radiophonic

Hey Dood. I think you've just nailed exactly why TC are only 50% awesome. If they were truly awesome, you be able to share that toneprint with me rather than describing it! Toneprint: So near. Yet so far. I'm pretty sure you're right though. I have a Flashback toneprint that does exactly what I need and and I cant remember the last time i used anything else. Like stretched tape. It's just perfect with a volume pedal for harmonising with our singer. Very voicelike / theremin-ey. I could probably trade that pedal in for a mini. Someone on here has just punted me a full size one though, so if the price is right I may go full size since there's nothing in it money-wise buying new.

I want an octaver. The TC looks like a versatile option. Board space is a bit of a premium. As far as I can see, the main drawback of the mini is that it only does toneprint, so there's no manual switching between mono and poly available. Plus the lack of -2 control on the front. Is that it? The latter seems pretty superfluous on bass, unless you're actually trying to blow your speakers. I know that someone on here just sold a full size one to go mini. What's the verdict since there's practically nothing in it pricewise.

2 x 4. One fretless. I could see the attraction in a BEAD 4 string though. Not sure if it's doable without filing the nut though.

Worst thing for me is the first ding put in it... by someone else. I have what I thought was a 100% perfect USA Standard Jazz Fretless that I wanted to sell, then i noticed a ding on the back when I got it out of the case, just after my nephew left town. Can't prove a thing, but it was the perfection that made the sale worth my while and I'm not happy about it (sound of teeth grinding). My stingray OTOH is evidence of just how hard you have to bash a bass with a poly finish to really damage it. It's 27 years old and although there's a few minor dents (I didn't even own a stand for the first 10 years), It'd never be considered roadworn, let alone a relic. It toppled, through 90 degrees, onto my pedalboard last week and I can't even see a mark where it hit. Dings to the headstock bother me for some reason.

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1506631777' post='3380114'] Specsavers moulded. Perfectly balanced reduction, can hear everything, just much quieter. Only issue I have is the drop in volume feels like a drop in energy too. Just need to get used to it as I now have noticeable tinnitus. [/quote] Didn't think of spec savers. What kind of money?

I've seen various brands that purport to keep the frequency balance intact and just attenuate. Prices vary wildly though. What do folk recommend?

One thing to remember is that at least as recently as the 90s, your rig was a significant part of FOH. A lot of old gear was built to be run hard and loud night after night and to deliver a sound that could fill a room. Most bands only put the singer in the PA. That world is largely gone and modern kit is often more of a monitor. I'm not sure we're comparing like with like a lot of the time.

[quote name='thodrik' timestamp='1506269010' post='3377468'] [b]Isis[/b] (the band not the terrorist group obviously). Used to see them as a Tool clone band but when I gave them a proper listen they were far more than that. Missed out on going to see them and [b]Aereogramme [/b]in Glasgow years ago. Regret that now. To be honest, there are not many others that come to mind. Perhaps early Deftones would count as I didn't like White Pony much at all when it originally came out. Now I really like most of their output. Dare I say Oasis? Twenty years removed I must admit that some the songs are great. [/quote] I was at a poorly attended gig the other night and the conversation turned to great bands who nobody liked. I must have seen Aereogramme play half a dozen times to audiences of 25 people or less between A Story In White and Sleep and Release. Great band. Also, Panopticon by Isis is a total monster of a record. You already knew that though. Different topic. I hated the Smiths in the 80s but really like them now. I blame Moz's 80's media ubiquity. I feel like I can just listen to the records without the commentary.

Back in the day we used those plastic clips that were used to fasten the neck of the bag that supermarket bread came in. Whatever happened to those?

I think that if the drummer is crap, then your life will be misery (I quit the last two bands due to drummer issues) and if the guitarist and/or singer are crap, you might as well go home because they will consider themselves as 'in charge' (been there too). At least if I was the worst in a great band, I'd have something to push towards and a good drummer always makes me play better because I can take more risks and not have to worry where the 1 is going to be. My favourite band on the local circuit have a truly mediocre bass player, but given what the rest of the band are like, I'd have his job any day. It did occur to me that they might just [i]want [/i]someone who does nothing remotely interesting but kind of looks right.

