BigRedX

Try LaBella steels or Warwick Black Label.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1450812150' post='2936142'] Warwick Star Bass that I have has a solid centre block too and no probs with feedback other than some comment on its appearance. [/quote] My Warwick Star Bass feeds back very nicely [b]WHEN I WANT IT TO[/b] with the right gain and drive settings on my BassPod.

IME there are very few hollow-body basses with a 34" scale length. Off the top of my head I can only think of the Warwick Star Bass (but not the Rockbass version as that's only 32") and the Epiphone Jack Cassidy Bass.

A word of caution with using the Red Box for bass amps. This product is pretty much aimed at guitarists who very rarely go above 100W output on their amps. I couldn't see anything on the H&K site or in the manual for the latest version about the maximum power rating of the device, but I would double check with the manufacturer before using it with a bass amp or any amp rated at more than 100W. Also the speaker emulation is voiced for guitar cabs where the inefficiencies of the cab and speakers are a part of the classic rock guitar sound. This might not be appropriate for the bass sound that you want. For guitarists the Red Box is a fantastic piece of kit. I have one built in to my H&K guitar combo, and in the studio, the sound is virtually indistinguishable from mic'ing up the speaker with an SM57. When I was playing guitar live, I would always use the DI since it was far easier to control the sound on stage and FoH mix.

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Ped - how do you see that? I've just tried looking at the back of the headstock on a couple of my basses when they are on the strap and it's impossible without holding them at a very weird angle...

[quote name='gazzatriumph' timestamp='1450691792' post='2934838'] True, but Im sure we all have had to adapt some things we use because the manufacturers cant be arsed to get it right, the G30 is good for the price though but would be nice if a pouch had been included and not the cheap clip they provide. [/quote] Manufacturers could get away with bringing out half-baked products 15 years ago when all consumers had to go on would be a couple of reviews in the musical instrument magazines, but nowadays with the amount of information that is available from a simple Google search they have no excuse. Maybe in the past when there was less choice, I wasn't quite so well-informed on the various options I might have put up with the short-comings of the Line 6 model. However with the information available in threads like this it made far more sense for me to buy the Sony system which comes with a far more robust transmitter pack and a clip that holds it securely on the strap all for just £10 more than the G30.

[url=http://wittmanspinscom.ipage.com/?page_id=4]Whittman Spins[/url] do a tuner that can be fitted into the bass. Also Bass Surgery basses came fitted with a similar integral tuner.

Mr Venom doesn't seem to have any problem… ;-)

[quote name='bootleg' timestamp='1450659234' post='2934716'] A Fodera Scott Devine signature model won't be out any time soon, then. [/quote] No, because he's an Overwater basses endorser.

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1450526239' post='2933588'] The main message I took away from the clip..which some people seem not to have received.. is that a high end bass, or one especially made for you, is not going to make you a better player. [/quote] I would completely disagree. As someone who owns a lot of high end basses including two that were made especially for me, I can categorically state that these basses very much do make me a better player, because compared with cheap basses I've played it is obvious to me that when I play them the only limitations for what I can do on them is 100% down to my lack of ability and not due to any limitations of the instrument. Plus shiny nice things inspire me to play better.

IMO if a transmitter pack needs a pouch to hold it together (and onto the strap) so that it functions reliably then it should come with one in the first place.

Yes and no... Most of my time is spent composing new songs for The Terrortones. I would guess that only half of them reach finished ready to gig status so therefore I do spend quite a long time working on songs that I won't get played live. I'm so busy with these songs that I've written myself that I don't really have time or TBH the need to spend time working on learning other peoples songs that I won't ever play live. At one point it did use noodling along the other people's recordings as a basis for new tunes of my own. I wouldn't learn any of the parts on the recordings but would create a new part (normally on guitar) that fitted over the top, and then take that new part and build up a song from that. The resulting tune with the complete new arrangement would have next to no resemblance to the track that had been the original inspiration.

