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We do it like this. The person that gets the gig gets a commission from the others. This isn't a percentage but works like this: Gigs between £250 - £500 - £5 from each member Gigs between £501 - £999 - £10 from each member Gigs between £1000+ gets £15 from each member Typically we are a 4 piece sometimes 5. So say we were a 4 piece getting £400. We all 4 get £100 and then pay £5 from that £100 to the gig getter. Seems to work so far. If there is anything left it goes into the slush fund towards our originals project.

Was in a studio last night. The engineer loved the sound of the neat bass but i did ask him to do a mix with raw bass and a mix with a bunch of effects on. Interested to see which effects he uses and the end result.

[quote name='wal4string' post='1172023' date='Mar 22 2011, 12:58 PM']Thanks for the thanks. Not many bother, always nice for feed back even if sometimes negative.[/quote] heres a bump on that thanks. but this was Carole Kay surely?

[quote name='robocorpse' post='1171068' date='Mar 21 2011, 06:48 PM']Maybe, but its in my sig now [/quote] I think enough of you have mentioned the sub heading being offensive for me to apologise. It was meant in context to guitartists that i have worked with who can't seem to play as fluidly without a ton of effects as they can with - independant of genre. It was an observation not intended to harm or cause offense. I did try a compressor last night and was, well, left thinking whats it all about. In some ways i found it a bit of an impairment when i wanted to put some natural emphasis in certain passages of the song i was working with. All the compressors i have tried built into amps have been switched off after a minute due to IMO a negative impact on the sound. I am interested in trying a chorus though. Wondered what that might do for someone playing mainly old style funk and soul? And lastly - i probably DO use effects as the filters on the Little Mark are very powerful and i love 'em.

[quote name='silddx' post='1170841' date='Mar 21 2011, 04:29 PM']I have read them all. Despite your saying you don't want to upset or have a dig at anyone, your OP, and most of the comments you have made, demonstrate some prejudice or ignorance with regard to those of us who use multiple effects. We are probably used to it by now but I have had concerned comments from some engineers when they see my POD, and I have to waste time reassuring them while I'm worrying they're not experienced enough to get the band a decent sound. As for you being a "dying breed", that's lazy engineer speak for "thank f*** I can set the desk to '[b]simple bass[/b]' and get to the bar quicker" If I have upset [i]you [/i]I apologise.[/quote] Apology accepted. I hope not to have offended anyone as this is not my intention. I really don't like distortion on a bass guitar. So what. I have no problem with others playing with HairyMuffs et al. Its hard to post on here without upsetting someone - feel like i need to run everything through the BC PC filter if i had one. I think the thread has been great and i have learnt a lot (that i am a dinosaur) and realised that there are some effects out there that i might like to try.

[quote name='MartyBRebelMC' post='1170791' date='Mar 21 2011, 03:50 PM']thanks for the advice guys, Firstly - yes we are too loud mainly due to the drums The vocals and drums are usually the only things that are defined, I feel the bass and guitars are the real problem, but not sure how to resolve this, I agree logic suggests an ascending hierarchy of frequency from bass to lead and will push to try this out at the next gig. I should mention our rhythm guitarist uses a Marshall half stack (when I rule the world all Marshall 4X12s will be burnt!!!!) so controlling the amount of bass from that is difficult, but will again try hard to get him to roll off the bass.[/quote] Practice playing quietly at rehearsals. I once saw a guy called Roy Ayers and his band would do this thing where they could suddenly alter the dynamic. It was still funky as anything but it demonstrated an amazing ability to still be tight and sound full at the same time. I was lucky enough to meet him after and asked him about it - he looked at me surprised when i asked them how they did this - "practice" he said.

[quote name='silddx' post='1170728' date='Mar 21 2011, 02:31 PM']Christ, there are some funny attitudes around here aren't there. If you like the sound of your 62 Precision into a B-15 unadulterated for your Marvin Gaye tribute, fine. If you like your Dingwall through a NaztyAss JerryCurl FuzziFunk for your RHCP cover band, fine. What's there to argue about? No amount of effects will save you from playing like a prick, and no amount of purity will make you sound like Jesus. I like a very produced sound live and in the studio so I use compression and a little chorus on most of my sounds. I need to pretend I'm a cello sometimes. I need loads of subs sometimes. I use amp sims, compression, distortion, flanger, noise gate, volume pedal and delay in a single song, all together and it sounds amazing and suits that particular song. Do what you want, don't judge others because they are different. You are either a sensitive musician, or an insensitive one. Sensitive musicians do what's good for the song with the agreement of the composer.[/quote] I think you are missing the point and haven't read the previous posts - but there are a lot of them. No one is judging anyone except you. So anyone with a different view to you has a funny attitude? The thread was doing quite nicely with some great contributions till you showed up.

