thodrik

That is really lovely. I am tempted and I already own an Excess. Bit of a typo in the Bassbros description saying that the truss rod is in fully working order given that Vigiers do not have a truss rod.

My nephew got a lesson with him the other month! He said it was really good fun and worthwhile and that Jeff is a very cool guy.

I think I missed them in Glasgow when they first toured the UK but haven't caught them since. They are on the list. I love Jeff Matz in general too and have seen High on Fire probably about 6 times going back to about 2005 which I think was before Matz even joined the band (I dunno, I was about 18 and probably drunk).

Love that band.

I don't have an M4, but I did purchase a M3 Max Macbook Pro as a 'work' purchase last year. It is absolutely brilliant for music production but is absolutely over the top for what I actually need for music. Just last night I tracked 16 tracks simultaneously (14 drums, 1 guide bass, 1 guide guitar). Nearly every track had a channel strip plugin with basic EQ, gain, high pass, low pass etc. I have never once had latency issues since purchasing it last year. It just works. I don't think I have heard the fan running more than once over the last year and I think my DAW has crashed a handful of times because it didn't like a particular version plugin (Slate Digital VMR - but an update to Slate VMR has cured this). The tracks I actually recorded were rubbish because I don't know what I am doing. An M4 air with 24gb ram should be ideal.

I always wanted an Arpege or Passion in that walnut/natural colour. I would have actually bought on if that had been an option when I bought mine.

Just for tracking drums and room mics we needed 12 tracks, so I knew I needed a decent ADAT preamp from the get go. I got a used Focusrite Clarett +. It is really nice. The main drawback to my set up is me. I am very much an amateur (though my brother/guitarist is a qualified sound engineer who keeps me right in terms of mic placement and basic gain staging). I just thought 'I have the Apollo, I have loads of UAD plugins and Luna is designed to work seamlessly with Apollos.' With a Mac plus Apollo set up, I really like it and even in the last year new features like 'Bounce' have been added which really improve the process. I do have Logic too, but barely use it. I just find it easier to navigate Luna as even just trying to manage UAD Console and Logic together is comparatively a bit of a hassle. Logic though has much greater midi/virtual instruments though. Most of the Luna shortcuts are taken from Pro Tools so apparently it is easy for Pro Tools users to move to Luna. I am tempted to go the Pro Tools route, but I don't think my skills are really good enough to make it worthwhile to move to another DAW.

I can understand the hostility. When I bought my Apollo, when I registered the purchase I was given 20% off voucher of my next purchase, of course this was during 'Bundle Month' when UAD were offering everything at 50%. So I ended up buying UAD Ultimate 13 for about 30% of the usual price. If nothing else is means that I now ignore pretty much every sales tactic from UAD for buying more plugins, because I generally already have them. I personally love the native UAD software, I only tend to use DSP plugins when tracking and switch to native plugins when mixing (as I will need more DSP when tracking the next instrument). In using LUNA and UAD and a Mac for the last year I am astounded by how well the software and hardware works together. Compared to my old PC and Focusrite Scarlett Solo it is so much easier to use. Would I buy another Apollo? Probably, but the chances of me 'needing' a Satellite or second Apollo rack is slim. I expect that this 8xp will last me at least 5 more years.

Absolutely, of course with the UAD move to native processing and frankly ridiculous levels of processing by current computers (particularly M1 and beyond Apple systems), the need for DSP plugins isn't as great as it was a decade ago.

I have literally spent/wasted hours running everything through Sound City, then Ocean Wave and then having the drums recorded in Ocean Way but the guitar and bass and Sound City but still running a Capitol Chambers reverb send AUX track. I mean, most of sounds like garbage because it was tracked in my garage, but it is still a lot of fun noticing the small differences.

I bought a used x8p last year. My previous 'proper' recording set up was 20 years previously with a Yamaha 16 track recording box. Usually if I am DI-ing bass it is as a guide track for drums and the bass is recorded on an additional ADAT preamp, as all of the Apollo DSP is used up to run multiple Neve 1073 or API Unison preamps for drums. I have a few UAD DSP/Unison bass amps (Ampeg SVT 3, Eden WT, SVT Classic) which are cool and generally based on Brainworx plugins. However, I personally prefer the Softube Amp Room (modern version) to the UAD DSP models. The Apollo/UAD ecosystem is incredibly impressive once you are within it. I struggled (and still struggle) with option paralysis and it is easy to stack up on plugin on top of another just because the plugins are really fun to work with, notwithstanding that in stacking up plugins I am actually making the sound worse! So I deliberately limit myself to a channel strip channel strip, a 1176 compressor (or Distressor) and tape emulation. I do really enjoy using Luna as a DAW for tracking live instruments (for midi etc it is limited, but I can use Logic for that). As a criticism, the new generational Apollos don't have any more DSP capabilities that the previous models which I think is pretty poor given the price point. Even on the Hexa core rack models you can run through all available DSP in a couple of plugins. For £2000+ for the rack models, I expected a DSP upgrade with the next generation.

