thisnameistaken

[quote name='1976fenderhead' post='935766' date='Aug 25 2010, 11:11 AM']Another flaw. speaking of gigs, is what if you press both tuner switches by accident while wanting to press only one? You go silent just like that! Should be press and hold![/quote] Yeah I've done that too. And entered the setup menu when I've forgotten how the switches work and tried to turn off two effects at the same time... [quote name='1976fenderhead' post='935766' date='Aug 25 2010, 11:11 AM']Even with the memory issue, I don't know, it's a huge thing, They should leave that option open for fx to retain last setting, can't take that much more space![/quote] Well yeah it would to be fair. Say you've got 144 slots to remember (6 effects, 24 scenes) and you need a word to remember the settings for a single patch. Then you add the facility to remember what your settings were on each of those patches for each effect you're not using. Given 100 optional effects per stomp slot that increases your memory overhead by 100x. So you go from needing 144 words for your patch memory to needing 14,400. That is a big deal.

Yeah it is a bit annoying but they'd need way more memory if they had to remember your settings for all 90+ effects in every slot in every scene. I managed to copy one scene over another at band practice last night, using only my foot! Imagine if you did that at a gig.

[quote name='slazman' post='932723' date='Aug 22 2010, 01:18 PM']It is a great cab but probably does not suit my needs in terms of output - the places we mostly play are too small for it - I know I can turn my LMII down a bit but the cabinet does tend to boom a bit even at low volume.[/quote] That's not the cab's fault, it's down to the room and/or your placement of the cab. The Schroeder is a pretty neutral cab especially at lower volumes. I've heard people say they want a different cab because they want more bass response, which is fair enough I suppose if you use a lot of BASS rather than low mids, but at low volumes in small rooms if you're having problems you should try harder to make the most of your gear rather than throwing more money at the problem. Move the cab by a foot or a couple of feet away from nearby walls, or lift it onto a crate or something if you're on a hollow stage, stuff like that tends to solve boomy sound issues better than trying a different cab - ultimately if you're asking a different cab to produce the same sound in the same place you will encounter the same problems. In my experience the 1212L is a quality cab that works well in a multitude of typical gigging band situations and it's worth persevering with. I use mine for both a reggae/punk gig and also to amplify my double bass and it does a good job on both.

Did we ever come up with a Basschat Courier system? I've seen it suggested before. I suppose it would mean that insurance/compensation became more complicated and we'd need written contracts between sellers, buyers and couriers but it wouldn't need any more than a signature and registration of courier details, and it could save hundreds in shipping fees. It would also mean we all meet more of eachother, if only briefly, which can only be a good thing. And we could hand over guitars to other bassists for tranport rather than hung-over can't-be-arsed RM employees.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='934322' date='Aug 24 2010, 12:04 AM']MF-101 & an ep2 pedal. Not the cheapest option tho & you still need something to make the synth sound.[/quote] The cheapest option for a treadle-controlled filter at the moment is the EHX Enigma. The Moof MF-101 has become a staple but it isn't the only game in town. Another good option is a Meatball clone (Robot Factory Meatwad, Barge Concepts Grinder) or the new, compact, fairly awesome-looking but bespoke and thus expensive outside of the UK Iron Ether Xerograph. To be fair all of those pedals aside from the EHX are duty-heavy imports. Decide which builder you like and which price you like and off you go. For the initial synth sound (which you will filter) start with a gated fuzz. I would massively recommend the Chunk Systems Brown Dog. It is excellent. You might never need another base (spelling correct!) sound pre-filter (depending on how deep into synth sounds you want to go).

For a single-pedal solution the MXR Blowtorch would be a good call, but it's a pisser of a pedal because it needs an 18v supply. I suppose if it's the only pedal you'll ever use then that won't matter, but more likely it will become the only 18v pedal in your arsenal of 9v pedals and it will quickly come to piss you off. A shame because it is a very, very versatile bass distortion. It never gets into insane-o-fuzz territory but there are a lot of useful sounds you can get out of it. Personally I would use an analogue octaver like an OC-2, feeding into a Russian Muff or similar (preferably a Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie B ), but you will quickly notice the limitations of a Muff-like fuzz if you're playing music like this. It'll be good for this Muse tune but not most.

FWIW I've got a Fishman Platinum pre. I've only done one gig with it into the effect return of my Hartke LH500 but it definitely made the most of my cheap DB with expensive strings on it. I bought the pre expecting to use it on fancier basses at some distant point in future, and since my first gig on DB I've been introduced to much fancier double basses at a much faster rate than I'd anticipated. And even been entrusted with making in-tune noises on them. Double bassists are my new favourite type of musician.

[quote name='Gust0o' post='933562' date='Aug 23 2010, 12:57 PM']Everytime I come home drunk I invariably play Iron Man, badly and loudly.[/quote] We've got a dub/reggae version of Iron Man we play, with the guitar riff played on trombone and trumpet, our guitar plays a reggae chop and me and the drummer do a dub-sounding one-drop riddim behind it. It sounds f***ing ace, proper classy metal and dub all at once. We've never done it live so far, but in rehearsals we've had other bands in the building come to check it out.

TBH I can get a good Motown sound with a Squier Jazz, La Bella flats, a Hartke LH500, Schroeder 1212L and good old Yorkshire gumption. It's more about the strings you use, how you pick and note selection / timing than anything else.

