Bassnut62

[quote name='lou24d53' timestamp='1399056413' post='2440614'] Anyone else get tickets in the ticket scramble today? Will be my first time seeing Prince, and in the Hydro, can't wait. [/quote] Yup, got them for Birmingham; it took nearly an hour to get them. Can't wait to see him again. I've been a fan of his since the early days of Dirty Mind; but only first got to see him at the O2. That was the best big arena gig I've ever seen and obviously a lot different from the 3rd Eye Girl set up......looking forward to seeing the purple one rock out. At O2 he started gig just coming on alone with his Hohner Tele, just noodling, like any of us might at home. The difference was Prince was noodling through sketches of some of the most innovatively crafted pop songs of the last 20-30 years, all of which he wrote. It was a great and very intimate way to start a giant arena gig and he somehow managed to maintain that intimacy throughout the 3 hour set, which indulged us in every configuration of his bands you can imagine. He even did a piano duet with Elton John!!!! Now I'm not a big fan of Elton, but Prince made it v cool. Prince is probably the best musician, composer, arranger, producer in the pop field of the last 30 years IMO.....and as a guitarist he is frightening; I would so love to be able to play even a tenth as good as him.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1399140627' post='2441487'] I used a CS Princeton reverb on stage which sounded fantastic and is only a 15W amp, does the Blues Junior have a 10" speaker? That may be the reason it is lacking authority and presence.....I had my Princeton converted to a 12" Vintage 30 it made the world of difference [/quote] Yes 12" in a BJr, but I think the cabinet maybe smaller than a Princeton, which maybe restricts resonance in some way? I am going to try switching first preamp tube from a super low gain 12AY7 to a higher gain 5751, as I think this may give a little more fatness and authority at the lower volume that I am having to use at rehearsal.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1399035864' post='2440290'] It might also be about speaker design, but is just as likely to be about how the output stages handle bass frequencies. I've found smaller amps around, say, 5watts or so simply can't deliver the energy needed to generate a bit of a thump from a speaker capable of delivering it. Get up to the 12-18 watt level and with the right speaker the thump & rich mids can be there, but they tend to drop away as volume goes up and saturation increases. It's only really 50watts + (and some would say 200watts+) that things really fatten out, even if you don't use the volume. As for the BJ you're using, does it have a Jensen-type speaker (eminence 105?)? That might be a big part of the thin tone, and I've found them particularly lacking in bass response. Last year I migrated from a 45 watt amp using a 10" Ragin Cajun (really efficient and LOUD) to a 30 watt amp using a softer and less efficient 12" speaker in order to get a 'bigger' sound instead of cutting through. Generally I like a softer-toned speaker, and all my favourites are well played in. [/quote] Yes thump and rich mids is where it's at for me too...mind you a thump that wears a velvet glove! Re speaker; yes been down that road and tried numerous speakers including ceramic and alnico Jensens (NOS my arse!!). In the end I settled on the relatively cheap Eminence Cannibis Rex; which is a great softer-toned speaker that can also handle as much gain as you could want without flubbing out. I think the truth is small 15w valve amps sound best when cranked up a fair bit; but they can't really do big clean tones there, though they're fine if you want a cranked blues tone....so my BJr is mostly a compromise that I can live with and save my back. PS. I have however done good tube and mid tone control tweaks that make it stay as clean as it can at higher volume and give what velvety thump it can; but ironically once I've finally got some good clean thump out of it, it becomes too loud for rehearsals!.....Makes me think I could have saved myself a few hundreds and stuck with the bigger amps in the first place!

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1399036658' post='2440305'] Probably a little late, but have you owned a guitar with a '59? They came as stock in my Heritage H150, and were both thin AND muddy sounding - I really could not recommend them. Replaced them with a Gibson patent number in the bridge and a T top in the neck, and they provided an authentic vintage tone. Some like the '59s, but not me. There's lots of suggestions in the thread so I'll not add more, but if it's not too late…… avoid. [/quote] thanks for sharing your experience....and I am still wondering about those P-Rails; but I have done a live comparison of SD 59/JB combo against BK Mules and thought the SDs had it hands down. I guess truth is that until I've lived with them in my guitar for a few months, I won't really know what's best for me; so I figured I would start fairly traditional and take it from there.........Fingers crossed!

Can't wait to see the Snarky Pups in Brum on Sunday great clip of earlier in tour here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH8CqPWAj00 ...nice nod to P-Funk at 4.00 mins!