I did, right after I committed to buying a 6x10 cabinet on the Basschat marketplace and started to wonder how I would transport it from Blackpool to the Orkney Islands.

I have a couple of Mesa cabs, a 1x15 Scout and a 6x10 Powerhouse. Nobody needs a 6x10. It is just silly, unnecessary and impractical for gigging (too heavy and too loud). I bought it as a bargain 'bucket list' purchase for my garage studio. the 1x15 Walkabout Scout combo has done about 60% of my gigs since 2009. Great workhorse cab, though the design is a bit cumbersome and dated now (a modern 1x12 will go louder and lower and be much lighter). I used to have multiple Trace Elliot cabs, I had a Peavey era 2x10 and 1x15 to use as my 'big amp' set up. Good but not great cabs, I sold the 2x10 and still use the 1x15 occasionally. To be fair the 1x15 is still in perfect working order despite being on tour multiple times so I must admit the build quality is really good if nothing else. I really don't change set ups much. I have bought one cabinet since 2009 and it was the 6x10.

This. Or failing that, something dating from 1980-2000 with a 'Wal' logo on it.

This is the kind of riff where it is much easier to just play along to the track and work out the general 'feel' rather than trying to work out the part in isolation with notation. The actual track has quite a lot of 'swing' that isn't apparent from the transcription. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure that transcription itself is entirely accurate. Just thinking, it might be easier/more fluid to play the part entirely on the low C and just playing the upper parts on the tenth and twelfth fret rather than crossing strings. Being entirely honest, you could probably just hammer away on the low C and you will generally be fine.

Good prices, decent instruments, however far too many signature models and very much a 'metal' (but not my kind of metal) vibe. I really do like the P-bass inspired models.

With longstanding members with decent feedback, I have done it a few times without problem. Had it gone wrong though I wouldn't have had much recourse. Paypal is preferred but never through the 'friends and family' option

I made those comments in January 2020, just before COVID hit, so I will just blame COVID for delaying technological innovation. Do Ashdown still even make the Ant?

Brilliant musicians, generally considered 'good guys' of the industry, really appreciate some of the humour and their longevity and continued cultural relevance over a long career has to be respected. I even bought Geddy Lee's book which is great. I just don't really enjoy the music. I completely understand why people like it, but it isn't for me personally, even though I love lots of bands who are influenced by Rush.

Universal Audio are offering a 'free' 1176 plugin. I mean, there are so many damn 1176 plugins but the UAD ones are generally as good as anything.

For C Standard tuning (and a bit lower) I use 12-62 on a Les Paul. On a Fender style I would probably use an 11-56 or so owing to the extra tension from having a longer scale length. I think bands like Sonic Youth tuned to drop A (standard tuning but with the E string tuned all the way down to A). Many a metal band has tuned a Fender scale guitar down to B standard and lower, it is mostly down to a decent set up.

It is great that it is the 'proper' Sabbath line up of the four original members. It is also cool that it seems to be a celebration of the heavier end of popular music being used for charitable causes. My main takeaway is curious wonder/bewilderment of what a band featuring Billy Corgan, Slash, Fred Durst, Wolfgang Van Halen and Tom Morello is going to sound like. Are they going to have 4 guitarists, no drummer and Fred Durst or is Slash going to play drums? All in all a perfect way for the band to say goodbye in their own hometown.

I use a set of D'addario 120-50 balanced tension strings for D standard/drop C on a P bass and they work fine. They also work great for C sharp standard. The 120 however does get floppy if start tuning to drop B. For C sharp and drop B I generally up the low string to a tapered 130. Some of the classic low tune stoner metal bass tones have however been obtained with comparatively light tuned strings. The loose tension plays a part in the tone, so if you want to nail the 'vibe' of those early recordings a P Bass with slightly looser strings might be better than a multi-scale bass with really heavy high tension strings. It does come down to personal taste though and I like heavier tension strings (I use 12-62 strings on a guitar for lower tuning stuff on a Les Paul) For a Precision type bass especially, this is a very good idea.

In terms of bass amps which go utterly filthy in terms on board dirt, The Mesa Big Block 750 is probably the dirtiest amp I have ever tried. I wanted one for a decade before I finally got one and it is definitely a 'never sell' item. Ampeg SVTs are great for overdrive too. My nephew as an SVT 3 Pro and you can actually drive it to pretty good overdrive at useable volume levels, which isn't so much the case with the Big Block.

Agreed. If you watch any demo video he does about the Attitude basses or the EBS pedals, you really get the impression that he was heavily involved in the development process and he isn't just sticking his name on something for the sake of it.