BigRedX

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1450180258' post='2930259'] Also - and perhaps especially - YouTube. This is where my 12yo goes to listen to music. You don't need to have a "proper" video to have a presence there - although if can make one, all the better - a still picture or a simple slideshow will do. [/quote] If you release your music through CD Baby one of the options is for them to create a YouTube version of the track - just your album cover art static while the track plays. I would expect some of the other aggregators to offer something similar.

My ultimate guitar is this one from Ritter:

If you want your tracks on Spotify you'll need to go through an aggregator. There's a good number of different ones and all offer different deals so there's no overall best one only the best one for what you want to achieve, so you'll need to check out all the services yourself and see which one best meets your needs. Expect to pay around $50 for an album's worth of tracks. The aggregator will also get you on most of the other digital distribution channels such as iTunes and Amazon - they should give you some level of choice as to which ones you are on which you are not. AFAIK there's no way to get on iTunes for free unless you are a big name artist. If someone knows different and can let us know how it is done, please post here. From what you are saying Bandcamp does seem to be best option for you. However IME it's a little bit of an "Indie Ghetto". Fine if your core audience is other musicians and people who have a major interest in discovering new music. However your average music consumer will want to stick to what they consider the "safe" options which means iTunes, Amazon, and listening on Spotify. For example, despite the fact that it was possible to download our "MonsterPussy Sessions" for free from Bandcamp, are aggregator stats show that just as many people have paid to download them from iTunes or Amazon!

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1450135005' post='2930008'] No single mic will work to achieve loads of vastly differences in tone and sound! Importantly you should experiment and have no preconceptions about what you should use, I've had awesome results using a wide range of different mics, all depends on the situation really! Large diaphragm condensers work well, as do [b]bass drum mics[/b], dynamic mics can work well, the possibilities are endless! Always have a DI channel as well! [/quote] IME bass drum mics are terrible because they have an EQ hump to bring out the best in a bass drum and therefore make the separation between the drum and the bass guitar almost impossible to achieve.

[quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1450092863' post='2929442'] Retuning between songs? Life's too short (the audiences' life) Keep it simple! (that goes for tremolos too). [/quote] Would be my sentiments too, except IME retuning from standard to drop D on a hard tail guitar is actually quicker than swapping instruments. He might want to see if he can play the whole set in drop D to save having to do any retuning. The Terrortones had a guitarist that did that. It made some songs easier to play and others more difficult, but overall there were more easier ones than difficult ones so doing the whole set in drop D was a feasible option.

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1450098426' post='2929503'] What is it with bass players and telecasters? I've got a MiM 1972 thinline reissue which I bought c.2000. It's the best skinny string I've ever owned and up there with the best I've ever played. I don't know if it's the simplicity of the controls or the relatively chunky necks, but I've known a fair few tele owning bass players down the years. [/quote] And unsurprisingly AFAIAC the Telecaster is the most boring guitar in the world ;-) Having played nothing but relatively high-end guitars for the last 20 years I recently tried some Fenders belonging to a friend. I couldn't believe how chunky and horrible the necks felt. I suppose it all depends on what you are used to!

[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1449934689' post='2928147'] We tend to use Standard and Drop-D which we shift between a couple of times in a set with our current run of songs. I think he was hoping that by going with the 7-string he would be able to avoid any tuning changes at all since he would have native access to as low as B anyhow. As to the Floyd, you're pretty much confirming my worries. He's a great chap but not a technical one in the slightest. I fear a Floyd based guitar would simply end up never being used which would be a real shame. I've pointed him to these threads and he's back to looking at boring old six-strings with a fixed bridge now Looks like he might end up going for a LTD in the Les Paul style. [/quote] Whether a 7 string will be the answer to his tuning changes will depend very much on how he uses it. If he's using drop D tuning like I do to make some chords easier to play then a 7 string won't solve his problems. However if he's using it to provide access to notes down to D on single note stuff, then so long as he's prepared to relearn all the E string patterns he'll be fine. However the LTD guitar will probably be far more suitable!

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1449758277' post='2926562'] It didn't sell for £200 so the next thing to do is add £100 to the price!! I do struggle to follow some people's thinking sometimes...It is a nice bass BTW. [/quote] Since there's almost no reason to be paying listing fees these days, unless you need a quick sale, this can be quite a good strategy. List something at the top end of it's price range and then when it doesn't sell, realist at a higher price, and then on subsequent listings gradually lower the price until someone bites.

There's no right answer because it depends entirely on what kind of sound you want. Remember also that hum buckers can be coil-tapped and single coils wired so that when two are on together they act as a humbucker. And there's always the option of P90 type pickups - darker and heavier and more output than a standard single coil. However you need to choose carefully as some of the cheaper ones have the disadvantages of both - not enough definition in the highs and no hum cancelling.

Having re-read your OP if this is going on a pedal board and you already have a PSU for you other pedals then it would be possible to run the LED of that. You will need to wire a resistor in series with the LED - for a standard red LED run off a 9V PSU something in the region of 390Ω should do.

