mike257

A mate of mine at college was in a Descendants/Propaghandi type punk band and had a flourescent green BC Rich Warlock at one point. He said it was the best sounding bass he'd ever owned, but he had to get rid because it looked so bad!

[quote name='StevieD_FenderP2009' post='552174' date='Jul 26 2009, 10:53 PM']Hey guys Can some one give me a bit of information on usb mixing desks? Will I be able to plug one into my laptop and change the levels of what i've recorded on ableton or will it purely change the level of the sounds for play back? Also, Any one that uses the M-Audio Keystation 49E, can you give me a bit of a review of it? Cheers![/quote] Hey Stevie, If you're after something to control the mixing within your software, you probably want a MIDI fader controller. About the cheapest you'll get is a Behringer, think it's a BCF-2000, have a quick google. It's 8 automated faders that you can program up to any MIDI controllable function in your software!

I've got no experience of using rechargables in the wireless myself, but I've heard more horror stories than good reports. I've found Duracell Pro-Cell batteries last for bloody ages, as long as you remember to unplug it soon as you've finished and all that.

sandbergsandbergsandbergsandberg. That is all.

Wow, the photo with the drums gives a much better sense of the size of the place, looks the business! Still checking back every week and looking forward to seeing the end result, this is great!

[quote name='Uncle Balsamic' post='559825' date='Aug 3 2009, 11:47 PM']Are you going to be gigging this? I may check it out.[/quote] I sure hope to be! I'm right at the bottom of the list, so god knows how long it'll be before it makes it here, probably a good few months, but hopefully it'll turn up at the right time for a gig or two. Although, if you want to do a before-and-after check with my current rig, you could pop down to the Barfly next Monday

No hands on experience of one myself, but I know a guy who owns one, and having seen him rock his 60's Jazz through it a few times now, I can safely say it sounds wonderful. He's got quite a collection of bass gear and it's jumped immediately to the top of the pecking order for him - his tasty old school SVT2 has been retired!

I think to have a satisfying experience as an originals band, everybody involved needs to have more or less the same aspirations and work ethic. My last originals band wasn't exactly a profit machine, but we took the business end of things very seriously, and always at least broke even. We worked our nuts off to build a committed fan base in our local area, and bypassed promoters by hiring the venues ourselves. We used to make a comfortable few hundred quid doing a local headline show every other month, and that covered our expenses travelling further afield to places where we didn't yet have the pulling power to attract a decent fee. Between that, and merch sales, we got all around the country, staying in Travelodges every time (no roughing it in the van!) and covered all our expenses, and it never cost us a penny of our own money. The thing is, it takes up countless hours of everybody's time, probably more time than you spend practicing, to do all the promoting and haggling and whatever else, and if you're the only guy in your band taking it that seriously, there's a real problem. Just realised this is turning into an essay, so I'll shut up now. I'd be wondering, If the rest of your band aren't pulling their weight, maybe they just haven't got the same ambitions for it that you have!

Wahey! I'm looking forward to this - although you never know, I might have bought one by then anyway, i'm getting an itchy trigger finger on it

From what you're saying, this gig might be a pretty big deal for your singer. If Birmingham is his home town, then he must be really keen to give his family and friends there a chance to see him play a show. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Sure, they could have asked, and whatever their reasoning behind it, it could've been explained to you a bit better, but if you're based halfway across the country from your home town, wouldn't you jump at the chance to gig in front of your family/friends/whoever and show them all how badass you are?

I used to have the 410HE paired with the 15E. I think you need an amp that kicks out some real juice at 8ohms to get the best out of the 410 as a single cab. My SVT3 is only 275 watts into 8ohms, and I found myself running out of headroom when I was playing with a really loud band, but with both cabs up and running it was ace. In a less rowdy band, it might not be such an issue. Was always a nice sounding cab, I only sold it on because I wanted a 1 cab setup.

Muchos sympathy mate. I had someone make off with my Stingray, straight off the stand and out of a fire door, just after I came off stage at a gig once. Luckily, someone saw him, and he dumped it in some undergrowth just off the street when he realised we were chasing him. Miraculously, there wasn't a scratch or a mark on it, but it was a scary moment. Hope the perp gets what he deserves, and that you can get your bass fixed up too!

Haha, that's incredible - I've never seen anybody actually buy one of these. I'd come all the way to Henley just to check that out in the flesh. Can't wait to hear what you think of it, I bet it's gonna sound monstrous!!!

[quote name='grumble' post='545033' date='Jul 19 2009, 11:39 PM']Bit of an extreme solution but get a job as an engineer with a certain well known telecoms company, free 9v batteries for life. Well it worked for me [/quote] So it's not just me then? Nice one

No pics to show off, but my 'home studio' is pretty cheap and cheerful, absolutely riddled with Behringer equipment, but works a treat for little songwriting demos. It's a 2.6Ghz Pentium 4, running Cubase SX3, with an Emu 1212M soundcard. Monitoring is through a little Behringer ([i]sorry[/i]) 802 desk into Samson Resolve80 active monitors, and cheap'n'cheerful Behringer cans. Guitars and bass are tracked through a Behringer ([i]I warned you[/i]) V-Amp2, and vocals/acoustics through a Samson condenser mic and a ([i]I know!![/i])Behringer Valve mic-preamp. There's an Emu MIDI keyboard running the Proteus sampler, an Ibanez Artist g**tar, and the little stack of basses in the corner. Unfortunately, the bedroom in my new flat has an absolutely ridiculous bonucy reverb, so any serious recording will have to take place with long mic leads into the kitchen or something!!

