Tait

[quote name='Rimskidog' post='577886' date='Aug 22 2009, 09:51 PM']There are a hundred ways to skin this particular cat. Unfortunaly there are 200 ways to screw it up. If you have the sound you want coming out of the speaker you then have to think about the room: is it colouring the sound in an unpleasant way?if so you may be able to reduce the room sound either by using gobos (or maybe a duvet) to minimise that. If you have that covered (no pun intended) are you using a mic that will tend to capture the sound you are after? An sm57, for example, will capture a mid-forward sound (some might say nasally). If you only have one mic you won't be able to experiment to find the right one for you track. The next thing to think about is mic placement. It isn't as simple as "just sticking a mic in front of the cab. Different placements will capture very different tones. There is no substitute for moving the mic around to find the right position. Broad strokes but close up on the grill will capture in your face guitars, further back will push them back in a mix (but you'll need a good sounding room). Pointing the mic closer to the centre of the cone will make for a treblier output, closer to the edge will be bassier. A movement of as little as an inch can make a huge difference. A decent preamplifier is a prerequisite. Different models will provide for different flavours API does aggressive guitars very well. Chandler germ is great on dirty guitars, tg2 for a full sounding rhythm. The list goes on...[/quote] atm i'm using a line out from the amp, although i've been planning on experimenting with recording through a mic in front of the speaker for a little while. is that what you'd recommend? tbh in the general recording help thread skankdevlar gave me a list of pros and cons for line outs and using a mic, and what he recommended was to record the main track with a line out, then maybe another track with a mic, and then you can mix the two (or more) tracks to get a good sound. this was talking about recording in general though, not guitar in particular, so i was planning on messing about with it, but would you recommend this specifically for guitar, or would you say to solely record with a mic in front of the speaker? [quote name='WalMan' post='577889' date='Aug 22 2009, 09:57 PM']Yup I'd go with that. Perhaps get him to look at something like the Orange Tiny Terror. Small and not hugely loud (7 & 15 w) but souinds just great from clean through crunch to nutter and because its not high output can be pushed in small spaces. There are a few similar things about, I just know about the TT because #2 son got one a couple of years back. He originally went looking for a 50w amp to use for practice and a bit of recording and while we were in GAK I noticed the TT and said "what about one of those?". Tried it and was instantly smitten. I also recall him talking of a guy they were trying to record on his course last year. Bloke had a string of distortion pedals and the sound was not great, so #2 sets up a solid rhythm sound for him without the pedals that the rest of his band were pleased with, but matey boy had to use his pedals and ended up with a sh1te sound - that's guitards for you [/quote] he's using a fender amp that he always uses live when he records, [url="http://www.fender.co.uk/products//search.php?partno=2316600000"]this one[/url] i believe, but i'm not 100% sure. i know a lot of people don't particularly like fender amps, but i have the same problems when i record through my dad's line 6 spider and when i just go out of my marshall guv'nor pedal, and we both really like the sound he gets from his fender amp when playing live, so i don't think its a problem with the amp tbh. i think its more just how we're EQing or how we're going about recording it or something. he never used to use any pedals except one from his amp that changed channels from clean to overdriven, and hes recently got a new multi FX pedal that we've not had chance to record with yet, so i'm pretty sure it isn't a matter of using too many pedals or anything. [quote name='sdgrsr400' post='577892' date='Aug 22 2009, 10:03 PM']Another option is to record fairly clean, and add the dist & effects later in the DAW. Maybe get hold of Guitar LE as per [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=53874&hl=LE"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=53874&hl=LE[/url][/quote] we've tried that with some VST plugins and stuff that came with reaper, and they all sound really bad. but i haven't given the one in the link a go yet, if i can't find any other solutions i'll try it out. [quote name='slaphappygarry' post='578215' date='Aug 23 2009, 02:35 PM']Adding to what has been said, make sure the guitar has some clean new strings. This improves clarity. A dirty, dead set of strings wont ever sound good.[/quote] i haven't thought to check this with my guitarist, even though its really obvious. i'll make sure next time we're recording that he changes his strings before hand, see if that helps. thanks for the advice so far everyone, its all useful.

[quote name='arabassist' post='578017' date='Aug 23 2009, 05:19 AM']Was it the active pickups (ive only owned passive)?[/quote] the pickups are passive, theres an active circuit in the bass. theres lots of reasons why you might not like the sound of an ibanez, especially if you like the sounf of a fender. they're complete opposites, the fender is passive, has an alder body (i assume), a big body, jazz pickups, and is basically made to sound like a jazz should sound, bearing in mind the jazz was invented in the 60's (i think, my fender history isn't brilliant. could've been late 50's.) whereas the ibanez (depending on model, i'm going by a basic SR or BTB style ibanez) is active, has soapbar pickups (some made by bartolini, who don't exactly made vintage sounding pickups), mahogany body, and it sounds really modern. my all time favourite stock bass that i've played is an ibanez SR500, i would never, ever sell mine. yet i'm not a fan of jazz basses. we all have different tastes.

