Pinball

An update as I have done 3 practices and I'm no closer to a decision. I asked another band member his opinion this morning and he said "I like the sound of the Stingray on some and the aggression of the Bongo on others, you had best keep them both. I guess that's what I'll do for now.

MM Stingray, it's not the first thing people would think of but it just works really well. Get some status half rounds on there and its awesome. I traded a whole load of gear for a used one I found in a shop and never regretted it for a moment. A great recorded sound

Great buyer...sent a pedal Spain without any problems. Thanks

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1457880015' post='3002582'] Find another close pub and play there on the same night as the other lot. [/quote] Hah, yes I like that option

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1457691202' post='3000950'] It is a form of flattery, however I`d be annoyed about it. I think the period of a month is reasonable, anything after that isn`t, in my opinion. Similar things happen with some venues in London, if you`ve a gig booked In some venues one of their clauses is that you don't play any other London venues within one month. [/quote] That makes good sense, playing too much locally is counter productive. There is a 3 week rule in Bristol where bands and venues agree not to book an act if it is within 3 weeks of them playing somewhere else within Bristol. I would find the Tribute example annoying though after all they aren't Thin Lizzy. It's a bit of a cheek.

Thanks for the detailed answers guys and gals. It has definitely made up my mind that I won't do anything rash. I'll take my time. Note: I meant to do a side by side comparison at the last band pracxtice but opted out as I had to change some pedal settings and didn't want to waste time-also I was enjoying it. Also I am not selling the Stingray as I spent a long time finding the right bass. [quote name='dub_junkie' timestamp='1457603328' post='2999979'] I think yours could possibly be graphite pearl and not ES btw. Looks like my old bass. [/quote] That's interesting, I'll check it out on the EB forum when I get a chance and get some detailed info. It has some marks on the back of the neck and head-stock but nothing that would worry a player rather than collector (me). If I have to I'll find something else to sell in the mean time-or try and weather the financial hit Cheers

[quote name='Schnozzalee' timestamp='1457556401' post='2999690'] Listened to Dave La Rue play one with Joe Satriani and Johnny A.s Bassist before him and dayum there was some great tones. I love the 'Egyptian Smoke' finish you have there. [/quote] Thanks so that is the colour. I really know very little about it [quote name='mingsta' timestamp='1457558607' post='2999721'] Keep it. There's nothing quite like it out there. [/quote] I may well do, I must get back to playing it rather than talking about it. Cheers all

[quote name='FretNoMore' timestamp='1457512013' post='2999125'] The only pedal I've seen people think do a passable soloed octave down is the Bass Whammy. Most other octavers work best with a dry blend since they either change the tone in various ways (synthy, subby, etc) and/or have a latency (delay) in the effected tone. The Quint has a rather soft/subby octave down as well as some latency, I don't like it with bass but maybe it is better with guitar. I recorded a test some time ago, with bass though: [media]http://youtu.be/sbMOWNAJEPI[/media] [/quote] I can clearly hear what you'r telling me in the video. I'm not sure I have room for a whammy I'll need to think on it Thanks

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1457555291' post='2999673'] I think that the difference is that it's really difficult to get a bad sound with the MM preamp. I used to struggle with my Ibanez SR1016 and eventually sold it because I was constantly fiddling with it to try to get it to sound right to my ears [/quote] You could be right, I was fine with the Ibby but with my flakey brain I would occasionally forget my favourite settings. If I had been playing ,more gigs I'm sure it would be fine. As it is MM's are that bit more user friendly.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1457553315' post='2999657'] Is it the EQ or the pickup configuration that you you think contributes most to the sound you like? I don't like vast EQs either as the tendency is to keep fiddling and never being happy but there are loads of basses with this pickup configuration including Stingrays - G&L, $$ Warwicks etc are the first two that spring to mind that I have owned [/quote] I agree I give me a good sound from the bass, that works with my pedals and I'm happy, my favourites have been a G&L SB2 ( 2 pup no tone), single pickup Stingrays and a FNA. This seems to have a more powerful than those but also a smoother/creamier characteristic. Maybe its to do with the 18V system too? I'm always into what it sounds like with the band, as I find the sound I like when noodling at home often fails to cut it in the mix. I used to have an Ibanez SR3005E (2 pup Bartolini custom) that I got through BC and that had an awesome live sound but I had to make sure I had the EQ set the way I wanted it. With the Bongo I can just plug in and play and it tanks through. Playing finger style with the EQ turned up can turns it into a percussion instrument if your not careful.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1457552300' post='2999644'] Generally sounded great when a rehearsal started, but as the session wore on, I just tended to keep tweaking the actives up and up and up. In isolation at the end of the night it sounded horrific. Just pley the thing and keep your hands of the knobs. Hang onto it. P [/quote] Thanks, that is the temptation with lots of options. I have been there in the past with jazzers where I could never locate the sound I wanted-it used to drive me crazy. The advantage here was that flat settings (everything set at the indentations) sounded spot on to begin with. In fact there was a whole lot of variation possible just by altering the balance between the pups. I did try adding a bit more treble and upper mids but I was happiest with it flat. I just had our guitar player on the phone again saying how good everything sounded in rehearsal. That isn't just due to the bass but if must have been playing its part. I really can't let it go until I'm sure as I can't see me getting another very easily.

