Let's see your guitar and bass gear!

z31maniac said:

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

z31maniac said:

Wow. My dad just plays in club bands and usually changes strings after two 4 set gigs. 

You can definitely here the brightness go away after just a couple of hours of playing. 

Reduced brightness is the goal with bass.

 

Admittedly I prefer bass tones that never go above like.....100hz.

 

Well ...unless it's in a band with more than one bass player, and that's something I'd love to do one day

No, it's not. You're confusing hz with tone. The open G string on a bass is 98 hz, so that means you only like to use just more than half of the available notes possible on a 4-string bass, since the 5th fret of the D is the same hz as the open G. 

As the strings wear and the wind gets clogged with skin flakes and the oil from your skin they start to sound dead and lose sustain (same thing happens on guitar strings as well)......but you guys are talking about liking flatwounds (which I think sound terrible and dead), so obviously we have different tastes. 

No, no I'm not. Massively condescending reply though.

In general I prefer bass tones below e2 with as little overtones and as much fundamental as possible. This range gives the most vicious groove and IMO is spectacular. Obviously you can't play everything down there, but the more the merrier.

I've played with a bassist for a long time that uses an EB-O, flats, rubber picks, octave down and cabs that I built him for maximum boom.

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

Flats can stay on forever. I have roundwounds on everything. I actually have a set of used flats I'm going to put on something eventually. They are still good, too! 

I agree on flats, I think the older they are the better they sound.

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

z31maniac said:

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

z31maniac said:

Wow. My dad just plays in club bands and usually changes strings after two 4 set gigs. 

You can definitely here the brightness go away after just a couple of hours of playing. 

Reduced brightness is the goal with bass.

 

Admittedly I prefer bass tones that never go above like.....100hz.

 

Well ...unless it's in a band with more than one bass player, and that's something I'd love to do one day

No, it's not. You're confusing hz with tone. The open G string on a bass is 98 hz, so that means you only like to use just more than half of the available notes possible on a 4-string bass, since the 5th fret of the D is the same hz as the open G. 

As the strings wear and the wind gets clogged with skin flakes and the oil from your skin they start to sound dead and lose sustain (same thing happens on guitar strings as well)......but you guys are talking about liking flatwounds (which I think sound terrible and dead), so obviously we have different tastes. 

No, no I'm not. Massively condescending reply though.

 

In general I prefer bass tones below e2 with as little overtones and as much fundamental as possible. This range gives the most vicious groove and IMO is spectacular. Obviously you can't play everything down there, but the more the merrier.

 

I've played with a bassist for a long time that uses an EB-O, flats, rubber picks, octave down and cabs that I built him for maximum boom.

They call those pickups mudbuckers for a reason...nothing quite like a good thumpy bass line.

I actually like a bit of brightness dialed into my sound, so I've always used roundwounds. Nothing in my arsenal currently has flats. I don't think any of my current basses would sound right with them, to be honest. I do have a set that were take-offs from a string change on someone's bass that didn't like them (very little use, too) so I may have to experiment at some point. Kinda been waiting on getting a P-Bass for that, but I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon. 

On string changes: I usually change them when they get nasty and feel terrible to play. For someone who doesn't gig, that can take years. The ones on my Thunderbird have been on there for 9 years and they still felt/sounded fine, but with the tuning I have it set up for, it was a flop fest, so they got changed. 

In reply to Recon1342 :

Yes they do,they only really do that one one tone well too IMO

I think the tone control is superfluous too, it just rolls of the highs that aren't there to begin with lol

Tony Sestito said:

I actually like a bit of brightness dialed into my sound, so I've always used roundwounds. Nothing in my arsenal currently has flats. I don't think any of my current basses would sound right with them, to be honest. I do have a set that were take-offs from a string change on someone's bass that didn't like them (very little use, too) so I may have to experiment at some point. Kinda been waiting on getting a P-Bass for that, but I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon. 

On string changes: I usually change them when they get nasty and feel terrible to play. For someone who doesn't gig, that can take years. The ones on my Thunderbird have been on there for 9 years and they still felt/sounded fine, but with the tuning I have it set up for, it was a flop fest, so they got changed. 

The Steve Harris signature flats are supposed to be some pretty bright flats, Ive never played them though

I may have discovered with a really dumb idea on how to save my new project bass's current neck. A thread over on TalkBass went over a method of un-twisting necks with the use of a heating pad (meant for using when you have back pain) and some clamps. A guy successfully un-twisted a '66 Jazz Bass neck doing this, and it was twisted worse than this neck is. Might be worth a shot!

In reply to Tony Sestito :

This is excellent info. Post up your results. Little sisters bass is slightly twisted, still playable but I had to put the action higher than I'd like and I can imagine the problem won't get worse. 

For some reason I never play this guitar, had it forever, modded it.....never play it. Pulled it out of it's case today and fell in love with it again.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

What is your handle on TB? Same as here?

I just ordered this sexy beast

I am exite

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

In reply to barefootskater5000 :

I am definitely a fan of p90s, I've got a few guitars with them and they are just great all around, especially for Iommi stuff 

Admittedly I usually buy and mod cheaper guitars but I showed the wife it and she told me to buy it now, my dad said the same thing and I think my cat meowed her agreement as she passed to her food bowl. Can't argue with that, right?