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1449828156' post='2927196'] The idea was to keep power out of it. I dont to want power the pedal with battery or 9v PS. Does the LED need its own power ? Would signal from the guitar not be enough when the pedal was kicked in ? [/quote] Unfortunately if you want an LED you need power. Guitar signal strengths are measured in millivolts and you will need at least 3 volts for an LED ( 2 x AA batteries) to be visible under all lighting conditions.

You need to replace the DPDT footswitch with a TPDT one and then wire the LED along with a battery to the third pole of the switch so that when the signal is routed to the volume potentiometer the LED is on.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1449822469' post='2927099'] Keyboard players are only allowed to become Basschat members if they have their left arm amputated. [/quote] They need their left hand to work the controls on the neck of their keytar!

Does he use different tunings on different songs or just a single down or drop tuning for the whole set? There's nothing wrong with Floyd Rose vibrato systems provided they are properly set up and maintained - in fact a good guitar fitted with a good FR vibrato that has been properly set up will hold its tuning far better than most hard-tail instruments. However as others have said if he needs to change tunings mid-set a single guitar with a Floyd Rose vibrato system will be useless. In fact I wouldn't really consider any vibrato equipped guitar for changing tunings between songs. Our guitarist just gets away with it switching between standard and drop D on his Bigsby equipped hollow body, but he uses heavier strings and has the vibrato set up to be pretty stiff. Also IME owning a guitar equipped with a Floyd Rose vibrato requires a bit more technical knowledge with regards setup and maintenance than it appears the guitarist in question has. When you say drop tunings do you actually mean drop tunings (where the rest of the guitar is tuned to standard intervals and the lowest string only is tuned down (normally a tone) or down tunings where all the strings are tuned down but normally kept to the standard intervals. I don't know about the guitarist in question, but for me drop tunings are far more about making some chords and patterns easier to play - drop D gives me a 3 string power chord (root, fifth and octave) by barring the bottom three strings and makes 6th and 7th chords much less of a stretch to play - rather than the lower notes. In this case buying a 7 string or a baritone won't IMO be the right choice. Finally one thing to bear in mind about baritone guitars is that they are great when you are in the lower registers, but because the relative scale length is shorter than a standard guitar - a 28" baritone is only 21" from the 5th fret to the bridge - playing in the same register as a normally tuned guitar can result in a very brittle sound. In the end though the best thing is to get him into a few guitar shops and to try out some instruments for himself.

Try the [url=http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=KeySynth]Keyboards and Synthesis section of the SOS forums[/url]

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1449597907' post='2925046'] I heard once you could get eight seconds out of a Mellotron note? [/quote] IIRC the tape length of the original Mellotron was just under 7 seconds and there was a delay before the note could be played again for its full duration as the tape needed to rewind. Also playing too many notes at once put too much strain on the tape drive motor and would cause the tapes to play too slowly and the notes to be flat.

Not played one myself but the best slap tone I've heard from a Gibson bass was on a late 70s Gibson Ripper.

[quote name='bigsmokebass' timestamp='1449491557' post='2923924'] Gotta love that neck dive though, lol. [/quote] No neck dive whatsoever on mine. Which one did you try which had neck dive?

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1449321109' post='2922564'] IIRC BigRedX had about a thousand of these at one time? [/quote] Not me, although I used to have a Yamaha BJ5B which was the modern 5-string version and the rarest of all the versions with there being only 50 made. IIRC it was Paul from Arrowhead Guitars who was on a mission to try and buy every version in every colour...

I would imagine that most of Carvin amp sales are in the US where they only need to deal with 110V and consequently can use lower spec and cheaper components on the mains voltage side of the amp. Fitting a switchable 110/230V transformer and beefing up the rest of the PSU to cope with higher mains voltages would add an unnecessary expense when the majority of their customers simply don't need it.

