thisnameistaken

TBH usually the other bass players have gear that is just as good (at least in their eyes and the eyes of the audience) as mine. I may well prefer my gear but that's probably why I bought my gear and not theirs. The bigger issue of course is whose band is best, and there are too many factors involved in that to easily move yourself within the hierarchy! I'm usually the best bass player on any bill I play, but that has all the prestige of being the fastest chicken-plucker in the chicken factory. It just means sometimes people ask you bass anorak questions after you've come off stage, while the front men are talking to the birds with the nice knockers.

[quote name='silddx' post='1016552' date='Nov 8 2010, 04:42 PM']Depends on the gig. Dan's in a D&B sort of band, so he needs lots. I'm in a pop band that needs a a few different sounds, and a more theatrical sounding chamber-pop band that I use a good number of different sounds and effects for, and lots of volume pedal. It's not just about turning one effect off and on either, how about turning off your flanger, delay, compressor and switching to a new eq pattern simultaneously?[/quote] Yes I can appreciate the facility of switching on/off several effects at once (although this is feasible mechanically anyway) but I think the kind of subtlety you're talking about is a bit of a waste of effort live anyway. I'm not against using multi-FX (I have an M9 and an Octavius Squeezer that I use live) but if I've got a box that does one thing well I'll use it. There's an octaver on my M9 and I can produce -1 octaves from my Squeezer too but I still use my OC-2 because it sounds the best. Similarly I doubt I'll find a multi that can do what my Bugcrusher does. They're one-trick pedals but this inflexibility is far outweighed by the sounds they make.

[quote name='silddx' post='1016496' date='Nov 8 2010, 03:57 PM']With my POD, I can change any setting and combination as I need for choruses, flangers, compression ratios, delays, reverbs, distortions, eqs, gates, etc. without having to do anything more than stamp on a button. A pedal is capable of many variable sounds but you can't easily change them while playing the bass.[/quote] Yeah but how many different chorus sounds do you [i]need[/i] on a gig? One or none, in my experience! So a stomp box is the ideal solution.

[quote name='silddx' post='1016484' date='Nov 8 2010, 03:48 PM']I have no desire for pedals, to me they are inflexible for a live situation.[/quote] Inflexible in what way?

I don't think I've come across this gigging, to be honest. And I've never bought stuff because someone else decided it was good - I buy stuff because I hope it will be really useful. I did have a boutique filter for a couple of years (a Meatwad) but I bought it because it had a ton of features and I wanted to stop buying and selling so many filters, and it worked for a long time. In the end I sold it because I needed all those features to be more available so I replaced it with an Octavius Squeezer because it was programmable. The only time I've changed my setup because of the way I thought people perceived it was when I sold off a bunch of singles and my giant gator board and instead fit everything I needed on to a pedaltrain. Well it was partly because I thought I looked like a knob with a ton of pedals, and partly because I also sing and it was getting in the way of my mic stand. As for basses and amps, I've never really cared what people thought. I gigged a Squier for a while because I strung it with flats and it sounded ace. I bought a Thumb bass because I'd heard one on Fishbone (and to a lesser extent, 311) records and wanted that sound. Amp-wise I'm using a little Schroeder cab not because it's boutique but because I can load it in and out of my first floor flat without needing a pulley system or a team of roadies. So I think I'm being entirely honest when I say all my gear decisions are driven by practicality, and primarily sound. Edit: What I do find strange, though, is when someone asks for gear recommendations in a forum and a whole crop of dudes turn up to evangelise the thing they own over everything else, often without really considering the specifics of the request. I think those are the players who are truly emotionally invested in the stuff they buy. It's silly.

[quote name='TomTFS' post='1016222' date='Nov 8 2010, 12:09 PM'][b]Boss OC-3 - 1[/b][/quote] C-C-C-Combo Breaker!

I stopped using my Thumb for a few months, took it to a rehearsal a few weeks back and it's my full-time bass again. Simply put, nothing else sounds like it.

