Bottle

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1424435045' post='2696251'] I offer this one cautiously: REM. I don't know...is it just my friends, or is there a more general perception that there's something fundamentally "uncool" about Stipe & co? I would readily criticise the fact that a lot of their more famous singles all sound too similar to each other - on the other hand, I've just put on [i]Automatic for the People [/i]for the first time in donkey's years, and I have to admit that it's not a bad album on the whole. I couldn't even tell you the bassist's name, but he's doing a pretty good job on a lot of these tracks. [/quote] Mike Mills is the bassist and I really liked his playing style - much more melodic than the material would suggest.

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1424072750' post='2692094'] Mooer di is great for the size Has a potentially useful speaker sim too [/quote] I saw that and thought that it'd be a good idea to have. Not 100% convinced by it based on YT videos, especially on bass. Sounded a bit anaemic TBH, but that might be down to the YT video. I would certainly not base a buying decision on that evidence alone. Luckily there's a PMT branch in Cambridge so I'll head there on the next rainy Saturday and trawel through their pedal collection. Still looking at Drive pedals - nearly all the 1590A sized nano pedals seem to be clones of full-size distortions or fuzzes, which is great but I'm looking for a more subtle thickening overdrive effect. Cheers, Ian

I'll certainly keep it in mind. Just got back from the evening service. Played well but really struggled to hear myself over the keys. With a bit more time and tweaking we reckon we could get the sound better but for now I think I'll use my combo amp for personal monitoring. There's not much bass response in the main PA speakers as it's designed for speech, not instruments. Still, it made me think about the pedalboard so I'll look into the 1590-sized pedals to reduce the board weight - some good ideas for drive/DI's etc

I needed a kick up the rear end to start playing properly again. I started taking proper tutored bass lessons about nine months ago so I could read bass clef notation (nearly all the hymm books I've seen have only got the piano part in bass and treble clef, no chord notation) so learning scales and key structures has been an invaluable part of the lessons. Took the plunge to get to more regular jam nights about six months ago and that is paying dividends in accuracy and ear training as well as being able to play in a band with a drummer etc. It's a different kettle of fish to say playing in church when there's just two or three musicians playing. So tonight I'm back playing what I used to play, for the first time in more than three years. Nervous, me, naaaah (OK, who am I kidding, I'm s***ting bricks right now!) Sometimes it takes a kick out of our comfort zone for us to progress, so maybe look up local jam nights, find a teacher too, and network. ATB, Ian

Thanks for the tip - I'll look into it For tonight I'm just taking the tuner and the SansAmp now - the JOYO was too string fizz much on top, so I'm leaving it off the board for the moment.

Mine's a black collapsible affair with adjustable tilt arguably I play in a 'covers' band but as I'm playing hymns and at the last count there were over 1200 in the hymm book, I kinda need somewhere to rest the sheet music As always, YMMV

Hi Chaps I've taken the plunge and gotten back into P&W playing at my local church (within walking distance). They've got a half-way decent foldback so I was considering going amp-less as a trial tonight. I have a Line 6 Combo amp just in case but I'm not planning on using it. Currently on my board I've got a TU-2 Tuner, a JOYO Ultimate Drive and a Sansamp Paradriver (DI into PA desk). The JOYO is set for clean-ish boost (not needing much OD into the SansAmp). What I'm after I guess is a smaller footprint board I can take and carry in my gigbag for even more portability, so I'm looking at micro-fx pedals - tuner, drive and DI. Possibility to combine the drive and DI function in one pedal? So far I've looked at the TC Polytune Mini, Mooer Baby Tuner and their Micro DI. Any suggestions for a drive pedal, bearing in mind the JOYO is an OCD clone too? Something like the Hustle Drive? Or the Black Secret? Anyway, cheers in advance for your help guys Ian

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1423727310' post='2688255'] Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd It is musical artistry and just has to be listened to from start to finish. [/quote] Definitely agree! It's not an album you can dip in and out of - it only works if you play all the way through in one sitting. [quote name='stuckinthepod' timestamp='1423743170' post='2688448'] Massive Attack - Mezzanine. Rediscovered it again recently. It has a really brooding atmosphere. Great late night driving album. [/quote] Loved MA's early work i.e Blue Lines and Protection, but didn't get on with Mezzanine. Having said that,my favourite track on Mezzanine is 'Angel', if only for the absolutely massive amounts of sub-bass [quote name='Oopsdabassist' timestamp='1423743953' post='2688464'] The one album that turned my young self away from pop music and opened up whole new vistas....I give you Tubular Bells! [/quote] Actually Tubular Bells II was the very first album I bought. Still think it's a seminal work [quote name='Old_Ben' timestamp='1423745816' post='2688507'] Muse - Origin of Symmetry, Possibly one of 3-4 albums I can listen to and enjoy every song for a different reason, and nothing feels 'filler' Plus the bass playing is outstanding, if anyone can play newborn for 6 minutes without cramping up, they should be given a standing ovation. [/quote] TBH I think OoS is Muse's high-water mark. Can't say they've produced anything better - just listen to Citizen Erased/Microcuts on Symmetry and tell me I'm wrong.....hehehe In that vein, my classic album is Stanley Road by Paul Weller. Absolutely fantastic bass playing by Damon Minchella and Yolanda Charles - 'You Do Something To Me' is the standout track (closely followed by 'Whirlpools' End')

