Painy

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1461137616' post='3031685'] Be on time (or even early), take one bass which will do most of the songs, check al your gear is working properly before setting out, lock in with the drummer and only play the parts that were recorded. If those parts had effects then use the same, if not keep the sound clear of effects. For a rock covers band wear jeans and a tee shirt. And then, when you`ve gone through the songs, ask them the questions about effects/different basses/flourishes/gig-wear. And good luck. [/quote] Not a lot you can argue with there. Most rock covers bands will be looking for a bass player who keeps it simple (any Muse or Rush covers aside obviously) solid and tight but gets the feel right. If they want to see if you can play like Billy Sheeran too then no doubt they'll give you a chance to let rip at some point too. And again good luck

I'd also add that, while you can shape your sound to a certain extent just on your amp, there will always be certain sounds that it can't do on its own (after all, if an amp could do every possible sound we'd all be using the same one. It's not just about adding more bass or mids or whatever either. The VT Bass for example gives a really aggressive punch which is more to do with how it responds to your attack and the way the note then decays than to do with any kind of EQ. This YouTube video shows the difference it can make pretty well (whether it's to your personal taste or not obviously). http://youtu.be/ZBKxMaWSKuU

[quote name='DiMarco' timestamp='1460959930' post='3030055'] Whenever I seem to have found my tone, the week after it seems to sound WAY different with the same settings. [/quote] That's what I'm afraid of! Fingers crossed though.

To be fair that whole band sounds fantastic but that's a rhythm section I could listen to all day.

I've had a complete change of gear over the last 6-12 months for 2 main reasons: I've gone lighter and more compact with my amp to save my back and I've gone from active 'coffee table' basses to passive P and J basses simply because my tastes have changed. Unfortunately I have been struggling to get a sound I'm really happy with (although truthfully that has been the case since I got rid of my old Trace rig over 10 years ago and I'm not going that heavy again or looking for that sounds anymore anyway). With the arrival of a new compressor I decided to get it sorted properly and spend a bit of time working on my sound. Over the last couple of weeks I drove my wife (and probably my neighbors too) crazy by setting my full rig up in the kitchen, gathering my collection of pedals together and cranking the amp up to gig volume to experiment. We'll at last nights gig it all paid off. Various 'effects' aside, signal chain for the core sound is Squier VM P5, Palmer Deepressor, Aphex bass Xciter, Tech21 VT Bass, Aguilar AG500 head into 2 x DB112 cabs. I'd say the result was something like the punch and bite of Billy Gould's tone on The Real Thing album but with a meatier bottom end which is pretty much the description I'd have used if you'd asked me what my ideal tone would be. Can't wait for the next gig now although typically we've got next weekend off!

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1460808768' post='3028955'] Get some big screens and the band could play remotely so they wouldn't even have to travel to the gig. [/quote] Or even better everyone could just stay home and watch MTV......

Just received the EHX Nano Clone chorus pedal I bought from Simon. Arrived really quickly and well packaged and a nice easy smooth transaction with great coms throughout. Deal with confidence. Painy

Didn't someone post recently that they'd been sent an almost identical message through Gumtree?

Not rare, not old and certainly not valuable in a monetary sense. I've owned basses that cost an awful lot more (15.79 times more to be exact) but I absolutely LOVE this bass! Who'd have thought my favorite bass I've ever owned would turn out to be a humble Squier.

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1460316276' post='3024635'] They are great basses, always thought that - love the P5 [/quote] This one in particular in fact!

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1460315792' post='3024627'] Yes precisions; a squier VM totally turned my head to their total awesomeness [/quote] Exactly this!

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1459672545' post='3018452'] I'll be the lone voice here and say that the Bass Soul Food should get you that sort of drive without a problem. Not the exact tone but close enough for rock and roll, and if you listen to the original it's not got masses of drive anyway. [/quote] I'd have to agree actually. I don't really think the bass on the recording is actually all that heavily overdriven and, depending on how you set the tone and blend controls on the Soul Food, there's actually a bit more juice available from this pedal than I think its often given credit for.

Just wondering if anyone had ever AB'd these two? I have the VT Bass (V2) and I love the punchiness I get from it in front of my amp (Aguilar 500 into 2 x DB112 cabs) but I'm wondering what the TH might sound like in its place. What do they do that's similar and what that's different (apart obviously from the DI feature of the TH)?

I'm in Norfolk. Is that too far?........