I think the combination of the Bass Soul Food and the Pork Loin has me covered from clean boost through to quite gnarly. The really light break up and EQ hump of the BSF combined with the darkness of the Pork Loin and clean blends on both give a huge array of options - from clean boost, boosted mids through to stacked overdrive. I may still get something really nasty to put on the end of the gain chain - main contenders are the MXR Bass Distortion and the Fuzzrocious Cat Tail (pretty close relatives, slightly different options). Edit. I can confirm that unning at 18v totally fixes the headroom issue on the clean side. I think it has sightly raised on the gain side too, but I was only running at about 1 o'clock so I have plenty of spare. OTOH it may just be that now the clean side is no longer clipping nastily, the bottom end is cleaner.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1505818916' post='3374498'] An isolated supply will definitely help. Any 18V doublers, or pedals that have them internally can be a source of noise, as can digital pedals like the Boss Compressor and TC pedals. Also those EBS patch cables are prone to picking up interference from computers and lighting etc as they aren't very well shielded! [/quote] The Boss is digital AND has an 18v doubler in it and to be fair, it was adding the Soul Food that made me notice the noise floor. The patch cables are bobbins tbh but I need some odd lengths due to the loop setup (the Ditto, Flashback and Volume Pedal are all in a loop). I will eventually get a set of decently shielded ones made up but I need to decide on the final layout.

Current revision of my gig board. I need to experiment with the order of the (just added) Soul Food and Pork Loin. Once I have the Pork Loin at 18v, they should both do the clean boost thing though, so there's probably no right answer here since they have similar amounts of gain, although the Soul Food is probably a lighter overdrive overall. Stacked, they sound pretty huge with the Pork Loin compensating for the bass shelving of the Soul Food and the Soul Food adding a mid boost. I had been considering an MXR Bass Distortion or a Cat Tail, but this can get surprisingly gnarly. With a little rejigging, I think I can add a Sub'n'Up, (possibly a mini). Power is from a 1-Spot although I'm starting to notice the noise floor creeping up, so possibly a better solution with 9/18v options will have to be on the cards. [attachment=253948:IMG_0844.jpg]

Do you routinely record your practice sessions or gigs? What do you sound like with the rest of the band blasting away the frequency spectrum?

^^ play through. Don't stop. It you corpse a fill, just damp the notes at the right tempo. The impression of low end remains and provided it isn't like 4 bars of it, most people won't notice.

1988, Shipdham Beeches Hotel, Norfolk. My major recollections are. 1. Oh gawd. I'm about to play live. 2. Cripes. I'm playing live.. 3. Oh. It's over. I was just starting to enjoy that. Then the singer from the headline band asked to borrow my trousers even though he was a good 6" taller than me. I probably learned more about playing in a band from that conversation than I had in the previous 30 minutes on stage.

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1505750213' post='3374012'] To be fair, I think I might be in the minority amongst gigging musicians in not enjoying festivals. [/quote] Is this your Folk-Punk ensemble going the way of all flesh? I wondered if you'd be doing either Oxjam or Hockley Hustle next month. Might finally get to hear you play!

I've now discovered that the clipping is a known issue on the pork loin. It's a bass only problem too. On the upside, according to multiple confirmed firsthand reports on two well known forums, running at 18v fixes it. A simple headroom issue. Sound clips seem to confirm this too. I've got a Soul Food arriving tomorrow though, so my clean boost issues may be fixed. There's still room on the broom however...

