Conan

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1357805697' post='1928538'] I have a bassdoc bwb one for my geddy that I've never put on, hence it's going spare if youre interested? [/quote] Even better!

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1357766106' post='1928193'] Yes it is a very good jazz bass indeed....but its not as good as the Lakland Darryll Jones! [/quote] In what way? I ask purely for information...

I gave Howard the Bass Doc my stock white one as a template and he made me a lovely BWB one which has been on my GL ever since He still has the white one in case of other similar enquiries. Mine was made ca. 2009, so if you do enquire, make sure you tell him what year yours was made as I believe there are subtle differences... PM me if you would like his phone number (he has internet-related problems at the moment...).

I should be up for that. Will need to check with my social secretary though...

I've just bought a graphic equaliser pedal.... does that count as an "effect"?

Several weeks ago I offered to pass on Howard's number to concerned Basschatters. In that time only two people have asked. It would seem that some people would rather diss him on here, even though he won't read it himself. Not impressed. The guy offers excellent work at mates-rates prices. He has hundreds of satisfied customers but as soon as he experiences a few logistical problems people start sticking the knife in. Unbelievable.

I'm still at the "playing the market" stage! After decades of using Superwounds, Elites and D'addarios I recently discovered DR highbeams, which I really like. Shame about the price though... Tried a set of Newtone diamonds and wasn't massively impressed. They were OK but seemed to lose their zing pretty quickly. Interestingly, I got a set of Roto RS66s for Christmas and I can't wait to try them out! They were the first strings I ever used. On the fretless I have La Bella Deep Talkin' 49-109. Nice!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1357681503' post='1926802'] Now I wouldn't play covers, etc, for under £75-100 each. No point. [/quote] Crikey! That's £500 a night for a five-piece band!! Not many covers bands get that playing pubs.... and even for corporate functions you would have to be pretty slick. My experience of the pub circuit in the North East is that most pubs pay between £120 and £250 for "standard" cover bands. If you can guarantee a large following then you may be able to negotiate more than that. I'm not sure that has changed much in the last 20 years or so. No sense in pricing yourself out of the market if you want gigs!

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1357745326' post='1927690'] Most audience members wouldn't notice or care that the guitar and bass are EQ'd sympathetically, or that the ride cymbal was chosen to fit with that mix. That doesn't mean it's not worth doing, because the audience will notice that the band sounds good (or conversley sh*t). [/quote] Absolutely! It's the overall sound that counts, but of course that overall sound is the sum of many parts. Get the parts wrong and the sum total will be wrong.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1357745364' post='1927691'] Between stomach and crotch. If there is a medical name for such a place, it escapes me. The height is determined by wrist position basically. Neither my left nor right hand should be at any awkward angles... The end result is quite similar to the position Geddy Lee uses. But that is where the similarities end. [/quote]

Between stomach and crotch. If there is a medical name for such a place, it escapes me. The height is determined by wrist position basically. Neither my left nor right hand should be at any awkward angles...

[quote name='Inti' timestamp='1357741295' post='1927570'] I could play the same line on a fender and on my yamaha and it would sound different. [/quote] It would sound different to you, and probably to us as bass players. Most guitarists or keyboard players might notice a difference. Some drummers. A few vocalists... But most audience members would neither notice nor care. It also depends on the signal path. Stick your two basses through a clean amp and a good cabinet and the differences would be fairly easy to hear. Stick a few effects in the chain and the differences in the basses bacome less apparent...

[quote name='SlapbassSteve' timestamp='1357734492' post='1927375'] I've just bought a BDI-21 to spice up my Markbass rig's tone, sounds boss on it's own and the tube distortion is decent, however it seems to absolutely destroy the mids in a fashion I'd have loved when I was going through my bedroom bassist phase... looking forward to trying it in a band setting to see if I can keep the valve sound without loosing all the mids and promptly getting lost in the mix... [/quote] I feel exactly the same about mine. Is it too much to ask to expect a mid control as well as just bass, treble and "presence"? The presence control needs careful handling...

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1357725636' post='1927155'] Playing covers in a pub with nothing but a 4 string P and an ampeg is my idea of hell. [/quote] Even if the pub is packed full of punters having a great time? To me it's more about the whole scenario than just my personal gear choices... but it just shows that we all get different things out of music!