[quote name='Skol303' post='1170668' date='Mar 21 2011, 01:53 PM']Surely the answer to this thread is: it depends on what genre of music you're playing (?). I mean, if you're in a metal band then it's likely you might want some distortion or overdrive/fuzz from time to time; if you're playing drum'n'bass or dubstep then I guess you'd most likely have an octave pedal at your feet... etc. Can effects hide bad playing? Probably, but not easily so. You might think that a distortion pedal, cranked up to the max, could hide poor technique - but the thing is, you have to be fairly tight when playing with distortion, otherwise it just sounds like a mess. So perhaps not. This definitely isn't something to get all 'purist' about. A nice, clean bass has its place in music, for sure. But then so do effects - it's simply a case of "horses for courses"! [/quote] Sure, i can see the use of effects being influenced by the genre. The thread was really seeking to find out how commonplace the use of effects is amongst basschatters. And so far it seems that most of you use effects irrespective of genre. For me, distorting a bass is a hanging offence but i am an old fart that doesn't like heavy metal. Live and let live and all that.

[quote name='JamieBenzies' post='1170242' date='Mar 21 2011, 12:18 AM']I don't know if other people think this is a valid point but I have often thought that electric guitars and basses lack the depth and timbre of an acoustic instrument, FX to me are where our electric instruments compensate for that loss.[/quote] I don't get this really. Why do you think electric instruments need some kind of compensation? The timbre in the growl of a Jazz/Stingray bass is beautiful. Why smother it in effects? If there is no depth get a better amp/cabinet.

[quote name='gelfin' post='1170068' date='Mar 20 2011, 09:32 PM']Mostly I use effects to try and sound like the song. Sometimes just because I feel like it. Here's the pedals. Before the TC chorus was put in. I also use these to great EFFECT [/quote] holy sh** for once i am lost for words

sounds most excellent. shame i live in the deep south have a bump on me

Another thing i wanted to add about recording yourself is that at first you realise that your timing, rhythm, technique, quantity of notes and note choice aren't perhaps as good on playback as they sounded when you were playing live. I can't stress enough what a good thing this is though as it will really tidy up your playing and you will be able to construct lines that suit a piece of music. IMHO recording yourself is one of the best tools to use when you practice. And of course having a good band in which to play your new lines is even better. Right, back to Cubase...

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1169988' date='Mar 20 2011, 08:41 PM']Anyone watching this?...[/quote] nah

[quote name='Evil Undead' post='1169973' date='Mar 20 2011, 08:32 PM']What is this cubase & midi file you speak of? I have a USB audio interface (Pod GX with Pod Farm) but definitely would be cool to be able to remove bass tracks from my favourite songs and add my own line in! I already feel like I started this too late... didn't start playing bass until I was 27 [/quote] Never ever too late. Thats tosh. [url="http://www.cubase.com/home/"]Cubase website[/url] Its a bit daunting at first but worth every penny IMHO. That said there are probably easier and cheaper (possibly free) alternatives around. I just got used to Cubase and it does everything i need. Midi files are tiny little files that you can get a lot of the time for nothing. They contain instructions that tell your hardware/software what and how to play certain tracks in a song. You don't need to be an expert at Midi to use them. I just import them - they show up in Cubase as a seperate track for each instrument - drums, bass, guitars, keys etc. I then delete all the stuff i don't want (takes a minute) and then use the remaining tracks to jam along to. Sorry it sounds complicated but it isn't really. If i can do it...

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1169878' date='Mar 20 2011, 07:43 PM']This is from WD but it wasn't cheap [/quote] when you say wasn't cheap what kind of ballpark you in?

Just sitting down to practice and i want to see what using the EBS compressor does. Never really used it. I guess going back to my original post though there are definitely more of you (who have posted) that use some kind of addition to your raw sound than don't. This makes the engineer who started me thinking about all this right i guess. I am a dinosaur

Just sitting down to practice now. What has really helped over the last few years is using software like Cubase and a USB audio interface. This means i can get a midi file | import it into the software | remove the bass and fill in the bass parts myself! Ok some of the midis are naff but i strip them down to just drums and piano and then play over that. Of course it helps that i am learning some jazz tunes at the moment so theres a shed load of music around (Real Books) to help and piano and drums is all you need a lot of the time. I think its natural to hit brick walls - the fun starts when/if you manage to overcome them. Another thing that might re-inspire you is to get a teacher. Careful though as anyone can call themselves a teacher. Maybe post on the teaching thread to see if there is someone in your area who might be able to help. Set yourself some goals. I wasted about 10 years practicing without a plan and wish i had been more disciplined. Never too late though. One thing to bear in mind is that there are a lot of people i meet who say "it must be great being in a band. i used to play bass and gave up. wish i hadn't". Do you want to be saying that?

[quote name='Count Bassie' post='1168546' date='Mar 19 2011, 05:46 PM']The White Nitro is at the shop- turns out I got the same brand the guy knows about and has used in the past, so I'm on the right page. Stripping down the bass and plugging a few holes, and off she goes to the beauty shop... the guy's giving me a friendly deal in exchange for a lot of free advertising... folks like to take band photos in this neighborhood, amongst the Portuguese party-goers anyhow! Lots of them in my circuit... Also I'm looking around for "chicken-head" knobs. If anyone knows of or has them, I'd be interested... although I'll probably find them in my own backyard here, on my side of the pond! BUT- I would like to find a "chicken head" set for a concentric knob. Soon. Really.[/quote] Lovin the new avatar Count. Looking forward to seeing the results soon. Good luck - Chicken Head knobs - why not?

