molan Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Since joining the forum here I've been swapping basses and gear in and out in a quest for the 'right' combination and tried out my latest stuff last night at a nice little pub gig. The set up was: Spector NS5XL Elixir super light strings - 40 60 75 95 125 Comfort Strapp - short Planet Waves foot tuner MXR Auto Q Epifani UL502 Bergantino AE112 x 2 Auralex Gramma isolation stand All set up pretty flat with just some mid cut at about 250hz on the Epi and the tweeters rolled off to about 50% on the Bergs. Everything just felt and sounded great, lovely deep punchy lows but without any nasty boominess & really crisp top end (especially on some of the funkier stuff using the Auto Q). The bass was super comfortable and I've finally got round to using a short strap and wearing it much higher than I ever used to. Longer scale now feeling very natural and the narrow string spacing and chunkier of the Spector works perfectly for me. The Auralex seemed to do a great job of killing the nasty boom that my sound man said he'd had from a band the previous week. He said there's often a problem with booming in the venue (and the Bergs can be prone to this if they are too close to a rear wall) but that he couldn't hear it all from me. Of course, the set up was easy and quick too with those lightweight Berg cabs & the Epi in a gig bag, everything fitting neatly in the boot of my car as well With everything working so well I stopped worrying about my 'sound' and spent the whole gig just concentrating on playing and, more importantly, enjoying myself Allowed me to add little fills on some songs that I've heard in my head but never been quite able to play. The slinky strings & super low action of the Spector meant I could play a lot more little sixteenth note runs just to add a bit of variation here & there too. I have tried so many different options of 4/5 & even 6 strings, wide & narrow spacing & necks, 34" & 35" scale length, nickel, steel & coated strings, about a zillion different strap lengths (lol) and a host of basses & amps/cabs. It's just brilliant for me that I seem to have whittled everything down to exactly what I wanted to hear & feel. The band all said how nice the bass sounded & even one of the punters mentioned how clear the bass lines were and that bass looked really nice - and expensive, lol. Only glitch was clipping the keyboard player's shoulder at one point & knocking my D string seriously out of tune on a song that required quite a lot of 'D' playing! To top it all off a second Spector NS5XL arrived chez Mole yesterday in a very fetching flamed maple as well so I've got options as a back up bass for live work & can afford to keep one at rehearsals & the other at home so I'll always be using the same instrument for serious practicing. All in all - a right result Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 i love it when a plan comes together ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Sounds like you have attained a state of Gear Nirvana! Actually I'm planning on buying one of those short Comfort Strapps too - how do you rate them in terms of comfort/adjustability/reliability? I've been wearing my basses up quite high recently too and some of my straps just aren't short enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='acidbass' post='466740' date='Apr 19 2009, 02:25 PM']Sounds like you have attained a state of Gear Nirvana! Actually I'm planning on buying one of those short Comfort Strapps too - how do you rate them in terms of comfort/adjustability/reliability? I've been wearing my basses up quite high recently too and some of my straps just aren't short enough![/quote] If you can I'd try to check each of the lengths with your own bass strapped on. There isn't a huge amount of adjustability on each one. I always tended to use either a short one on it's longest possible length or a medium on a short length (if that makes any sort of sense!). With my Spector I need a short one on a mid-length but that's partly because the strap button on the rear of the body is set quite high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 (edited) Am really interested in one of those Auralex Gramma jobbies. How much difference do they make? Also what sort of money did you pay? I've seen em for around £50 inc. shipping Ta Steve Edited April 19, 2009 by lemmywinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='lemmywinks' post='466786' date='Apr 19 2009, 03:44 PM']Am really interested in one of those Auralex Gramma jobbies. How much difference do they make? Also what sort of money did you pay? I've seen em for around £50 inc. shipping Ta Steve[/quote] I must admit I was pretty sceptical but the venue I played last night does a rep for boomy bass sound & it has a wooden floor (albeit a pretty solid one) and I had no problems at all. I think the key benefit is that you should have a better chance of just hearing your speakers as opposed to a clutch of low end vibrations rumbling throught he floor. Mine was £45 from Dolphin but I can't remember how shipping worked as I bought it along with some other bits & bobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Congrats Barrie, glad you're all sorted now So all those Overwaters and Zon basses will be for sale soon, then? Good feeling, ain't it mate? Rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='466817' date='Apr 19 2009, 05:02 PM']Congrats Barrie, glad you're all sorted now So all those Overwaters and Zon basses will be for sale soon, then? Good feeling, ain't it mate? Rich.