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1398861251' post='2438357'] Which only goes to show that you are a bass player! For many guitar players the power rating of an amp isn't about volume at all, but getting the right tone. [/quote] Speaking a guitar-fumbling bass player, I can vouch for what you say here. I was rehearsing with our Disco band last night using my 15w Blues Jr and while it's plenty loud enough (I was running it at only about 3 on the Master and 6 on the Gain) it just sounds too thin for my liking. That could be the fact that the cabinet is so small and tight; but I think it is more about the power rating and head-room of the amp. The Blues Jr just doesn't have the same presence, authority and depth of my two bigger combos, a 35/65w MusicMan RD112 and a 50w Burman 501Pro. Guess I'll have to hump the bigger ones to rehearsals now.......... PS.....Interestingly, when I have previously rehearsed with either of the two bigger combos, I have found myself using almost exactly the same Master/Gain settings as above with the Blues Jr; which probably underlines that a big part of tone is all about the headroom in your guitar amp.

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1399017405' post='2439934'] ........P-rails are top of the list of mods. [/quote] I was v tempted by those....they almost seem like they might be too good to be true or maybe too much complication for my little brain to manage while trying to play with the extra 2 strings. Would be interested to know how you find those P-Rails......

at last, a reason to use this word.......A [i][b]discombobulation[/b][/i] of bass players......I still don't what that word really means or how to spell it though!

I absolutely recommend an old MusicMan combo; the most important power-stage is valves, they sound like Blackface era Fenders, they take pedals really well and you can pick them up for £300-400. You can even make them nice and dirty on their own, once you've mastered the various power and gain input options. They're not true switchable channels; but if you get one of the 2x10 or 2x12 combos, they have two separate channels, with separate EQ and gain. If you got an ABY switching pedal with option to add boost/gain, you'd have a mean bunch of channel & gain options.

[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1397469187' post='2424111'] ............. may yet stick with the classic Seymour Duncan '59 and JB combo with nickel covers. [/quote] Yup, that's what I'm doing; I decided to keep it simple. I am going to split coils on both pups though. thaaks for advice; I'll report back when it's done

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1398847573' post='2438109'] Mines an EE serial, which Wikipedia tells me mine was born out of China/QingDao. I know there's a lot of conjecture over far-eastern factories, but to be honest, I don't really buy into it. Decide what you want, play a few of them and haggle if possible. These aren't luthier built products, they're made on a production line like fridges. You're bound to get the odd hooky one, maybe I've just been fortunate. [/quote] I'm sure you're right about that; the techs I use have just found the Peerless ones to get it right most consistently, in fact almost invariably. I think it is true to say that buyers pay a bit more for the Peerless ones though, which must mean something.

I was hankering after a Dot for a while too and got great advice from Xperience Guitars in Nottingham who do set-up, repair, modification work on my guitars and basses. The best advice I got was to hunt down a Korean Dot made in the Peerless factory, which if I remember right means that the serial number will start with an R or a P. Everyone says get a Korean one, not a Chinese one; but within the Korean ones, quality is not always consistent either and that the factory with highest quality and consistency of work was the Peerless factory. Having got a nice natural Peerless Dot now, I agree with everything said above....great necks and bodies; but bad machinery, nasty pups and cheap nut. I am switching out for Nickel covered Seymour Duncan 59 & JB pups and will have them both coil-tapped and replacing all machinery with quality nickle gear, plus a bone nut. It played great as it was, but sounded poor and didn't stay in tune; now i can't wait to get it back, much improved and up to quality of a good £2k Gibson!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1398595960' post='2435547'] I think the best Nasser is probably Hussein [/quote] Did he write that kick-ass groove tune Funky Nasser, Pts. I & II?

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1397630371' post='2425732'] I'm about to try using a MB 801 for a bass monitor & was wondering what would sound best DI or Mic & what sort of mic ? [/quote] Both is often best IME!