[quote name='indiegrungesound' timestamp='1505512608' post='3372580'] I'm sure it does! It's just that the 2U case I bought-a version/copy by Black Rat, which is P.M.T.'s rebadged Stagg brand-was the only one available at the time. And I don't see much point in removing it, as it does it's job! [/quote] I went into PMT this morning and had a look. Out of stock, predictably and their listed dimensions didn't agree with the measurements of the amp either. However, I was a bit concerned about the level of protection offered to the front panel. Is this ply or just padded fabric?

A board is no different to any other bit of kit. It's tempting to see it as something you filter your sound through, but actually you play it and pedals interact with each other too. Once you understand how it behaves, the tweaking is minor and largely room dependent. I use quite a few, but mostly keep it subtle. Aside from special effects (volume pedal / delay things really), our guitar player has definitely requested a boost in some places and adding overdrive during his solos to fatten things out when the rhythm guitar is lost. I do think that having a board is a relatively new thing for bass players though. My recollection of gigging in the 80s is that if someone had a chorus pedal they were probably regarded as a bit too techy.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1505479264' post='3372232'] Mine (V=http://basschat.co.uk/topic/251005-hartke-lh500-amplifier-in-rackbag-sold/page__hl__hartke%20lh500) was in a 2u rackbag from LD Systems. Like this one - [url="https://www.gak.co.uk/en/gator-grb-2u/2683?gclid=CjwKCAjw9O3NBRB3EiwAK6wPT5ZtPv8dt7lz6h5kZ4RYyf05FytM9eIGZDSKbbbI8cHYO3g_HOtwDRoCicoQAvD_BwE"]https://www.gak.co.u...DRoCicoQAvD_BwE[/url] [/quote] Ah - I was looking for something in ABS rather than ply really. There seem to be 2 standard depths: too shallow and too deep. The 'carry-on' approach might work for local shows though. This plus pedlboard case plus a gig bag, I could do all bar the cab on public transport.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1505474753' post='3372172'] They fit perfectly in a Gator 2u shallow rack [/quote] Do you have a product ID for that? I originally got a Pulse Shallow rack and it was about 3cm too shallow! It would improve my quality of life considerably. [quote name='owen' timestamp='1505425489' post='3371903'] Fender tone stack (a la Alembic) and a beefy power section. What is not to love? [/quote] Exactly. I always fancied a rig like Hooky's and I accidentally ended up with something close.

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1505219123' post='3370297'] funnily enough (not funny ha ha) the local mainstay of live music in my town The Greyhound in Beeston, Notts has just announced its closing, blaming high business rates, but the truth is not enough people were turning up every weekend to watch the bands for whatever reason [/quote] I saw that and It [i]is[/i] a shame but, my band is Beeston based. I'm in Beeston every weekend and often at a loose end after 8pm. I want to see original live music and I'll pay and take a risk on something that looks interesting. The reason I never went there was that with a very few exceptions they seemed to book wall to wall tribute / covers acts at weekends. There's a really good scene in Beeston (and I'm glad The Greyound is supporting the Oxjam takeover, despite the imminent closure), but their booking policy put them off my radar.

Unfortunately, I think that Ghost_Bass's #2 option is the only realistic one. If you have neighbours, get to the practice room early and do it there. No matter how transparent your amp appears and how flat you normally run it, the speakers will add compression at realistic gig volume and most front ends will have a compression characteristic too, once they are cranked. If you are going into a house PA via DI, then it's likely that compression will be added here as well, so even if you run at low stage volume, there will still be non-linear changes in the dynamics out front, which will change how your drives sound and respond. You play bars, so is the audience primarily hearing your amp direct or more from the PA? If only you can hear your amp, then this aspect of the sound is more important, if the audience hears it then you need to tailor it to what they hear and put up with what you can hear. IME, the only way to dial in gain pedals (especially) is to do it 'at volume' and mark the pedals, then do it again with the rest of the band playing, then tweak it on the night. This has made me think a bit. Guitars get mic'd, bass gets DI'd. What does my overdrive sound sound like without my speaker compression I wonder? On the upside, nobody listens to the bass player anyway.