Chris2112

I've had a few days off playing and I have a new set of strings to fit it up with soon, so I am quite looking forward to getting back to playing it. Makes me appreciate the ACG even more. I can get the ACG out to fiddle with and find a multitude of great tones, I can plug the Warwick in and have two great tones! (Bridge pickup soloed, most of the time!)

Modulus Quantum. The FU feels like a hi-tech Stingray. Better neck, better tone, better looking. But the Quantum feels truely special, and it is easy to see why it is Modulus' flagship bass.

Fodera...Fender can't even hope to compete.

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1327433936' post='1511204'] Probably the most pointless lesson ever. [/quote] If you had seen the Expert Village lessons on slap you wouldn't be saying that!

Mike Pope is sounding seriously cool there.

I don't think either player has done anything worth listening to for years.

I'm surprised he didn't strangle that slimy little toad of a salesman.

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1327414438' post='1510806'] Sounds interesting. A lot of the DM stuff is written on guitar then reworked into synth parts. Sounds like you're sort of going for somewhere in between their demo and studio versions. [/quote] Yeah, it's quite cool. Luckily Andy, the lad who is doing the synths and stuff is pretty handy so we've managed to get a few things cobbled together. And the Warwick sounds great for it, which is useful because I'm frequently jumping all over the board to get the best note for the part.

Dubios?

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1327394167' post='1510337'] Why Depeche Mode? You in a Depeche Mode cover band? [/quote] Not a cover band, though we are planning on doing a few Depeche Mode covers. I'm singing Gahan's parts and the usual singer is singing Gore's parts and playing synths. I'm covering various synth parts and melodies with my bass. It's quite a cool way of doing things. We don't have enough synths or triggers to play everything like it was (nor do we have access to Depeche Mode's massive bank of sounds and samples) but we're piecing things together. Can't do much today until I've got my Streamer restrung though. The best part is, there is nothing for the drummer to do! He can keep his 'sloppy' human time and we'll rely on the perfection of drum machines!

If you're looking for a big, crisp slap tone on the TRB you could try a Seymour Duncan preamp. The only thing you have to watch out for in these cases is corrupting the integrity of the midrange sound. SD can be quite 'brash' sounding to me in some basses, whereas say, Bartolini or Glockenklang might sound a little more culutred and balanced. Ultimately though, I think you could be barking up the wrong tree. TRB's, and especially the high end ones, are some of the best sounding 'production' basses you can get. If you want better you'd probably be looking at spending some serious cash with a custom builder. This thread has got me wondering how good a TRB would sound with an ACG/East preamp though!

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1327361160' post='1510147'] Playing piano parts on semi- or unweighted keys is rubbish and feels unmusical IMO. Even with weighted boards, a truly decent hammer action mimic is hard to find and a personal thing. Synth bass is fine for me on a cheap sprung board tho! [/quote] Yes, this is absolutely true. I used to have a Roland SH-201, and whilst it sounded great and was brilliantly laid out for tweaking your sound on the go, the keys were proper flappy-paddle items, which didn't feel great. But then if you want a synth with a really good keyboard on it you'll easily pay thousands of pounds for one!

This needs a link for the lazy amoung us!

To sum up what we've learned here: * Basses from smoke free homes are good *Smokey basses stink

I've got a new set of strings waiting to go on the Streamer, and a stack of Depeche Mode songs to start transcribing. If only my tuner hadn't ran out of battery! Means I'm having to hold off changing the strings until I can grab another 9v battery!