mike257

I've always played in noisy rock bands, like this one here: [url="http://www.myspace.com/theidiotrate"]The Idiot Rate[/url] or this one here: [url="http://myspace.com/connectingflight"]Connecting Flight[/url], but my new band, [url="http://myspace.com/thebuffaloriot"]The Buffalo Riot[/url], is probably going to get slandered with dirty words like 'alt-country', so I'll leave it to someone else to pick a pointless genre name for it Me and three lads from the band have also sold out and started doing covers gigs in a hotel in Liverpool - it's easy beer/rent money, and a night out with the boys, so why not!

You can store your Ampeg at my house, problem solved!! The gear you've picked out sounds like a pretty good shout to me. If you were already used to in-ears and no backline, I'd say take that, but I wouldn't want to take the chance of swanning off round Europe and then realising I [i]really[/i] missed having an amp behind me! Has anybody ever tried the big uber-powerful Peavey stuff that gets advertised in the american bass mags? Never seen any of it over here, can't help but wonder what that's like. Good luck on the tour, hope it goes well, whatever you end up taking!! Mike

The absolute worst thing you can do in the studio is over-estimate how many songs you can cram into your alotted time. I'd be far happier walking away with two songs we'd played and recorded really well than having five that are rushed or half-arsed. Otherwise the whole thing is a waste of your time and money. Planning out the parts you want to record is a good move. As far as recording all together, that'd be my first choice way assuming the studio can accommodate it. Have you checked the place out - how are they fixed for acoustic seperation between your drums/amps whilst tracking? Discussing it with the engineer beforehand would be good, so everybody is going in prepared and with the same expectations. I'd pick what you want to record, and as you've said, spend a few rehearsals concentrating solely on those tunes. I think if you're spending money on recording, then you need to be brutally honest and critical with yourselves about playing/arrangements before you go in. Now is the time to iron out any bits you're not happy with. I know when I've prepared for recording in the past, we break it right down to drums and bass at practice, and make sure we're solid right through the song, and build back up from there. We try to plan overdubs, particularly vocal harmonies, well in advance, although you should always make time for some off the cuff ideas once you're in there. I'll stop rattling because I'm half asleep and talking rubbish now, but that's pretty much how I'd attack it. Best of luck, and give us all a listen when you're done!! Mike

[quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='431571' date='Mar 11 2009, 03:10 PM']99% of bands just stand against a brick wall wearing hoodies so at least we made a bit of effort![/quote] Guilty as charged!! Nice work though mate. Some people are critquing it as if it's a professional shoot, which is fair enough as it's the standard you want to aim for, but for your first photos together that's a really good result. I'm sure anyone here who's done it knows how awkward and unnatural it can feel posing for a camera, so you guys have come off really well there. It's already been said, but hopefully the fact you've shown a bit of imagination will set you apart from the textbook moody rock band look we know all too well! I like it! *insert generic boobs comment here*

[quote name='alexharvay' post='431256' date='Mar 11 2009, 09:03 AM']I don't think it's an secret [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUm3b2r9osg"]these guys use one[/url], all be it a DG20. I'm sure I've seen the DG20 go for around £250+ on eBay. I'd hold on to it.[/quote] Beat me to it!! Who's de boom king?

I played one years ago when I used to work in a studio, the guy who owned the place had one from his touring days. It was nice, but it never blew me away, although that's probably as much to do with the dead strings and the fact I was about 17 and didn't appreciate it. He offered me it for £700 at the time though, so I kick myself now every time I see one sell for a couple of grand on here

The guys in the Dolphin Music shop in Liverpool actually recommended this place to me, so it must be worth a look if the competition are sending people there! Haven't been in yet, but I had a nose in the window, saw some Fulltone stuff and some other nice bits'n'pieces. I'm resisting the temptation to go inside in case I get a GAS attack. If you're into your skinny-stringers they've got some real cool guitars in there too, nice to see a shop that's not just stocking the same old cheap copies!

If you're changing bass regularly mid-gig, and having problems with a low output on one of them, maybe something simple like an MXR Micro Amp will do you. It's an 'on' switch and a volume knob, just a simple clean boost. You can set that up to boost your quiet bass to match the level of your louder one, just stomp on it when you swap!