I started learning the guitar when I was 13. I had discovered pop music a couple of years earlier, having previously had almost zero interest in any kind of music, and now I wanted to create some of my own. For me the act of learning an instrument was always a means to an end - that end being able to write my own songs. It was also never about one specific instrument. From my PoV the more instruments I could play, the more I would understand about how the different instruments worked together in a band and the more able I would be when it came to arranging the music I was writing for whatever band I was playing with. In my first band everyone played every instrument that we could get our hands on, and instrumental roles were dictated by who could play which part the best for each individual song. I didn't actually get my own bass guitar until I was 20 and I had a bit of disposable cash, however I also bough my first synth later the same year. Over the past 40 years I've been guitarist, bassist and synth player in various bands. I've spent more time in bands playing bass than any of my other instruments but often that has been by default - on several occasions I've auditioned on one instrument but because I play others too I've ended up playing a different instrument in the actual gigging line-up. For the last 10 years I've only played bass on stage, but I still use my other instruments for songwriting. I suppose I consider myself as a songwriter who also happens to be the bass player in the band.

[quote name='ians' timestamp='1450429909' post='2932632'] I couldn't write a song to save my life...hats of to these guys. [/quote] I really don't get this attitude. I very much doubt that anyone on here was able to play a tune competently the first time they picked up their chosen instrument. Song writing is a skill just like any other that is developed by being rubbish at first and then practicing until you are not.

[quote name='jbn4001' timestamp='1450296410' post='2931530'] Actually - McCartney track was a Yamaha CS80, as used to great effect by Vangelis for Blade Runner soundtrack [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0QpG2Z54QI"]https://www.youtube....h?v=U0QpG2Z54QI[/url] [/quote] Some amazing programming going on there in order for it to sound like a cheap and nasty home keyboard.

PRS joining fees change all the time. It was completely free back in the early 80s when I became a member. They have at various times deducted the joining fee from your royalty payments - which might have been your situation and would also explain why your actual royalty payment was so low - also IIRC at one point it cost £100 to join. I suppose the current £50 fee up front is to try and weed out those whose works aren't going to generate enough income to be worth the administration costs, with it being so easy to release your own music these days I suppose there are a lot more people looking to join and hopefully get some performance royalties. I also suspect that there are lots of members who earn very little. I know that my account was completely dormant for almost 10 years from the late 80s.

And after all that here's some specific advice for the OP. The only realistic way that your ex-guitarist is going to get any of his songwriter performance royalties is through the PRS. Therefore before anything else happens he needs to become a member. For songwriters the joining fee is currently £50. Many musicians don't think this is worth paying (although IME a songwriter whose overall contribution to the whole set is at least 25% should make this back in their first year provided that the band is doing at least 30 gigs a year). If he does decided to join get him to supply you with his CAE number and then add his contribution to the already registered songs (if he isn't already, and if he is add his CAE number to the registration) plus register any new ones. That just leaves the question of who submits the set lists. IMO if the band is doing 2 to 3 gigs a month playing mostly self-penned songs, then unless you are doing lots of house parties and similar unlicensed venues, it should be more than worth your while to take the 5 minutes os it requires to complete the on-line form after each gig. If you really can't be bothered then why not email him the set lists and let him do the work?

[quote name='sunburstjazz1967' timestamp='1450264205' post='2931071'] So how do you then get "my sound" out front even if you Mic it up? Does the pa have ampeg cabs out front? [/quote] In the same way that you don't need Ampeg cabs for you hifi system.

Bandcamp is only free if you are only offering downloads and not charging for them. On everything else they take 10%. If you are selling physical product (CDs/vinyl/cassettes) you would be better of learning a bit of HTML and building your own merch page and using PayPal to process the payments.

