Boodang

I wouldn't be without a compressor on my pedal board. But as others have said, you need to find the one that suits you. I use compression as the main means of my tone shaping. Best place to start is a tc electronic Spectracomp... cheap s/h, comes with a bunch of toneprints (presets) you can download so you don't have to worry about being able to set one up properly, only one knob so can't go wrong, and later you can edit in the app if you want to experiment with it in more detail.

I went through a similar thing a few years ago. Since I first started playing back in 1978 it's been fretless, it was 25 years before I bought a fretted bass. Even then it was just a novelty that I'd play only occasionally. And to add to the fretless thing I started playing EUB and that became my main instrument for about 5 years. Then, I picked up a 5 string fretted strung high C and really enjoyed the chordal capabilities. This became my main bass for a number of years and the fretless basses very much took a back seat. At this point I thought 5 string fretted high C was the future for me, but then I came across a s/h Squier vm jazz fretless in a shop and on a whim bought it. Then I had some custom pickups made for it and before I knew it fretless is back baby! The EUB is being played more and I recently got a custom fretless made to seal the deal. The 5 string still gets played but I'm back in love with fretless and I think my playing has improved with the fretted side adventure.

Vocalists who don't even have their own mic, turn up late to everything and indignantly ask why their mic and stand has not been set up for them. One the prime reasons to only play in instrumental bands.

Behringer xenyx 802 mixer, Samson Zoom SR850 headphones.... job done.

TC Electronic Spectradrive.... got the lot!

Bands, gigs and my job have never been very compatible. I mostly work abroad, a few years at a time, so just as you get settled you have to move on. Flexibility is the way I've dealt with this.... get to know the local musicians and do any gig that pops up. It also keeps me on my toes as you never know what music you're going to play and how much notice you'll get. Also, the internet has helped loads. I work on music writing projects with other musicians in a similar position which I probably wouldn't be doing if it wasn't for the job but actually is really rewarding and has helped me on my musical journey.

I find the biggest difference is the flexibility (tension) of the string rather than the gauge. I like the TIs and Galli strings as they're very flexible and have a soft feel on the fingers which suits my style of a playing (and to a certain extent influences the way I play).

I just ordered a new custom bright onion with a custom paint job, so they still seem to be in business.

Never had any problems with royal mail/parcel force, the complete opposite with Hermes which presumably accounts for their current re-branding exercise!

I went through an interesting bass acquisition process recently that made me rethink how I'll go about buying basses in future (as a back ground I have a collection from cheap Squiers, which I love, to expensive customs). So, out of curiosity I picked up a set of Seymour Duncan weather report jazz pickups. Rather than drop then in one of my Squier jazz basses, I just had the mad idea I would ask my local luthier if he would put together a jazz of some kind for them, which then turned into a project and ultimately something quite special. Now in the past my customs have been a one off but based on a design which the luthier is familiar, my Sei Flamboyant is a good example. However, with this bass it was completely free rein, anything I wanted. At first it was overwhelming but once you put a few markers down, things like neck dimensions, woods to complement the tone I'm going for etc, it soon narrows things. Well, I found the process totally engaging and I'm now thinking what sort of bass would I put together for a fretted version? I can't see many of my old basses surviving once I get another one made as I'm now just seeing the compromises in them, which before I was ok about but not any longer.

When it comes to keyboard players, employ one who has no left hand/arm. If this is not possible, wait until until the 2 handed keys player is asleep, chop off the persistently offending left appendage and blame it on large mosquitoes.

So, in the case of the ehx tri mixer, once the bass is connected you have access to 3 parallel, switchable, channels. Plug your synth into a channel and you can control the send level and and return mix, plus phase.... and it's switchable.... and you have 2 other channels to play with.

EHX tri parallel mixer will do it. Also gives you a phase switch on each channel, plus gain control and the ability to switch.

Might be interesting to try as a fretless though.

It looks an interesting product. Apparently has a low moisture content so presumably quite stable. There might be resistance to non traditional products in guitars but in an era where sustainability is an issue it's good to see an innovative product like this.

I'm a great believer in not leaving the output level and impedence of a bass to chance. So each bass, I use 3 live, goes into a small mixer where the gain structure is set so each bass has the same level to master. The effects send/return loop is the pedalboard and within the pedalboard there is a EHX tri mixer where I set the gain for the pedal loops.

I get my tone from the pedalboard these days, so a bass amp is superfluous in that sense. Consequently I now use PA cabs/amps. The Mackie DLM12 and DLM12s works particularly well.

Instead of buying a C4, buy individual pedals for each sound.... why would you do this? Because it means more GAS fun! Who wants to buy one pedal when you buy dozens!!

Sadowsky started to make their bass bodies chambered.... in an interview he reckoned they were not only lighter but sounded better as a result. By accident (long story!) I ended up with a Tobias Toby which has a pine body and is super light. Nothing wrong with the tone and made me realise that you don't need a heavy bass for heavy tone. Chambered pine basses are the future!!

I've got all 3 on my board, so now it's a supa funk fwonk machine! I did actually try playing all 3 in parallel through my tri mixer thinking it would be the ultimate funk envelope sound but turns out it was just a mess!

Actually on that score, my basses have passive pups and electronics, I've got some effects where the signal needs to be boosted, and a few which are easily overdriven. Consequently ive ended up using the EHX parallel tri mixer. Apart from being able to run fx in parallel, which is fun, and being able to switch between fx loops, you can also control the amount of signal on each channel and there's a fair amount of boost if you need it. Bought it on a whim, thought it might be interesting but can't live without it now. It's the hub of my board.

That was a quick turnaround!! Have to say I like the supa funk for the way the color control works.

It's worth it to have the Fwonkbeta and supa funk on your board!

Slight correction, just checked my settings and on clip 5 I've got the funk machine freq set to 11 o'clock.

How did go? Are you suitably supa funked?