GrammeFriday

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1404004260' post='2488516'] I have read a lot about TC's measurements and methods. My biggest concern with them are they when I've gigged one it was the biggest sucker of any usable tone I've ever encountered. Literally awful sound in a live band context and yet sounded good when tested in a shop and set up at home. [/quote] I currently run a TC RH750 through 2 TC cabs (1 x RS212 and 1 x RS210) and, contrary to the above, am getting the [i]best[/i] live sound I've had in decades of playing. Amazing power, clarity and versatility, and in an extremely cleverly designed package, too. Loads of compliments from FoH guys (not that that necessarily means anything, but whatever) and it does everything I want a bass rig to do, and do it really well. I totally understand that tastes differ, and each to their own, fine, but I really cannot understand how you could have had such a bad experience with a TC amp, Molan. Might the problem have lain elsewhere, perhaps? For a company that makes such horrible-sounding equipment, TC certainly have some very impressive endorsers - John Paul Jones, Janek Gwizdala, Nathan East, Ida Neilsen, etc. etc. Must be paying them a lot of money to put their names to their products!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1404567626' post='2493808'] Its a perfectly reasonable thing to do on several counts: to get a consistent tone irrespective of volume, massive reduction in size weight compared to say a real svt, rig will not be fragile or need servicing (and as added bonus for me, will look like a modern piece of electronic gear rather than a 1960's gramaphone). [/quote] Quite. I also prefer to use Class D gear because I have a bad back and have to do my own roadieing!

Now for 6 drummers and 2 bassists to rattle your teacups on a Sunday morning: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtnG6EHh1N4"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtnG6EHh1N4[/url]

Hard to pick a winner at that skill level - not even going to try!

Ah, well, in that case just read this thread (and probably dozens of similar threads before it): http://basschat.co.uk/topic/236623-when-is-a-bass-considered-a-high-end-bass More opinions on this topic than you can shake a stick at there!

Nice vid - thanks for posting! Well, obviously my favourite is Yolanda Charles, but I guess you want us to pick a drummer! The first one (on the right of the screen) is obviously the most 'technical', and I like his pingy snare sound, but he overplays a bit and sometimes trips up. The second one (in the middle) is the most solid - a bit Bonham-like in places, which is always a good thing, and he lets a bit of space into his playing - although by about halfway through I noticed that he was using the same fills and tricks as he did earlier on, so maybe a bit limited? The third one, also good - they are all good, of course - but too much cymbals for me. So overall I think I would hand it to number 2. But Yolanda is still my favourite.

Game over: http://www.classicandcoolguitars.co.uk/guitar/aria2.htm

Two cans of lager - the sensible professional's choice for a (let me guess) two-hour session?

To get back to the OP: [quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1404340312' post='2491823'] But from what I have seen, and played within availability, the question I ask of you all is, do you really NEED to spend over a grand on a bass to get the job done? [/quote] Surely it all depends on what you mean by "the job"? If the job is hammering out Ramones covers, then clearly not - a Squier Affinity P-bass will do very nicely, and will cost you less than £200 brand new. But if you play a very wide range of styles and/or put more twiddly bits into your playing, then it might not be so simple. Maybe it's better to think about it in terms of how many different kinds of sound you want to make, i.e. maybe think in terms of pickup configurations rather than basses per se. As CamdenRob says (post #9 above), a P, a J and a Ray and you are pretty much covered for almost anything (although some would want to add the modern 'Hi-Fi' soapbar sound and/or the Rick sound to this list). So the question is whether you can get all 3 of these signature sounds for under a grand. The J bridge pup can stand in for the P sound, although it's not quite the same thing, and a PJ bass gets you the P sound and the J bridge sound, and something like the J-with-both-pups-on sound, although again not exactly the same. As for the Ray sound, only a Ray sounds like a Ray, but the SUB is a good sub, and these go quite cheap second hand, so on balance, yeah, you can probably cover all your bases (pun intended … ok I'll get me coat) for £1k, as long as you are prepared to make a few compromises here and there. But none of this will stop me yearning for an MTD 535-24 ...

Godspeed You! Black Emperor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tZ_uwDlmPY

Ah, I see acidbass has just posed the same question!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1402944349' post='2478178'] I made some sound clips. (Disclaimer: I'm just a dabbler when it comes to home recording) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6np-PCYITrw[/media] [/quote] Lovely looking and sounding bass, and great playing - funky, low slung and cool as f**k. Just wondering … For clip 2, the title says "Neck pickup" but to me the sound is 100% classic Jazz bridge pup, and vice versa for clip 3 - i.e. the text says "bridge" but the sound is totally neck. Or maybe I just need to get my ears syringed?! Anyway, great stuff, and many thanks for posting.

[size=4] [/size]

[size=4]@Damonjames, @Scott S, sounds like you guys have spent some time in the same covers bands as me! [/size]

[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1402851901' post='2477251'] Nile Rodgers is the same, hit maker strat strait into a DI or the desk, with maybe a some Slight compression. If only we could all sound that good without help!! [/quote] Yes, I was just thinking about Nile ... to the OP, the bad news is that your problems are not solved even when you have managed to get a Bernard-ish tone and can play his lines tolerably well. An even more intractable problem then awaits: getting your guitarist to approximate what Nile does. If your guitarist comes from a rock/blues background (and needless to say, many if not most do, in this country at least), then it's going to be an uphill struggle. The problem is that many guitarists think funk guitar is 'easy' - just a couple of chords, lots of choking and that fast strumming plectrum thing - how hard can it be, eh? But when they have a go at it, you get this horrible churning sound that rock guitarists always make when they think they are being funky. Many do not even understand how to eq their amp for funk playing - turn off that reverb and distortion, FFS! Anyway, good luck with it!

[quote name='Titus Bramble' timestamp='1395866001' post='2407466'] Are there any websites etc which have a selection of sheet music to browse through? Is there a piano equivalent to ultimate guitar? [/quote] This should keep you busy for a while: http://www.acc.umu.se/~tellus/tmp/OskNoter/The%20Standards%20Real%20Book.pdf

Funny thing is, I can play and sing fairly easily when playing with a pick, but when playing finger style (which is what I usually do) I really struggle. To some extent this may be because songs that require pick playing are sometimes (but by no means always) more rhythmically regular - i.e. doing eighths in a nice 'chug along' fashion, making it easier to automate the playing and focus on the vocal melody instead. But when playing finger style I definitely feel like I am 'singing with my fingers', and I find it [b][i]really[/i][/b] hard to partition my brain in the required way. As others have said, it is just a matter of breaking it down and building it up really slowly, segment by segment, until the bass line becomes an automatic, muscle-memory-only thing, but it's really hard and slow work for me - so much so that in recent years I have found it easier simply to say that I don't do vocals at all.

If you are a 5-string player then you should learn to slap on your fiver - no point buying a 4 string just for that. As others have said, it's no big deal - just practice, and a bit of additional string damping to do - or you could just buy a hair scrunchy, as many excellent 5-string players use. Here's Ida Neilson, for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPer4MQEUo0

These Boots Are Made For Walking - Nancy Sinatra. Sorted.

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1402091077' post='2470079'] Makes sense really(doesn't it?). A fretted, a fretless. And one other . [/quote] The "And one other" bit will always be your undoing! Deciding which other one will be impossible ... As BassTractor says, if you really want to rationalise, then it has to be just one fretted and one fretless - and if you don't play fretless (or don't play fretted, come to that) then it has to be just the one!