I don't think there is anything wrong with taking money or not taking money as a band/musician.....whether as a hobbyist or a pro. Surely it has to come down to personal choice; but we should recognise the impact that not taking money could have on pro-musicians/bands out there. However pro-musicians (which I am not), have to be realistic about the forces at play in the market; Pros too have the power to choose.....to make their living that way or not. No operator in a market can expect the market to be rigged in line with their personal views.....the market will always do as it collectively pleases. So it seems we just have to make our own personal choices for our own personal circumstances. The pros could perhaps take comfort from the fact that if they are good enough to draw punters and have luck on their side they will make money (if they take care of business), whatever forces operate in the market. Also the venues that do genuinely commit to putting on live music should be respected as important supporters of musicians too. However I do really object to other non-music businesses trying to take advantage of musicians in ways that they would not dream of doing with other members of their extended team, e.g. electricians, chefs, etc. In the piece that I originally posted to start this thread, it seemed like this was a restaurant or bar with no real interest in promoting live music, trying to take advantage of local musicians to add value to their own business; i.e. make non-music money off the back of musicians.....and that ain't on in my book! Similarly, charity events are often great and worthy of support; but if they are paying other 'talent' for the event, e.g. chefs, compere, PA & staging companies, etc, then why should they not pay the musicians too. If the musicians and other suppliers then choose to donate all or some of their fees back to the charity that is then their choice. Of course, if everyone is supplying a charity event for free, then why should the musicians get paid. They can instead choose not to play; as we did recently, purely for the fact that this particularly event has a reputation for being shambolic and poorly attended, which doesn't make me want to play for free...not least because it could be dangerous.....a free or hobbyist electrician, may not be a good thing to have!

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1397381912' post='2423315'] Hope that helps! [/quote] Thanks, it does. It gives me a lot of other options to consider that I hadn't thought about. I think I need to find a way to try out or at least hear some more options; before making final commitment. Having said that, I do already have some v nice P90 type tones out of an old G&L USA Asat Special, but don't really have any good mellow HB tones; so may yet stick with the classic Seymour Duncan '59 and JB combo with nickel covers.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1397381182' post='2423301'] Have to say, if I were after clean-sounds I`d start by looking at a Blues Junior. [/quote] +1 re the Blues Junior.....but they tend to break up a bit too easily when stock. A bit of care in chosing which one you get and then some light modification will tame it to be a very good low watt clean amp. Here's what I did to max the clean tones in mine:[list=1] [*]Chose a MkII Tweed BJr [*]swapped speaker for a £50 Eminence Cannabis Rex; I tried loads of others, including £150 Jensen P12N, but the Cannabis Rex was easily best; it tamed the ice pick treble and was as warm as an alnico speaker but could cope with high gain too - there is one Bjr that comes with a Cannabis Rex in it already; but I think it is v pricy version of the amp and not worth the cost. [*]swap all the valves from nasty stock GT or Fender tubes, for Gold Lions in the power stage and JJs in the preamp stage. For the preamp, go for a 12AY7 in 1st hole and a 12AT7 in the phase inverter (3rd hole); it doesn't really matter much what goes in 2nd hole; but I have 5751 in there. [*]have an adjustable bias fitted to amp, as it runs tubed very hot with fixed bias. if you run it less hot, the tubes will last longer and give a bit less distortion [*]get the Bill M mid-tone-stack mod done; it's cheap to do and removes the tendency of the amp to sound a bit boxy - this mod allows you to reduce the mid to nil; which you cannot do if still stock....even at nil, the amp is set to still give some mid. [/list]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1397143948' post='2421136'] A good MIDI floor control will tell you exactly what's going on. Even if your foot controller doesn't allow patch naming on the unit itself a little advance preparation will sort you out. Mine has one song per bank, with the default sound for each song in the first patch and others as the song progresses in subsequent patch locations. So for instance if the main riff of a song was patch 11, the verse would be 12, chorus 13, middle eight 14, solo 15 and so on. The next song would be in another bank starting at say 21 and on. I don't need to know what's going on in each patch just to know that it is the right one for the song as my ears and the set list tells me. [/quote] that sounds like a good idea; but do you still have to spend a lot of time programming it all up in the first place? and what if the set changes; do you have to re programme the whole thing or can you easily shuffle all the patches around so they come up in same order as set (if that is even necessary)?

[quote name='hubrad' timestamp='1397149077' post='2421218'] Seymour Duncan P-Rails.. best of both worlds: [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/medium-output/prails_shpr1/"]http://www.seymourdu...t/prails_shpr1/[/url] I have one in the neck position on a PRS, and it's brilliant in both humbucker and P-90 modes. [/quote] Some great suggestions coming in here. I am really torn between HB or P90 and those PRails do sound v interesting.... What kind of HB do you get out of them though? Is it full on uncovered rock tones or nice warm mellow vintage covered PAF tones? I just can't help imagine there will be compromise in these; probably more on the HB side of things. Would the PAF style configuration of the PRail be as good as a dedicated covered HB like the Seymour Duncan '59 and JB combo I have been thinking about?

