Dood

They are brilliant, I'm a big fan of D'Addario and use these mostly too. All of my guitars have D'Addario strings, I really rate the XS coated for electrics. (I do however grab the '2-pack' versions of the standard bass XL's as they are often cheaper, but prefer these and Pro Steels.)

Here's a review I shot a year or so ago for the Aguilar DB599 Compressor Good lord, who picked that thumbnail ... lol.. I look possessed!

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I totally understand the "why" bit. I guess I have a "why must it be this way / how do we improve on this" mindset with pretty much everything. You should see the pile of product designs I've scribbed out on paper, never to see the light of day 🤣😂.

I learned my very first bass line from start to finish on a bass that wasn't a bass:- As a kid, we didn't have lots of money and, generally we had to figure out how to overcome problems without finanical support. I built my first bass effect pedals because I couldn't afford to buy them. My first "distortion preamp" for my bass and indeed later a whole bass head and cabinet I built from scratch. A massive 400W beast and a single 15" bass cab. An impressive sound for a teenager! Anyway, there is reason for this preamble, honest. I really wanted a bass, I needed one, it actually pained me not having one, the draw to the instrument was pretty extraordinary when it took hold and let's face it, 35+ years later the obsession hasn't dwindled one bit. So, I took a hacksaw to my student-sized acoustic guitar and cut the nut for 4 strings. Unfortunately I was unable to drill the bridge to suit the spacing of four strings at that end, but still I had to conquer and overcome lol.. I learned Another One Bites The Dust by Queen as my first full song, start to finish, note perfect on an acoustic guitar with four wonky strings. I still have the guitar with it's battle scars!

- unpopular opinion: I've always thought that plain pickups on basses aren't that elegant. Beautiful bass tops with eye catching curves only to have a pair of plain black rectangles front and centre. But, that is what we have gotten used to seeing and that's what we are mostly stuck with. I do like to see pickup covers that have been colour matched, or with matching wood shells for example. I even like to see pickups hidden in ramps, but then we have the same problem again where most ramps are big squares with no thought to the instrument aesthetic. Originally, I'd planned to completely encase the pickups on my Shuker basses with a (flip-paint) colour matched shell, not unlike the bonnet of a car, hiding away the innards but still looking like it belongs. Maybe the next one... Oh and don;t get me started on pickup tangs lol.. I like that EMG (and Dimarzio) offer split coil models with no tang offering a flat surface for those who like to perch their thumb on "top".

I SO want this too. I want a split coil pickup in a radiused shell, encompassing the full width of a standard spilt-coil arrangement. The radius would match the radius of the neck by design and would totally do away with the need for a separate ramp in my case. Even Billy Sheehan used* epoxy and lots of sanding to create a ramped top to his split coil pickups, whereas I feel sure that a wide radiused ramp with the P coils encolded in it would be a great solution and, far more elegant. *Yup, I am aware of the Dimarzio Relentless pickups, they do look smart.

Then and now.. So many laughs.

I have very fond memories of hearty belly laughs with Nick and the odd cheeky selfie when we met up. I’ll miss his light that he brought in to any and every space. Rest in peace mate.

Perfect...

I know its a small detail, but I wish Fender would bring back the early 70's headstock with the full size (Gotoh shape) tuning keys. I wanna see a nice TV script decal too, I really have no idea why they thought the newer shape looks better?

Sire goes headless

I'm not there in person, but my fellow staff members from Bass Gear Magazine are, so I'm looking forward to seeing some pics appearing in my inbox of kit I'll need to get my lil paws on for my usual in-depth video reviews! Keep an eye on our Facebook page for posts too.

If Tricky can't help, I'd recommend https://www.noisyhammer.com who have built cabinets and kit for well-knowns as well as doing custom, boutique and even interesting upcycling projects. I've also noted that recently they have brought a luthier in for instrument servicing and building too. Tell 'em I sent you as they're local to me.

For 32nd note percussive phrases, I like to incorporate second and third fingers on my right hand too. For example, Thumb, LH, Pop Index, Pop Middle. Played slowly, to practice, each can be played on the beats 1, E & A in a sixteenth note phrase. Up to tempo its sounds really cool. Aside from the Left Hand percussive slap, Dirk Lance (ex-Incubus) replaced it with a palm slap from his right hand. Coincidentally, this was covered in a Scott's Bass Lessons Instagram post recently, though I remember getting exicted about that sound when the album SCIENCE came out in, I guess, the late 90's. Turning triplets in to straight 16ths and incorporating the 4 note groupings above, it's possible to create some really crazy 'odd timings' without even thinking about it. (Thumb, LH, Pop) + (Thumb LH Pop1 Pop2) would give me a fun 7 beat phrase for example. Very tech metal / prog!

I do as a matter of course! I'm using EMGs on all my basses with the QC and the input gain definitely needs pulling back even as a starting point. Check the input level meters to see what's coming in to QC. I also keep an eye on the output level meters too, (hence the hard limit at the end of the chain). I do have one issue with the QC with regard to this, a post maybe for another day, but I wish that QC had an analogue "line driver" at the output to make up for lost gain in the DSP path by staying "in the green" when gain staging.

Oh! I forgot to add! I can't wait until nDSP bring the Cory Wong plugin over to QC. I love the SSL desk preamp and "4th position compressor" (in parallel mode). In fact, the sound I want to use 90% of the time is the Cory Wong plug-in. It's brilliant for fundamental bass tone.

I've got a little time off from gigging so I'm planning on getting my QC up on the bench to have a look at the live presets I use. I need to tweak a few things, namely the compressors. Theyt all nearly do what I want. They are good though! For general use I like the 1176. I like chaining the 1176 and the Opto together for the 1176/LA-2a trick as well and, at the very end of my chain I have a very fast comp for brickwall limiting. I'm pretty sure that's the 1176 set to 20:1. I am thinking about adding an always-on external comp as I have the rather amazing Becos Stellar pedal at my disposal which has a transformer coupled DI out that sounds FAT. It seems a shame not to use it.

It won’t unless: a) direct monitoring is enabled on the interface, in which case the computer is essentially bypassed or b) there is a configured application running that the signal path is flowing through, such as a standalone amp sim or a digital audio workstation

I teach all of this as part of my teaching syllabus. I think recording and performance is part and parcel, important even for the “kit bag” that a modern musician needs. I’d say to anyone struggling to set up recording gear, PA, IEMs and (of course my other day job), everything bass gear: Seek out some lessons with someone who knows what they’re doing and talking about. A few pennies on a face-to-face lesson or two can save ££££ in the long run

Yeah on reflection I agree.. I’m still dozy from having played a big corporate show last night 😴 😁

That’s the one! Thank you!