Greg Edwards69

The only issue I have with his videos is the pointless ‘behind the scene’ waffle, often from his car or on the stairs up to his studio, that takes up the first couple of minutes of every video. Just get on with it Scott!

We had our first gig since March last weekend. An outdoor event for a biker club in Pitsea (yeah, glamorous!). My playing was fine, but physically - well, let's just say I was out of practice of playing for extended periods of time, even with a couple of rehearsals - my back is still aching! Looks like the rest of the gigs we've had in the diary have now been cancelled. Only had three more this year two have cancelled and we're working on the assumption the third one will be. The inside scoop from a soundman at a prolific local music venue is that they don't expect live music to start up again until at least March 2021. If not later!

I find that easier with older songs - pre 'protools' era. Song structures tended to be simpler. These days there's song much chopping up and rearranging of song structures done after the recording process, song rarely adhere to a simple structure. Similar to my post above - the bass lines of modern songs are usually technically easy to play, but remembering the structures is the most challenging part.

For me it's "Get what you give" by the New Radicals. It's not a technically challenging bass line by any stretch, pretty simple to be honest. I just have a job remembering it all! There's a lot of beautiful chord voicing shaped by the bass note choice that seem to change every verse and chorus which make it dynamically interesting. Not to mention the tasteful fills here and there at the right place which I seem to forget when to play them.

I must admit, it irks me somewhat when people bash companies like Behringer for ripping off other companies designs, then it transpires that they play a Fender shaped bass that isn't made by Fender.

In the hole on the front bass skin. Acts like a bass port on a speaker cabinet. Their youtube channel has a load of information and demos of it. https://www.youtube.com/user/KickportTV

Our drummer has a roland bass drum trigger alongside his acoustic bass drum pedal which he plugs into the spare channel of my headrush frfr speaker. Usually reserves it few a few songs though, but it sounds great on the odd few 80s pop tunes or modern dance tracks that need 'that' sound. His acoustic bass drum however has been fitted with a 'kick port' device. Wow. I can honestly say it's probably the best upgrade any drummer can make to their bass drum. Tight, focused, deep and not flabby. Hardly needs any damping either. Although louder, it's more balanced with the rest of the kit, and often doesn't require mic'ing up in venues that usually require it. https://kickport.com/kickport

I know what you mean. I sometimes struggle to hit the right pitch when using IEMs for vocals only. I've found using an IEM in one ear and an earplug in the other helps a bit.

Sounds to me like a monitoring issue. What sort of guitar amps do your guys use and where are they pointing them? If they are having trouble hearing them when it's plenty loud enough out front it's likely a positioning and/or beaming issue. Remember, higher frequencies are more directional than lower ones. The other solution is to invest in a simple IEM setup. You could mic the guitar amps and put them through the monitor mix. This will also block out the crazy loud drummer. Another thought, I wonder how well the Phil Jones Ear Box would work with guitar amps? They'd definitely be able to hear themselves. https://philjonesbass.net/cms/index.php/product-eb-001/

Same here. The gears on my Yamaha Attitude's Xtender wore out causing slipping. Unfortunately, the ones used on the Attitude are custom made for Yamaha. However, I emailed Oscar and he sent me some similar replacement parts free of charge.

IME, the biggest, and potentially most damaging volume issues are at rehearsals in a small room rather than gigs. It's so easy to fall into the routine of turning up, plugging in and guessing the volume for the room. A methodical soundcheck based on the loudest acoustic instrument can work wonders for keeping the volume down. As much as guitarists don't like to be told it, they are not the most important part of the sound, they are the colour and flavouring. Typically, we start with drums, mic the bass drum if necessary. Then add bass guitar and it balanced with the drums. Lead vocals next, then guitars, keys and backing vocals. It's pretty easy and quick and stops the volume war before it has a chance to begin. Once we've done this process there is absolutely no reason for anyone to adjust their volume control. We also do the odd 'technical' rehearsal every now and then. Particularly as myself and both guitarists all use Helix devices, and our drummer has a digital sample device with a couple of pads and pedal trigger. So it's handy for setting patch levels and eq's at gig volume just to make sure everything's fitting together nicely and there's no massive volume spikes (or worse, not enough of a volume boost for solos)

Whilst true regarding the high cut, I do tweak it for the odd patch. However, I prefer to use the global eq to adjust my stage speaker and bypass it to FOH. So having a high cut per patch just work better for me. (FWIW, I tried an equal loudness Global eq curve that a Helix guru friend of mine created at the weekend. Worked quite well and worth experimenting with http://drtonelab.com/lab/jon-willis-live-comp). Yes, the standard parametric eq in the Helix is usually enough, but I'd love to hear some classic console emulations that I used to use in PodFarm. So many classic bass and guitar tracks were recorded this way. JHS even created the Colorbox pedal to emulate 'that' sound. Maybe Helix may model this pedal one day.

I had the pleasure of seeing Def Leppard at the O2 a couple of years ago. No amps on stage at all. All using Amp-FX straight to desk with IEM. The sound was incredible. Allegedly they dug out the Hysteria stems and created guitar patches based on those original recordings.