Loads of favorites but to pick one out would have to be Glenn Hughes.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1457108116' post='2995469'] Something tells me I need one, that I won`t be a real bassist until I have one, [/quote] I do use a compressor but when I was first looking to get one I was widely advised to get one where all the parameters could be adjusted and with good metering. Because the pedal I'm using is actually a very simple Mooer Yellow Comp, I often feel that I'm not using a 'proper' compressor and should look to replace it with something that has more bells and whistles. Truthfully though my basic little compressor sounds exactly how I want it to.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1456491887' post='2989568'] What do you think I'm using for a face..? [/quote]

[quote name='bassbiscuits' timestamp='1456415424' post='2988819'] Don't some makers do that now, i.e. vibration treating the bodies to simulate string vibrations thru the body? [/quote] Yamaha have an artificial aging process they use on the wood for some of their higher end instruments - there are clips on YouTube of Billy Sheehan mentioning it's use on the latest Attitude model. Something to do with the way the Sapp in the wood crystallizes apparently. No idea if there's any real science behind it but apparently they have spent "literally millions of dollars" developing the process according to Billy!

Well I got to gig this setup for the first time last night so thought I'd share my initial thoughts. Straight off I have to say that this thing is loud. Bowel disintegratingly loud in fact. Fortunately all that volume is controllable with the volume knob so all is good. The other striking thing about this set up is just how damn sexy it looks IMHO. The Chocolate Thunder (and I'm still giggling to my self every time I say that by the way) colour looks very classy and coordinates nicely with the sunburst finish of my new bass too . I'm not gonna give a technical rundown of all the figures and inner workings (yawn) as they're all online anyway and I don't have them in any case. In a nutshell, it's a 500W, 2 channel (one clean, one overdriven) head running into 2 8ohm 1x12 dual rear ported cabs each with a tweeter (I opted to have the top one on full and the bottom one off). Soundwise I think the descriptions I've been given of the Aguilar sound as being a more modern sounding Ampeg are a pretty fair assessment - although the AG500 being a bit cleaner and more Hi-Fi than its stable mates also seems likely true. It is certainly more mid-focused than my old Ampeg rig but very much in a good way. Our lead player's fears that such a small rig might not deliver enough low end were soon allayed when I punched in the deep switch and he pooed himself a little bit. I also found the treble control gave a more (while still not harsh or glassy) cutting and defined sound than I was expecting - again, very much in a good way. The distortion channel I think I need to spend a bit more time with to get the best from it. I used it on Ace of Spades and there was easily enough gain on tap to push right into full on fuzz so at about 1 o'clock it was getting Lemmy- like levels of drive. Just need to work on the eq a bit yet to get the clarity in the mix. I may have to find something to get it up closer to ear level though as when I initially had what I thought was a nice onstage level sorted, our singer who was out front for the soundcheck had to get me to turn down. Or as he put it " That bass is sounding bloody visceral out here"! Overall - I love it!

Having just played my new VM P5 at a gig for the first time last night and writing this review for it's NBD thread, I thought I'd add it in here too. Well firstly fit and finish is all excellent with a nice tight neck pocket. Weight is 9lbs 5oz. The body appears to be made of 4 pieces of wood but there's some nice grain showing through. The tort guard is printed but looks fairly decent and is an inoffensive dark brown tort rather than red. All frets seem to be well levelled with no sharp ends. Hardware is simple but functional in true precision style. At a gig the tuners held their tune perfectly all night and I was surprised at how smooth the gears are for what will obviously be fairly budget units. The setup straight out of the box was very playable with a decent action and no fret buzz anywhere along the neck. I was able to drop the action even lower though and keep the notes ringing out clearly. Our lead guitarist even commented on how easy it is play when he tried it out for himself. For me the star of the show on this bass is the neck. Obviously neck profiles are a very personal thing but I can honestly say I've never had a bass neck feel more comfortable in my hands although of course, as always with these things, YMMV. Electronics also seem surprisingly good and it certainly sounds how a P-bass should. Both the volume and tone controls give a good, smooth linear response with no crackles and the jack socket holds the plug firmly with no wiggle and again no crackles. The pickup sounds exactly as I would hope a split coil would and has a surprisingly hot, but not overpowering output. In fact it puts out a touch more juice than my twin humbucker loaded (but also passive) Jazz. Overall I'd say I can't fault it at all but there is a touch (and I do mean just a touch) of neck dive. Nothing a set of lightweight tuners Wouldn't sort out but it's really not bad enough that I'd actually bother. Having now played it in anger I can honestly say that it's love. It sat in the mix exactly as a precision should but every note was clear, defined and punchy. I'm loving the traditional look too which for me is really refreshing after spending the best part of 20 years playing active 'coffee table' basses (for about 15 of those years I played Warwicks exclusively). It may have Squier on the headstock (which to be fair doesn't carry any shame anyway these days) rather than some fancy boutique brand that makes its trussrod cover screws from a secret blend of Kryptonite and Unobtanium but I think I may have finally found a bass I can love as much as the Warwick Steamer Stage 1 five string I had to sell for financial reasons a few years ago. I can see this being my go to bass for a long time!

