paul_c2

40 isn't too old!!!

The brown one's hot! Its just not quite right (for me) though - if the tone is turned down, I would want it sounding more subdued......fortunately, I don't think realistically I need to make the choice, I can't really justify another bass......can I.....no........eeek.........

I listened - it was a good comparison - but admittedly being a Fender Jazz owner, I was biased towards the Jazz and that video confirmed (for me) its all-round versatile. There's something about a Precision though......I've been thinking of buying one, just to see/hear for myself......

It all depends who the amp is for, doesn't it? If we're considering big stadiums, big FOH sound reinforcement and IEMs for monitoring then you could go complete "Geddy Lee" and not use an amp at all - simply DI the bass, possibly with some effects, and let the FOH worry about how fills the stadium while the others listen in on IEMs. But if we're talking about a band rehearsal then there is probably no PA (or only needed for the vocals) so the amp is doing the job of the monitor(s) and some kind of suitable volume and balance is needed for the others, and the player, to hear the bass. And if its home practice....then we're at even lower overall power. Somewhere in between, I suspect, are most people. They aren't playing 10,000 seater stadiums, instead much smaller places, so the bass rig is at least partly adding to the overall sound. And here comes the issue......sub frequencies are non-directional, and sources not close to each other can potentially cancel out entirely, or combine (power alley effect). It makes sense in all the above scenarios except the "no sound reinforcement" scenario to let the FOH be doing the relevant sub frequencies. And for the others, personally I've used various amps including a FRFR active speaker with a DI box and unless really small, isn't sufficiently lacking in the lower frequencies to warrant a sub. They tend to be used for sound reinforcement not because the main speakers can't cope with the bass, but because it relieves them of about half the power required for the relevant room's sound reinforcement, thus making the PA system clearer and more manageable. But we're into the several thousand watts area once a PA needs subs, rather than it just being a nice convenience. And don't start me on why subs have a pole adapter to put the mains onto!!!!!

It would be interesting if anyone knew the process by which the production team/whatever for Jools Holland, chose the upcoming artists for appearance on the show. Presumably, they play it safe on NYE but on the other shows, there's an element of "talent spotting" out there.

It would be interesting if anyone knew the process by which the production team/whatever for Jools Holland, chose the upcoming artists for appearance on the show. Presumably, they play it safe on NYE but on the other shows, there's an element of "talent spotting" out there. Ooops wrong thread....hang on...

Say the battery's gone flat and you have to plug in.

Hmmmm, 2 things spring to mind: It shouldn't be an "us" and "them" situation; and that if you want something done properly, do it yourself (this might mean, the band itself has a soundman). It is no surprise that the first "extra" person a band typically takes on, after the members who play instruments, is a dedicated soundman.

Is he the guy looking for someone with drop Ab tuning?

I still remember "The White Room" (Channel 4). I wonder if Jools' eventual replacement will come from the musical world rather than presenting - I think the aspect of them playing with the guests/bands may be one of the things important to retain.

Its not really a case of "us" and "them"; more like that there's good and bad musicians in all forms of music. The less good musicians tend to focus on just a subset of their musical knowledge, and its easier for a less good 'classical' musician to not have to focus on things like swing, groove, playing by ear, improvising etc. But let me reassure you, there's 'classical' musicians who can run rings around the average 'rock' musician for technical ability, knowledge, musicianship, etc etc in ALL aspects of playing music. Also worth mentioning, that jazz musicians tend to be able to read very well, in addition to improvising over chord changes etc etc (including the good guitarists!)

Well......yes. There's so little actual live music on the telly any more, its pretty much Jools Holland, Strictly Come Dancing and then the little one song features at the end of Sunday Politics, etc.......

dB is a dimensionless unit which measures the relative level of two signals. When people talk about "the dB of sound" its actually compared to a scientifically defined reference level. In a similar way, in the audio world dB can mean a number of things but one of them is as a relative amount to the industry-standard reference voltage on a professional line level signal, which I think is 0.7V or 1V or something like that. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_level for more info on the science.

You'll probably appreciate this one then. Its one of Aimee's best lessons so far:

We're entering a "golden age" of the Internet, online shopping really is going to have a big and lasting impact - we've all seen the news stories on how bricks & mortar retailers have had a dismal time recently, in fact this year I believe without Black Friday, it would have been a disasterous last quarter. The fact is, (lots) more music shops are closing than opening, soon there won't be any/many left (there will be some left, but for the country at large, there will be so few as to be uselessly far away) and there's a good variety of online ones now. There's eBay and Amazon (I know they're platforms, not retailers in themselves...), gear4music, thomann, guitarguitar, Andertons, etc etc the list goes on. If Gear4Music don't do well they'll soon be rendered unprofitable by the others. I suspect they're (on average) doing well enough, given all the others are probably similarly run on the same principles of minimising costs, and will be around for a little while longer though.

