BigRedX

[quote name='Stylon Pilson' timestamp='1506508196' post='3379189'] The only problem is if your band contains a mix of some people who want to do it full time, and some people who want it to be priority #3 in their life, below work and family. That's one situation that isn't going to end happily. [/quote] I don't think that's the problem (unless your band is wanting to be out gigging or rehearsing almost every night of the week). It's the people for whom the band is priority #5 or #6 somewhere after going to watch the football each weekend and a busy social calendar. Those are the ones who like the idea of being in a band but really haven't got the time or inclination to commit to any but the most relaxed of combos.

Technical ability in both myself and my fellow band members is irrelevant so long as it does not get in the way of being able to play the songs we have written.

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1506502807' post='3379135'] Good idea, how do I do that? [/quote] Click on the "Report" link at the bottom of the post in question. IME problem posts unless they are in a popular thread require a report in order for Moderator action to be taken.

[quote name='Westenra' timestamp='1506433728' post='3378689'] Pricey and figured as much cheers though. [/quote] If it's as good as they claim, then it's pretty good value for money IMO. You'll pay almost twice as much for a Line6 Helix, although you'll need to factor in the cost of a decent MIDI foot controller as well to get the best out of it. I do notice that they are coy about latency for switching between patches on the web site though...

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1506368462' post='3378311'] Shame a shame the wood is gorgeous. A case of what could have been....... [/quote] Really? IMO the shape is interesting although not really to my taste. The wood however is some of the most boring and nondescript I have seen in a while. It would look much better painted black. And that fake through neck stripy look is horrible.

IMO Lightwave are the only company making truly Active pickups. Everything else is a passive pickup with a preamp in the same casing.

[quote name='Hey_Pauly' timestamp='1506288574' post='3377704'] Any rule of thumb for what the low, mid and high should be set to? [/quote] Depends on your bass, depends on your amp, depends on your cabs, depends on what sort of sound you want, depends on what the rest of your band are doing.

[quote name='bigsmokebass' timestamp='1506129090' post='3376675'] 35" scale, you want that B to be piano like in tone and sustain. [/quote] IME 35" is used as a cheap fix for makes that think they can get away with using the same construction on their 5-string basses as they use on their 4-string basses. It rarely works. Out of all the 5-string basses I have owned the 35" basses had by far the worst sounding and feeling low B strings. You need to go to 36" at least in order for scale length alone to be solution to getting a decent low B. Alternatively you could just buy a 34" scale string that has been properly made to cope with a good low B-string.

Most YouTube videos irrespective of the subject are far too long and too difficult to find the information you actually want in them. I've given up trying to watch any of them.

Gary Numan

IME you need to be aiming for a very trebly tone for this to be of any use. I owned one for a couple of hours in the late 80s. Took it home, plugged it in and discovered that it made absolutely zero difference to sound of my rig. Went straight back to the shop and got a refund.

Linn Adrenalinn.

The problem with most active basses is that the electronics aren't specifically designed for the bass. What you get are off-the-shelf pickups and pre-amps shoe-horned into the bass without any real consideration for how they are all going to work together. Compare than with something like Wal or the original MusicMan Stingray where the pick ups, their position and the pre-amp are all designed as a single entity.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1505818699' post='3374492'] I'm not sure that's true. The EQ on a bass amp or preamp is designed for a bass guitar whereas the desk EQ is very much general purpose. [/quote] The EQ on the desk is likely to be far more powerful and flexible than that on an amp. At best on a bass amp you can either expect a 12-band graphic or one with one or two sweepable mid controls. Any decent PA desk (especially digital ones) will have 4 band fully parametric with full-range frequency, cut/boost and Q for each band.

You will need to go and try as many 5-string basses as you can, and don't limit yourself to basses within your budget, because you will need to see if your £750 is going to be enough (IME it may not be unless you get very lucky). Too many bassists buy a cheap 5-string and quickly get disillusioned with it because it simply isn't a very good bass. Unfortunately there is a lot more to making a good 5-string bass than taking an existing 4-string design, putting a wider neck, and an extra machine head on it. To get an articulate and pleasing sounding and feeling low B string construction and neck stiffness are far more important than they are on a 4-string bass. Personally I wouldn't bother with anything with a bolt-on neck unless it has been made by either Mike Lull or Jens Ritter. Good through neck construction is the way to go. Also string type becomes a lot more critical when it comes to the low B-string. IMO the tension on the low B in a standard 5-string set is too low, so you need to experiment with different string types to find the one that best suits your bass. Good luck!

But on a two-pickup bass one pickup will always be closer to the bridge and the other closer to the neck. To me a "front" pickup would be the one closest on one of the ends of the bass - i.e. the bridge pickup.

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1505624894' post='3373175'] In what context could the neck pickup be called the back pickup? Never heard it called that [/quote] Because it's no more or less meaningful to call it that than it is to call it the front pickup.

[quote name='Jecklin' timestamp='1505737537' post='3373860'] Generally i'll be through a di to the PA which I have no control over so the controls on my bass are far more important that the amp [/quote] And still there are constant posts in the amps section saying that you shouldn't give the PA engineer a post-EQ feed...

I'd have liked to say that it shows that the composer will always be more important that the musicians, but unfortunately the "performance" was so obviously fake even before the "robots" rebelled, and the music was such a conventionally mainstream slice of electronica, that I'd feel embarrassed if I did....

It is indeed a completely dumb way to describe pickup position. All the pickups are on the front of the bass. If they were on the back they wouldn't work.

For a Sei, I'd take it back to Martin at The Gallery in London. What are you intending to run off the pickup? If it's anything other than Roland's V-Bass system prepare to be disappointed.

Why not? And how do we know your name really is Kevin Dean?

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1505381384' post='3371427'] I always liked the Smiths. I never liked Morrisey. There, I've said it. While I respect his contribution to music I don't have to like the fellow. I think the Smiths might have stayed on the scene longer with a different front man. Hindsight's a bugger. [/quote] IMO there's a pretty good chance that with someone less controversial and a more conventional approach to singing and melody as a front man, The Smiths would never have anything more than another Manchester band with a couple of cult singles released on their own label.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1505380522' post='3371416'] I'm not a huge Beatles fan but the thing that completely blows me away about them is the way their music evolved over such a short space of time. To go from 'She love you, yeah, yeah, yeah' to Across The Universe in a handful of years is quite extraordinary. I can't think of any other band whose evolution has been anywhere near as spectacular. [/quote] I would like to think that any group of half-way decent musicians and songwriters, give access to the artistic influences, technological support and development and lack of financial obligation to stick to a winning musical formula, that The Beatles enjoyed would be equally capable of showing the same kind of development. Just look at what The Pretty Things achieved from their debut album in 1964 to "Parachute" in 1970 with a fraction of the resources that the Beatles had. On the other hand there are those who would argue that "She Loves You" is a far superior song to "Across The Universe".

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1505338698' post='3371235'] Agreed. The Beatles have to be taken in context. Back in the day they were the pilot fish for the rest of the music world. People held there breath when a new recording was imminent. Exciting days, I genuinely feel sorry for anyone who did not live through the 60s. Anything and everything was possible. [/quote] I was born in 1960, but spent most of the decade interested in Lego, Meccano and model aeroplanes and tanks rather than pop music. In fact I wasn't really interested in music of any kind until I heard T. Rex on the radio in 1971.