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1357725359' post='1927148'] The better the instrument, the easier it is to play. [/quote] True. And, these days, more expensive does not always equal "better".

Sorry, but I found that to be buttock-clenchingly crap and embarrassing. American rom-com of the worst kind I didn't like it.

I got a Behringer BDI21 for Christmas, and although I've had a bit of a fiddle about with it at home and used it in one recording session; I answered "no". Whether I use it regularly remains to be seen - but I do like the sounds I can get from it. The only down side is that it seems to suck the mids out, and with a J bass through a Hartke LH500 I don't exactly have them in abundance to start with! I may end up getting some sort of graphic pedal so that I can boost the midrange some more...

[quote name='Mikey R' timestamp='1357721745' post='1927086'] A better player will know what they want from their kit, that is the absolute extent of it. [/quote] They may know what they want, but will they know how to get it? Often it is not until you actually try (and/or buy) a piece of equipment that you find out if it delivers what you thought it would. Which brings us back to the GAS again... You can read all the manufacturer's specs you like, but it's not until you actually use something that you find out if it is for you.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1357691120' post='1926980'] 'I tend to play harder when I'm buried in the mix.' Seems to me that there is a lot of learning to be done with respect to expression. Every note should be played differently. With a good instrument you should be able to control the subtleties of tone using your hands only. If you're buried in the mix then it's not your playing, it's your level and EQ that need sorting. [/quote] Yes. Thanks for the lecture but I am well aware of this! It was me who made the comment about being buried in the mix. But I was actually referring to a specific situation that occurred last weekend. We were recording in the guitarist's house and all the instruments were DI'ed. It had taken ages to get a "reasonable" mix for the five of us through headphones and although I was happy with it at the start, once we started playing I found that I was too low in the mix. I couldn't just wander over to my amp and turn up, and the only way to get my level boosted was to stop playing, halt everyone else, and adjust the level at the desk. I didn't want to do this so I just played a bit harder!!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1357650411' post='1925930'] I think it's more of a wake-up call to shops to start setting basses up so they're vaguely playable before hanging them out on the wall. That way, if a bass is a dog, it's because it's a dog. Send it back. The internet is killing you all. Put some effort into it. [/quote] Bloody right! Good old-fashioned customer service is what we want!

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1357654184' post='1926046'] I'm not sure about you finding something "more desirable to play" [/quote] Yeah. You can't pre-judge the feel of a bass, or even a neck, purely based on the measurements. Some people that say they prefer J necks give the reason as being that they have smaller hands. Well, I am a big guy with big hands and the neck on my Geddy Lee Jazz is one of the most comfortable ones I've played! The fact that it is a J neck means that it is narrower at the nut, yes, but it is also very shallow from front to back. The material used to coat the wood (or lack of it) is another factor in whether a neck feels comfortable to you or not. I hate the over lacquered "glossy" ones, but don't much care for bare wood either! The Geddy seems to get that right too (for me). Neck radius is another variable - some are nearly flat whereas others are almost cylindrical! Take your pick!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1357649475' post='1925900'] Haven't read the thread, but I'd just like to say that it's the mastering that's boils my p*ss. It's all mastered for tin-pot car speakers or earphones bought from a market stall. It's like listening to wallpaper. [/quote] Yes. I notice this particularly on the last few Rush albums. i find them almost unlistenable at times.

[quote name='bremen' timestamp='1357648388' post='1925868'] Kids nowadays probably wonder how we used put up with poor TV reception or having to find porn in hedgerows . [/quote] Yeah. I never understood how it got there.... does it grow on trees?

[quote name='Stan_da_man' timestamp='1357643336' post='1925718'] I firmly believe that the three main factors in 'your' tone are the way you hit the strings, the pickups on the bass and how fresh/dead the strings are. That's why I always sound like me whatever bass/rig I play. [/quote] I would say that it is pretty much just the first one! But the way you hit the strings will vary depending on the feedback that your ears are giving you. I think this is most noticeable when I am too low in the mix (IMO). As a result I try to dig in more in order to be louder, and therefore the sound changes... Fresh strings tend to be a bit louder than old ones, but can also be a bit scooped in the mids - which again gives a perceived volume drop. Weak pickups are easier to deal with as you obvioulsy just up the gain on your amp. So many factors. So many variables. But the biggest one is the player themselves (IMO of course!)