Boodang

Is it a digital pedal?

Well, so far have got distracted with other projects... I got my Seymour Duncan weather report pickups so had a custom build done to put them in, was going to put some ratio machine heads on it but the luthier had some special order hipshots (with 'mother of pearl' style tuning keys), so went with them. In the mean time I've moved abroad, so when my basses turn up I'll get the ratios sent out and put them on the Squier. I'll post up the results when I get them on but apparently customs take time to clear our incoming stuff so don't hold your breath!

I use a cheap Behringer 4 channel mixer, a EHX freeze pedal to practice against chord tones, and a TC Electronic wiretap for when you want to easily record those inspirational moments. And the mixer has stereo channels to input spotify etc.

It's not compulsory for the drummer to be positioned centre back on the stage.

Oh... and record your gigs! Even if it's just a small field recorder like a Zoom (which is just the size of an electric razor) at the back of the room. When I used to play competition squash we used to video our games so it wasn't just the impression in our head of how the performance went. Same with recording a gig. You might be surprised by how well, or not!!, it went.

Bands I've been in, we've always paid a lot of attention to the live sound both in terms of what the audience hears (if you have control of that on the night) and importantly being able to hear each other on stage. Difficult to be a 'tight' sounding band if you're deaf to what's being played by the other musicians.

I think therein lies one of the reasons for modding, 'as the maker intended' for mass produced instruments usually means 'how cheap can I make this bass and still charge X amount'.

From an engineering perspective a Babicz or KSM bridge is probably an upgrade on a standard Fender but you'll probably not notice the difference in audio .... despite the hype. As for pickups, most are different flavours rather than upgrades. Is it all worth it? Well, my Squier VM jazz is certainly a better bass for having custom pups, graph tech nut (surprisingly good), and KSM bridge.

Is the preamp completely knackered? if you weren't worried about the headphone out/aux in element, you could just drop in something like an Aguilar OBP-1 or 2 preamp which has a high enough input impedance for piezo pickups.

You don't have to clip your tuner, if you owned one, to a headstock... on my headless it works well just by clipping it to a control knob. They're obviously quite sensitive.

Tuning fork! Back in the day, used a good old fashioned tuning fork then used harmonics to get the rest. Ever the lunatic, Jeff Berlin recommends this method rather than an electronic tuner, so as to train your ears... he's probably got a point if I wasn't so lazy!

PS if you do get a wiretap, just check the firmware version. The latest one I got from gear4music had the latest loaded but the first versions are a big buggy.... easy to upgrade though.

That looks great... don't think you'll regret the Sims pickup.

Gear4music are currently selling for £25! Just got my a second one as it was on offer.

TC Electronic Wiretap is a 'riff' recorder. It's not a looper, just a mini pedal sized recorder... quite awesome. It connects with an app using bluetooth, the app assigns names to recordings, hence the thread.

Where on the bass are you using the pick.. near the bridge? I like to pluck over the fretboard around the 17th fret, so I started to play with a pick around the same area with the obvious result of a fuller tone. Whether that gives you the attack you need is another matter.

Is anyone else enjoying the names the Wiretap app gives to recordings?! With names like Boogie the Bird, Elk and Emotions, Uptight like a really public thing, Bird 'n Sorcery, Hack my Punk.... it's quite fun. The music we're doing is instrumental so this is working out great for choosing song names as normally they're just called things like 'that Dorian riff in D we wrote at Christmas'.

246_Fretless.mp3 A quick sound clip... both pickups, no eq straight into the wiretap with a basic drum loop. Apologies for the abrupt end edit but moving house at the moment so it's total chaos and no access to my normal setup.

Bass the World reckon the Spectrum does an excellent Mu-tron impression and their review was quite enthusiastic. I've stuck to analogue pedals but as a result have three envelopes on my board to get the variations I want but I just couldn't get on with the interface on the C4 I had.

PS I think the supa funk has a smooth decay on long notes. Certainly no issues with warbling and I'm not having to adjust my playing to accommodate any anomalies of the pedal.

Stick one of the new Sims pickup in and you'll have a choice of P, single coil and humbucker at your disposal. Could be interesting.

I've did a review of the supa funk with sounds clips over in the effects review section here on BC. I've also got, and reviewed, the Seamoon Funk Machine and the MrBlack Fwonkbeta. Of the three the Supa Funk gives you the classic envelope sounds and is more versatile, whereas the other two are more extreme in the range of their settings.

Actually remembered being in a band, long ago, when we were far too loud (you could see the audience physically recoil!), but we were so used to it we didn't realise. Rehearsals & gigs can literally deafen you to the reality of the volumes generated. Many years later it's a different deal but my ears will never recover their youthfulness!