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[quote name='alexclaber' post='354187' date='Dec 14 2008, 12:59 PM']Turning up your amp and plucking more softly will get more sustain from any bass - you don't need to buy a new one! And I've always found that if you're short of punch the solution is to shift your plucking point towards the bridge. Definitely the first things to try before considering additional or better gear to solve those problems. Alex[/quote] Maybe, but that doesn't work with some styles, techniques, basses, sounds, etc. For instance, neither of those would work for me

tbh, it's just physics. it's got to do with the location of the harmonics in the vibrating length of the string, and the position of your fingers and the pickups in relation to the string length. probably not doing a very good job of explaining it though haha.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='353537' date='Dec 13 2008, 01:35 PM']I suppose you could look upon that as problem solving but I've never had a problem with a lack of sustain or punch since I've owned decent basses (though I have been quite lucky on that front). Cannot both those issues be solved at source with the vast majority of instruments by changing how you play the notes? Alex[/quote] Well, yes, sustain can probably be resolved just by having a better instrument....it's mostly guitarists who use compressors for sustain anyways. I can't afford a better bass, my compressor was certainly a good deal cheaper than your RIM bass, although if you ever want to swap just let me know For the other thing probably not...by setting the attack of the compressor right, it can be set to kick in after the initial attack of the note; this effectively lets each note cut through a loud mix, but without the end result being immense levels of bass. It's probably possible to produce a similar result just by playing around with different bass/amp combinations, but the same effect wouldn't be reproduced in terms of dynamics. I thought of another use as well; compressors can even out volume swells from effects like phasers that otherwise might result in an un-even swelling sound, particularly in the lower frequencies.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='352882' date='Dec 12 2008, 04:36 PM']It would be interesting to hear other examples of where compression works an an effective tool in a live situation (other than for bodging a fix for my nemesis 'Mr Poor Dynamics').[/quote] depending on how it's set, compression will add sustain or give the illusion of a punchier sound.

[quote name='M4L666' post='353053' date='Dec 12 2008, 07:49 PM']Distortion works the other way too. Muddying up your sound, you have to make it really clear what you're playing... it varies.[/quote] surely that only makes it easier to hide mistakes?

it's actually also entirely possibly that the fourth connection is just a solder/screw lug, and is not connected to anything. I've not seen this on jack sockets before, but it's pretty common practice on barrel-plug DC sockets.

[quote name='51m0n' post='352665' date='Dec 12 2008, 01:06 PM']Maybe I'm just a nutter for using such disparate techniques in a single groove though [/quote] nope, not alone, I do it too haha. compressors serve a wide range of useful functions -- hence why i use one -- and don't cover up bad technique nearly as much as a distortion or delay can. why do you think guitarists use distortion and delay so much?

[quote name='spinynorman' post='351854' date='Dec 11 2008, 03:27 PM']"For sale - Jack socket for a fretless 5-string." [/quote] ooooh nice but is it a [i]vintage[/i] jack socket?

ahh...i've had my feedback thread linked in my sig and my profile for some time now...for once, I'm actually ahead of the curve! speaking of which, I'm pretty sure that everyone I've dealt with has left me feedback/had feedback left for them, but if you've dealt with me and one or the other hasn't happened, please leave it now/tell me and I'll leave yours/etc.

I don't think our guitarist thinks that any bass line has ever driven any track along, ever. In fact, I'm not even sure he knows what a "driving bass line" is. I tried to raise this issue with him once or twice about a few other songs, but he just didn't get it... must be something only bass players understand!

[quote name='TheBrokenDoor' post='346623' date='Dec 5 2008, 04:46 PM']Hey guys, I've searched ebay for 'industrial hook tape' and can't find anything. Any pointers? Also, is diago the only place for diago adaptors? Ta[/quote] try looking for 'velcro'? and yes, I'm pretty sure Diago is the only place to get the adapters that say "Diago" on them, but that's not to say it's the only place to get a power supply that's identical. 50 pounds for a simple SMPS is, quite frankly, a joke. BUT -- the velcro that Diago sells is actually really, really good IME, and pretty cheap too. I got two meters of it for about a fiver with shipping, I think.

