radiophonic

I let an immaculate Wal go for £350 ca 1990. I paid £400 for it on a commission sale, so I guess the original owner probably saw about 350 too. It was only when I joined this site that I realised how much they'd appreciated. I still have a photo to weep over. For comparison, the EBMM Stingray I bought new at around the same time was £699. OTOH I have lovely 1968 Baldwin 712 Thinline (12 String Guitar) that was valued at £80 in 1986. Some you win / some you lose.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1491295095' post='3271815'] Never heard of it being based on anything Ampeg like, but it doesn't sound like one to me anyway. There is more than one Ampeg sound, but usually it's associated with a fat/round/scooped sound. [/quote] I read it on here somewhere. Specifically a B15. No idea if it's true or not. However, I'm a fan of the smooth break up of a cranked valve amp and I run mine ~80% left. As a side note, I think it's a shame that all the controversy has possibly obscured what a good pedal this is.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1490977030' post='3269584'] Darkglass/Pike pedals and the Two Notes should both cope well with the hot signal though (I used to have a Ray4!). [/quote] Definitely. I use a Pike Vulcan with a Stingray and it's a great combo, provided you roll the treble back a bit on the SR. I've found it really needs at least a 4 x 10 to sound convincing though. If the OP has an 8 x 10 that should be great. Isn't the 'Colour Left' setting modelled on a cranked Ampeg input stage anyway though? The other combo I like is the EHX Crayon blended using an LS2. Very different to the PIke. The big plus is that it has bass and treble controls, which allow you to really push the low end break up. The LS2 keeps it solid enough. It was (and looks) super cheap but does appear to be full range.

[quote name='ben4343' timestamp='1491220788' post='3271279'] Can you not just wander over to the keyboard and play the notes required? Once at a practice as a joke I started playing a synth with my right hand with my fretting hand just doing hammer ons for the bass line. Sounded awful to begin with, but after about 5 minutes practice it worked fine! If you were planning on doing this drone note on your bass, maybe you don't even need to multitask as there isn't another bass guitar part anyway; just take over the keys for the 4 bars! [/quote] Not easily. see pic of a soundcheck (so best possible circumstances - no stray cables and nothing had been knocked over yet!). I'm usually extreme left, this was about my second gig with them so we were still working it out. Keys are extreme right. I'd need to climb over two pedal boards plus a Cajon and it's player plus the Khol he's playing there and get past the singer. Everyone will be going full tilt at this point. The 4 bar part is played 9 times during the intro and another 4 times during the middle of the song... I think a pedal would be easier! Especially as I go straight into 2 bars of harmonics played through a delay pedal (I forgot about that bit).

Does anyone have a Mel 9? Sounds like the tracking below C is iffy, but the orchestral setting adds an octave down, so it might not be an issue. Double stop on A/D strings at 7th/9th fret would add bottom E and B below C, so plenty of bass power in theory.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1490957734' post='3269368'] I do not recommend EBS (or the clones made by Warwick); I tested a whole bunch of patch cables in a simple true bypass looper into a headphone amp when trying to diagnose the cause of noise in my signal chain. All the EBS ones picked up a huge amount of hum (presumably from nearby sources of interference such as my PC or dimmer switch), whereas the other ones with proper shielded metal jacks were totally silent. I've mentioned this elsewhere only to have others say they've experienced no issues with theirs. Neither did I until I decided to test them as above, so I invite any other naysayers to do the same! [/quote] This has been my experience to. My pedal board is very cramped, so I currently have no choice, but as soon as I can afford a bigger board I'll be ditching the Warwick connectors. Not only do they seem noise prone, but the failure rate has been quite high too. Even cheapo Stagg ones with metal plugs seemed better shielded. MXR may be better I guess, but the Warwick ones were easier to get in the range of lengths I needed.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1491208407' post='3271141'] Can your keyboard player do 'splits' on his deck? Most modern keyboards are capable of setting up to do a note hold on one split whilst soloing elsewhere. Could be a possibility? [/quote] She's playing an actual violin at the time, so no! I don't want to go the KB route for myself either since we already have so much gear and I'd need to be able to swap sounds over a single beat. I think the Mel 9 might do the job. A bit pricey though for limited use.