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

As long as you can blame it on the cat I'd say you're safe. 

In reply to Recon1342 :

I'm still Silverfleet over there. I don't post nearly as much over there as I do here!

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

As long as you can blame it on the cat I'd say you're safe. 

This is sage advice that every musician should remember when wanting to buy new gear

An old friend came home in a deal that was really a win for all involved. 
Some years ago I came across a low end Gretsch in a pawn shop and fell in love instantly. One of those interactions that just gets into your bones. Unplugged, this guitar just played and felt so good in every way. Wasn't a fan of the boogertronic pickups though so I carved it out to take a pair of burstbuckers I had from a LP studio that got the  EMG treatment. What a transformation. 
FF a few years and I was hardly playing. Just had a kid, living with the in-laws, 12 credit semesters and 40 hour work weeks. I sold off almost everything. Finally I was approached by a local teacher with a trade offer for the Gretsch. I took it, and sold the amp and pedal I got in the deal. 
FF a few more years and I'd been window shopping again, wanting a cheap Gretsch solid body because the one a had was so good. So I put a want ad on CL with a description and an offer to buy it back. Two days later the dude calls me and still has it, and is willing to sell. At that point we had just signed papers on a new place and we're heading into the holidays and the deal got put on the back burner. meanwhile I had acquired a fender bass combo in a package deal and ended up in this amp for pennies. So it's on CL and I'm in no rush to sell because I figure I can make a few bucks... Well the dude texts me and asks if I'd be interested in trading the amp for my old guitar. 
This was the one that got away. The one I'd bonded so well with that nobody else would want (flat body, bolt on neck, real stripper model)

I can't remember the exact model. No serial number. It's seen some heavy use and has a few scars. It's so good. And I'm into it for less than the cost of one of these pickups. 

In reply to barefootskater5000 :

Congrats!

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks. Pretty sure you've expressed an appreciation for bottom shelf beater guitars in the past so you understand. Kind of like a beater truck. It doesn't cost much so you don't feel bad giving a bit of abuse. 

In reply to barefootskater5000 :

That is an awesome story...congratulations!

barefootskater5000 said:

In reply to Antihero (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks. Pretty sure you've expressed an appreciation for bottom shelf beater guitars in the past so you understand. Kind of like a beater truck. It doesn't cost much so you don't feel bad giving a bit of abuse. 

Ive always used cheaper guitars, that Gibson is gonna be my most expensive guitar by far, the main guitar I've used for The Sledgehammer is a sub $200 xaviere. Cheap guitars are a hell of a lot better than people give them credit for

Today's project was trying to figure out wtf is going on with this weird 2x12 folded horn xab I have. Weird crackling sounds and crazy ohm ratings tell me that a speaker is most likely failing. I haven't used it in years but I remember it reading a bit lower than the average 4 ohm cab. It was now reading 71 ohms.

Getting into the cab was a bitch because half the screws were stripped. This usually means the speakers have been changed so I shouldn't have been surprised by what I found, I found 2 weird EV speakers with spray paint across the serial numbers. They aren't 12Ls but they do have the same basket. They are both 4 ohm speakers and after pushing on the cones a bit I get 2.7ohms, or a 2 ohm cab. Totally useless to me. I have a crazy idea for it but it'll need to be a 16ohm cab so speaker swap will happen. Of course one of the speaker screws is stripped so I'll have to deal with that.

Actually have a story similar to barefoot. Way back in the late 90's I bought a well used Ovation Ultra Hard Body GS for probably around a hundred bucks from a Music Go Round store. It was a beater but I liked the feel and sound. All my buddies liked it too. At some point I needed a little money being a poor high school student and sold it to a co worker for what I paid. I missed it, but it was a beater and I didn't need it. 

Fast forward a decade or so and I'm sitting out in front of a bar on the strip having a frosty cold oat soda and who do I see, my old coworker walking down the street with a gig bag on his back. I say hey, make some chit chat, and ask what he's got. Long story short, he needed some cash and was going to sell the Ovation. Gladly paid him what he paid me and I got it back. Had some new character marks but really no worse than when I sold it. I've had it since and it is my forever guitar. I've had better, I've had worse, but this Ovation is just right. Needs a new nut cut and some fret work, but she's a keeper.

I've been jamming with a guitarist & drummer recently, and it has me yearning to go back to a stereo bass rig. Back in the mid-90's I was in a trio & split my signal through a Mesa Boogie 400 head into a 4x10 cab, and a JCM800 into an old HiWatt 4x12. It was drastically too loud & weighed more than I could even imagine hauling around now, but oh man...

So I emailed my Sweetwater rep & asked for his input, and he sent me this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/QuadCortex--neural-dsp-quad-cortex-quad-core-digital-effects-modeler-profiler-floorboard

It won't be available for a few months, and I'd need to try it out to make sure it does what I need & sounds good doing it, but I sure like the idea of being able to have multiple settings, including split signal paths, in something that light & compact.