as a player than I have in recent years. Didn't make any mistakes that the audience noticed, which is always a good thing, and during some of the less taxing songs I was even able to throw some suitable on-stage "shapes". [IMG]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n249/BigRedX/In%20Isolation/19149460_10154798185577865_2591553348727449078_n_zpswk5utm6b.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1497685028' post='3319988'] An awful lot of us who were around in the big band era would have been very disappointed if Ted Heath band had showed up without that impressive array of mongrammed music stands across the front of the stage. [/quote] IMO this is the way to go if your horn section has to have music stands. Make them an important visual part of the stage set.

During the 80s and 90s myself and a band mate entered pretty much every competition in the high tech musical instrument magazines and local music shops. Between the pair of us we won: 1. A miniature electronic drum kit that you played with you fingers 2. Boss PC-2 Percussion Synthesiser 3. Yamaha KX5 keytar 4. Boss RPS-10 half rack pitch shifter delay 5. Akai EX65D half rack digital delay 6. Akai AX73 Polyphonic Synth 7. Akai S2000 Sampler

[quote name='five-string.co.uk' timestamp='1497035441' post='3315523'] Hi - it depends how low you play the bass. If you need over a meter between the back of your shoulder and the horn of the bass, then it seems (to me) like you have your bass quite low? A picture of you playing may determine this. [/quote] It turns out that I am wearing the strap in reverse from the way it is intended to be used. However because of the design of the Warwick StarBass I need to have the narrow part of the strap going to the strap button on the heal, because attaching a full width strap at that point is just too chunky and obtrusive. I've had a good conversation with Righton Straps and they have suggested try their "Slim" strap. I'd rather try and find something that will work the way I'd like first though. Harvest haven't even bothered to reply to my email enquiry.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1496903176' post='3314541'] Have you considered Industrial Radio? Steve Chick has developed the systems originally in the Wal MB4 and Peavey Cyberbass and marketed them under his own brand. [/quote] You still need a synth the generate the sounds though.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1496829281' post='3314083'] Reckon that if you want to go the backing track route the key words here are [i]discipline [/i]and [i]rehearsal[/i]. There is no recovery when things go awry. [/quote] Very much this. Practice and carry on practicing until you know all your cues and no one ever makes a mistake and then have contingencies for when it does do wrong.

Every band I've been in, that used back tracks the only person who could hear the click was the drummer. That way any push and pull in the song was generated by the drumming and the rest of the band played to that. Unless you either pre-programmed some "feel" into the click or were happy with everyone playing metronomically, I couldn't imagine how you could get a synchronised groove when everyone can hear the click. I certainly wouldn't want to play that way.

From the early 80s until about 10 years ago every single band I was in used some kind of pre-recorded or pre-programmed backing as part of our live sound. I've nearly always created my own backings, using Logic on the Mac since the early 90s, which gave me the most flexibility when it comes to play back solutions: I could use a laptop to replay the track direct from Logic; I could save the MIDI data as a standard MIDI file and play that back using a MIDI file player (my preferred solution was the one built in to the Akai samplers) controlling synths and samplers; I could mix the track down into stereo (or mono with a click track on the other channel) and run it from a CD player, Minidisk player or iPod. I have worked with bought backing tracks in the past, and unless you are planning on playing the song exactly as the recording, it is always best to go for MIDI tracks rather than recordings as it will allow you to load the track up into your DAW of choice and modify the arrangement to suit the way that you play the song. However I personally wouldn't bother with backing at all. For me the whole point of an acoustic duo is that it is re-interpretations of the songs that showcase the qualities two acoustic guitars and two voices. That's what I would be wanting to see and hear.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1496754377' post='3313637'] It's a controller, why would it need midi in? [/quote] Anything that offers tempo synchronised effects needs to be able to act as a slave tempo device. Then you can choose the one with the most versatile and stable tempo control (like a DAW) to act as the master clock.

Tracks off [url="https://inisolation.bandcamp.com"]A Certain Fractal light by In Isolation[/url] which I need to have learnt for my first gig with them in less than 2 weeks time. Then I might have time to listen to all the albums I bought recently including the Sad Lovers And Giants boxed set...

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1496678387' post='3313161'] What caught my attention is the ability to load: [color=#000000][font=proxima-nova, sans-serif]"six simultaneous pedal effects"[/font][/color] With my Zoom B3n I can have just one "patch" (which can be a combination of several different effects) on at any given time. I can't switch effects on and off within a patch but only swap to a completely different patch. So, for example, if I wanted delay and then later to add in low octave, I would need to have two patches one for "delay" by itself and then a separate patch for "delay+octave". So the Zoom is, in effect, a series of single pedals only one of which can be played at any one time. Does anyone know if the Boss is the same as the Zoom in this regard, or is it providing the ability to have six different pedals coming in and out of the mix? Akin to having six dedicated single pedals any one of which can be switched on or off, as required? If so that would be a very significant enhancement in my books. [/quote] The effectiveness (sic) of being able to turn individual effects on and off in a patch (as opposed to setting up individual patches with the relevant effects on or off) very much depends on how this is achieved. IME with the Line6 BassFex and Shortboard foot controller, the individual on/off switches are on the second tier of the foot controller, which means that it is too unreliable for use live where I am just as likely the hit the patch memory foot switch immediately below the effect on/off switch that I was aiming for. I find it fine for rehearsal where I am trying out effect combinations, but almost totally useless for live performances.