That's a relief. Now I can stop looking at it every time I'm on Gumtree

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1456059249' post='2984916'] Is that a Warwick? It's certainly a different take on it. I can't decide whether I like it or not. [/quote] Yeah it's a Warwick Thumb. It does kinda leave me feeling torn too if I'm honest. On the one hand it is a truly beautiful work of art that demonstrates the pinnacle of the Luthier's craft. On the other hand I'd rather be seen stage wearing a bubblegum pink, high gloss PVC gimp suit than to be seen playing this down my local pub.

Well I got to gig this setup for the first time so thought I'd better give a quick review as promised. So first up - the bass. Well fit and finish is all excellent with a nice tight neck pocket. Weight is 9lbs 5oz. The body appears to be made of 4 pieces of wood but there's some nice grain showing through. The tort guard is printed but looks fairly decent and is an inoffensive dark brown tort rather than red. All frets seem to be well levelled with no sharp ends. Hardware is simple but functional in true precision style. The tuners held their tune perfectly all night and I was surprised at how smooth the gears are for what will obviously be fairly budget units. The setup straight out of the box was very playable with a decent action and no fret buzz anywhere along the neck. I was able to drop the action even lower though and keep the notes ringing out clearly. Our lead guitarist even commented on how easy it is play when he tried it out for himself. For me the star of the show on this bass is the neck. Obviously neck profiles are a very personal thing but I can honestly say I've never had a bass neck feel more comfortable in my hands although of course, as always with these things, YMMV. Electronics also seem surprisingly good and it certainly sounds how a P-bass should. Both the volume and tone controls give a good, smooth linear response with no crackles and the jack socket holds the plug firmly with no wiggle and again no crackles. The pickup sounds exactly as I would hope a split coil would and has a surprisingly hot, but not overpowering output. In fact it puts out a touch more juice than my twin humbucker loaded (but also passive) Jazz. Overall I'd say I can't fault it at all but there is a touch (and I do mean just a touch) of neck dive. Nothing a set of lightweight tuners Wouldn't sort out but it's really not bad enough that I'd actually bother. Having now played it in anger I can honestly say that it's love. It sat in the mix exactly as a precision should but every note was clear, defined and punchy. I'm loving the traditional look too which for me is really refreshing after spending the best part of 20 years playing active 'coffee table' basses (for about 15 of those years I played Warwicks exclusively). It may have Squier on the headstock (which to be fair doesn't carry any shame anyway these days) rather than some fancy boutique brand that makes its trussrod cover screws from a secret blend of Kryptonite and Unobtanium but I think I may have finally found a bass I can love as much as the Warwick Steamer Stage 1 five string I had to sell for financial reasons a few years ago. And now - the amp. Straight off I have to say that this thing is loud. Bowel disintegratingly loud in fact. Fortunately all that volume is controllable with the volume knob so all is good. The other striking thing about this set up is just how damn sexy it looks IMHO. The Chocolate Thunder (and I'm still giggling to my self every time I say that by the way) colour looks very classy and coordinates nicely with the sunburst finish of my new bass too . I'm not gonna give a technical rundown of all the figures and inner workings (yawn) as they're all online anyway and I don't have them in any case. In a nutshell, it's a 500W, 2 channel (one clean, one overdriven) head running into 2 8ohm 1x12 dual rear ported cabs each with a tweeter (I opted to have the top one on full and the bottom one off). Soundwise I think the descriptions I've been given of the Aguilar sound as being a more modern sounding Ampeg are a pretty fair assessment - although the AG500 being a bit cleaner and more Hi-Fi than its stable mates also seems likely true. It is certainly more mid-focused than my old Ampeg rig but very much in a good way. Our lead player's fears that such a small rig might not deliver enough low end were soon allayed when I punched in the deep switch and he pooed himself a little bit. I also found the treble control gave a more (while still not harsh or glassy) cutting and defined sound than I was expecting - again, very much in a good way. The distortion channel I think I need to spend a bit more time with to get the best from it. I used it on Ace of Spades and there was easily enough gain on tap to push right into full on fuzz so at about 1 o'clock it was getting Lemmy- like levels of drive. Just need to work on the eq a bit yet to get the clarity in the mix. Overall, again I'd have to say its love. I may have to find something to get it up closer to ear level though as when I initially had what I thought was a nice onstage level sorted, our singer who was out front for the soundcheck had to get me to turn down. Or as he put it " That bass is sounding bloody visceral out here"!

Wouldn't have been the only Yin Yang bass not made by Fodera.