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1491207726' post='3271133'] I have never tried one but they seem well regarded on bass I can't really think of anything else but I am no effect guru [/quote] I've found a demo of the Mel 9 on bass that sounds really promising. Not what I'd originally imagined. but both the Orchestra and Cello sounds would work like a charm I think. The choir tapes wouldn't be too useable though! They all cost about 200 sheets so if PMT are stocking them, I'll try and have a play. all three would have a fair amount I'd never use plus one or two things I would, probably.

and a C9[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1491205016' post='3271107'] Would this be of any use? [url="http://www.ehx.com/products/b9"]http://www.ehx.com/products/b9[/url] [/quote] That looked promising, but EHX state on their that it isn't a talent booster, alas. Seriously though, the demos I've heard have been a bit patchy - and it won't reliably track below C. C9 might be better as it has a 'Prog organ' - which is kind of what I want I think (like VDGG 'theme 1'). I'd imagine I'd need to add some fuzz too.The Mel 9 looks cool though - not sure I'f ever use it other than trying to imitate the choir on Firth of Fifth. Most of the demos are for guitar unfortunately. Pretty close though.

There's a song in our set for which I can hear how the bass should sound, but I can't achieve that sound. What I'm after is a long sustaining almost Hammond like sound, so if I hit a low note or maybe a double stop, it will sustain over a 4 beat bar and carry enough low end to be a convincing bass line. I only want it for an intro and a mid section, so I need to be able to switch it in and out easily. Normally, we have a keyboard to do this sort of thing, but the KB player is playing a violin solo over this bit. I can't engineer it with the effects I have and I suspect I need something like an Ocatver (maybe?) or a Synth pedal, but I have no idea. II have a fuzz if more dirt were needed and I have a delay but that makes everything too indistinct - it needs to be a real on/off type thing. I saw a demo for a POG and that might be the right kind of thing, but they are expensive and I don't need a tonne of options and I probably won't use it that often either. Any advice? Feel free to link to youtube and I can try and narrow things down a bit.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1490958265' post='3269375'] Really? There's only so much Living Colour I can take, but I love Levitation. "Need For Not" is one of my favourite albums ever. [/quote] A bit OT, but I preferred Dark Star by some margin, for the reasons above. "Levitation with all the chrome ripped off and sprayed matt black" as Dave Francolini put it. I don't think a guitar player as good as Bickers needed another guitar player as good as Bic in the band and the last thing either of them needed was a keyboard player too! I'd still count myself as pro-Levitation and both albums get played periodically (the restored/as originally intended 'Meanwhile Gardens' was surprisingly good too), but I go to 20/20 Sound far more often. YMMV of course.

I've never been a huge fan of Living Colour really. It just seemed like everyone was shredding non stop. Too maximalist for my tastes, and Corey Glover's voice does make my teeth grate after a while. I have a similar problem with Levitation, despite loving both Bickers and Bic's guitar work. There's just too much of it all at once. I always much preferred Doug's playing with the various Tackhead related projects. There was just a lot more space but the playing was still totally insane. Watching them as a duo or a quartet, it's interesting that the number of musical events don't really change. I think it helped having Sherwood at the controls. A non playing band member making the executive decisions cut out a lot of potential clutter. Just my opinion obviously.

