krispn

A very drive heavy board and although I may be talking out my a$$ the sansamp and the dapper may well be very similar in how they’re eq’d. Are any of the pedals ‘always on’ as that’s a good place to start. And I suppose the other standard go to question is what songs/sounds are you aiming for?

I kinda have to agree with BRX. So much of being in a band is about being heard and working along with what’s already there in terms of the band sound. It could be as simple as hiring the rehearsal room for an hour before the band gets there/going in in you own, playing some music into the pa at volume and jamming along tweakingbas you go. Ideally tweaking one pedal at a time with the eq stuff first to ‘hear’ if you’re sitting in a zone/frequency/region. It’s not ideal but it should afford you some idea, at volume, of what’s more likely to work. The opposite to this is dial in a sound which might not be that easy on the ear in isolation at home and see if it translates. Maybe pull back in the low end. Give 200-250hz a wee bump try it out, reset to noon, give 340-400hz a wee bump if you can, try cutting/boosting in about 800hz to hear if that cleans things up, add a bit of 2-4kHz if you want a bit more too without being offensive etc. Obviously it depends on what eq control you have. TB500 is the orange bass terror? Even with that on board eq it only takes a second at rehearsal to pull back the lows, boost mids on the first verse, make a swift adjustment on the chorus for the second verse etc. Explain to the band you’re having difficulty hearing yourself in the room, it’s not a volume issue, ask them what they can hear, if they think you need more lows, more mids etc. Choose one or two songs you guys know well, something that maybe won’t need undivided attention on the actual parts so folks are able to listen rather than concentrate on what they’re having to play. Even if it only translates to the sound in that one rehearsal space you will all enjoy rehearsal more and it will translate into the performance and you’ll gain a better understanding of your pedals in context. These are all things I have done and continue to do when necessary. Remember small changes one ata time is better then randomly turning knobs out of frustration. If you can bone up on things like eq points and what qualities they have boxy, clanky etc you’ll quickly learn what works and what you like and most importantly how to achieve it quickly and unobtrusively in many situations.

Might give this a try on one of my patches. @funkleyou'll have to let us know when any of these tracks are ready for a listen. Was it an Edinburgh based singer?

They’re some pretty decent strings! I can’t take no credit whatsoever. 🙂

Worth it just to see which bass would be played next. 😀

*Sorry a bit off topic* That’d be class. If it’s for St. Paddy’s Day I’m likely to be gigging in and about Edinburgh with my own squad as it’s our busiest day of the year playing two or three gigs. If you’re thinking about St Paddy’s in Scotland I’m sure you’d have the Barra’s jumping and the likes of the Three Sisters make a big week long occasion out of it with lots of guests bands etc. They used to buddy up with other venues to hold a “St. Patrick’s Festival”. Might be worth enquiring with them if you’re making it as far as Edinburgh/Glasgow. Seeing how St.Pats was a bit of a wash out last time I’d say places will be dying to hold a good session this coming March! *normal service may resume!

Aye the Mandela Hall gig is a solid live album must have been a good nights craic doing that one! I’m from Tyrone originally (Coalisland) but live in Edinburgh (ish) now. You guys planning on having a big St. Patricks day gig this year?

@acidbassThat’s not the Whistling Donkeys from Tyrone is it?

The 734 might loose a smidge of weight as the body is routed for the preamp

There’s at least two for sale on here just now 😀

Looks like these have a baxandall bass and treble eq.

Yup that's pretty much what I do. There's loads of chat about frequencies and there are some useful 'markers' as to what characteristics are contained in and about certain bands - boomy, punchy, hollow, zingy, sharp, clanky etc. Think of it like spice in food. If something needs more salt you add a bit of salt right? Why continue to eat a bland meal when the salt is just sitting there? Too busy eating to add a touch of flavour? Some folk like more salt than others - personal preference right! Better yet think of it like a pizza - We will all have an idea of what we like sonically just as much as we know what we do and don't like on a pizza! It's the same food but we all have our take on it. My experience last week was a new bass which has hot pick ups and to my ear quite a bit of lows so I pulled the bass and low mids on the amp to 11:00 assuming noon was flat on the eq - on my pedal board I carry a a semi-parametric eq pedal and had that set up to shape the bass how I like from playing at home - I used my rudimentary knowledge of eq to set where I thought it might be most useful but fine tuned it with my ears. I couldn't say for certain what frequencies the EQ is set at but I have a rough idea and it's where I think my basses work in the band and to my ear. It sounded great on the day and I was pleased and more importantly it took less than a minute to set it then forget it. I had a bass playing mate (and some members from the other bands who were playing after us chip in too which was useful) in the audience who gave me some reassurance that the balance was good, the bass nice and punchy and sounded cohesive - The guitar/fiddle/vox were all into the PA so I was tryin to keep up with the drummer, still be heard but not over powering. So basically if you want more 'sparkle' add treble if you want more 'bass' add more bass sure and for most of us we're limited to what our amps are set at. I'd be hard pressed to hear and then say that an amp with lows fixed at 40Hz is less useful than one with lows set at 55Hz especially if the issue of too much lows remained an issue as in the above post but this is where the mids can come into play. A golden rule of EQ is subtractie EQ in small doses often fixes an issue rather than boosting other frequencies but as with most things the rules go out the window and what works, works!

