JapanAxe

I recently picked up a used BDI21 for £14.99 from Crack Converters in Redcar. They had quite a few useful/interesting/unusual bits of musical equipment in there, and a better range of amplification than most small music shops! I knew these had a good reputation, but I am unfeasibly chuffed with mine. I really like the way the sound thickens up as you raise the Drive control, without going into audible distortion until the last 1/4 turn. Some forum posts knock it for lacking mids, but to me it still gives a fatter sound than straight DI. I bought it mainly for home recording - until now my best recorded bass sounds have come form the transformer-balanced DI output of my Demeter head, but that normally lives in my gig gear cupboard downstairs, so it is not that handy when late-night recording inspiration strikes. I have yet to record with the BDI21, but I think this is going to be a winner.

[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1498079443' post='3322450'] I went to see a Country and Western band that wanted me to join them ,a few years ago...I was terrified when the audience all stated firing there six guns into the air ...I kid you not this did happen ( along with the line dancing) I decided that it was not for me. It may not happen now of course ...it was some thirty years ago but just be aware 'shell. [/quote] That happens at so-called Western clubs - they try to dress in the styles prevalent during the American Civil War, hold shoot-outs (with blanks), and undertake a flag raising and lowering ceremony synchronised to a live or recorded rendition of the American Trilogy (as made famous by one Elvis Presley). What 20th/21st century electrified folk music (i.e. country music) has to do with this I haven't a clue, but as long as they keep paying us I won't complain too much.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1498071683' post='3322385'] Just a bit of jesting from folks, I think. [/quote] No worries, and no huffiness intended, I do get the joke. I genuinely wanted to share some of the approaches and save others from potential embarrassment - if you turn up at a country bass audition, and all you have in the bag is root/5th, you will soon be leaving said audition!

I play bass in a country band, and root/fifth is definitely [i]not[/i] all there is to it! You also need to be up on the following approaches - a quick listen to a track will tell you which one(s) to use: Root/5th e.g. Truck Drivin' Man (Boxcar Willie) Pop e.g Peaceful Easy Feeling (The Eagles) Boogie - R356 e.g. Boot Scootin' Boogie (Brooks & Dunn) Walking - a bit like Boogie but with chromatic runs Latin/syncopated e.g I Just Wanna Dance With You (George Strait) Mixtures of the above None of the above!

This thread needs a gratuitous picture:

Well it's a relief to learn that I haven't been stupid with my settings. If other home recordists have overcome this, then so can I. So much for the MIDI 'standard' though!

I had one of these in the 90s. The manufacturer had missed a trick by not making the pickup hum-cancelling!

Personally I use quite a light touch in the picking fingers, so I go for a pretty straight neck and low action. Are you looking for measurements here btw!?

[url="http://trello.com"]Trello[/url] is your friend - and I got that off Basschat. I work from lists, typically: New material Familiar Nearly There Nailed Work your way through the New Material list, promoting songs to the Familiar list as appropriate. Then go through the Familiar list, promoting songs to the Nearly There list when you can. And so on, but spending more time on the 'lower' lists.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1497555087' post='3319126'] I can't believe no-one's mentioned [b]heft[/b] yet. [/quote] [quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1497557347' post='3319149'] Isn't that something to do with the wife? [/quote] You are Les Dawson and I claim my £50.

I can't believe no-one's mentioned [b]heft[/b] yet.

I think I've found a partial answer in the Reaper forums: [b]'[color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Unfortunately there are a couple of competing naming conventions for MIDI notes (most think middle C (MIDI #60) is C3 but some call it C4). It's a pain.'[/font][/color][/b] I can either transpose the recorded notes an octave, or offset the note names in the drum map, or transpose them at source in the X50's settings - whichever turns out to cause me the least hassle when it comes to playback!

I use Reaper, and frequently use MT-PowerDrumKit plugin to play back MIDI drum files. If I want a different kit sound, I can always output the MIDI to my Alesis SR18; and if I want to play drums into a MIDI track from the SR18, it all works fine i.e. snares come out as snares, rides come out as rides etc. However, when I record MID drum notes from my Korg X50 keyboard and then play them back through the plugin or the SR18, they are an octave too high, and play back the wrong sounds. If I transpose all the recorded MIDI notes down an octave, all is well again. The General MIDI drum map assigns note 36 (C1) to Bass Drum, 38 (D1) to Snare, and so on. The SR18 tells me (System Setup, page 4) that when it is playing these sounds, those are the notes it is outputting. However, when I have recorded them into Reaper, they are showing as C2 and D2, despite playing back perfectly well! I have done a factory reset on the X50, and all the kits show Osc 1 Octave +0 Transpos +00 (i.e. un-transposed). What is going on? Will it help to load the Drum Maps for the SR18 and the X50 into the MIDI editor - if so I need to remember how to do this!

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1497443164' post='3318175'] Epiphone 339 Pro? Small version of the 335 shape and the Epi has the advantage of coil taps too. [/quote] I can recommend this style of guitar. The Epiphone is an affordable version of the Gibson ES339, which in turn is a 'shrunk' version of the ES335. I have a CS336, which is almost identical to the ES339 except for the body construction method. Small and manageable, with musical feedback on tap. [quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1497481582' post='3318642'] Shameless plug but my Gordon Smith Gypsy is still kicking around the for sale section somewhere! [/quote] I had one of these in black, massive bang for buck - and this looks sexier!

I grew up (ahem!) with the albums Love It To Death and Billion Dollar Babies.

A friend of mine has the 2-pickup version, cost him £249 new from PMT. £300 used is well over-priced!

Can't beat a 1x60 [url="http://youtu.be/afwYMdN43Mc?t=1m16s"]http://youtu.be/afwYMdN43Mc?t=1m16s[/url]

Welcome to the dark side! I favour D'Addario Chromes, but I recommend buying a few different nearly-new sets from the Basschat market place until you find the ones you like.

Depends what you want to do exactly. (1) Any audio interface with a jack input that can be switched to high impedance (or 'Hi Z') will allow you to get a clean/dry guitar signal into your DAW software, where you can then use plug-in amp simulators. (2) Alternatively, you can do your amp simulation with outboard equipment and record that into your interface. I favour this approach, and I use the following, whichever sounds best to me: - Digital - Zoom MS50G pedal (£89 from GAK) - the latest software gives you 22 amp models, which I must say sound excellent. - Analog - Tech 21 Sansamp PSA rack unit (£200-£300 used from eBay) - fully analog amp modelling with digital storage of settings. A cheaper way to do this is the Behringer GDI21 (£25-£30 new) - bargain! EDIT - It would probably help if you posted a description of what you have at present.