IIRC didn't Dave Hall of DHA fame make a hybrid 2U amp - valve pre stage with an output tap and parallel feed into a 500W Class D power stage? Or am I off the mark? I'm going back a few years here

Wow! That's a result, mate. Those mic's ain't cheap (and I know, I've had an NT-4 before) They're a good way to get results without too much faffing around trying to get good stereo reproduction and IMHO work best a couple of feet from the source to get more of the room characteristics. Add in some bridge pickup (if it's got one) and/or a close mic should sound awesome when properly balanced and lined up. If you only have two mics and one of them can be configured for figure-of-eight, I reckon Mid-Side will get you all need but hey, what do I know hehehe

I would go for a single cable for each cab TBH. Assuming the head is sat directly on top of the cabs, then a 0.5m cable for the top cab and a 1m cable for the bottom cab should be more than sufficient. Plump for a minimum of 4mm[sup]2[/sup] twin-core cable (Klotz or Canford Audio etc) and proper pro-grade Neutrik Speakons - I got cheaper Chinese knock-offs and randoms one time and they were rubbish.

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1423180086' post='2682046'] I tend to get the same results with my recorded tone no matter which bass I use - my upgraded Squier, Bass Collection, Overwater Classic jazz, Yamaha TRBX etc. All of them sound great through an amp but I'm sure I'm losing out on something when recording them. [/quote] Have you considered mic'ing up the cab in addition to the DI track or as a substitute for it, if you're that happy with the amp tone. An alternative which bridges both worlds would be to record DI[i] and[/i] cab at the same time, and then choose the best-sounding track at mixdown (or a blend of the two perhaps - the DI tone will probably go lower and give you more of the fundamental) Third, you could record your performance using the DI and once you are happy with the edits, print/render the track with an amp sim plugin, or even better, send the clean track out to your amp for mic'ing. A Reamping box is your friend here and can be picked up cheap (I got a Palmer D'accapo from Amazon for less than £65)

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1423165455' post='2681734'] PS. Yes I do put drinks on my amps, go f*** yourself [/quote] Hehehe bet it keeps them nice and toasty too! PS nice amp and piccie FTW - needs to go in the 'gear porn' thread

[quote name='NoirBass' timestamp='1423147076' post='2681406'] Sounds interesting, do you mean instead of the Freeze or alongside? [/quote] Well I was thinking it might be possible to route the first 'Tape Head' output direct to the Freeze (if I understood your signal chain correctly) Everything else comes out of the Mix output (minus the first Tape Head) OK, so here's how I could see this working.....bear with me, I lost myself doing this in my head too Step 1: Bass > HeadRush > Dry Output > Clean Channel Step 2: HR Mix Output > FX > LS2 'A' mix Step 3: HR Tape 1 > Zoom G1on > EHX Freeze > LS2 'B' Mix Step 4: LS2 output to second channel EDIT: you may need to play around with the order and placment of effects in the Mix channel and the Freeze channel but I reckon this might get close to what you wanted to achieve Ian PS here's a YT clip of the HR2 in tape echo mode [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIe2I-ZwQDI"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIe2I-ZwQDI[/url]

Interesting ideas. I've gone down this route with my spare bass (a Squier PJ with a DIY defret). I got a five-string set and ditched the G string, so it's now tuned BEAD and with a stupidly low action (rounds on a defret anyone?). Had to shim the neck but it plays beautifully. I've tried many different tunings over the last six or seven years - I always keep a bass, usually the Ibanez, in standard for, well, any time I need a standard set up but I can grab the Squier for the low stuff. I've also had this bass in DGCF and ADGC (one whole step down from BEAD). I also tried Drop D but kept messing up my left-hand patterns so dropped it after a while. I've since found that keeping all the strings tuned in perfect fourths whatever the bottom open string is tuned to has helped more. I did have a 5er once but moved it on as I didn't gel with it - should have taken longer to get to grips with it but I much prefer 4ers and have settled on Jazz-type basses as my go-to's now Anyway, good luck with the experiment and stick with it as I'm sure it will reward you at some point. Be patient ATB, Ian