Thanks for the advice, I will hang onto it for a bit

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1457535125' post='2999472'] I think they look horrendous...but I still want one. [/quote] That about sums it up...I was perfectly happy with my Stingray and now???

I have a conundrum. I love Stingrays, especially early SR5's because they work great with my pedals and band. They seem to do everything that I want but I had two fretted ones and decided to sell one to free up a bit of cash. I priced it to sell and was going to but I decided to trade it for a Bongo HH. I have always wanted to play one and here was an opportunity. My reasoning being that "I can always give it a try and then sell it on". I did the trade and sent pictures to some of the band and a M8 and get totally contrasting views. e.g. 2 people loved it with comments like "I think I love Bongo's, they are amazing" and "that's sick, I want it and I don't even play bass", while the guitarist said "Noooo that is the ugliest guitar I have ever seen" None of this bothered me as I like SR5's and I have no intention of keeping the Bongo. Stage 1. I play tested it and my thoughts were: Wow love the sound, immense but very usable. A bit like my SR5 but there are far too many knobs (4 band/balance and volume), hmm the controls are intuitive-easy to understand and dial in. Great neck and action, feels kind of weird but still comfortable to play, nice and light. I can't really fault it as this is a really nice bass! Stage 2. I take it to band practise and: It sounds immense, our drummer really loves the Stingray (he says it is the first bass he has been able to hear well on stage) and he likes the Bongo even more. Our Guitarist says "I have to admit it sounds great and looks better in the flesh, I still don't like it though" . I find it a joy to play. With the controls flat it has a frightening ability to thump and cuts though. It works well with my pedals. I play most of the set with a pick but with finger style it sounded amazing. There were times with distorted guitar when everything sounded better than I can remember it sounding before. I can only describe the band sound as having a smooth creamier and more powerful quality. What do I do now? I still don't feel that the bass is for me and I still want to free up some cash[b] but[/b] it would be silly to sell on such a lovely bit of kit without exploring the instrument further. That is my conundrum! What should I do now? I think I like Bongos Here it is: [attachment=214261:IMG_20160302_202420.jpg]

Thanks, thats the sort of feedback I was hoping for before I spend the money. I'll give it a good listen through my headphones later.

Bump, no thoughts?

Hi, We're doing originals and I want to play around an acoustic 6 string using 12 string electric and a baritone guitar. I will need to slip down another octave occasionally for a fuller bass sound so I am thinking of EHX Pog's but thought the T-rex Quint would do the trick. Anyone out there use one? http://www.t-rex-effects.com/quint-machine I got myself one of these baritones and love the tone. [url="http://www.cortguitars.com/en/product/sunset-baritone"]http://www.cortguita...sunset-baritone[/url] If you want to hear how we get on here is the band page but we're a long way off playing live yet: [url="https://www.facebook.com/The-Apocalypse-Blues-Band-981175381961498/?ref=hl"]https://www.facebook...1961498/?ref=hl[/url]

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1457259994' post='2996719'] no rhyme or reason! It's been a real blast trying out so many different basses though.. [/quote] On that last point, I'm right with you. There are a whole bunch that I really enjoyed and moved on for no real reason other than I had too many basses. These included: an Esh Various, Yamaha TRB1005, Spector Legend Classic, Sandberg Umbo and Panther and USA 95 Fretless P bass. Others that I did more on for a reason but were still great basses included: Sandberg TM4s, ESP/LTD, Spector Legends and Bass Collections. All were great basses but weren't doing it for me sound wise in my current projects. Note: at the moment Stingrays and a G&L SB2 cover all my needs.

Schecter make great guitars full stop, The older Korean and newer Chinese ones all seem to have good consistent build quality-or at least the ones I have tried