[quote name='Bassman Sam' post='1015920' date='Nov 8 2010, 01:00 AM']In my last band, I cocked badly one gig and one of the guitarists had a Sh*t fit in the dressing room afterwards. The rest of the band took the piss in a good way and when talking to the crowd, no one had noticed. Great feeling at the next gig when said guitarist came in have way though the into in the wrong key, even the crown took the piss, bliss. [/quote] One gig we played, it was the last night of a residency at this club we'd been playing all summer, and we'd got friendly with the staff and these two barmen were determined to get us loaded before we went on stage. Being weak, they got me the best. Worst mistake of the night was the worst I've ever made: I played the wrong *song* all the way to the first chorus without noticing. I did notice my bandmates staring at me quizzically, but I figured it was because I was being so awesome. Haha. That was about 15 years ago and I haven't drunk before a show since.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1015791' date='Nov 7 2010, 09:56 PM']I find that if I make a mistake, immediately turning around and looking at the guitarist makes the audience think its his fault [/quote] When someone else makes a mistake, I am in the habit of looking at them. Not in a mean way, but it's just automatic, maybe to check if they are panicking or something I don't know. But my girlfriend noticed it a while back and told me I had to stop doing it because she probably wasn't the only person who noticed! So now I am training myself to simply smile when someone makes a mistake and not look in their direction. When I make a mistake I figure I can either stop the song and make the band play it again until I get it right, or just keep playing and in four bars or so it'll be forgotten. So I usually go with the latter.

[quote name='Dread Bass' post='1015888' date='Nov 7 2010, 11:52 PM']Wehey We have made it to page 2 without one silly comment about ERBs. well done everyone.[/quote] Your ERB was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1015604' date='Nov 7 2010, 07:46 PM']Lock in with the drummer,[/quote] TBH I listen way more to the singer or whoever is playing the melody and "lock in" with him, and so does our drummer. Our parts generally do become somewhat congruent but it's not through effort of trying to play together, it's because we're both doing our best to do the same job well. I think the typical bassist "lock in with the drummer" advice is too simple. That's not how interesting bass playing happens.

You're both nuts. I'd still quite like a go on your bass though...

The reason most relic jobs look stupid is because they are so unrealistic. They think "Oh bassists touch their basses here, and here, and here" and so those bits get sanded down to the wood, then it's "Oh it looks too neat, let's put some dings all over it". Hmm. A real bass might have a weathered paint job, it might have worn through to the wood in small areas like above the pup covers from resting the thumb. It might have chips/dings on the back edge from standing on rough surfaces, or bigger crunchy dings on the bottom edge from being dropped, it might have a few other marks on the top from occasional accidents (accidentally dropping jack plugs / screwdrivers / beer bottles on it), it will probably have buckle rash on the back, swirls on the pickguard, maybe paint chips at the neck pocket from removal/replacement, if the fingerboard is maple it will probably have sweaty swamp stains in the most common playing positions, etc. Whereas when I see a bass where someone's just sanded all the chamfered edges and then whacked every square inch with a pin hammer it just looks abused, not used.

Probably moving your cab would've been better than messing with EQ. If I get boomy sounds I just pick up the cab and march it a few feet and see how it sounds, repeat. Sometimes there is no good place to put a bass cab but more often than not it'll solve the problem.

[quote name='Finbar' post='1014751' date='Nov 6 2010, 08:55 PM'][/quote] I've got a little SFX utility pedal next to my M9 too.

If they're just about there we'd put them in the set. Songs tighten up more as you play them live, and given that it's a new song it won't really matter if someone makes a mistake (our singer forgot the whole third verse when we gigged a new song last week) because nobody will be any the wiser.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1013880' date='Nov 5 2010, 11:51 PM']note the comment by the previous poster being concerned about how they look without a word mentioned about how they'd sound.[/quote] Perhaps I should've said "were wobbly" instead of "looked wobbly". I would be worried that two cabs stacked in the tallest, narrowest configuration with a head on top would *BE* wobbly, not that they wouldn't look rock and roll enough for me. FTR I gig with a little Schroeder 2x12 cab.

[quote name='dood' post='1014587' date='Nov 6 2010, 06:16 PM']This could be an indicator. Are those who don't notice any/much hiss not using a tweeter? - Or are those who notice hiss, have a tweeter and is it iturned right up / particularly sensitive? - as this could help to make the natural hiss of the amplifier more prominent. All amplifiers create noise as a byproduct of amplification, though some are inherently noiseier than others due to design and quality of components.[/quote] I'm using a 1212L but I turn the tweeter down quite a lot, so maybe I am attentuating the hiss, but I literally can't hear anything - I can't tell how loud my amp is until I start playing.

[quote name='deaver' post='1014611' date='Nov 6 2010, 06:39 PM']Captions welcome by the way. [attachment=63184:chap05.jpg][/quote] "I ain't gettin on no stage, fool."