hi, as you may have seen in my "general recording help" thread, i'm fairly new to all this recording stuff. i think i'm getting a fair bit better at it, using advice from people on this forum, reading through the reaper user guide chapter by chapter, and just experimenting. but one thing i'm having a lot of trouble with is getting overdriven guitar to sound good. at the moment it sounds either fuzzy and muddy, or it sounds like a clean guitar if i lower the gain too much. i can't seem to find the middle ground. me and the guitarist in my band spent quite a while trying to get it right, and although what we ended up with sounded useable, it didn't sound good. its not so much solos and stuff we're having trouble with, we got that sounding great, its the rythm guitar doing the chords in the background (mainly power chords). it sounds fine live, but in the studio we can't get it to sound right at all. its probably something to do with the way we're EQing the guitar, something to do with how i'm recording and something to do with my lack of good mixing and editing skills, but thats what i'm here for, to learn! so what magic tricks do you guys have up your sleeves? any help would be greatly appreciated, Luke. EDIT: oh, and my guitarist has recently got some massive multi FX pedal that we'll probably try using rather than his amp next time we try recording. do you think that will improve the sound or whatever? sorry i haven't got more info of the pedal, he's only used it for one gig so i haven't had the chance to have a proper look at it.

[quote name='simon1964' post='577486' date='Aug 22 2009, 12:14 PM']Another vote for JJ. Specifically, his first two notes on Hanging Around. That was pretty much the point I decided to switch from guitar to bass![/quote] simon1964 made me play bass.

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='576588' date='Aug 21 2009, 12:07 PM']I always found that the Ibanez and mahogany basses in general lacked the real bottom end of ash and alder basses. Fantastc wood for guitars but for basses (metal basses anyway) I never really liked them.[/quote] you may be right, the SR series is more of an all rounder. it'd still be excellent for death metal IMO, but perhaps the ash bodied SRX series would work better? really, its about trying stuff out and seeing what works for you. theres been plenty of people recommend ibanez, but you might find that when it comes to it, you wont like it.

we had a gig tonight, and we were bored of playing the same old setlist, so yesterday we had a 4 hour band practice and at least half of the set tonight was stuff we'd only learnt yesterday, including one original we'd only written yesterday. and we had a missing rythm guitarist. yet i've been given compliments on how tight the band sounded, weird or what? it was a suprisingly good gig, too. we weren't getting paid, it was just playing with a band we've played with on several occasions so that was one of the reasons we went for a new set on short notice was because it didn't really matter if our playing was sloppy, that band would still book us to play with them (its the bassist of the other band who runs the gigs), and so we figured who cared if it was poor for one gig? but it wasn't, it was quite good, the new songs just clicked and we went down really well. i just thought i'd share any one else had a suprisingly good gig recently?

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='574456' date='Aug 19 2009, 05:18 PM']Sorry for the delay, haven't been by this thread recently. In brief - Micing up: [b]Pro[/b] * Gets speaker colouration into the equation * Depending on which part of the speaker the mic's aimed at, you can get different sounds. Straight at centre - punchy. Off centre - plummier * Depending on mic distance from speaker, room noise begins to creep in. Can be good for adding 'air' and 'naturalness' to the sound [b]Con[/b] * The noise pisses the neighbours off. * Bass can bleed through into other instruments mikes and vice versa. Bass notes can make certain bits of drumkit rattle, adding to unwanted noises. * You have to accurately replicate mic positioning if you go back later and re-record sections of bassline within the original song. Or for consistency between different songs * Depending on mic distance from speaker, room noise begins to creep in. Can add unwanted noise. Room reflections can cause phase issues, spoiling your sound On the whole, I'd personally DI the bass for the main take. Later on, you can solo the 'clean' bass track back out of Reaper to a bass amp and record the speaker output with a mic to a new track, then mix the two tracks using a reaper 'folder'. Sending the signal out and back will introduce a tiny delay, so your re-amped track will be fractionally behind the original. You'll have to accurately align the 're-amped' track [i]to[/i] the original DI recording so that they're [i]absolutely[/i] in sync or you'll get phasing noises and / or your tone will sound 'hollow'.[/quote] thanks, i understand now. from what you've said, i agree about DIing the bass for the main take, and i'll mess with recording the speaker output, too, see how it sounds.

[quote name='Fraktal' post='572488' date='Aug 18 2009, 12:56 AM']Check out the Ibanez SR505. Thinnest neck in the market, perfect for fast playing, VERY light and comfortable (in fact lighter than many guitars), heavily contoured body, optimal balance, very versatile sound with Bartolini pickups and preamp, can do anything from old school wooly sounds to clanky-zingy-earthshattering metal, and if you like wood, it has the looks. I love mine![/quote] +10000 definatly the ibanez SR505, absoutely fantastic bass, and with its really thin neck it shouldn't be a problem to play fast. [quote name='rjb' post='575140' date='Aug 20 2009, 09:31 AM']Warwick! A second hand Corvette $$ 5 string should give you a huge growly sound for not too much money. The Ibanez SR505 is also a great call. You might also want to try a good old Fender P bass strung BEAD. That should give a really punchy tone.[/quote] warwick corvette $$s are also lovely basses, but the necks on warwicks are a love/hate thing, you'll want to have a really good play on it first.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='574871' date='Aug 19 2009, 10:41 PM']I'm hoping it will be, but I'll still need to arrange to go up North to get it too. I've put it on the Bash list though.[/quote] nice one! has jon sent you any updates? i guess not, you'd probably have put them one the build diary by now, and jons not great at getting pictures at the best of times, and its a busy time for him. anyway, i'm really hoping its ready by the bash, i'd love to see it there!