[/quote] It's very difficult but it does rather look like they should go as they aren't going to get played very much Maybe the MTD too It is great that I've settled on something though - really pleased with the sound last night, best I've ever had & gave me so much more confidence - hooray!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='molan' post='466818' date='Apr 19 2009, 05:06 PM']It's very difficult but it does rather look like they should go as they aren't going to get played very much Maybe the MTD too It is great that I've settled on something though - really pleased with the sound last night, best I've ever had & gave me so much more confidence - hooray!![/quote] Does that mean I get to hang on to the Overwater a bit longer then Barrie? I'm really pleased for you. I had one of those Epiphany (maybe that should be Epifani?) moments last night too. Playing my Fender P bass through the Shuttle 6 and UL212 with a powered foldback monitor running off the amp. Wow!! Makes me wonder what the Hell I've been wasting my time with over the last few years. The sound was the sound I've been looking for all this time and probably had, but just not been able to hear it myself. We've got a new drummer who is amazing and I think that makes a huge difference as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='466824' date='Apr 19 2009, 05:16 PM']Does that mean I get to hang on to the Overwater a bit longer then Barrie? I'm really pleased for you. I had one of those Epiphany (maybe that should be Epifani?) moments last night too. Playing my Fender P bass through the Shuttle 6 and UL212 with a powered foldback monitor running off the amp. Wow!! Makes me wonder what the Hell I've been wasting my time with over the last few years. The sound was the sound I've been looking for all this time and probably had, but just not been able to hear it myself. We've got a new drummer who is amazing and I think that makes a huge difference as well.[/quote] Absolutely, lol. Great news on the drummer Nick. I usually have a little bass in the monitors but not a great deal. One of the nice things about the twin Bergs is that when they are stacked the upper cab is pretty high, about hip level I guess, so it works well as a monitor (especially if you dial the tweeter in). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Cheers bud, gonna look into getting one I think. Cheapest I found including shipping was in the US! What are they actually made of if you don't mind me asking? Just wooden base and hard foam legs? Feeling a blue peter moment coming on! Cheers Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 So you wouldnt want my status then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote]Maybe the MTD too [/quote] Noooo! You can't sell the MTD. That's the Barrie-Bass, that is! - Well, only to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassicinstinct Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='acidbass' post='466740' date='Apr 19 2009, 02:25 PM']Sounds like you have attained a state of Gear Nirvana! Actually I'm planning on buying one of those short Comfort Strapps too - how do you rate them in terms of comfort/adjustability/reliability? I've been wearing my basses up quite high recently too and some of my straps just aren't short enough![/quote] PMd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='lemmywinks' post='466829' date='Apr 19 2009, 05:25 PM']Cheers bud, gonna look into getting one I think. Cheapest I found including shipping was in the US! What are they actually made of if you don't mind me asking? Just wooden base and hard foam legs? Feeling a blue peter moment coming on! Cheers Steve[/quote] Good news there Molan .. It's a great feeling I hope to have one day So can you take the venue with you too? The Gramma's are great. BassDirect do them too. I looked at a blue peter approach too (Lidl do some nice gardners's kneelers foam things for a few quid) but the Gramma is really well put together and solid and easy to pack and transport that it just made more sence to get the real thing .. I think all boomy venues should have them there for the bass rig. Our local one has an isolation platform built in that does the same thing as part of its approach to controlling the noise hassle for neighbours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='Shockwave' post='466837' date='Apr 19 2009, 05:32 PM']So you wouldnt want my status then [/quote] You never know, lol. I've just been playing my Sei for half an hour or so & thinking how nice it is as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 [quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='466840' date='Apr 19 2009, 05:37 PM']Noooo! You can't sell the MTD. That's the Barrie-Bass, that is! - Well, only to me [/quote] I do really like the MTD, it would be the last one to go if I do hit the sales trail. I really need to get the Ampeg & Eden heads serviced as they will cover the cost of the latest Spector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.