3Leaf Audio Groove Regulator - 3 Aguilar Agro - 1 Aguilar Octamizer - 1 Akai Unibass - 1 AMT Slap Bass -1 Ashdown Chorus - 1 Ashdown Drive Plus - 1 Asdown dual band compressor - 2 Ashdown sub octave plus - 1 Barge Concepts VFB-2 - 1 Behringer chorus - 1 Boss CE-2 - 1 Boss DD-20 - 2 Boss LS-2 - 4 Boss OC-2 - 5 Boss ODB-3 - 2 Boss SL-20 -1 Boss SYB 3 - 1 Boss TU2 - 3 Boss TU-12H - 1 Boss chorus ensemble - 1 Bugbrand Bugcrusher - 1 Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer - 1 Devi Ever Hyperion - 1 Devi Ever Cherry Pop - 1 Devi Ever SodaMeiser - 1 Digitech Whammy - 2 Dunlop Bass Cry Baby - 3 DHA VT2 - 2 EBS Octabass - 1 EBS Multicomp - 2 EBS Unichorus - 1 EHX Bass Micro Synth - 3 EHX Big Muff Pi (Black Russian) - 1 EHX POG2 - 1 EHX Small Stone Nano - 1 EHX Qtron+ - 2 Ernie Ball VP-Jr - 1 Fishman Platinum Pro EQ -1 Guyatone MD-3 delay - 1 Guyatone PS-3 Phase Shifter - 1 HBE Psilocybe -1 Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed Bass Overdrive - 1 Ibanez SB 7 - 1 Korg DT-10 - 1 Korg Pitchblack - 2 Line 6 M9 - 2 Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live - 1 MarkBass Super Synth - 1 Marshall Jackhammer - 1 Maxon CP9+ - 1 Mojo Hand Cream Pie - 1 Moog MF-101 - 2 Moog MF-102 - 1 Moog MF-105b - 1 Moog MF-107 - 1 Moog MP-201 - 1 Mr Zinky Master Blaster - 1 MXR Blowtorch - 1 MXR M-80 DI+ - 1 ProCo Tubro Rat - 1 Radial Bassbone - 1 Rocktron Cyborg Reverb - 1 Sansamp Bddi - 5 SFX Micro Fuzz - 1 SFX S&M - 1 Subdecay Noise Box - 1 TC Electronics PolyTune - 2 Tech 21 VT Bass - 2 Tech 21 VT Bass Deluxe - 1 Way huge swollen pickle - 1 Z.Vex Woolly Mammoth - 1 Z.Vex Mastotron - 1

[quote name='Ruck' post='1013626' date='Nov 5 2010, 06:52 PM']Now you see, the clever buggers at Electro Harmonics added an internal gain trim-pot inside the Micro Synth. This, which so many people fail to realise is mentioned in the Instruction manual. Factory setting is about 70-75%, apparently set for use with your average passive single coil bass. After adjusting through trail and error, I found the right setting. And what do you know, all the above issues are no longer an issue and the pedal works 100%, notes sustain for ages (although not forever) and the volumes of each voicing are all balanced except the square wave which is always going to sound huge! No distortion from the Suboctave.[/quote] I've had four BMSs, funnily enough I had noticed the preamp gain trimpot. I tossed about with it for ages on my XO model and there was no way to get decent performance out of the suboctave on low notes and a sensible output volume. IMO it just doesn't sound as good as the old one, but if you're happy with it then fair enough. Also the gating effect on sustained notes is actually governed by the other trimpot. Adjust that if you don't like the way it's gating. Personally I was happy with the factory setting, and extending it too far will result in glitchy tracking as your input signal gets weaker (especially if you've turned down the preamp gain trimpot).

Yeah I guess. I would imagine with cheaper bridges the wood might be a bit green and you might get a bit of warping as it dries, or then again you might not, so I reckon if you're planning to fit it DIY you might as well get a cheap one - who knows it's might be fine!

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1011435' date='Nov 3 2010, 10:16 PM']if it was me I'd run a pair of 2x10s, the drivers vertically arrayed.[/quote] You mean stacking the 2x10s on their narrow ends? Anyone ever done this and not worried a bit about how wobbly it looked?

They do look cool, to be fair. If I had a vintage Jazz I would leave the covers on, I pick either between the pups or over the end of the neck anyway so I'm sure I would cope.