mike257

Will have to check your band out, influences are right up my street! I've always got by with a tuner and one or two dirt pedals (one set for lower gain, one pure filth when I've got a pair running). Experimented with other things but never really found much use for them. I've got a chorus lying around but don't really see a need for the sound anywhere, and recently sold a bass Crybaby, which sounded incredible, but I used for one little break in one song, and to do Tim Commerford impressions in the practice room! Depends on the sound of your band I guess - compression is cool but i think there's enough of that naturally occurring in my signal path from the dirty sound I go for. If you want a clean boost the EHX LOB-1 goes dead cheap second hand, or the MCR Micro Amp is a few quid more, both will do a good job. Every time I build up a bass board, I end up stripping it right back to basics pretty soon after, I think a TU-2 and an ODB-3 can be plenty!

Good luck mate! I'm sure it'll be fine - I've toured with mine in a (very) loud rock band with the 410+115 and it always did the job, and I've come across plenty other people using them with no complaints. Hope the tour goes well!

I've had Webstrings Detroit flats before, they seem to be pretty reasonably priced and for my first set of flats I had no complaints. Got a set of Rotosound on at the moment, little bit more expensive but also seem to do the job. I'm no string expert but have been happy with both.

I'd never part with my Affinity - my first bass, now well and truly pimped out, and I've occasionally used it on stage and happily left my Stingray/Sandberg on a stand at the back. The 'nicer' basses are my go-to, but the Squier does the job and holds its own perfectly well against the other, far more expensive basses. I did used to have a Weezer sticker over the headstock logo, but I destickered it with pride!

I'd add to the above by putting the songs on your mp3 player, and on a cd in your car etc and when you can't be playing them, be listening to them. Familiarity with the material will get you a long way when you're wondering which bit is next, and I've busked through dep gigs for originals bands with one quick practice and a day or two of concentrated listening. Good luck!

Just bought a few sets of guitar strings from Chris - kept in touch, and posted them out to me quick as a flash, no bother! Cheers fella! Mike

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1323974383' post='1469460'] Guitarist in my current (!) band swears by his, and his houses 3 Les Paul's total value around 6 grand. Looks after them like babies, so believe me, if they didn't do the job he wouldn't use one. saw them on ebay recently for 45 quid ( 6 guitar version). Guitar Guitar selling them for over 70. doh! [/quote] I'm sure I've got a photo somewhere of mine from a tour a few years ago, with two Stingrays and four Gibbo SGs sat in it! We've even carried it off stage fully loaded (a two man job, that one!)

If you're using the X3 as your preamp, it may simplify things to just go straight in via its onboard USB interface rather than plugging through the Alesis - it would take the X3's D/A converters, the Alesis A/D converters, and a couple of extra gain stages out of your signal path. A massive plus one to Simon's advice on reducing the gain to layer tracks up. A slightly less gainy sound will give much more definition to the parts and thicken up nicely with layering. He's an expert, pay far more attention to him than you do to anything I say!

The X3 is designed to simulate the amp, cab and mic setup for recording purposes, so there should be some decent tones to be had directly from that. I'd dig in to the settings, and maybe look at presets that people have uploaded to t'interweb, see if you can find something close to what you're after and tweak from there. What are you using between the pod and your computer - what kind of interface? I know the POD X3 supports direct recording via USB, or you can download the POD Farm plug-in and use it as an effect at mixdown. If you want to record direct, I'd skip the Spider (and probably the Boss for now) and experiment with the amp and cabinet models in the X3 to get the sound you're after. Good luck!! EDIT: Seb's awesome post had appeared while I was typing this - he makes a great suggestion about combining sounds using two signal paths/two different amp emulations. The X3 has this in the box too so you can try it out with the gear you've already got. Some of this digital modelling stuff is really in depth, if you're just hitting presets you won't even slightly scratch the surface of what it can achieve.

Two 8 ohm cabs should get a decent kick out of it - I used to use the 410HE and the 15E, never had problems with volume, although I felt the 15 was a bit lacking. I much prefer it with the 610 I replaced them with. Just looked at the picture and seen it's the older model, don't know if there's much difference between that and the newer ones. I'd check it out at band volumes as soon as you can in case there is something wrong that needs fixing.

Gain on full? I've often had good results the other way round - with the master on full and using the gain to set the overall volume level. Might not be great for bedroom volumes, but definitely sounds good up against the rest of the band.

I've got a six guitar one of these that I've had since about 2003, it's been to countless gigs, in and out of the van more times than I care to remember, and is currently doing service in the corner of my practice room. It's still in great shape, the only thing starting to look a bit rough is one or two of the padded dividers that sit in the bottom between the guitars. For the £45 it cost me, I've had great use out of it and it's showing no sign of falling to bits yet!

Glad to hear you've landed on something that works for you and your band, great stuff!