1) String your bass with La Bella flatwounds, jack up the action so you never get anywhere near fret noise no matter what you're playing. 2) Pick ahead of the P pup, with one single picking finger as much as possible. 3) Get an old neoprene mousemat, slice it up into strips that will wedge comfortably (and fairly evenly, according to the way your strings sit by the radius of the fingerboard) under your strings right by the bridge. You will need one or two strips to get enough thump happening. 4) Try a Barber Linden EQ pedal to get that Ampeg B15 combo sound, and send your bass signal via the Linden EQ into the effect return (rather than input) of your bass amp, thus bypassing the amp's EQ. 5) Play bass like a total m*****f***er.* Job done. * Note that point #5 is the most important one.

Decals generally are a bad idea, but then I think the same thing about variable scale fingerboards, so we will probably disagree.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='933854' date='Aug 23 2010, 04:38 PM']+1 for addressing the slappping noise this year although Im intigued as to how that will be resolved?[/quote]

[quote name='lanark' post='933787' date='Aug 23 2010, 03:40 PM']Cheers for all that info, TNIT: I guess I just need my bass and bits then. I'm sure Steve's got it but has yet to pass it all on. Which is your band and when / where are you playing?[/quote] Yeah I'm just taking bass, pedals, etc. because I've got to get my double bass, my girlfriend and camping gear in the car too. Normally I'd take my amp and leave the girlfriend at home but she does the face when I say stuff like that. I'm playing with a rock/reggae band (Copasetics) on the Sunday on the Oxman stage and then we're doing an unplugged set in the Cabaret tent that evening, I'm also doing some stuff with the Arts Barge guys on the Saturday, some collaborative stuff with a couple of other bands, not sure what time, they've got me bowing my DB so that should be fairly disastrous. That's probably the sort of thing they wanted to get you guys involved with if you were available.

It looks like you're on the Oxman stage at 12:30pm on Saturday. Backline bass amp will be a Hughes & Kettner 300w head and an Ashdown 2x10 cab. I was thinking about bringing my own backline but tbh for a half hour slot I don't know if I'll bother, but I need to find out what they've got on the other stage we're playing on first... Edit: To answer your questions in the other thread: They request that you arrive 2 hours before you're due on, at Gate 4, and that your whole act arrives at the same time. The main contact in your band should've received all this info by now but I can email it all to you if you PM your address (can't find a way to attach files to a PM).

Do you know which stage you're playing on? I've got loads of information here and contacts emails and phone numbers for both the guy who's running the music end of Arts Barge and one of the two guys who's booking the wider festival. Send me a PM and I should be able to help. The two larger stages (Dukes, Oxman) have backline listed in PDF format I've got them here on my desktop if you need it, the Arts Barge setup is less clear but I'm about to nudge them for more info myself since I've just found out I'm playing two slots with them over the course of the weekend.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='932340' date='Aug 21 2010, 11:28 PM']I played the Intro to NIB by Black Sabbath at a gig in Galashiels and only realised when the guitarist came in that I'd began playing it in the wrong key. We had to stop and start again - my worst mistake ever.[/quote] Haha. One of the tunes we recorded the last time we were in the studio, my tracks were the first to go down. When it came to recording everybody else they found out they were in the wrong key and all the horn parts had to be re-written.

I think if I went to a bass guitar trade show it would put me off the instrument for life.

Got to play with four other bassists in a "section" today backing some pop bands on a few songs. I've decided I love the bow and I'm going to work a lot harder on it from now on. Everybody had a nicer bass than me though, mine was the only one with a ply top.

Any more advice? I'll be seeing the guy today.

Vocals: Ad Rock, Biz Markie, Shaun Ryder, Joe Jack Talcum Guitars: Tom Morello, Vernon Reid, Mark Day Bass: Mark Brydon, Kim Deal, MCA Drums: Tim Alexander, Pat Wilson, Chad Sexton Turntables: Terminator X, Premier, Qbert I'd rotate 'em.

[quote name='Doddy' post='931845' date='Aug 21 2010, 12:51 PM']I love it,but let's be honest it's not easy-especially if you are doing a self financed tour,with little money involved. By tour,I don't mean three or four days on the trot-I mean weeks.[/quote] So long as you know how it's all getting paid for it's not a problem. If you're relying on money turning up as you go though, that's a stress and it will never work out how you planned. Finance the thing first, otherwise it is guaranteed to be a miserable trip.

I think I mostly like jazz. I don't like the '80s stuff where it was all synths and electric guitars and knitting machine sweaters with Kandinsky / Cosby Show patterns on, that sounds sh*te, but when it's a bunch of Black Panther look-a-likes flying through a dozen chord changes a bar it's just plain exciting to listen to. That's all there is to "get" about it, to me. [quote name='BurritoBass' post='932138' date='Aug 21 2010, 07:17 PM']Personally speaking, my Dad was a pro drummer in the 60s and Jazz is his main love. He's tried with me & the irony is all my musical tastes come from my Mum.[/quote] Same here, my mum's favourite stuff is the big band swing sound so I grew up listening to a lot of Tommy Dorsey and Duke Ellington and Ted Heath and Glenn Miller. Funnily enough I even took up trombone casually, I've still got one on a stand behind me but I rarely play it, I was never any good.

We're on at Galtres too, really looking forward to it. We were supposed to be doing some collaborative stuff with the Arts Barge guys but not sure if it's going to happen now, it's been left a bit late. Hopefully be there in time for your set on Saturday.

Raefus and Christiaka Khan?

We used to tour all summer pretty much, did three years of that. Never had a physical fight between band members but came close a few times and worked our way through half a dozen tenor sax players (they seem to be the most highly strung). Fortunately there were ten of us in the band and we took 2 vans, so it was easy to seperate people who were rubbing eachother up the wrong way. We managed to crash a couple of rental vans too, one we rolled with six musicians, six bottles of beer and two pizzas in the back. Miraculously nobody was hurt but the interior looked pretty funny, and the van was a write-off.