@ the OP. Have you thought of using the Akai Headrush Looper/Delay pedal in Tape Echo mode? It has four discrete outputs - one for each 'virtual' Tape Head, so you could route output 1 to the rest of your signal chain for further processing and the Mix output would then just have Tape Heads 2,3 and 4 but not 1, so could be fed into something else. The pedal has a tap tempo function as well. Here's the user manual: [attachment=182965:Akai_E2-HeadRush_OM_153058.pdf] HTH, Ian

Did anyone else think 'Volcano' when they first saw the picture, only to scroll further down and see the locomotive? I did (but then I'm odd)

[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1422800634' post='2676858'] Yeah, honestly. Headphones and good speakers are great - but Listening live, it sounds like there is a sub in the room. [/quote] I can well believe it! Probably enough to make one's intestines head south for the winter

[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1422785546' post='2676647'] Yeah. The Compact itself is great. Lovely sound, but put it in a punk band situation and I sometimes can't distinguish the notes. People in the audience said it sounded great and meaty and room filling - and the other Jenny our drummer likes it ....... but I need a bit more definition. The Barefaced on its own is better in all those respects. It has a sort of grainy sound ...... old skool I think a lot of oldies would call it. Very good BUT .... I've got the 12 Ohm one and, even with a TC RH750 ...... which shatters the earth's core with the Compact ...... doesn't give enough volume. I'm just about to order a 4 Ohm one. Together, they are colossus. Best sound ever, ever. Lots of everything. Sounds so low that you would swear that there is a sub in the room but all the bite you need. Interestingly, the geetarist and I sometimes compete for spectrum - but not with the Compact-Retro Two10 set up. [/quote] I've now listened to the track again through a decent pair of headphones, and it sounds soo much fuller. It's got some real low-down grunt but the note definition is much better with the 2x10 added in as well.

Another +1 for Reaper - does everything I need it to and loads more besides. As SKOL has already linked to, the Recording sub-forum has lots of great stuff and links to VST's etc

Haven't been able to play through decent speakers yet, and my laptop speakers have absolutely no bass response but what I've head so far sounds great. That BF cab combination is going to take some beating. @OP Have you tried playing through just the 2x10 or the Compact for comparison?

I think it's great that you've tackled the confidence issue regarding getting stuck in. I have that with everything new. Take the re-mixing challenge on here. Until you get stuck in, you've no idea on what you are potentially missing out on. I don't have any major issues with basses I'm not willing to tackle. Having an electronics background is a bonus, as is an inquisitive mind - I like to know how things work and would happily take a bass apart and put it back together again (and I have done - my Ibanez has been modded from stock). I think if you're relatively inexperienced it would help to start on an inexpensive bass to help build confidence, but what you learn can be translated to more confidence when confronted with either a bigger issue or a more expensive instrument. Put another way - some people see a years warranty on a product and go "oh, goodness what will I do when it runs out?", others look at the warranty running out and go "great, I can't wait to dive in with my screwdriver!" etc Good luck!

It's a bass that's on my wish list - the PMT branch in Cambridge had a couple in just before Christmas, a Jazz 4er and a 5er, both in Natural. Price was just about right too. Kinda wish I'd just said to hell with it and pulled the trigger. If they're still there next month, I may well succomb to GAS

Voted I like the composition challenges. It gets me to think about what I'd do if I had the ability to write something from scratch (which I don't). At the moment my living and work situation does not give me the freedom to start composing stuff. I'm not a multi-instrumentalist and bass guitar does not easily lend itself to being a lead instrument. That being said, I think the challenges are a valuable tool for musicians who want constructive feedback on their musical abilities. I am also a firm believer in expanding musical horizons and challenging yourself to be better on your chosen instrument etc. I think it takes a lot of courage for someone to put up an original composition on a topic that they may not have chosen and to produce something worthy of discourse and discussion, and to be willing to have it honestly critiqued. For those who are about to compose, I salute you! Obviously, I'm somewhat in the minority here, but that's fine. I'm just happy that there's other people out there who share my views. Anyway, keep up the good work and I'm already looking forward to February's Challenge! EDIT: And another thing. I don't feel excessively pestered about the Challenges/Voting - if you're that bothered, don't click on it and move on to something else. There are sub-forums on here I don't frequent because they don't have anything I'm particularly interested in, but that doesn't mean that they don't have value for other members. Each to their own. If something interest me I'll scroll through and maybe post something if I feel I can contribute positively to the thread. If on balance I feel my contribution is not going to help the OP or the discussion I'd rather not post. Discernment is a wonderful quality to posess.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1422709902' post='2675878'] In the meantime, you could try one of those false beards that hooks over your ears. No one would notice. :-) [/quote] That sounds familiar........Oh, Life of Brian? Yes, I can [i]totally[/i] see that working