It does have the GB vibe about it doesn’t it! I can only comment on the mid selector and the frequencies are definitely a nod to Ampeg - The eq advice above still stands in relation to the mid selector so hopefully it’s useful to someone. Give it a try next time you’re out and let us know how you get on!

The eq selector looks like it’s based on an Ampeg 5 way selector - the listed frequencies look familiar. I know not all Ampegs have the same eq switches but I’m pretty confident that’s where they set them on the 5 ways on their amps and preamps that I’ve had experience with. Also features the Ultra High and Ultra Low buttons. The T model does appear more BG like but the M controls do seem Ampeg inspired. It’d be fair to assume the Bass and Treble are set to an Ampeg spec of 40Hz/4kHz (like Fender) but honestly it won’t really matter as they’re fixed unless you’re boosting them loads - the biggest impact will be where you set the mid switch and by how much you boost or cut to get your sound sitting in/cutting through the mix. If it’s based on the Ampeg amps it might be worth knowing that they have a +10dB boost/-20dB cut on some of their “Pro” heads. As an aside if you’re boosting 220Hz and switch the dial to 800Hz it should be very apparent in a band mix or bedroom as it is not a subtle shift! That is unless you leave the mid volume at unity gain. Moving the selector but not actually boosting any or enough dB will likely be too subtle and even a bit pointless as it won’t be having a great impact and certainly nothing at the volume of a gig with ear plugs. Just apply the eq’ing basics and it’ll all fall into place pretty quickly and self evidently. I had my first gig back a few weeks ago. New to me bass, not my own amp with no idea where the eq points were, open air venue, hadn’t had a rehearsal or gig in 18 months and it was our dep fiddle player who I’ve not gigged with in about 2 years - she has her own way of doing some of the songs and does a couple which we only play with her😳 Just knowing what type of sound I like and a bit of educated guesswork and lo and behold It was grand😁

Bloody double post again - keep automatically hitting quote instead of finding edt

I guess folk have paid more or similar prices for 'off the shelf' basses without the voodoo and treatments and don't bat an eyelid. If it's inperceptable differences it's hard to justify the additional cost for sure and possibly why Yamaha don't have such an esoterically priced model in the new range? I think the BBP has some of the treatment and they're much less expensive comapratively. A quick look at Bass Direct and the new cost of a Lull, Dingwall, Elrick, Spector MTD etc are 3k+ and they don't have any special treatment? I'd begin to be feeling hard done by that they didn't have some voodoo for that money and a noisy bridge pick up!

It was the wood treatments and the ‘Made in Japan’ angle I think?

No coincidence that it’s available in Oct 😂😂

Dual lock is quality stuff and I’ve just recent used it on my board

Watch the Amos Heller ADAM demo. Very well explained and the best tones I’ve heard from it but most of Amos’ DG demo’s show them in a very positive and versatile light.

Lovely bit of work making the bass your own. I’ve done that to a couple of basses and it’s quite satisfying. I’m saying that I’ve got a Hot P Seymour Duncan I’m not using if you do fancy something hotter as a pick up upgrade and a tone styler. I’ll be listing them in the next few days once I dig them out of storage boxes. Don’t worry mods I’m all paid up.

Oops double post

Aye the work in progress nature of it means I’ll not get too anal about a cable here or there for now only so many spare hours etc. I love a good mess about with pedals as I know you do but I’ve little practical application in my current bands which is the point I was making rather than you ‘dislike’ pedals. Your initial post was about the ideal gigging mini board for you and by your own admission you have got by with zero pedals for most gigs bar the use of the zoom more recently. If the gig doesn’t call for filter and synths it seems redundant to populate a board with them if they’re unlike to be used for a while. I know you like the VTDI and that’s a handy pedal for going direct to the pa etc if needed so might be a good addition too. At the end of the day it’s your gig so you’ll know what will be good solid choices for you.