chris_b

Does high action sound better than low action? No. . . . it depends how your bass is set up and how you play it. If your strings are hitting the frets to the point that the notes are prevented from sounding good then it's either a bad set up or inappropriate technique. Don't blame the action! If you want a low action you can't just crank the bridge saddles down to make the bass play easier. That's only half the job. You've got to make sure the frets are even, the nut and pickups are at the right height and your technique is such that you can play the strings with a much lighter touch. Then the low action can work and sound good. If you "dig in" then only a higher action will work.

If your rig is "overkill" just use 1 cab on the quieter gigs and both cabs on the bigger gigs. IMO what you currently own is a better rig for volume and tone, in a gigging band context, than what you're proposing. Are both cabs on the floor, ie side by side or are they stacked? Are you having trouble hearing your bass? There is nothing wrong with running an amp at 25% of it's maximum volume. If you do you get a thing called headroom, which is better for your sound and tone when trying to amplify low notes than trying to run an amp at 80%, for example. I do gigs where my amp is at 25% and others where I'm at about 60%. That's like driving your car at 20 in town and 70 on the motorway. I don't see the value in trying to run a bass amp flat out rather than 25%. IMO a flexible rig is a better rig even if it just ticks over for some of the time. Unless you're going through the PA a couple of 8's won't carry the room. 12's ticking over will probably sound better that a pair of 8's being pushed. Then again, you loose dB (volume) by placing your cab where it can't mechanically couple with the floor.

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1505770981' post='3374254'] I personally couldn't get very excited about Lakland Skylines - I just found them a bit bland [/quote] Surprising as they use the same pickups and pre amp as the US models.

How Long. Not about a cheating woman but a cheating bass player. Written after the band found out Tex Comer was planing to leave Ace. Why Did You Do It by Stretch. Again, not a song about a cheating woman but a cheating drummer Mick Fleetwood. Written by Stretch after he screwed them on an already dodgy US tour when he dropped out at no notice.

Ben, keep saving and checkout my Sadowsky. Ad below.

I believe, because of the single market the EU is viewed as one country for CITIES. Same for import duties. So there should be no problems moving basses around within EU borders.

Good used Lakland Skylines are a lot of bass for the money. Keep checking the classifieds.

I felt sick for 2 days before my first gig. It wasn't worth the anxiety. I had a great time, the first of thousands. Check everything the night before and take extra batteries. Remember. . . . musicians hear all the bad notes, but audiences hear all the good notes. Have fun and enjoy yourself.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1505711480' post='3373648'] Two many adjustments. Or... why do we invest so much effort in EQ on the instrument when we have even more EQ further up the signal chain?[/quote] Granted there are usually a lot of possibilities, but you don't have to use them just because they are there. Though good to have just in case. My aim is to buy the gear that gets the best sound with no effort and little adjustment. I want everything set "in the middle" and any changes shouldn't be more than just 1 click to the left or right. I haven't changed the tone or volume on my passive P bass in 4 years. There are more options on the active J but the controls are usually set in the same place on every gig. You have to know what your controls do, but IMO excessive EQing means you bought the wrong gear. Just a final observation. . . . but I notice that I have a better, more consistent and easier to achieve sound with the standard of gear I now use. My experience is that better quality gear sounds great with no effort at all.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1505682593' post='3373575'] ... I have several basses all with weird and wonderful (and different) EQs. Most of which I don't understand. My SansAmp RBI I mostly do. It would save a lot of bother if the EQs on the basses where not there. Am I mad... or missing something?[/quote] Why do away with something just because you don't understand it? Work out how to operate your EQ's and you'll be fine.

Cheers

Tune down to Eb, use a heavier gauge of string and you get a beefier sound. Hendrix did it so do others.

Sounds like they're having fun. . . . but not for me.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1505502798' post='3372494'] THEN... Barefaced Two10 appeared and I'm back with Barefaced.[/quote] Did you get the 12 ohm or 4 ohm cabs?

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1505484387' post='3372297'] Are punch cards more evil than TAB? [/quote] They are when you drop the box and discover they weren't numbered!

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1505474815' post='3372173'] I had 2 in the same set list for a past covers band. Stones - Jumpin Jack Flash and Cure - Friday I'm in Love. I think the former is out due to a badly tuned studio piano . . . . [/quote] Pianos don't go out of tune or drop all the strings by the same amount. Many notes are multiple strings as well. I've been in a few studios where the whole session was help up waiting for a tuner to come in and sort an out of tune piano.

I had an OBP-3 in a Jazz and the sound was [i]huge[/i], one of the best I've heard. Then again I'm an Aguilar fan and have been using a TH500 since they came out. Other amps have come and gone but so far nothing has knocked the TH500 off the top spot. I believe the OBP-3 came first. That was put into the Tonehammer pedal, which formed the basis of the front end of the TH500. I just love the sound of Aguilar stuff. edit for spelling

[quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1505141002' post='3369744'] You told Alex that and to abandon his new BFamp? [/quote] If his cabs are anything to go by, I'm sure Alex will come up with a show stopper. I will certainly check it out when it arrives.

That's why so many US touring Soul and R&B acts (back in the day) would play their songs faster on the gig. The theory is if you speed up the songs and they are more "exciting" to an audience. I usually prefer to listen to the records but after a few beers, up tempo versions do get the audiences going.

Some days I'm a P bass and flats guy and I use a Barefaced One10 and my main amp, an Aguilar TH500, if I have to play at home. I haven't gigged with the One10 yet, mostly my bands are full on, flat out loud, but for the occasional small gig I'll use 1 Super Compact. The Super Midget and any Bergantino or Aguilar 112's look like great cabs for small gigs.

Records can vary from standard pitch because after recording someone has listened to the final mix - the band, producer, engineer, management, tea lady - and decided that it sounded better slightly faster or slower. On several occasions I've heard guys say, "This is dragging, can we make it more lively?" The way they do that is to speed up the song.

For about 10 years in the 80's and 90's I played with a drummer who was using a false name for tax purposes. I only found out after the band broke up!

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1505404043' post='3371684'] Sorry to pick on your quote chris_b - but would you guys (and Carol Kaye) be intimating ........ that Leo got this element of the P bass wrong?[/quote] Leo changed almost everything about the original Precision bass so he wasn't perfect . The parts industry certainly wouldn't have prospered so well if he was and neither would the dozens of P and J builders. It shouldn't have taken a genius to work out that after roundwound strings came out in 1966 that there was no point in providing the foam mute as standard, but they kept installing it for years, like the strap button on the back of the headstock and the tug bar. When the likes of Clapton and Mike Bloomfield wanted unwound 3rd strings, in the late 60's, Leo refused to supply them because he didn't think guitars should be played like that! Fender were good but have never been infallible.

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1505402709' post='3371672'] I'm Spartacus [/quote] . . . . and so is my wife.