Dood

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' post='1016357' date='Nov 8 2010, 01:53 PM']That's great, cheers. Pretty much a notch at 800Hz. Hmm, I doubt the Genz' mid Q is that sharp. I'll give it a go though.[/quote] I recall posting the frequency centres a while back with the amount of cut and boost in dB - but you'd get a pretty good idea from the plot above anyway. IIRC there was a boost at 80Hz, a notch (as seen) at 800hz. I can't remember what the third was though. It looks like a wide boost around 3K though!

[quote name='icastle' post='1015954' date='Nov 8 2010, 04:06 AM']d) [b] Illility [/b] - ok, I made that one up but you'll reduce the time off work for back problems and hernias [/quote] Brilliant!

[quote name='Dread Bass' post='1015884' date='Nov 7 2010, 11:45 PM']Will do. I am going to try to go see Alan before the end of the month.[/quote] Excellent! WOOP!

[quote name='Dread Bass' post='1015869' date='Nov 7 2010, 11:23 PM']Thats a good point about the Machine heads i will add that to my list of things to ask Alan about, Its getting pretty long LOL. Between my ACG, Alembic and Warwick i have a fairly good idea of what i am after. My spec has quite a few similaritys to Doodle actually. Most notably: Single cut, Ash body (no fancy top), mainly Wenge neck (from the Warwick), Maple fingerboard (i think undecided on this bit). My goal is to have a bass that i can take on tour and can get marked etc without me wanting to die. I bought my 6 string to play but i dont want it to get wrecked .[/quote] Excellent, sounds like a really nice spec! - I have to agree, I couldn't have a bass that I would be afraid to bump and mark.. on tour it will happen.. not a case of 'if' heh heh! Cool, I look forward to seeing it - oh - and of course a build diary??

[quote name='Dread Bass' post='1015845' date='Nov 7 2010, 10:52 PM']Yeah i am going Custom its going to be an ACG and it will have the asymmetrical neck which helps. TBH i think a lot of the pain i was experiencing was from wearing my bass too high so i have dropped it a bit and that helps. I also am planning to keep it as light as possible to save my back. I am going to re read your build thread for Doodle now. Can you suggest anything else important to consider in the spec that will help?[/quote] I had a couple of Tobias basses with an Asym neck - it did help - but I think when the neck gets wider - is as much about the carve suiting your hand that will help relieve aches. There are even some 5 string basses that fatigue my hand in crazy passages that my 7 string wont. Interesting stuff, but I'm not a physio so I cant explain why It could be that your Bass was too height - though I found that most of my issues were because the bass was too low. I have found that I have set my strap length so that if I am sat or stood, the bass is always in exactly the same position. This helps to minimise changing your technique if you get up out of your chair. It's important to exercise and stretch with any sport - and I think that with anything that requires further exertion (ie playing tech metal with a wide neck) should be treated the same way - so warming up properly etc.. I know, I know - it sounds boring, but it's worth it! Ok - Bass design - Discuss your options of wood choice to get those harmonics singing out - they will help to improve that low note tone. I mean, a quality tonewood - not a becuase it's pretty! But our ACG man knows his stuff as well - so will be able to tell you better than I. I already knew what electronics and pickups I wanted on board as I had been studying bass tones I liked that were seriously down tuned - I was pretty chuffed to hear that most of the guys were using the same make pups as I had been for years! However, I changed from P style active EMG soapbars to DCs as they have more bite and have a very high output. My neck is pretty damn flat nut to bridge to facilitate tap style etc, but this requires a lighter touch when rocking out to keep buzzes to a minimum - though I actually like a bit when I dig in! ummmm.. what else - super lightweight hardware!! 7 small tuning keys actually can be fatiguing on your shoulder when they are hanging at the end of a bass neck! - So either look for the lightest ones you can find (I use Gotoh Reso-Lite keys that were the lightest on the market at the time). Better still, have you thought about a headless bass? Gotta say, having a headless 6 string is awesome! it feels like not wearing a bass at all! - Hmmmm.. What if my Shuker 7 was a headless!! ?? Right, I'm rambling now - but if there's anything that is useful, then coooo-el!

[quote name='Dread Bass' post='1015833' date='Nov 7 2010, 10:37 PM']Yeah i am only 5'7 so i have quite small hands and i already get really tired when playing with Taken By The Tide when a lot of the song on the first 5 frets but the lines a very busy. Thats interesting and useful cheers Dood.[/quote] No probs! If you are going the custom route, there's a lot you can do to have the bass designed and set up to make dextrous passages less tiring too, especially in the lower registers. Make life easy for yaself

[quote name='purpleblob' post='1015823' date='Nov 7 2010, 10:24 PM']...... I've not got the greatest levels of concentration and (especially on the 8 string) find myself occasionally lost when playing them (i.e. don't know what string I'm on ) whereas the 4-6 strings are not so much of a problem.[/quote] You should see me on a 4 string!! I keep thinking the E is the B or F# and my brain gets confuzzled just the same!