I though it would be good to resurrect this thread and just give an update of our actual experiences at festivals this year: Firstly my initial views on the suitability of the weather in the UK for festivals has not changed a bit. It rained at all but one of the events we played this year. So on to the actual gigs themselves: [b]PuzzleFest: [/b]Heavy rain all day, put rather a damper on this. The outdoor stage was adequately covered as was the majority of the audience area except for the bit just in front of the stage, which meant that most of the bands played to an empty space while the audience huddled around the bar area trying to keep dry and warm. We were the last band on outside (the final band of the evening played in the pub where it was warm and dry) and luckily the rain had stopped during the band before ours' set. However, late running of the previous bands and an outdoor curfew time meant that there wasn't enough time to remove the house bass rig from the stage to make room for mine, and a miscommunication between Mr Venom and the organisers meant that I wan't able to use my amp rack with the supplied cabs, so I had to go without my effects and tuner. It was bitterly cold on stage - our guitarist played with gloves on and I didn't even begin to sweat despite wearing my full leather Terrortone outfit. Despite all of this we had a good turnout and reception. Unfortunately merchandise sales were poor as unsurprisingly everyone disappeared in doors to catch the last band to moment we finished. Cold, wet and rather disappointed. [b]Strummercamp[/b]: Again more rain. However because we were playing the pre-festival party we were indoors in the hall next to the bar where it was dry and relatively warm. We arrived a little later than we were supposed to, but found that the PA was only just being set up. It seemed to take for ever to as the engineer appeared to be completely stoned. Everything was running massively late, but in the end it didn't really matter. The rain had driven everyone inside so we played to a packed hall and went down really well. Sold loads of merchandise including a whole box of CDs that we'd brought, but no-one wanted to buy any vinyl! [b]Alice's Wicked Tea Party:[/b] It was off and then it was on, then off again and then back on. By this time most of the decent headlining bands were no longer on the bill. I was going to be out of the country at a wedding and we'd organised a replacement bassist so that the band could do the gig. However because of the uncertainty of it actually happening, coupled with the Terrortone van not being well we decided to cancel. Still don't know if the event went ahead. If it did, I bet it rained! ;-) [b]Deerstock[/b]: More rain (can you see a pattern forming here?) and a rather serious leak over the stage that the crew were trying to fix as we set our gear up. Overlapping stages and delays while the leaky stage roof was being attended to meant no soundcheck and only the briefest of line-checks before we played. Sound on-stage was fairly poor, but we played through it. The audience looked cold and miserable huddling under their umbrellas or sheltering by the stalls that circled the stage area. By the time we'd loaded the gear back into the van it had all acquired a sheen of rain and mud… Hung about for a bit trying to sell some merch, before cutting our loses and heading for home. [b]OutCider[/b]: Rain and some sunny intervals. However the sterling organisation of this event coupled with the friendliness of the organisers and crew meant that despite the rain this event was a joy to play. The stage and audience areas were under cover and there was plenty of backstage storage for all the gear so no humping it across wet muddy fields. Excellent on-stage and FoH sound and an appreciative audience. Made a lot of new fans and got a couple of good reviews. IMO it just goes to show what can be done when a festival is properly run and takes into account the fact that much of the time the British weather is simply not going to be very nice. If they will have us we'd love to come back and play again. [b]Degeneration[/b]: For once the weather was nice and sunny - dare I say it almost hot! Except that this time the concert venue was indoors and as we were playing during the day a lot of the potential audience stayed outside in the sun. Still those that did venture inside were enthusiastic, if sometimes a little scared of Mr Venom's on and off-stage antics. Got another couple of excellent reviews and a bunch of new fans. Overall? It is possible to organise a great festival in the UK that takes account of the unpredictability of the British Weather - OutCider is a prime example! However IME too many festival organisers simply stick their heads in the mud and hope that it will be bright and sunny on the day(s) that they have chosen, and other than ensuring that there is some sort of roof over the stage area have made little provision for the inevitability of rain. It doesn't matter how dry the stage area is, if your gear is all wet and muddy by the time you've got it there because there is no adequate back-stage parking. Also there seems to be an assumption that the audience won't mind getting a bit wet in order to watch the bands. Maybe if it was Download or Glastonbury and the performers in question were massively famous, but most of the bands playing the sorts of events we are doing at the moment have at best a cult following and much of time the audience's priority is to keep dry, especially if they are staying in a tent for the weekend. No matter how awesome your band's performance is, it can be difficult to connect with your audience when they are concentrating on keeping dry rather than down at the front of the stage. As may be obvious from previous posts, I'm not a massive fan of festivals, but as OutCider and a few others have shown they can be made enjoyable even for a grumpy old cynic like me. Unfortunately unless you are playing one of the very big events, they appear to be the exception rather than the rule.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1449073348' post='2920574'] That all sounds a bit sensible and orderly for my tastes [/quote] That plays complete havoc with my OCD (as do most pedal boards). Also IMO having a bunch of pedals and off the board negates the point of having one since for me it's all about efficiency of set up. On a more practical note how do you activate any of the devices in the middle or back of the board? I have enough trouble with the upper tier of footswitches on my Line 6 Shortboard.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1449065920' post='2920502'] I just like it when people stare at my pedalboard and say things like "but do you use them all?" [/quote] Conversely my guitar rig which consists of a amp and just two devices (a 1U rack and a double width pedal) allows me to run up to 16 different effects simultaneously if I wanted.

The best chorus sound I've ever had on my bass was from an MXR Pitch Transposer. This was a digital device in a 2U rack format with another 1U for the display (which showed you what degree of pitch shift was being applied). I recorded in a studio in the early 80s that had one and it made by bass sound enormous without losing any of the bottom end. I have a feeling though, that the sound was due to limitations in the technology of the time rather than anything intentional on the part of the manufacturers of the unit. With the pitch shift set to zero the tracking of the unit simply wasn't stable or accurate enough to give a unison effect and instead it produced a massive, rich and thick chorus-like sound.

I've found that the easiest way to get of latency is not to use software monitoring, but get a basic but good quality small mixer to record and monitor through.