dave_bass5

I agree. A good pre amp wont have a lot of character, its just there to amplify what the pups are feeding it. Obviously worth EQ you can change the tone of them, but its best to start with one you like IME.

I’m not sure if I’ll bother too much with the Reface for band use, but for home use I think ill use it a lot for ideas and recording in to my ipad. Much more convenient than getting the big synth out and setting that up. Ive been using Cubasis 3 since i got the Reface, and love the soft synths in that.

Nice post. Couldn’t agree more. The more you do it the better you get, in theory. I played keys back in the late 80’s, early 90’s. Even then i was only just passable with the Piano/organ stuff, but i enjoyed using the sounds as and when needed, rather than playing all the way through. Back then it was either a DX7, JP8 or M1. The M1 had the depth that the others didnt and i loved adding the incidental stuff. Really wish i had concentrated more on Piano though. i agree, a brass sound or organ for example need to be chosen on how they fit in, and not just go to the firs tone. Also need to be played in the correct register. My keys play will quite often play brass stuff an octave higher than he should do, and it sounds really twee and piercing. If nothing else the MODX has a good enough piano or two for me to just lean the basics again and then progress from there. I know the rock Organ stuff will be difficult, but fun gettin got grips with it. I’m not really interested in editing at this stage, the stock presets seem to have all i need for the band stuff, and ive been offered one of the expansion packs for free when i get it. My other worry is to be restrained and not do full 7min symphonic intros with vocoder etc for songs like Mustang Sally and Stuck in the middle 😂😂😂 Think this is partly a mid life crisis, but at least its not a red Ferrari 😂

The first time i ever came across a Sandberg was a Cali PM5 in black burst. This was in the bass centre and I almost brought it. I thought it had such a rugged look. I think that was the first time i ever considered a bass that I had never heard of. Ended up getting a very plain and boring black Lakland 55-01.

This is the problem we have. I own a Korg N5 which is quite old, but good enough for the basics. Ive not played keys in a band for at least 20 years, so my playing skills are very, very low. We take it along to rehearsals for him to use, but he also has one he uses at home. He comes straight from work on the bus so i dont mind taking mine. He just plugs in and plays, with no real structure to what tones he uses. Quite often he leaves the mod wheel on and everything sounds extra cheesy. The whole thing sounds like you described, although he is quite a good piano player. It just gets frustrating for me to have the vision of what could be done, but not able to put it in to practice. Since getting the Reface DX last week ive realised that although I’m not much cop at the moment, I enjoy playing keys, and away from the band i can write some songs. The plan is to replace him at some point, when i get good enough, or we both play keys. Problems here is he will still have the cheesy sounds. I just dont feel confident in taking over, although its early days and i do have time to practice a lot more. Ive spoken to my guitarist and he thinks it’s good idea i do keys, but we have agreeed I won’t do any solo’s. Probaly going to order it on Monday. Only going for the 6 though.

Thanks. That was going to be my next question. Although i know its a great all rounder i was wondering if its a good choice for the usual club covers. The piano’s sound great (I love the Montage pianos), strings, organ and brass are covered, and of course it has the Super Knob 😂😂. Our keys player is a better player than i am, by a long way, but lacks the sounds and experience of playing keys in a band. I quite fancy giving it a go, but I’d also be happy just writing on it at home.

Ive fallen in love with this synth, although i dont have it....yet. Just wondering if there are any owners on here, and if so how it works live I can see me going over to playing keys again if i get this.

Thats a shame. its a really, really nice bass by the looks of it. I loved my Duck Dunn's, really regret selling them.

Very nice. Mine wasnt really mine, it was on loan to me for about 5 years. Lovely bass though. It was the first proper big name bass i ever played.

Didn’t notice any 😂😂

Think i had a fretted version of that.

Note really on topic, its not really all black, but these strings go so well with black basses

Lovely. i love the shape.

Years ago i have lovely Blazer Bass. I was ok, just playing with mates from school. I was asked to join my step cousins band, but after two rehearsals he asked if he could play bass. I didn’t mind as i was still at school so didnt have much time to keep going over to his. Ive never saw the bass again, and he passed away about 5 years ago.

Yeah. although PJ’s have been around for years, you cant miss them now. Still dont use that rear pup lol.

Oh nice, i had something very similar in the 80s. Mine was blue burst, which is still my fav colour today (hence loving my Sandblasted P).

Oh yeah, that looks nice. I love the black and chrome contrast.

I wonder what it would do look like on stage, especially is it was painted with Ventablack. That would look either so cool, or silly. Id love a suit made out of ventablack material. .

We can sit and eat it on the step 😂😂

Haha, dont worry, I wrote that in my first post and haven’t be banned yet 😁.

I quite like the black but worth a few bits of chrome look, but its the style of finish on the body that really appeals to me.

That too is lovely, although I’m very much drawn to the non gloss look these days. Is that like a black Duck Dunn with embellishments? The neck looks nice and slim.

Quite volcanic 😂

This was my thinking as well. I never intended to use the Zoom’s live. Don’t need amp/cab sims as i have a rig, but for headphone practice these are perfect (should say i use a Helix Stomp at home now). But the SD has a solid tone, which i found worked great in front of my amp. I used to keep the amp flat and use the SD for EQ. Having Comp onboard was great. I never did get around to using the drive part with the band though. I just didnt feel i could get the tone i wanted. Eventually i went back to my BDDI for band use as I like the drive tone, plus i do actually love the BDDI anyway (just wish it had a cab sim headphone output) and kept the SD for home use until i got my Stomp.

Yeah, the Zoom B3n or B1-Four (much cheaper). No DI but other than that, does all the Spectradrive does and way more. For home practice you have amp and cab sims, headphone out, aux in, looper, drum machine, loads of effects etc. Dont get me wrong, i love the Spectradrive, but I find its a very basic box, albeit one that covered my needs at the time. Killer feature for me has always been the EQ. Its just perfect for my tones. I got a BH800 head based on it having the same EQ section.