I turned 50 this year but I have two kids under 5, so I don't have any time to be old. Plus my wife was in an accident in January and can't negotiate stairs, get out of the house unaided or lift or carry anything so I also currently do all the cooking and housework, work full time and commute for 2.5 hrs a day on top of the very important job of playing in a really good band. I've played in my share of duds and I really appreciate how rare it is to find a good group of people who have compatible ideas and compatible personalities and can all play well. What all of this has done is to remove any residual tolerance I once had for having my time wasted. I used to be happy to play a gig under almost any circumstances and just be grateful to play, no matter how much extra hanging around was involved. Late night? Sure. Long drive? Whatever. Only 30 minutes, not an hour? OK then. But no more. Late nights in bars are only fun if someone else is driving anyway. But if the organisers haven't thought about the adequacy of the PA (we can't put the bass through it even though we told you to only bring one cab, I don't really know how this mixer works etc); don't have time for me to soundcheck (I know you're a five piece band but can you set up in 5 minutes?) or suddenly need me to play an hour later than agreed (what's happening to my kids in that extra hour exactly?), no dice. I've embraced the power of 'No'. I think this makes me a grumpy middle aged man.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1490807911' post='3268248'] I think he's an Ashdown whore these days. [/quote] He may be now, but as recently as three years ago he was still using old TE amps. I guess they will all die eventually. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPekZmNeuDs"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPekZmNeuDs [/url] All I can say is that I hope he keeps a good supply of patch cables in his gig bag.

I had a fret re-dress and set up by Colin at Dave Mann in Nottingham and was decidedly underwhelmed. I was in a massive hurry and had a toddler in tow, due to my wife being temporarily incapacitated after a bike crash, so I had to dash without thoroughly checking. I had a gig anyway, so I needed the instrument. Frets are fine and I have no complaint, but the set-up was bobbins. The action was set so unnecessarily high as to be almost unplayable unless you were the world's hardest pick player with a bionic left hand. I lowered it a bit and took it to practice, but the string tension felt wrong, then noticed that the saddles were adjusted a very long way back. I later measured the scale length at significantly over 34". I readjusted it myself and lowered the action again and now it's playing more or less right. Money down the drain that I absolutely couldn't afford to waste, plus the aggro of being without my main bass for a week. I wish I'd left it alone and put up with the fret wear.

Doug is a total hero, but for me he will always be the guy from Tackhead. So much great playing on those On-U Sound records.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1490722685' post='3267414'] If your a signed indie band I'm sure people will show up. Notice my comment referenced " local level ". Thing is, a signed indie act to me is no longer a local band. I was confusing original band with indie band. Blue [/quote] It's not straightforward. Joy Division never left Manchester. Their label was local. Shellac are in every sense, a Chicago band and release records on a Chicago label. Both are international in their following and reach. Calling either 'signed' is stretching a point though... as Warners discovered to their detriment when they bought Factory Records!

Musical insensitivity seems pretty evenly distributed IME, I wouldn't want to pick out one instrument there. However, irrespective of background and ability, drummers do seem to have a thing about knob gags though. Not sure what's going on there.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1490664266' post='3266882'] I thought the question was, " why would anyone want to be a bass player in an indie band" Well, around here indie bands at the local level hardly ever gig. There's only a very small market for them. So, my initial thought was, a guy that does want to gig would be attracted to an indie band. Makes perfect sense to me. Blue [/quote] More likely a hopeless optimist who think that their indie band is inherently superior to all the others and therefore will get to gig where others have failed. Rule 1 with original material is that you have to 100% believe in it and believe that the audience will eventually come, even if they aren't there now. Irrespective of any evidence to the contrary. Peter Hook's recent New Order memoir states that he will go on, even if there is only one punter in the room, on the grounds that Joy Division played to a completely empty room, and an audience of one is an improvement on that. Joy Division didn't make a penny from gigs and no money at all until after Ian was dead and New Order were already touring. I think history has vindicated their decision to stick at it.

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1490645455' post='3266771'] Watched the highlights show yesterday, and TBH, I was thinking the same thing about the basslines, but I suppose the intricacies of the jangly, intertwining guitar lines don't require anything more then a relatively simple bass line. I thought Jesus & Mary Chain were good, Warpaint's music wasn't my thing, but the bass player was very good (and played a Ric). Goldfrapp's bass players Plexi P bass was very nice indeed. [/quote] I haven't watched it, but Warpaint have made some very good music. The rhythm section are excellent and the the two sparse guitars approach really works with the 4 voices. However, in the absence of showy playing, it lives and dies on the material and the new he new album is a bit sucky alas. There seems to be a push for radio play and away from the 80s meets psych influences.