Appreciate the replies. It looks like i am a bit of a dinosaur then as most of you guys do seem to have an added "something" to your raw sound. Out of all the things you have mentioned i might be interested in a: Bass Syth - for home recording to do some of those old Johnny Guitar Watson type bass lines. If you know this sound can you recommend anything that might achieve this? Coming out of the effects closet i do have an EBS Compressor and a Sadowsky DI/Preamp which have been gathering dust for a few years. Might give em a go tonight with fresh ears. When i bought them originally it was on the strength of various comments i had seen from other bassists. I used them for about a week then put them back in their boxes. I take the Sadowsky with me in the odd case that i encounter problems with the DI from my amp but in truth never get it out unless i have to.

[quote name='gelfin' post='1168996' date='Mar 19 2011, 11:15 PM']OK here goes. I have quite a few pedals that I use. TC electronics stereo chorus, Boss chorus, Flanger. EQ, Limiter /enhancer, Jay Lomenzo Hyperdrive, Delay,Fuzz. These are all connected through a Carl Martin combinator. Which gives me 18 combinations of the above with one press of a switch. Mostly I will use a touch of the TC chorus but it's great to be able to use a variety of sounds easily. Play covers of a variety of genres from 60's to now. Basses Ric's. T Bird. Tobias. Explorer. Rig GK Fusion 550 head, 210 and 410 cabs. [/quote] Wow. One of my bands is cover band. Do you use your effects to achieve a sound as close as possible to the original bass sound or is it to change the sound of your basses regardless of song?

[quote name='Mog' post='1168988' date='Mar 19 2011, 11:02 PM']Dunno about using fx to cover up sloppy technique. IME sloppy is sloppy and nothing can hide it.[/quote] Yeah i guess using effects might actually accentuate issues dependant on the effect. Seems like nearly all who have posted do use some type of effect though.

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='1168946' date='Mar 19 2011, 10:21 PM']That's really all there is to it. If you want the sounds buy the pedals. If you don't want the sounds, don't bother, but please don't assume those of us who use pedals are just compensating for bad technique. In fact a lot of pedals require very good technique, make a mistake with a delay pedal and you've actually made 4 or 5 mistakes, most fuzzes require very even attack or they sound like crap. Analog octavers are fussy bastards, you have to play in a very precise way.[/quote] Theres no assumptions being made. Its just a question that sprang from a comment made by an engineer last night at a gig. I have no idea how common the use of effects is. I posted in this area cos posting in the effects forum is going to elicit replies mainly from people who use effects which would be a bit pointless. I can only make comparisons to guitarists using effects to cover technique issues and was careful to say that some of them not most weren't as effective or fluid playing without them.

I am really interested in what bass effects people might use but more interested in why and how they are used. I did a gig last night and the PA guy said that i was a dying breed not having any effects. That really surprised me. Maybe he is new to the game or maybe i am behind the times. How may of you use effects? I can understand that a compressor in the studio is sometimes a good idea. Occassionally i look at some posts on BC and see that some guys/gals are playing some quality basses into a whole raft of effects and i wonder if thats a bit pointless. Maybe you could plug a Sue Ryder or Harley Benton into the same chain and get the same or very similar result? Some guitarists i have worked with over the years have used effects to compensate for poor technique and can't seem to play as well without the pedals. Does that apply to bass too? Can effects compensate for a lack of technique? I want to stress that I don't want to upset anyone or have a dig at anyone that uses effects. There are probably bassists that i admire that use effects. The basses i have ended up with are ones that i bought because i like their tone as it is but i hope i am open minded and want to hear about what effects are used and how they benefit the player.

Yum and double yum with cream on it

[quote name='Johnston' post='1167477' date='Mar 18 2011, 06:29 PM']I thought the same about HB being Thomanns. But we don't see many brands so thought it was maybe balls. Saien also have their own brand Shine. [url="http://www.saein.co.kr/2007/bass/rk2000nt.php"]http://www.saein.co.kr/2007/bass/rk2000nt.php[/url][/quote] The shop i went to deals in secondhand guitars mainly. Its run by a really nice guy who has a pretty high turnover of gear. I pop in every now and again for a chinwag and to see if anything interesting has turned up. He had 3 HB's that were Precision clones. I tried one of them out of curiosity so didn't inspect it as if i were going to buy it. Just plugged it in to a decent amp and had a play. I stand by my original critique that it sounded and felt sh*te. If the OP is asking for some advice i would say spend a bit more and get a Yammy or an Ibanez as the ones i have played at that price point are much better instruments. Theres no science in my opinion just quite a few years of playing bass. BTW just played a stonking gig!