NancyJohnson

I'm not looking to go down the route that all basses sound the same and that the different nuances get lost in the mix (that's been covered lots of times), but isn't there an inevitability that if you're emulating/copying a pickup configuration used elsewhere that there will be a degree of similarity with the source tone? I've owned four Spector basses and they all had different guts; of the last two, the Euro LT had Barts and a Darkglass circuit, the current Euro X has EMGs and a Spector Tone Pump. Tonally I'd take the Euro X over the LT every day of the week, but they didn't sound much different (the X just seems to have more attack). They've made a lot of basses and switch around the electrics at will. I'm sure players will be able to say there's a distinct Spector tone (much as you have a distinct Precision/Jazz/Rickenbacker/Stingray/Thunderbird tone), but with Spector there's just too many levels of switcheroonie to be able to say, 'Yep, that's a Spector.'

I have a distinct image in my head of this being explained to me by a sound tech when we were doing a gig at my college, early 80s. Strodes College, Egham. I recall him drawing out a reasonably simple wiring diagram explaining exactly this, explaining part of the effect down to things being partially out of phase with either side of the stereo output. There were four of us sagely nodding our heads, all the while clearly not understanding a thing he was saying. Must have born fruit somewhere along the line, all four of us ran studios at some point and two of the number run an extremely successful mastering business to this day.

Soundman: 'I say, you two, yes you, the bass player and the guitarist. Yes you. Would you be so kind as to turn your amps up a smidgen? The stage sound is a bit quiet.'

Possibly not...it's 10gb.

Didn't I send that one to you?

Moooorning kids Just wondering whether anyone has embraced multi-channel audio (I'll refer to it as surround from now on) in any capacity and - if the original tapes are available - what they'd like to see moving forward. My particular take. While I wasn't a fan of the first album, I really embraced Tears for Fears from Songs From The Big Chair onward. XTC? Loved the singles, wasn't really a big fan as such until about 15 years ago. Both these bands have undergone the Steven Wilson effect, with the first three albums and The Tipping Point from Tears for Fears albums released in surround and by my count there's seven XTC albums. While a lot of people are backsliding furiously to embrace vinyl (and I have no issue with that), I just feel that the surround releases just (literally) expand the listening experience and credit to Steven Wilson for releasing new material in this format at the same time he releases music in a stereo format. I'll admit that playback is a bit of a faff if I'm actually putting the discs in a Blu-Ray machine, but the discs are easy enough to rip and stream from a NAS. The Seeds Of Love album is mentally good. Moving forward, what would I like to see? Selfishly these would be based around personal choice. Something from early Japan (Quiet Life, probably), Extreme Pornograffiti, maybe Jane's Addiction Nothing's Shocking! or Vivid by Living Colour. Jellyfish. Man alive, the format would just live for both the original Jellyfish albums. Just for the craic some of Danny Elfman's whimsical soundtracks for his Tim Burton projects (there's a 17CD Box of stuff, loads of extra material, that's mind-blowing in it's scope, so it would lead you to believe that there has to be content to allow a surround mix.)

I used a house Ampeg cabinet at last Friday's gig. It weighed a ton. Granted it sounded lush and capable, but in truth not particularly much different to the pair of 1x12s I run. All I kept thinking was how I'd actually transport the Ampeg from the car park (three levels down) the 100m to the venue and then up a tight U-shaped stairwell. And then back again at midnight.

If it's me who makes a mistake (ie wrong notes), then I'll play the same thing again next time around. Beyond this, follow the singer. I think we're all of a certain standard, it's original material and we can just play through any issues. I doubt anyone out front really gives a toot.

I never carry a second bass. Living on the edge. My only (minor) fear is battery failure, but I tend to check these before I leave the house (with a Batt-o-Meter).

I just see guys jumping all over pedals - guys *obviously* seem to think stomping on a chorus/etc. for a few bars in a certain place will make all the difference, but in truth from front of house those nuances are lost. I run a wireless once in a while; one of those Lekato things (USB charging, tiny), headstock tuner. The Darkglass does dirty perfectly well for me!