[quote name='simon1964' post='574830' date='Aug 19 2009, 10:08 PM']Looks like I'm coming then! As well as bringing Luke and Sam I'll bring probably bring the Shuker, Stingray with John East pre-amp, and the Rickenbacker. I might squeeze either the Precision or the Thumb in as well. Looking forward to it [/quote] don't forget sam's $$ and my taitycaster!

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='574810' date='Aug 19 2009, 10:01 PM']Would you have space for Sam?[/quote] i've just been talking with him on msn, we should be able to give him a lift if we can make it.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='574752' date='Aug 19 2009, 09:17 PM']will you bring the Taitycaster?[/quote] of course, if we can make it. will your shuker be finished by then? i've been following the build thread, i'm looking forward to pictures when its finished!

[quote name='epique666' post='565671' date='Aug 11 2009, 09:33 AM']Hello, I am looking for a bass with the below mentioned specs:- 1) 24 frets 2) Active pickups 3) 4 String 4) Active EQ Budget is not an issue. Please help. Thank you.[/quote] how come you want active pickups and an active EQ? you don't get many basses with both as far as i know. [quote name='UK Ken' post='565678' date='Aug 11 2009, 09:42 AM']Hey epique, Welcome to the forum. My bass is for sale, and meets your specs. Check it out at: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=57063"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=57063[/url] Cheers Ken[/quote] the $$ doesn't have active pickups. although the $$ is an awesome bass.

me and my dad (simon1964) might be there, it looks a good day but its a long drive to surrey and it depends what we're doing nearer the time.

[quote name='wizbat' post='573353' date='Aug 18 2009, 07:26 PM']I wondered where this thread went!. Most people have already seen and heard about these but here they are again.[/quote] ooh i saw those in the flesh a little while back. i was at jon's workshop for some reason, i think to pick to up my dad's shuker or something like that, and he showed me them. they were nearly finished, and looked really nice! i should've guessed they were going to belong to a basschatter.

[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='571863' date='Aug 17 2009, 06:09 PM']Did Fender actually have copyright over the precision and jazz bass shape? BB[/quote] nope, only the headstock shape. thats why, unless its licensed by fender like squier and mighty mite are for instance, copies can't use the fender headstock shape.

[quote]I can't recall ever seeing him post something that isn't either a joke or innuendo or a riddle.[/quote] half the time i don't understand a word he says.

it got you to notice him and remember him as a member of this forum, and i guess you'd probably be more trusting of him if you were to see something of his for sale or more trusting of his advice. i know i'm more trusting of people i see over and over again on here. that might not have been the aim, but the way i see it, wheres the harm in doing so?

i'm lucky for things like this because my dad's the member simon1964 here, so i go with him. i've only been to 2 bashes, but the majority of people seem to go by themselves. and like budgetbassist said, everyone's friendly and people just get chatting.

thanks for the advice guys, just one last question. i've seen somewhere about mic'ing up the amp when you record, rather than lining out. what are the pros and cons of each? as far as i can tell, the differences are a line out cuts out any back ground noise, whereas a mic will pick up background noise. but a line out doesn't take the cab size into account, as its not recording the sound coming out of the cab, just the sound coming out of the preamp. with a mic i expect the placement of the amp will make a difference, too, but i'm not sure.

dear mr sound engineer man, i think you do a great job. old people just like moaning. Luke

[quote name='jonthebass' post='570251' date='Aug 15 2009, 09:42 PM']Don't get too serious now Taity, c'mon what would you have bass gear wise?[/quote] haha i meant it jokingly. it depends, if i have to get rid of all my basses first i'd get my taitycaster back. can i have customs? if so i'll go for - -a jon shuker with a jaguar shaped body, olympic white, black pickguard, J/MM pickups, rosewood fretboard and a 3 band EQ (obvs i'd go into more detail on the spec, but thats the basics) -a 2 band EQ stingray, either black/black/rosewood, white/black/rosewood or maybe some sparkly colour with a pickguard and fretboard material according to what colour -a CIJ 70s RI precision in vintage white with black pickguard, simply because my dad has one and its just a perfect all rounder bass. you could pay it for any kind of music and it works, and looks cool. CIJ because i'd be worried about damaging a MIA one, and i dont think theyre worth the extra money at all, even though you said moneys no object.

if i had unlimited money, none of the first 3 things i'd buy would be basses i'm afraid.

ahh this is easy! ibanez SR500. no doubt about it.

thomann and GAK both sell the mark hoppus EDIT: thomanns not a UK site, but its EU so i dont think you'll be stung by customs