There are some parameters that can benefit from a tweak mid-preformance. The obvious being cut-off frequency on a filter. Others you'll discover as you use the effects, although for many either a single on/off footswitch or a pedal will suffice. Regarding using the Zoom in conjunction with you looper, it would be a lot better if they could be connected together via MIDI, then you could get locked synchronisation between the loop speed and any time-based effects on the zoom. You'd also be able to control one device from the other which could make using the two in conjunction a lot more straight forward. I still the presence of proper MIDI sockets and implementation on multi-effects to put them in the good category.

Your Zoom B3n will do tap-tempo according to specification on the web site. You will need at external footswitch to enable it. You also appear to have tweak-able knobs for 4 parameters of 3 effects at any one time. The only thing missing is the effects loop(s).

A reasonably good multi-effects unit will have tap-tempo for any of the time based effects like delay/phase/flange/tremolo etc. which IME is the parameter you are most likely to need to change and is a far faster and more accurate way of changing it than any pedal dial. A really good multi-effects pedal will allow you to assign specific parameters to control knobs or pedals to allow you to tweak them mid-song. A really good multi-effects pedal would also have at least one switchable and assignable external loop to allow you to add an indispensable individual effects unit to any place in your signal chain and allow you to switch it in and out.

I've just had a reply from Righton Straps. Unfortunately the wide part of their strap is only 92 cm long, whereas I need something between 114 and 127 cm long, otherwise the wide part of the strap doesn't go over my shoulder and take the weight of the bass. 92 cm long for the wide part of the strap seems to be very short... Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for you recommendations. I have had to send an enquiry to both manufacturers since they don't list all the relevant measurements on their site - especially the length of the wide part of the strap which IMO is essential since that is the bit that needs to extend comfortably over the shoulder of anyone using the strap. My current strap has the this part ending just at the point where my shoulder is taking the full weight of the bass and this coupled with the rather bulky strap length altering mechanism makes it very uncomfortable to wear now that my stage gear no longer includes a padded leather biker jacket. Which is why I'm wanting to replace my current strap. Also the Righton Straps site contact form reverts to Spanish if you make a mistake entering any of the information, which doesn't make it the easiest to fill in.

I'm looking for a new strap for my Warwick StarBass. I'd like one of those with a wide bit (at least 2" wide) and a skinny bit (1") where it attaches to the strap lock behind the heel. It needs to be at least 57" long from strap lock to strap lock (with some adjustment) Now here is the bit that I'm finding hard get - the wide bit needs to be at least 45" long (but no more than 50") so that it definitely covers my shoulder when the bass is strapped on. Nearly all the straps I can find have a shorter wide bit unless the whole strap is stupidly long. I would like a constant adjustment range so that I can get the bass at exactly the right height, but I don't want any big metal buckles on it. Plain black with some extra padding where the strap crosses the shoulder would be ideal. Any ideas?

It is my experience that unless the song comes to an awful grinding halt before you've reached the first chorus no-one in the audience will notice that anything is wrong. I've played a whole gig with the guitarist tuned about 20 cents sharp compared with the bass because of a tuner problem, and the only person who spotted anything was the drummer who was behind both amps and could her how appealing it sounded and kept telling us to tune up. Of course our tuners told us that we were perfectly in tune (just not with each other). Absolutely no one the audience noticed anything and we even picked up a rave live review in the local music scene blog...

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1496332996' post='3310641'] it isn't even about the music, it is about the PROCESS of multitracking that opened up a whole new way of making music for every single artist since . [/quote] But Les Paul had been using multitrack recorders for many years before Sgt Pepper....

[quote name='Chris2112' timestamp='1496366844' post='3310880'] If a Warwick had an oil finished neck, something has went wrong somewhere. They're supposed to be played, and the oils on your skin keep them supple. I have heard of people applying the body wax to the open grain of necks which creates a sticky clag. That is a costly mistake, you can tell straight away when someone has done it. [/quote] The Warwicks in question were brand new MiG basses on the Warwick stand at two separate trade fairs, so they should have been in absolute pristine condition and finished with whatever Warwick recommend. However without exception they were are horrible and sticky. In every case I picked up the bass, failed to be able play anything meaningful due to the stickiness of the neck put it back down again. The Warwick I own (a StarBass) has a gloss finish gold painted neck and I've never had any problems with stickiness.

The two drives, one for the system and one for data only works properly if you can ensure that they are on separate buses.

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1496225587' post='3309645'] I have a Fender soft case for my JC, fits a treat I'm pretty sure it's this one [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Metro-Semi-Hollow-Bass-Guitar-Bag/XLT"]http://www.gear4musi...-Guitar-Bag/XLT[/url] [/quote] That's not cheap for what appears to be a standard gig bag. How comfortable are the straps? I might consider one of those when my Warwick one finally gives up.

The only thing I need when I'm answering a bass player wanted is to like their music on their Bandcamp and/or iTunes pages. Everything else can be sorted out after I've joined the band.