Just an observation here, based off the numerous photos here, I'm still in awe of the pedalboards some of you guys are running. I took a (somewhat easy) decision to just nail my desired tone through the Darkglass AO head, travel light and leave everything else at home; so much so all the outboard gear is for sale here. I'm knocked out that people speak to me post gig and comment on my tone (four people on Friday in Brighton). Makes me warm and fuzzy.

So following the euphoria of last week's festival appearance, lase night was very much a back to business affair. Getting hot and sweaty to 40 people upstairs at The Pipeline in Brighton. Succinct review from promoter Andy Cavendish (who said he has '500 bands in my Rolodex'). We actually ran out of songs and played our opener again! Spector EuroX/Darkglass AO900 through house Ampeg cab.

I've just had a clean out and update of passwords. I tend to use Firefox and Thunderbird for web/email, lots of samey passwords and on checking, lots of passwords for dormant sites. I've just used the Google random password generator to fast track changes and will work out how to synch everything later. I'm a mod on a Facebook musician site and we took group membership private on that about a year ago following several nefarious attacks and p*rn-related posts. It's only got 2,000 members (fnarr), but sometimes it was a royal PITA to keep spam down.

I'd play it, but jikes, a BBoT. Sigh.

If there's a positive to take from the amount of fraudulent activity, it's that Paypal and banks do seem to have upped their game recently and now require an additional level of authorisation via their apps before money can be moved. I have seen a higher level than normal of spammy emails coming through in recent days.

A few years back I rocked up to Andertons to have a quick look at the basses, out of everything hanging in there the Schecter J-4 was just a country mile better; sounded nice, excellent set up, very playable. While I wouldn't necessarily buy/play one, it did seem pretty good VFM. Just taking a peek, the Nikki Sixx J-4 is discounted to £899 at the moment. Only in distressed ivory at the moment (I seem to recall there were greeny ones originally).

I didn't have anything to do with the final edit; it's unwatermarked stock footage...really don't know the source.

Here's a full sized comp. We're a punkyish/alternativeish four piece. Singer Eddie fronted Department S (and before anyone one asks, yes we do), guitarist is ex-Members (amongst others), session drummer (loads) and moi.

I'd been wanting to run a twin 1x12 set up for a while. Cabs are great tonally and more than capable. Lightweight, generally leave the tweeter/horn on the midway setting. The AO900 head took a long while to bond with; I'm happy enough now. Post-DI to the desk, only run it to about 25% live, which is more than enough. My only criticism of last night is more my fault; the output on this bass is super-hot, it's got a John East on it, so need to do some set up tweaks (pickups down or adjust the output down on the East, which I'm sure is an option).

We played the Alice's Wicked Tea Party festival last night. There's scant information about this online, but it's an independent event held in a big field located equidistant between Corfe Castle and Wareham in Dorset. The site has two barns about 20m apart, each with a full stage set up; while one stage is busy, the other is setting up. The barns are both draped in camo and parachute silks. Line checks only and finger's crossed. We had an incredible sound guy, who said he were the best band of the weekend (so far...). Fantastic PA system in both barns. 45 minute set, I'd say 175-200 people in for us. Very appreciative and responsive. Took my Lull and Darkglass kit. Post-DI. Tone was nice and gnarly. My wife was out front and she said we were a firm 8/10. (I've dragged her along to enough gigs and if we were sh*t, she wouldn't hesitate in saying so.) Two hour drive home. Nothing better than sleeping in your own bed.

Wouldn't make a claim to a decade, but if you want a ten year period I'd go '73-82. Kicking off as a pre-teen, that ten year period had a profound effect on me musically; The Sweet, Sparks, Mott the Hoople, Kiss, Queen, Rush, Aerosmith, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Heartbreakers, Japan, Cheap Trick, Van Halen, Motley Crue. Message ends.

The colloquial 'we' love a band with a gimmick in this country and count Royal Blood, Mr Blobby, St Winifred's School Choir, The White Stripes and Benny Hill in there. I'm an ageing indie/punk/post-hardcore bloke; honestly couldn't tell you the title of a single Royal Blood song despite listening to them a few times.