solo4652

Thank you - that's a kind offer. I live in Stockport which sort of rules that out. Might just go mad and drop £30 on a new one, once I've talked it through with keys player and guitarist.

Thanks Ray-Machine. I've just looked at a couple of YouTube vids of The Digitech synth bass wah thingy and it does look interesting. The Octasub function alone is getting close to what I'm looking for. £30 new from DV247, too. Hmmmm....

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I have to admit that the more I read about effects in general and multi-effects in particular, the more I'm wondering if I'm looking down a road that I don't really want to travel. I've sold basses which have either been active or have had too many knobs, and I've sold over-complex amps all in the quest for an uncluttered signal chain. For me, simple is good. I've played in covers bands for 6 years now without any effects. Really, it's just the one song - How will I know - that I'm struggling with. A full-tone key drop alongside the key change towards the end of the song means I'm playing one octave higher than I'd like. Our keys player is busy doing other things in the song, so the bassline is all down to me. I need to work out a way to get the 80's synth sound in the lower register, and that's what I can't do. I have a bass-boost on my amp (GK MB500) which I don't generally use, so I could try that to see if it thickens my tone a bit, but I think it will still leave me without the big bass sound that we need for the song. I generally play with a very clean sound - no grind/clipping/breakup, and fairly mids-forward (the Yamaha BB1200 does that on its own, anyway) All ideas and suggestions (most probably without using any effects) welcome. My rig: Yamaha BB1200, GK MB500 head, two Tecamp XS 112 cabs. Oh, I also have a Behringer BD 121 pedal. Never used it. Thanks, Steve

Boss ME50B is £220! Crikey. Anything out there that does a simpler job, no menus for less money?

Errr, I thought I'd posted this as a New Topic. Apologies to Mods if I've double-posted. Techno-idiot here. I've always aimed at a really simple signal chain; passive P bass, into simple amp head into speaker. No effects anywhere. Very much plug-and-play - I've seen plenty of guitarists bring a band to a standstill while they fiddle endlessly with pedals, dodgy patch cables, e-bows etc. Not for me, thank you. However, It's becoming increasingly clear that my KISS approach may be falling short on some songs in my covers band. |For example, bass-synth on How will I know (Whitney Houston). I've read the "Which multi-effects" threads on here and I very quickly glaze over and become completely confused. Shopping list; Must be as simple and straightforward to use as possible. Mainly interested in octave down, synth effect, on-board tuner, maybe reverb (for singer to use in emergency, perhaps) Not really interested in dirt, grind, flanger, drum-machine, amp modulations, fuzz, wah, tremolo Floor, not rack mounted Hit footswitch to bypass when I don't need effects, which will be most of the time, Small, light, easy to set up. Plug and play Don't need to switch effects mid-song Did I mention that it needs to be idiot-proof since I have no idea how such things work?! Quick web search throws up Zoom B1, Stomplab 1B. Any good? Be gentle with me, please Steve

Email from seller; "Thank you for your message. I thought it was a BB1200 because of the serial number which I'd researched and the manual that came with it (which was for BB1200 and BB1000 basses). But after your message I did some more googling and can now see that mine is a BB1000. I'll try to research the serial number again to get a manufacturing date. Then I'll amend the listing asap. Thanks for your help."

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-bb1200-4-string-bass-guitar-Made-In-Japan-1978-Vintage-Sunburst-Manual/331467687502?_trksid=p2060778.c100278.m3478&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140725135229%26meid%3D1c585c9940df4f01b9021cb770e8bebe%26pid%3D100278%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D291369779748"]http://www.ebay.co.u...%3D291369779748[/url] I've emailed the seller and politely suggested they might want to do some googling to check the model number.

"A new, unused item with absolutely no signs of wear."

Tube version now listed by Thomann for £418 http://www.thomann.de/gb/bugera_veyron_m_bv1001t.htm

For my use, it wouldn't need to be louder than PF800 or RH750! I'm simply looking for a half-decent, small, light, fairly powerful head I can use as a back-up. Spec looks good on paper. Only review I can find is Dissa's, in German. Hasn't anybody else tried one?

£342 at Thomann. http://www.thomann.de/gb/bugera_veyron_m_bv1001m.htm

My main bass is a Yamaha BB1200 which is fairly mids-forward. With the GK MB500, it sounds rich and deep with the bass boost engaged on the head, head mids dialled back a bit, hardly any scooping. That's the overall tone I'm looking for in a back-up amp. The more I read about the Reidmar, the more I suspect it may be a little too bright and top-end for the Yamaha. I quite fancy the idea of a hybrid head, but it will have to be small, powerful and cheap. Fat chance.

I've been reading the posts about the EBS Reidmar from a few years ago, when it first came out. I'm considering buying one as a back-up for my GK MB500. So - how has the Reidmar stood the test of time? Did the early adopters sell theirs on quickly or do you still have them?

Dr Who theme.

We've just recruited a new singer, broadly following Les' plan. I trawled the usual muso websites looking for "Singer available" posts. I sent our current setlist and keys to prospective singers, asking each person to choose 5 songs and to let us know in advance which ones they'd chosen. Then I sent them rehearsal recordings so they could familiarise themselves with our starts, endings and arrangements. We did it like this to give the singers some control and choice over songs, and so they had no excuses for turning up not knowing some songs. We didn't invite them to an "Audition" - we tried to take some pressure off by calling it "an initial jam/meet-up". Two people per night, separated by 20 mins. Meet them at reception. Be as helpful and friendly as possible - good singers are very hard to find. I didn't email them afterwards - I rang them to offer some comments and feedback. We managed to recruit somebody with a lot of experience singing in vocal harmony groups, but not in bands. So far, she's been a breath of fresh air, but it's early days. Good luck with your search - we all know that good, experienced, friendly, helpful, non-egotistical, audience-aware singers are rare as hen's teeth, so you'll have to be prepared to be flexible, helpful and accommodating with your approach. Steve

Thanks for your comments. If the guitar and/or keys have not been recorded properly in the first place, then it's no surprise that Compressor, Leveller, Normalise in Audacity aren't bringing them up in the mix. Maybe the big changes in volume were just too much for the auto-gain on the little Line 6 to track quickly and accurately. It's not an especially sophisticated recorder, after all. Maybe I'll just set the mic gain to Low next time. Better still, I'll use my Zoom Q3.

Ahh. Leave it with me, I'll try again. Struggling to attach file. I'll have my tea and try later.

Okay. Please remember that this was the very first time we'd all played together, so don't be too harsh about our playing! *big breath* Original WAV file is too big to attach, so here it is as MP3 [attachment=178840:Clocks v5.mp3]

Would it help if I posted the track here? In reality, I haven't got much of a clue what I'm doing with Audacity, being honest.

At rehearsal last night, I used a Line 6 Backtrack with on-board mic to record a song. I had the mic gain set to Auto. The recording has very pronounced volume changes throughout - I'm wondering if it's the mic "hunting" for the right gain setting. Anything I can do with the effects available on Audacity to smooth the recording out? I've tried Compressor and Normalise, bur with little real success. After that, I'm just applying effects at random, which is no good. All help and advice gratefully received, Steve