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1322573149' post='1452795'] Pete - thanks for that. Sadly the link is written in a language I don't understand. I [i]think[/i] all I need to know is that the DMX controller is a magic box but need something in the same english to go on to explain how a laptop controls the lights. I can see how the sound reactive setting works in the unit to change the lights but, given the variable speeds we are likely to be playing at, can't see how you can program something like this in advance. Or am I missing the point somehow? [/quote] DMX is like MIDI for lights. Each light is given an address, and a lighting controller (which can be a piece of kit with knobs and faders on it, or a piece of software on a computer as suggested) controls the lights by sending messages to each light telling it what to do. You can set up individual scenes that recall a setting for all of your lights (like a preset on a multi FX, switching everything together) which could be controlled by a footswitch, or if you have a lighting engineer or are playing to a click-track, you can program them to move/change in sync with the music.

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1321810238' post='1443304'] The threads title is "I want you to use a pick" not "how about trying a pick" or "perhaps a pick might help with definition" How would you like it if someone in your band said " I want you to stop using that rig of yours and buy my mates ancient Carlsbro/Laney/Fal combo"? [/quote] And the OP has clarified more than once that it was a suggestion, not a demand. Suggesting an alternative (and perfectly valid in this and many other contexts) technique is not remotely similar to asking someone to use a crappy rig. Surely everyone in a band is entitled to make a suggestion that they feel may benefit the overall sound?

I'm stunned at some if the attitudes in this thread to be honest - the OP said that a band member suggested (not demanded!) that he try a pick for a few songs as the sound might suit it better, and the response for half the forum is as if the keys player in question had asked to spend the night with your mother! Pick vs fingers is an endless debate, but different things work in a different context, sometimes even in different sections of the same song, but is it really beyond the pale for a fellow band member to suggest trying something slightly different to see if it works? The question could have been answered with three minutes of playing in the practice room. I'm sure its not meant as an insult to or rejection of the OP's playing style. Have none of the naysayers hear ever suggested that the drummer try a different feel, or the guitarist use a different sound? Thrown up an idea for a vocal melody? I thought the idea was that everyone wants the band as a whole to sound its best, surely the easiest way to settle something like that is just try it and let your ears be the judge.

I'm another one, I write, chop veggies, and play drums left handed, but pretty much everything else, including guitar and bass, right handed! I've tried it the other way round, just felt wrong!

Another good option for a car with tons of space is a Citroën Picasso - my Dad used to have one (old shape, don't know what the new ones re like) and the back seats came completely out, gave a massive load space, nice high driving position too. Got a good ten years out of it pretty much problem free before he moved it on, I borrowed it for a good few gigs and it was great.

I've got a giant long-wheelbase high roof Transit, kitted out as a proper splitter van ( 4 rear seats, back windows, bulkhead to separate load area) and although its an awesome gig machine, and great for camping/road tripping with the family, I'd echo all the above warnings - it's very thirsty at the pump, more efficient when you're doing long motorway trips, but stop-start urban driving really drinks the juice. Also had the above problems with insurance - trying to explain to insurers that a heavily modified Transit van is my day-to-day family/commuting/leisure vehicle just seemed to be beyond their comprehension. In the end, I could only find one company prepared to give me a quote, which doesn't give me much clout negotiating a good price. It does make things easier shifting music stuff, and next year we're driving to France with the kids (and new baby) and have no worries about throwing everything but the kitchen sink in to take with us, so it as its benefits!

Used to practice in the same gaff as Cathedral, and man, could you tell when they were in. Thunderous bass tone rocking the whole building, I'm amazed they could hear anything else in the room. Great catch fella!

Thanks guys! The Spike is more than I'm looking for really, I've got a fairly decent audio card (EMU 1212M) for when any 'proper' recording needs doing, more just looking for a quick and cheap way of getting a direct guitar signal in for quick songwriting demos so the cheap and cheerful USB piece is a great shout. I've got an older version of asio4all floating about somewhere but will grab the latest when i pick up an interface, cheers for the tip-off!

My recent forays into low budget practice room recording have been pretty straightforward really. Mic the kit and take a bass DI, track rhythm section with bass in drummers headphones Overdub guitars Track the vox Mix! If its not practical to track live, I always prefer to get a really solid take of the rhythm section as a foundation to work from, and build on that.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1319720186' post='1417691'] A quick search produces this, but I haven't used one, so... [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Guitar-USB-Interface-Link-Cable-PC-Recording-USB-/220816864817?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3369b5f631#ht_2849wt_954"]http://www.ebay.co.u...1#ht_2849wt_954[/url] [/quote] Was looking at those, it appears to be exactly the same as the Behringer one, just missing the bundled software, might just take a punt on it. I only need something for quick and easy demos so it'll probably do the trick. Cheers!