There's a lot of speculation and misinformation in this thread; so here, for the benefit of all the songwriters on Basschat, is BigRedX's guide to songwriting royalties for gigging bands. This only applies to people who write songs that are being performed at gigs. In order to get your share of the royalty money available for song performance at gigs, all of the following needs to happen: 1. The songwriter needs to be a PRS member 2. The song needs to be registered with the PRS and each songwriters share needs to be allotted. This will very much depend on what is agreed among the band members and can vary from one member claiming all the songwriting for a song, to equal splits between the members of the band and anything in between. 3. The gig set list must be recorded with the PRS. If all those conditions have been met then every time a song written by you is played live you will get your share of the performance royalties. So how much is that? Last time I looked the royalty allocation for "Pubs and Clubs" (most pub venues and small clubs) was £6.00 for the gig. This is divided up between all the songwriters of all the songs played at a gig. So for the average three band gig where each band plays 10 songs all written by the band, and all the songwriting in all the bands (who all have 4 members) is equally divided that would work out at 50p per songwriter for the gig or 5p a song. That doesn't look like anything worth bothering with. However... In practice it is very rare that every band playing will be PRS members or submit a set list. Looking at my most recent PRS statement, I can see that for the songs that I have 25% interest in I'm averaging 15p per song performance. That starts to look a lot more promising especially if your band is gigging regularly. Once you have registered your songs with the PRS and submitted a couple of set lists, the on-line form for doing this should take you about 5 minutes to complete - unless you have a vast catalogue of tunes and completely change your set at every gig in which case it should still only take 10 minutes. There's also a separate category for "concert venues" and festivals. This is a bit more complicated to fill in since you need to download and complete an Excel spread sheet. Still IME it only takes 10-15 minutes to complete. In these instances the royalty payment depends on what PRS is charging the venue or festival for their licence. Looking at my royalty statements it varies between 1p and 75p per 25% share of a song. In my case these are for smaller venues and festivals and there is definite correlation between the size of the event and royalty paid, so I suspect that big gigs and festivals will be paying even more. Based on this and on my actual PRS royalty statements, for a 4-piece band who split their songwriting 4 equal ways and who are doing 30-40 gigs a year, that should be worth at least £50 per band member. And that's just for gigging your own songs. Hope all that was of some use.

How much the cabs add to the sound depends on what type of cabs you are using and also your amp. A lot of modern bass cabs tend to be more like PA cabs and add far less character to the sound than something like an Ampeg 8 x 10. However if you are using an all-valve amp, DI'ing will not capture the effect of the power amp valves and so mic'ing the cab is the only way. I spend a lot of time in the rehearsal room working with our guitarist to get the right guitar and bass sounds in balance with each other for each song. Therefore when we record this is what I want to hear when we do the mixing. IMO the best way to achieve this is to start with the sound of the cab mic'd. For me the ideal recurring method is a fairly accurate mic on one of the speakers - this is the main sound source for the mix. Then a DI from the amp. This will be used to add a little bit more weight to the sound if required. Finally I'll also run a passive DI direct from the bass. This is a safety in case when we are doing the mix the overall sound of a song moves away from what we originally intended. That way I can use the raw sound of the bass either re-amped (my preferred method) or through an amp sim to get the desired new sound.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1450181703' post='2930291'] Because of the drop D I would imagine that the Wolfgang comes with a flat loaded trem, otherwise I'm not sure the drop D system would work without de-tuning the rest of the strings. I could be wrong though. [/quote] Looking at the images, the D-tuner is part of the locking bridge so I would imagine that somehow it compensates for the changes in tension in the string. Edit: Just read the [url=http://www.dtuna.com/faq.php]FAQ[/url] on the D-Tuna site and it appears that the system only works if the term is locked to prevent up bends.

That Wolfgang does look like a good deal. The only things to consider are does you guitarist have a tendency to break strings? IME any guitar with a vibrato will go horrendously out of tune once one of the strings break. On something with a locking system fitting a new string during a gig (or even re-tuning) is not a realistic option. Also if he uses a very different set of string gauges to those already fitted it will need to go to a good guitar tech for a full set up to accommodate the new strings.

And when you mic up check all the speakers to find the best sounding one. IME when close mic'ing a multi-speaker cab try to use the one furthest from the port, otherwise you might end up with an excessively boomy sound which takes a lot of EQ at mixing to make the bass guitar sit properly in the track.