[quote name='Jamolah' post='346172' date='Dec 5 2008, 09:54 AM']I hope Reuel is/soon will be enjoying his hard earned Vampyre[/quote] That's a good point, I was thinking about it the other day. Has he gotten it yet? I've not read anything about it, but then again, I'm pretty oblivious at times.

Find a job I can work at for more than a month and a half without getting laid off (happened to me twice this year). This is completely related to my bass playing -- without money, I can't buy any new effects, and I really want/need some!

am I the only one wondering what the tone was like? ^_^ "yea, my guitar is so metal, it's illegal in 93 countries....."

I'd be another to vote for the volvo 240's....had one growing up, don't think there was every anything we couldn't fit in it or on it, or both. I keep telling my bandmates that I'm going to get one when I can afford a car, they think I'm crazy but that's fine, they can move their own gear then

[quote name='tauzero' post='341200' date='Nov 30 2008, 03:59 PM']Bassists are idiots with more money than sense. Manufacturers set the price at what they think the market can stand. The price has nothing to do with components and everything to do with the market.[/quote] Unfortunately I think you're right. But I don't see what our options are when buying new

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='341035' date='Nov 30 2008, 12:22 PM']I've connected it to a few different things same result, it doesn't have a ground lift.[/quote] don't know then

what is it connected to? a mixer? also, have you tried engaging and/or disengaging the ground lift (assuming there is one)? That may fix the problem.

Boss is probably the winner, just on reliability. The EHX pedals are my personal choice, however. Highly durable and sound fantastic, I've yet to find a compressor that sounds better than the blackfinger, and isn't a rack-mount studio one. The problem with EHX is that they're not all built right -- at least when it comes to the blackfinger. mine developed the buzzing problem you may have read about if you've read reviews of it, I managed to fix it but found a few things inside I was unimpressed by, ie dry solder joints. A few hours later of correcting their mistakes and tracing the problem, and I know I've got a pedal that is going to last. They're well designed and, assuming you don't get one of their QC slips, they will last forever.

[quote name='uptonmark' post='340526' date='Nov 29 2008, 03:33 PM']made my mind up to get the emu yesterday so phoned up DV247.com and they said [u]not vista [/u][u]compatible[/u] even though i told him there were vista driver downloads online!?!? thats why i`m not so sure [/quote] Strange, maybe they thought you meant the pci version? Or maybe they're just thick. More likely, I think. Anyways, I've installed the 0404 usb on computers running vista before, and it works perfectly fine. Yes, you have to download the drivers, but that really should be done anyways as (at least with my card) the downloaded version had some bugfixes and a firmware update as well. AFAIK, the drivers for the 0404, the 0202, and the other one (sorry forget the name) all come in one install file, so I can't imagine why any of the others wouldn't work.

[quote name='agoulding' post='340771' date='Nov 29 2008, 09:12 PM']my favourite bass is currently my ibby srx300. its prolly worth about 100 quid but it plays like nothing else ive played. its set up how i want has perfect gauge strings. the only thing that lets it down is the sound. its good enough but doesnt come close to my trb[/quote] Similarly, I've yet to play a bass that I like more than my Yamaha, and it sounds fantastic thanks to all the the work I've done to it....total outlay, including the original bass, 300 pounds. I must be missing something, because on so many basses, I see it, I see the price, I try it, and I just don't get it.

It does seem a bit of a valid point though; why is it that decent valve heads for guitar can be had new for about 300-ish pounds, even nice ones for about 500, and yet bass ones -- of less complexity, having only one channel and no reverb tank -- are at least twice as much, often much more?

had no issues with the emu 0404 on vista. uses the same drivers as the smaller emu you've got listed above. the 0404 also happens to be the best card you can buy in that price range, IMO. or at least it was by far when i bought mine a year ago.

I find it ironic how those who are most angry and riled up about the situation are also those who had the least to do with it. Only one person here was at risk of losing 1400 pounds, and he's handled the whole thing very admirably. I'd like to think I'd handle it at least half as well, and I completely understand his point of view. Life is too short to bear grudges. What I don't understand is how it has made some others of you so, so angry. This is a happy ending, for once. Cheer the f**k up, and let it go.

without having it in front of me, i wouldn't know where to start. I seem to recall there's some opamps inside, one of them has probably died, but it's just a guess really.... How do you have it powered? I don't know about repair prices, I'd have a look at it for you but you're not anywhere near me really.