[quote name='Dread Bass' post='1015805' date='Nov 7 2010, 10:08 PM']Thanks for the replys so far. Dood i was hoping you would chip in. You have a low F Sharp, do you have any problems with amps/cabs reproducing the open note?[/quote] Ahh no problem, happy to help. In a word, yes I have experienced trouble with getting that low F# to sound clearly. The first thing to bare in mind is that most speaker cabinets will not produce the fundamental notes, probably not much below a normal B string - and even if they did, you need lots of power to be able to get the volume of the fundamental loud enough to be useful. Obviously, choosing a Bass that is also geared up to add as much definition and clarity to that F# string will help no end too. I worked very closely with Jon Shuker in designing my lil beast. He is very knowledeable and understood what problems were likely to be encountered in the design and we worked on minimising them. Interestingly I am using non-ported cabinets at the moment - however they are 1000W RMS each and I throw a lot of watts at them - but I concentrate on the lower harmonics that the cabinets *can* produce on stage (By use of EQ for example). FOH PA with dirty great subs can worry about anything below that! Besides, you really don't want too many sub frequencies on stage anyway, because it all just turns to mush, your fellow musicians will just turn up to try hear themselves and the battle will just get messy!

Oh - and you'll no doubt be happy to hear that Rotosound manufacture the low F# string gauge you'll need

[quote name='Dread Bass' post='1015774' date='Nov 7 2010, 09:44 PM']I thought i would start this thread for people who own or have played 7 string basses to discuss pros vs cons etc. I am currently planning a new bass with a builder and it is looking more likely i am going to go with a 7 string with a low f Sharp . WHY? i hear 90% of basschat scream? Well my main band is a tech metal band and my guitarists are planning to buy 8 string guitars in the not too distant future. I already play a 6 string and use the full range of the bass so i dont wanna loose the high C string. Now i hear you all shout "just play the higher bits higher on the neck. Granted this would work for some sections but not all and i dont like the way some parts sound further up the neck opposed to in the first 5 frets say. What i wanted to ask the people who already use 7 strings is: What are the pros and cons of having a bass with that many strings? What do you use them for? Is it your main bass or do you just use it when the 7th string is required? Now i am half expecting loads of comments criticising people for using more than four strings but if we could please try to keep that to a minimum this could be a useful thread.[/quote] Cons???? Absolutely none at all! What i wanted to ask the people who already use 7 strings is: What are the pros and cons of having a bass with that many strings? - Ok, seriously now - the thing to be mindful is that a wider neck may require you to adjust your playing technique to accomodate playing a dextrous style of music. What do you use them for? - Absolutely everything! - Slap, Tap, Strum, Chords etc etc... I play ERBs because I like to experiment with different styles and genres and instead of having a whole selection of different instruments I really like the idea of a 'one bass fits all' plan! Is it your main bass or do you just use it when the 7th string is required? - Yes, both this and my 6 string Shuker are my main and only gigging / recording / practicing instruments.

[quote name='Flanker' post='1015012' date='Nov 7 2010, 09:24 AM']sh*te it's embarrassing to see the gear I've been through! The wife is right I do have a problem. Anyway here's some of my last years comings and goings........ [/quote] Beautiful! That P is gorgeous - and the Tec Rig looks great!

[quote name='steverickwood' post='1014121' date='Nov 6 2010, 11:51 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLvTVrHVbKU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLvTVrHVbKU[/url] Hopefully this link will work - apols for the unfinished mix, but here is my bass orchestra recording of The Cantina Theme from Star Wars. It uses 13 Basses: 4's, 5's, fretted/less, upright and uses various effects (I think the synth one is pretty close to the one on the original recording) and techniques including two-handed tapping, tapped harmonics etc utilised to try and replicate those on the recording. I had to transcribe each instrument from the original in order to decide how to orchestrate on my basses. So feel free to slate me or see it as I do as a piece of bass fun - your thoughts and critisisms are invaluable to me (provided they are constructive!!) Best Steve R (if link fails, go to youtube and type in Steve Rickwood and you will find it there amongst some other stuff I probably didn't want posted by other people!)[/quote] Love it - I'm gonna share your vid on my Facebook page!

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1003894' date='Oct 28 2010, 02:37 PM']Does your cab have a tweeter?[/quote] 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.

On a happy Spinal Tap note, I once had a lovely e-chat with Harry Shearer. He comes across as a really warm and affable chap. I'd love to meet him in person.

It's back up now. Sorry guys, I'm not sure what happened with the site. Thank you all for the kind comments

Wow!!! I'm off to see what other colours they do! I nice neon blue would look great on my Flip-painted Shukers!

Shep, have you considered the Line 6 X3 Live? - They're gonna be coming up cheap soon I reckon, now that the new HD models are being rolled out.

The Line 6 equivalents to the GT-6 allow you to name patches, but my long time favourites that are surprisingly easy to program AND are seriously good quality - TC Electronic effects units, such as the G Major, the G Major 2 and G-Force. You also have the Nova System and G-System too.

p.s - yes to option b. 250W going to each cab, more or less.

Are 2 Hartke 410XLs in parallel the same as one 810XL? Yes, they use the same speakers in both. Two cabs together will give you a 4 Ohm load and a total handling of 800W RMS. - to be honest, you'd be fine throwing the power of an LH1000 at the two cabinets with no fear of blowing them, if you are careful. Those XLs are pretty resilient - and don't forget, just because you have a 500W amp - it's not constantly running at that wattage - you'll only peak every now and then.

[quote name='ironside1966' post='1011557' date='Nov 4 2010, 01:40 AM']Yes I also play chords using harmonics.[/quote] Another sound I really love! - in stereo, with a tastey bit of dimension, ping pong delay and a 'real' reverb!