In the world of pro audio, there's ~4 different main kinds of signals/levels, (plus mains power which obviously has a different connector style😞 Microphone level - typically balanced XLR (3 pin) connector Instrument level - typically an unbalanced 1/4" jack, ie "TS" (Tip and Sleeve) Line level - can be balanced XLR, balanced 1/4" jack (TRS - Tip Ring Sleeve) or unbalanced 1/4" TS Speaker level - these days typically a Speakon connector, but there's a lot of 1/4" jack connector too - so don't get these mixed up!!!! Just to complicate things, some microphones want phantom power, which puts 48V onto the (balanced XLR) wire. Its a low current amount, so not too onerous for interfaces to provide this, or distances, etc but obviously if your microphone wants it, the thing its plugged into needs to provide it. Typically, condenser microphones need it (dynamic ones don't). If I were buying an interface, I'd make sure it has the capability to provide phantom power.

There's definitely value in recording both the amplifier mic'd up AND the original signal from the guitar, then exploring "re-amping". Normally you'd do an amount of experimentation to determine the sweet spot for mic placement but recording the original signal is also a good insurance policy. I am assuming this is for 6 string guitar, with an amp which is doing a significant amount of tone colouration eg its quite high gain, or maybe just some gain etc. That way, you'd not need more than 2 channels. It would depend if you took the original signal from the guitar directly - then you'd need an instrument input (and some kind of pass-thru to the amp) or whether you want to use a DI box, in which case it would be a balanced XLR (but if it were passive, some amount quieter than a normal line input - you'd need to bang up the gain). If it were an active DI then it would be line level. I am not sure if there's any value in additionally taking a line out from the amp at the same time (thus needing 3 inputs) - I don't think so, you'd lose all the nuances imparted by the speaker cone(s). Of course, if you wanted to record something with more than 2 channels at a time, then it makes sense to invest in a bigger interface. Normally this scenario would be due to either an ensemble all playing at once; or drums. Live drums are a different kettle of fish to record!

Yeah I think they're interpreting "online" as one of the shops. If there isn't a tool to check the branch you could visit (you can visit a branch, right??) then that's awkward - I guess you could phone them up. I phoned up my local music shop (to save a trip, if their stock thing online checker was wrong) to be sure they had something in stock previously.

I was going to watch "Queen Live 1986 Wembley" but you're right, that bassline on "Another one bites the dust" is so inaudible and ill-defined, its not worth the bother.

I am guessing "in stock" means they have it in a warehouse, somewhere. But that warehouse is their own - not the manufacturer's. And that their collection of warehouses is Europe-wide. I've had items delivered from Europe (ie outside of UK) in pretty good timeframes, so I don't think its a massive issue in itself. And they do show an expected delivery time. Its one of them things with the new-fangled modern world of shopping online that there is an inevitable delay between ordering and arriving. If I need something quick, I physically go to a physical shop (probably in a car, and need to park, etc etc) and will probably end up paying a little more too. At least there's still actual shops - but not for long - the two music shops in Chester will shortly be closing!

I think it matters, not necessarily to a professional who can afford to buy (or can justify on finance etc) several basses, but to amateurs and semi-pros who want to emulate their idols, or at least their 'sound' or their 'success'; but don't necessarily have the funds to buy several decent instruments. Fortunately, in the world of basses, there is Fender, and there is the Precision. Fender are not the cheapest but by no means are they the most expensive either and a reasonable 'professional' working tool can be obtained for ~£500 (or thereabouts - of course there is an element of debate on where you might start, and where you might find/buy that starting point). In a way, we have it lucky - its not complicated, and doesn't need to be - you don't need to invest thousands. Compare and contrast it with the world of cellos, or french horns etc.

I believe Scott's brother, Barry Devine, has a Youtube channel which is aimed at builders. In an hour-long special, he covers "Why do a lot of builders use a Ford Transit" with an interesting 12 minute monologue by a roofer who presents an alternate view and owns a Renault Trafic. Also he has a 15-part mini-series on the premium channel, on different types of sand.

Well done Scott for monetizing what is actually a not-too-complicated subject matter. Good on him. I strongly believe there is "space" in the market for someone to offer condensed post-edits of his videos, for example this one is almost 12 minutes long - I am afraid I don't have a spare 12 minutes - and having seen some of his other content, I reckon its 2-3 mins worth of focused content. (AFAIK the YouTube algorithms that monetize it take into account length of video watched, in addition to number of views, so there is no incentive himself to shorten them???)

Further to Lady Miss Kier's words on the matter, Stevie Wonder also commented: "just because a record has a groove don't make it in the groove". So maybe you have a point, there. However he also went on to say "But you can tell right away at letter A when the people start to move". Thus, I conclude that if the audience are dancing sufficiently enthusiastically then "the groove" has been adequately established.

Its not unachievably elusive (it is learnable). (Yes, there will be 1% who don't "get it").