[quote name='jmstone' post='540907' date='Jul 15 2009, 02:02 AM']...at least until we get that record deal...[/quote] Joking aside, the impression I get is that in these troubled times, record companies are looking for that much of a minimal risk investment, that they want the full package before they wave any cash at anybody - that means image, music and everything with it. If you look the business, that probably goes a long way towards getting your music listened to in the first place. Sure, it's nothing without the substance behind it, but if you're ambitious with the band, you'd be mad to completely ignore it. Sad but true.

[quote name='JTUK' post='540186' date='Jul 14 2009, 11:42 AM']??????? if you agree they have a sequenced track running they could fly bass, bv's or anything else on it. I think they are great show but I sure don't think they play everything live[/quote] You think they're miming?

I've always loved the 75RI in natural with the maple neck, although it's become an ubiquitous look with the popularity of the Squier VMJ. If I was going rosewood, I'd probably have to go sunburst, mostly because I've never been keen on rosewood necks against natural finish bodies.

[quote name='Etienne' post='537915' date='Jul 11 2009, 03:03 PM']Hey Mike, I'm glad that you're happy with your new purchase! Where were you playing last night- Zanzibar perhaps? PS: I'm selling the 4-way footswitch from my own Shuttle if you're interested! [/quote] Hey Etienne, I was at the O2 Academy - the Buzzcocks were on upstairs, and I met a confused looking Pete Shelley afterwards and had to explain to him how to work his mobile phone! Can't see myself using the footswitch to be honest, I'm a 'set-and-forget' kind of guy. Cheers for the info Johnny - I checked the manual out online, there's nothing too exciting in it, is there! Just with the eBay listing saying it was nearly brand new, and only used three times for home practice, I expected all the necessary bits and pieces would still be with it! Rehearsals tonight, so hopefully I'll get a bit of time to compare with the Ampeg, and to see what it's really capable of :brow:

[quote name='JTUK' post='539490' date='Jul 13 2009, 05:25 PM']that is fine and I think he works very well in the context of the band.. Not sure I buy the line of how much help they get live, but who cares, they seemed a fine festival act to me..[/quote] Where are your mad conspiracy theories about the live show coming from? Up until (I think) the Absolution tour, it was just the three of them. These days, there's them, plus an extra guy on stage doing additional keyboards and bits, plus there's synth stuff sequenced because there's a lot of layers of it in some of the tunes. The guitar, bass and drums is the blokes on stage playing. We're not talking about the Spice Girls here!!

As a few people have already said, it's good to get comfortable with as wide a range of techniques as you can, as they're all valid in the right context. I've done exactly the same as Bassassin, gone from pick to fingers before realising there's a place for both. I once read an interview with Tim Commerford where he talked about using as few fingers as possible giving a much more consistent result, so (since I've been trying to cop his feel since day 1 of playing bass) I went off and tried it and found it works a treat. If 'Bullet In The Head' is your yardstick, try playing the big riff at the end with two fingers, and then with one, and see how much more punchy and clean it comes across. I try and reduce everything down to as few fingers as I can comfortably use.

Well, used it for the gig last night, and what can I say, I'm really impressed. The rest of the band were in utter disbelief that this tiny box was my new 600w monster bass amp, and couldn't stop picking it up to marvel at the weight. I plugged it in for soundcheck, flattened the EQ, dialled in a touch of valve drive, and my Stingray jumped out of the speakers and nearly bit my head off. I didn't get time to have a proper play around, but I absolutely loved what I heard. The sound engineer asked me afterwards what 'that little silver box on top of my amp' was for. I had to explain three times over that it wasn't a preamp, it WAS the amp. All in all, I'm well chuffed, and looking forward to putting it through it's paces properly in the practice room next week. I'll post my thoughts on how it fares next to the SVT3 when I've had the chance to get them together!

Yeah, paid for it mid-afternoon yesterday, landed first thing this morning! No mains lead or instruction manual though, the cheeky bugger. Can't believe the size and the weight, and I love the funky little gig bag. I've got a gig tonight with a loud-as-hell rock band I used to play for (their new bassist is in LA for a month!), so if there's time at soundcheck to give it a test run, I might throw ithe amp in at the deep end and use it there. I'm hoping to give it a proper A/B with my Ampeg over the weekend, or early next week, so I'll let you all know what I reckon. Oh, and Musicman20, I'm reluctant to part with my big cab too, I love it! If I can raise the funds some other way, I'm going to try and keep it AND get a lightweight cab as well

Right now, it's going to be a comedy double act of the tiniest head around sitting on my huge SVT610! I'm really interested in Alex's Barefaced cabs, but I haven't got the money to go for one yet. If the Ampeg head ends up going, a Barefaced Compact or Big One might be the next thing incoming. It'll be the first time in 6 or 7 years that I've not had a massive stack behind me though, it'll take some getting used to!!