It for this reason I don't bother with cab sims or IRs with my Helix. I get a much better tone running the amp model through a simple eq block to tame the fizzy high end and straight to my frfr and/or FOH. Pretty much what a sound engineer would do with a DI from a real amp head. Sure, there's bigger touring acts who'll have their bass cab mic'd up alongside a direct signal, but for the average weekend warrior, it's not worth the faff and is pretty fruitless endeavour. As for recording. I agree, most 'famous' bass tones are often straight into the console via some expensive rack equipment. This is one area the helix is lacking. They've included powerful eq options and a plethora of compressors but only one very basic 'Studio Pre' model. Even some of line 6's older softward such as PodFarm offered a handful of studio console models.

Hmmm, maybe. It seems (to me at least) that bass players have been quite late to jump on the modelling bandwagon. I know a number of guitarists who've been using modelling amps since their infancy, as well as modelling guitars. They were doing that whilst were was busy exploring lightweight amps. It appears to be only the last 2 or 3 years that so many bass players have dived down the modelling rabbit hole (pretty much since the Helix and HX Stomp arrived on the scene).

It seems that more and more guitarists and bass players are going down the modelling route with either IEM or frfr backline, myself included. Is is the same as a real amp cooking behind you? No, it's not. But it's a darn sight easier to load in and out, and set up. Not to mention tailoring the sound for the room - I certainly feel less like I'm fighting the venue's acoustics with this setup. Sure, a real amp has a certain 'je ne said quoi', but how many average punters would be able to tell the difference? Do they even care. (Maybe if it's a multi-band line up and you have a direct A-B comparison, but if you're the only band playing, I doubt the average Joe would audibly notice it's not a real amp. EDIT: I meant to add.... It's a bit like mp3 over CD, or bluetooth instead of physical cables. Yes the quality difference is subtly noticeable, but the benefits vastly outweigh the disadvantages, IMO. But that's just me. As ever, YMMV. Dave_bass5 makes a good point regarding IEM and going direct to the PA. It's great for bigger gig if everything is in the PA and there's little sound coming of the stage. But in a smaller, intimate venue such as a pub, where people get within spitting distance, you need something to fill the void behind and between the PA speakers. Small combos or FRFR speakers are incredible these days and perfect for this situation. I've just picked up a headrush frfr-108 mainly for home and rehearsals. Tried it last night as rehearsal and we were all blown away. Power and low end that belies it's size. It would easily fill out a stage with PA support.

Actually had this from a punter (I paraphrase). "Why have you got all those pedals, you're a bass player, you don't need any? Norman Wattroy doesn't need them." "I'm not Norman Wattroy, and he doesn't play Muse songs in his set" PS, All those pedals - about 6 stomp boxes on a pedal train jnr!

I was thinking the same. This thread would have been locked and deleted days ago for breaching their rules. They literally have a "no insulting ugly bass" rule (which even includes artificial relicing).

Oi, I resemble that remark.

Is it meant to be strung like that. It just looks all kind of wrong and confusing.

I came here to say something similar. Sire’s headstock design just seems unrefined. It’s as if they took a hacksaw to a blank paddle and said “that’ll do”. That said, the headstock isn’t stopping me trying one. They just don’t make one in the configuration at the price point I want.

I have the 2020 50s CV P bass and I love it. Finish is excellent, the neck is pretty much perfect and sounds great. The truss rod did need a little coaxing at first to get the setup to my desired specs, but I’m happy with it now. The only issue I do have is with the tuners. They feel a little stiff and the baseplate is a non-standard affair. I.e. there’s no drop in replacement that I can find. AFAIK they use the same model for all Squier basses at the moment. I was hoping to get a hipshot xtender that would drop straight in without drilling. But seeing as any replacement with need drilling, It looks like I’ll likely end up replacing all the tuners with Ultralites and be done with it.

Just seen that too: “Land or buildings where the primary use is not the performance of live music (e.g. a restaurant or public house) should not be considered a live music performance venue.” https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-planning-update-on-cultural-venues-and-holiday-parks--2

I think the message is too vague to make an informed decision. I will wait for an update to the written guidelines. I didn't see Bojo's addres, but it seems to me the message is more geared towards professional performances in "proper" entertainment venues such as seated theatres and auditoriums. I think weekend warrior pub gigs are at the bottom of the list for the time being. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53442172

Many typical amp’s treble and bass eq controls are shelving type. Thus, the treble control will affect everything above the eq centre equally, and likewise, the bass control will affect everything below the eq centre. Each will also affect the frequencies on the other side of the eq centre to a lesser degree. Imagine a slope followed by a plateau on an eq graph. Markbass used to publish eq curves in the owner’s manual, it might be worth looking up. However, they are not in the pdf manual for the Little Marcus head on their website, but I’ve just looked up the manual for the LM2 I used to use, and the treble and bass controls appears to be more like a “bell” type as opposed to shelving. Usually, this means the eq centre will be affected the most, and frequencies either side will be affected equally to a lesser degree - imagine a bump or trough on a flat eq graph. Markbass appear to have designed a more specific curve for the bass and treble controls on this particular circuit. You should also take into account the type of speaker you’re using. A tweeter-less cab doesn’t usually put out much above 5khz, and most typical bass cabs drop off below 50hz This is a generalisation, there are other eq circuits that behave in different ways.