When I 'auditioned' for my current band, I was still in another band but fairly sick of the situation. I'd planned to ease myself out of one situation and into another via a period of learning songs and working up to a gig. No chance. The audition consisted of them establishing that I was the right age, had kids and therefore had realistic expectations of practice and gigging schedules and was enthusiastic about the material. I don't think I really played - although they played some stuff to me. I taped 3 songs on my phone and agreed to have them learned in 3 days and played a gig with them that week. That was it. 15 gigs in two and a half months later and I knew the set. They seemed to take the attitude that since I owned a bass, had played in a bunch of bands and was old, then I could obviously play well enough, the rest was down to personality and mutual expectation. I am a good fit musically, but that was a total coincidence.

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1490625560' post='3266570'] A drummer I know was in a reasonably well known band in the late 70s. Let's call him Mr X He spotted an advert in Melody Maker. "Drummer wanted for new band. Influences X.Y Z and the band Mr X is in. Looking for someone who plays in the style of Mr X" He hadn't shaved for a bit, wore a hat and dark glasses and went for an audition. He was his amiable self, didn't get recognised and drummed in his style as well as he could. He was told he wasn't really what they were looking for. It's nearly always about fit and not technique. They might just not have liked his trilby? As to the OP. Very rude not to get back to someone as soon as possible though. [/quote] Suede famously mentioned a love of The Smiths in their original 'drummer wanted' ad. Mike Joyce showed up!

Couple of comments on suggestions: Maze - Billing can be very hit and miss. We've been pretty badly mismatched both times we've played there. If you have an audience though, it's a well laid out venue and the PA is loud. Monitors are crap but you can't have everything. If you play gothy punk then it's probably your best shot. Bath - Avoid. It's really like playing in a takeaway. Grotty place and they have the worst chips I've ever tasted. Greyhound - Mostly does covers (tribute) bands. They will put originals on, but they tend to be booked a long way in advance. Might be worth thinking outside the normal pub scene. We've used the Surface Gallery (think completely white gallery space, quite striking visually and the promoters used projectors rather than lights) and the Writer's Studio (arty, small stage and probably 100 capacity downstairs, but has a good vibe to it). It does require you to organise everything yourself of course, but if you are playing with someone else local, it's doable. Very different vibe to a pub and you have a lot more control over how you run it.

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1490615527' post='3266406'] Mr BigRedX I think its ok for me to not like this kind of music and its ok for you love it. I dont like it for very specific reasons. It doesn't move me at all. That doesn't mean anyone else isn't allowed to like it nor does it mean anyone cant possibly like it but I don't think it gives you any foundation to judge my musical abilities or what I do or don't "yet need to learn" thank you very much. I'm sure there are things on my musical radar that would make you vomit but I would never judge you for it. [/quote] You actually dismissed it as remedial, apparently due to drug use. That isn't the same as simply not liking it. Anyway, whatever 'drull' means, if you want to take a pop at shoegaze bands, Kevin Shields is one of the most influential and innovative guitar players of the last 30 years. I think you've misnamed your target.

We have young kids, so we rarely get the chance even though she likes the music- and will definitely tell me if we're crap. If it's a local gig with an afternoon load in, we sometimes show up mob handed for the soundcheck and all the various band-kids occupy each other. A bit OT, but I think it's good for kids to experience this sort of thing, learning to behave in adult environments, seeing that art is something anyone can have a go at - even your dad. Arts/gallery type events tend to be pretty welcoming anyway and that's more our scene than the pub circuit. I sure as hell wouldn't suggest turning out to a rock club in Leicester (or wherever) though. Even I don't enjoy that. There's a married couple in the band and they have kids too, plus the violinist's husband sometimes does our live sound so its a family friendly environment. We don't exactly have delusions of rock'n'roll at this point.