alexa3020

Thanks for the input so far. I realise that my first post is really not narrowing things down enough. my current gear is Hartke ha5500 or tc electronic bq500 my cabs are ampeg115 or gk212mbe Us p bass big muff pedal behringer bdi preamp (when using tc head only) the best combination is the Hartke & Ampeg, this is also really heavy too. The tc head and gk cabs are lightweight, but you do take a hit with the sound. I play in rock bands, one covers and one original. The drummer is loud in the originals band, so we are often at full whack and ears are ringing after practice. in terms of bass tones that I like in a rock setting, Colin greenwood springs to mind. He uses ampegs or ashdown (and sometimes a music man bass too). I don’t want a heavy amp. To be clear the budget would be for new head & cab. amps that spring to mind are mark bass & Aguilar, but I’d honestly be open to anything. in terms of eq I usually dial a nice tone and that’s it. I’ll then just use the tone control on the bass during a gig. I usually like to play clean, but occasionally kick in the big muff. apologies for the war and peace response!

I’m considering a new amp with a budget of up to £1000. This is a big purchase for me & I really don’t want to get it wrong. I can obviously test the amps in the shop and start dialling what I think are some really nice tones. My problem is when I get to the band environment they often don’t work, they just don’t sit right in the mix. so to sum up, I’ll not know if i like the amp until it’s used in the band environment. id be interested if anyone else has this problem & if so what’s the best thing to do?

It’s nice (for me!) to hear it was a struggle for someone else. it is a great tune. My other problem will be if I play it live my drummer will almost certainly play it faster too!

I’ve been playing bass a long time, and I just can’t manage the speed of this bass line. I am trying to build up to it slowly, but I can’t get it accurate enough to do it justice. would anyone else struggle with this? Or am I just lame?

I’ve been playing bass a long time, and I just can’t manage the speed of this bass line. I am trying to build up to it slowly, but I can’t get it accurate enough to do it justice. would anyone else struggle with this? Or am I just lame?

Ha! I tried a vulfpeck bassline the other day. Reckon I can report him for gbh!

Thanks for the tip Gaz, just downloaded the app. Looks like it work well.

Pineweasel, sounds like you took a similar approach to me which is reassuring. you’re right about respite on chorus, which is why I’m trying to make sure I can do a minute. Can you imagine trying to do 4 mins of 16th notes at that speed. ha! thats drummers for you.

Beedster, I take your point about the feel. My thoughts are that I need to be able to move my fingers fast enough to play at that speed before concentrating on the feel. chris, I’ve done the 0.75 YouTube trick and it feels comfortable. Unfortunately there’s too much of a jump going to full speed which is why I am trying to build up to it. With a basic drum beat. Interesting that NWR struggled with it - makes me feel a bit better about my slow progress

With lockdown and generally having more time to practice, I have been trying to improve my speed and stamina (always a weak point for me), with the end goal of being able to play rhythm stick. my practice technique is running through c major 2nd finger position across all 4 strings, one note at a time &16th notes. I can do about a minute of this practice at 95bpm before I make an error. And I’m aiming to be able to do a minute before I up the tempo. in terms of rhythm stick I can play the verse comfortably at 85bpm for around a minute. So I have a way to go, seems the song is 105bpm. my question is am I doing the right things? And I wanted to get a feel from anyone that’s done something similar how long i can expect it to take to increase speed.

I’ve just received my BQ500 and just thought I’d leave a few comments. 1st off the active passive switch is the correct way on my unit. I guess this is now fixed in the later batches 2nd, some have been reporting a loose screw. No signs of that on my unit 3rd, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t have the same amount of volume as my Hartke ha5500. Although I haven’t played the tc in a band environment, comparing the 2 side by side the tc seems to be generating similar volume levels. overall, early signs are good. Although I wish I could of found one with a black fascia, they look pretty cool! If I have any issues I’ll post them

Thanks for the responses chaps - all useful information I have found the TC Electronic BQ500 pedal for less than £180, it seems a bit of a steel at that price. It has limited controls, but I guess I could get a preamp pedal if I cant get the tone I'm after. Although I really dont have that much variation in my tone.

I'm looking to get a lightweight amp. As much as I like my Hartke HA5500, it is pretty heavy! The Hartke TX 600 looks good on paper, but there seem to be a lot of people complaining its just not loud enough. I found this video on Youtube I think this chap is endorsed by Hartke so I'm not sure whether to believe him, so I have just come to this community for some advice. Essentially, he says the gain needs to be turned way up to get the volume. With the gain up it will most likely not peak and still play clean. So, are people using it wrong or is it just not loud enough? Any opinions will be most welcome. Thanks

Not an album, but this track live is smokin’

Live at the ghost room - possibly my favourite 7 minutes of anything on YouTube

Great band. Check out the album ‘last day of summer’ it’s their best imo. After Corsicana lemonade the drummer and guitarist left to work with soul artist Leon bridges, which would explain the drop in quality. They were both great musicians but the drummer was outstanding

Probably not cool, but I was listening to a random rock playlist on Spotify & Prophets of Rage came on and they were so much better than everything else. Those rage boys have still got it! the last band to really blow me away though is king gizzard...... although some of their stuff is a bit hit or miss.

Decent! Your singer reminds me of Morrissey - you are the quarry era

Yeah, I did notice the mm in the video. I thought it might have a bit more growl to it if it was a mm. great sound though!

Looking to do some recording soon. This is the bass sound I’m after obviusly it’s a p bass in the image on the vid. Do you think it’s a p bass on the recording? oh and slap bass and Radiohead - who knew! cheers

I'm sure most of you guys have heard about this movie - but if not : https://beneaththebassline.com/ I heard about this movie a little while ago, and have been wanting to see it since. Luckily for me they are showing this in Cambridge (near me!) in one of the (many) college auditoriums. It Includes Q&A after the film with director/producer Nick Wells (editor iBass Magazine) and Cambridge based bassist, Tiago Coimbra Only £5 a ticket. https://www.wegottickets.com/event/450526 Just thought I'd let you guys know - if you didn't already! Cheers

Digital music is so much easier! However, the thing I do like about physical is your more likely to listen to an album in its entirety. I do have Vinyl, but I don't buy into 'Vinyl sounds better' argument - especially for modern music, which is mostly recorded digitally

Twincam - I Couldn't agree more! The shop in question was PMT - perhaps a smaller independent store would take the time to do this.

Thanks for the advice twincam - I had no idea what ski jumping was (I do now after a little investigation). Antylocker - I'm waiting for that moment when I just know its the one I want. It was hard to tell in the shop I tried as the setup was not great - I don't know if its typical that display basses are not set up particularly well!

Antlockyer -Did you find there was any variation in quality in mia p basses?