I reckon the deciding factor re size of amp is often more about the impact and feel you want and the space you are in, than the volume you want from the amp. Generally speaking I don't notice a huge difference in volume between the three main 1x12 valve combos I use, a 15w Fender Blues Junior, a 35/65w MusicMan and a 50-70w Burman 501Pro. The difference is more about how much or little break-up I want in my sound and how big (not loud) I want that sound to feel. I like the basic sound of the amp to be on the clean side of breaking up, so that I can easily push it into breaking up, either with boost/drive pedals or by lifting the volume control on the guitar from about 7.5 to 10.0 or both. I find this is usually the sweet spot for the amp, where you get that lovely warmth and valve bounce (or light compression) in the clean sound. For me, how much headroom you have left in the amp tends to determine how much thump or impact (not volume) you get in the sound. Higher wattage amps can sound big and clean at the same time and can have more volume left if needed without breaking up; whereas for smaller amps to sound big sometimes means it will be breaking up before you've brought it up to the volume you need. Of course this is only a problem if you like your basic tone to be clean. I think the other factor to consider is the size of the space (and to some extent the band) you are playing in. If it's a small space with lots of you crammed together on stage (or in a rehearsal room), the small 15w amp should be fine; whereas a bigger less cramped space is probably better and more fun for a bigger 35-50w amp. If I was playing out doors, I would probably want closer to 100w or more of valve power, just so the sound is bigger and the notes seem fatter and maybe don't get blown away by the air so easily......[i](Are bigger notes heavier in air?!)[/i] For any of you that followed a recent thread about vintage amps v modern amps I posted in the bass amp section, this is partly why I decided to keep my trusty old Fender Bassman 135 head.

I am trying to keep it fairly simple too, but with number of pedals limited by what I can get on a Pedaltrain Mini. I think I prefer being able to stamp various combinations of mostly gain, boost and compression into the signal and just look at the pedal lights to see what's going on....not sure I would like a rack mount, as I hate spending time with instruction manuals and programming stuff. This is how it works at moment with pedals..... Guitar (usually MIJ '54 Strat with Lindy Fralin pups) >>>>> Custom Audio wah (on the floor, not on board) > Tuner > Keeley 4 compressor > Lovetone Les Lius (double gain switchable) > Keeley Java Boost (treble boost) > Catalinbread Picoso (clean boost) > TC Corona chorus >>>> amp (either MusicMan RD11265 or Burman Pro501) I find the sound I get is pretty consistent and classic simple; as long as I get the amp set up right in the first place. I am very tempted to just go out with both amps and an ABY switch, using the Musicman for clean and the Burman for Gain...........

[quote name='stubass' timestamp='1397047500' post='2420072'] This! [/quote] Tried that and that is what got me in trouble in the first place!

[quote name='Jonnyboy Rotten' timestamp='1397047636' post='2420075'] Doh - When you have run out of DOH Ray - You should refrain from looking at stingRAY's Me - I am the first to admit to this problem Far - Keep your wallet further from your mouse hand than your coffee when sat at a computer (esp on basschat/ebay etc) So - SO my new years resolution should be La - to spend less time LArking about and looking at stuff I can't afford and actually being productive. Tea - Have a nice cuppa TEA, sit about and don't rush into things where GAS is concerned. Doh - Follow these pointers and it should start to accumulate! [/quote] very good! that made me titter!!

I have spent a lot of time in US and my sister lived there for 20+ years until she moved back to UK 2 years ago........our collective experience echoes exactly what Professor Dingus (Head of Economics at Bass Chat University?) has said......and the same feelings/experiences/realities apply to many goods in US, including clothes, houses, land, cars, food, fuel, etc. The US is the ultimate capitalist economy, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and there is little or no safety net if you are poor and/or fall ill, unlike over here in UK......relatively low taxation (and maybe gun culture?) plays a big part in that equation.

[quote name='Bassnut62' timestamp='1397039121' post='2419933'] Hello, my name is Bassnut and I am a musice-quipment-o-holic............ [/quote] Seems somehow mastubatory to quote my own post, but..........Does anyone know a good 12 step programme for the likes of us?......insert witty post about chromatic scales here..........