Painy

About 15 years ago I was setting up at a gig and was kneeling down plugging in my pedals while our manager was helping to set up our lights (T-bar rack of 4 Par cans mounted on a tripod). The venue had a high ceiling so the stand was being extended up as high as it would go when one of the lamps fell out of a can and hit me (spade connectors down) on the back of the head. Aside from the spade connectors slicing my scalp open so that my hair ended up all matted with blood, I also had concussion which meant I had to play the gig sat down on a bar stool so that I didn't keep falling over. Fun times.

I used Rotosounds for years because I really liked the way they sounded. Occasionally I'd try a different brand because of how quickly the Roto's lost their zing but never found any that sounded as good to me. That is until I bought a bass a couple of years ago that came fitted with D'addario Pro Steels. To me they actually sound way better than my old Roto's and last about 4 times longer. Really don't feel the need to try other brands at all now because the Pro Steels are perfect for me!

Had an AH400SMX as my first 'proper' amp. Bought it new on the 18th September 1999 to be exact then sold it about 8 years ago to our lead guitarist's younger brother. When my Ampeg packed in a few months ago he was good enough to lend it back to me for a gig and it really was one of those 'why the hell did I ever sell this?' moments. Truly awesome sounding amp! If I wasn't looking to go lightweight with my rig right now then I'd have been begging him to sell it back to me.

Personally I wish that I could play like her so that I could tastefully refrain from doing so.

I use a Joyo Roll Boost pedal for this. Up to 32dB of clean boost (bearing in mind pushing it too much can obviously still clip your amp's preamp), true bypass and under £40 new on eBay.

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1445779816' post='2894064'] I was underwhelmed by the B3K but it looks like we're in the minority! [/quote] [quote name='FretNoMore' timestamp='1445931135' post='2895406'] I know I'm in the minority but I really don't like the tone of Darkglass pedals. [/quote] Vive la Resistance!!!

[quote name='Subbeh' timestamp='1445973719' post='2895870'] A lot of 'big name' player's stuff just doesn't appeal to me but this guy I could listen to all day long, sublime player. [/quote] +1 Too many of those name players are all about using music to showcase their technicality where as he seems to just be playing great, melodic, groovy music that happens to demonstrate excellent technique. And again comes across as a really likable guy too.

Good player / bad sound? If you paint a picture using sh#* as your medium, then irrespective of the artistry that goes into the process, the end result will invariably stink!

Not sure I'd be able to come up with one 'best' or even a personal favourite (although most of the potential contenders have already been mentioned here). I would add though that I do have a soft spot for Steve Harris / Nicko McBrain. (I'd also add John Entwistle / Keith Moon but I'm not sure they would actually qualify as a rhythm section per se).

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1445800132' post='2894339'] Then there's a Bergantino CN212 in the classifieds. I'd bet my CN212 against your guitarists any day. [/quote] To be honest I'd prefer the modular aspect of 2 cabs but reassuring that 2 12" drivers can be capable of standing up to pretty much anything - given a relatively efficient cab anyway. I'm also thinking that the advantage the extra height the 210s would give could be gained by lifting the 12s of the ground a bit anyway. Hmmm. Think I might have to see if I can push my budget a bit, or maybe just go for used, for some better quality 112 cabs - any impartial thoughts on the pair of Purple Chili PCB112T Neo cabs in the market place at the moment?

In my recent thread asking how best to spend £1000 of my lovely wife's inheritance money, I got some great advice and overall decided I'd rather go for a complete new lightweight rig with a class-d head than get a heavy all tube head to power my existing cabs - a decision borne out by having had some back pain this week. Anyway, I was pretty much set on a pair of Fender Rumble 210 cabs but I'm now wondering if I should maybe consider a pair of 112 cabs as an alternative. The obvious pros and cons are the 210s would make for a taller stack and therefore get closer to ear level and I'd be confident that they'd move enough air (loud rock band up against hard hitting drummer and 2 100W valve Marshall half stacks with no PA support) but the 112s would be lighter, more compact and also seem to be the flavour of the month which I imagine must be for a reason but I don't know if they would cut it as I've never used 12s before. So would you go 112 or 210 and why (and then I promise to stop asking you all questions for a while) ?

I'm gonna go against the grain a little and say I actually thought the Darkglass pedals actually lost a fair bit of the weight, heft and punch of the dry tone (have to agree with others here though that these are some very sexy clean tones) and on the last 'Jaco-ish' section I'd even go so far as to say I thought they sounded really quite boxey. Personally I loved that the Tech 21 pedals seemed to accentuate the heft and punch being the grit - but then I'm a big fan of the Ampeg sound so I guess my preference is to be expected. Just to add to Bass Pedal Geek that I'm loving the site you've put together - great resource and nicely and simply laid out!

It is obviously very subjective of course but there is clearly some kind of musical common denominator. It's the reason certain pieces of music can become 'popular'. Just looking at different genres of music, there is great diversity in people's tastes but they are all almost universally recognisable as musical in some way whether we enjoy them personally or not. So whilst individual preferences come into it, I do think you also have to take into account a general consensus approach. If an individual enjoys listening to nails down a blackboard or even cats getting it on at night, does that make it musical or that individual a bit weird? Basically it's a question to which I would give both personal and general answers. What is musical to me would be something both melodic (and more specifically - to my western ear - I'm a fan of the major & minor scales, their modes and other derivatives etc.) and rhythmic. What is musical generally I would say is simply a sound in which the listener takes pleasure.

Gotta say I'm impressed mate. Doesn't seem any time ago you were just dabbling in putting together Warmoth self builds and now you're producing some really classy looking stuff of your own design. Looking forward to seeing the finished article!

Makes me think of a Rhino Beetle for some reason.

Nige just bought a wireless guitar bug system from me after I replied to his wanted add. Superb communication, immediate payment and a complete gent and a pleasure to deal with. Deal with confidence!

[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1444667874' post='2884939'] Out of interest, would anyone recommend skipping a proper amp and simply using a pre-amp pedal into a PA/Power-Amp? [/quote] I've just started to do this with my Tech 21 VT Bass (it is into an amp head but straight into the power amp in socket - bypassing the heads preamp section altogether) and the sound I had at my gig on Saturday was probably the best I've ever had so yes I'd recommend trying it very highly. Incidentally, the VT Bass DI is one I'd definitely try too as it's a Sansamp based pedal (I believe the guy from Avenged Sevenfold uses a Sansamp of some kind).

I've pretty much always used one - mainly for swells but for a while I used it as a volume attenuator setting the minimum volume slightly lower than the full volume. This meant that I could play with it rocked back most of the time and then rock it forwards to full for louder passages like a volume boost. My cheap and cheerful old plastic Bespeco pedal broke at my last gig after about 18 years service though so I'll be trying out my new Morley Volume Plus tonight. It has a footswitch to turn the minimum level control on and off so it can be used for full swells or as an attenuator which should make it a pretty versatile bit of kit.

Keep them in identical cases/gig bags then grab one at random without checking the contents as you go out of the door and let fate decide?

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1444407482' post='2883070'] It's all relative. Bass is by no means the heaviest instrument. For example, my tenor banjo is 12 Kg. [/quote] Hah, that's nothing. You should have felt the weight of my dad's Hammond Organ with 3 octave concave pedal board and a pair of Leslie speakers. You wouldn't want to wear that lot on a strap for too long!

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1444308294' post='2882098'] Ampeg SVT & 810 Why, because it just is. [/quote] Or just this.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1444308456' post='2882100'] Cauliflower. [/quote] (To recycle my hilarious comment from the other thread so it doesn't get missed and go to waste) "No never..... Not with those handles!"