I'm sure I found somewhere ages ago, I'll dig around and see if I saved it anywhere. I was hunting for an Edwards guitar a while back, some of them are stunning. They don't export them normally, but I think there's a fella in Austria or somewhere who sells loads of them on eBay. Might be worth a quick search round there

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='385874' date='Jan 20 2009, 11:52 AM']It's taking the whole hero-worship thing a bit too far for my liking. That said, I'm guessing the Marcus Miller bass has stuff on it that normal Jazz basses don't, but I can't really see the point in the Geddy Lee one, and I've never even heard of Bob Glaub???[/quote] Fair enough, but only if the signature is the [i]reason[/i] you're buying the bass. Justin Meldal-Johnson has been playing a Geddy Lee with Nine Inch Nails, he's not trying to sound like Rush. I don't know who Bob Glaub is either, but if I played a Lakky Bob Glaub and I liked it, his name on the headstock wouldn't stop me buying one! I wouldn't pay over the odds for a bass just for a Badass and a squiggle on the headstock, but a good bass is a good bass, regardless of the name.

I'm getting close to happy now. The Sandberg does everything I could ask of it, and with flats on it now, it's the sound I've had in my head for ages. The only thing that scares me is the prospect of falling out of love with my 'Ray! It was my dream bass since the day I started playing, and I was always happy with it in the past, but it's not been touched in months. I used it for a rehearsal last week and it just didn't sound 'right'. Got the Sandberg out for the second run through and it all fell into place. I swore I'd always keep the Stingray as it was my first 'good' bass, but I'm starting to doubt myself now :s The only other thing bugging me is that I could do with changing my cab setup, for practicality and storage reasons, but I love the tone so much. I'm worried I'll get something else and be disappointed.

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='423312' date='Mar 2 2009, 03:30 PM']Mike257: No line out on the FX, just phones and left(mono)/right. There's no line in on the combo - it's a MarkBass CMD103H and actually fairly limited in terms of connections. Dunno if the effects loop is line level, but I could give it a shot so long as nothing's likely to detonate. [/quote] Cool, well I'd stick with the Bass/Tuner/FX/DI/Mixer way of doing it then. I don't know if MarkBass make their loops line level, it'll probably be in the manual, or no doubt somebody wiser than I in the ways of yellow speakers can clear it up for us. Scratch that, I've just looked at the manual on their website. It looks like the effects return runs at the same line level as the XLR input on your amp. If you're running a line-level signal out of your mixer, I'd maybe plug in to one of those. Plugging into the FX return will bypass all the tone controls of the combo, but I'm assuming that you're getting your sound from the FX pedal anyway, as your putting a mix of bass/MP3/drum machine into the amp, yeah? I mean, so long as you stay away from the speaker outputs, you shouldn't blow anything up

I've not been using my earplugs lately (ran out of disposable ones, and I've been too plain old lazy to get some more!), but I wouldn't worry about it 'cutting out' too much. Although the different balance of sounds takes a bit of getting used to, I find I hear everything with a lot more clarity, especially in a full-on rock setup where everything ends up on 11. Best of luck with your trip to the docs, hope it works out ok!!

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='422939' date='Mar 2 2009, 10:08 AM']1. Instrument 2. Multi-effects unit (input, stereo output, phones output) 3. DI box 4. Mixer (connected to drum machine and MP3 player) 5. Tuner 6. Combo (effects loop, tuner out, no headphone socket)[/quote] I would go: Instrument Tuner Multi FX And then it depends on a bunch of other stuff... - Does your Multi FX have a line out? You could skip the DI altogether and go straight to your mixer. - Does your combo have a line-in (for CD player etc)? Or is your effects loop line level? If so, I'd run the mixer into there, rather than the instrument level input on your combo. IF that's a big fat no, I guess you would go: Bass Tuner FX DI Mixer Combo Although other people might have a different take on it! Hope it helps anyway. Mike

I sold a DP150 1x15 combo for £150, that was about 6 years ago Not sure what they'd be worth now, but I doubt it'd go a long way towards paying for new kit

I've swung back and forth between the two for years. I was a convert from guitar, so pick was the natural thing. Once I sussed my fingers, I renounced all things plec-shaped and took the snotty teenage attitude that our OP's nemesis has displayed. I soon grew out of it when I realised how damn good it sounds when you need to cut through a pair of Marshall-wielding guitarists. I'm happy to swing between both as the situation requires. It's like anything, rounds or flats, P or J, HP or Ketchup. Some questions don't have a [i]right[/i] answer!