Favorite Gear (bass) (blues, bass, jazz, fan, Russian)

mr dave · 03-27-2009, 09:49 PM

i know there's a thread specific to basses somewhere but the mods don't seem to notice this subforum much.

my personal bass of choice is a Samick 5 string fretless. my backup is a 4 string fretted Aria Pro II cat series. both are strung with d'Addario chrome strings (flatwound).

i usually run them through a Warwick Sweet 15 combo amp (first version). got a great deal on this when the 2nd revision came out, 8 band EQ vs. 4 knobs. my alternate source is a custom traynor cabinet and acoustic head. 300W or so, it's something my drummer had picked up from his buddy's older brother back in the day haha.

as for pedals, my most consistent bass effects are a russian big muff, Danelectro delay, Ibanez phaser, Crybaby bass wah, and a volume pedal.

ElephantSack · 03-27-2009, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

i know there's a thread specific to basses somewhere but the mods don't seem to notice this subforum much.

my personal bass of choice is a Samick 5 string fretless. my backup is a 4 string fretted Aria Pro II cat series. both are strung with d'Addario chrome strings (flatwound).

i usually run them through a Warwick Sweet 15 combo amp (first version). got a great deal on this when the 2nd revision came out, 8 band EQ vs. 4 knobs. my alternate source is a custom traynor cabinet and acoustic head. 300W or so, it's something my drummer had picked up from his buddy's older brother back in the day haha.

as for pedals, my most consistent bass effects are a russian big muff, Danelectro delay, Ibanez phaser, Crybaby bass wah, and a volume pedal.

right on, man. What's your main forte as far as playing goes?

mr dave · 03-28-2009, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElephantSack

right on, man. What's your main forte as far as playing goes?

my main forte is sound intensity. i don't approach music the same way as most, it's not to be pretentious, it's more like the difference between being right or left handed.

my friends and i only play for our personal enjoyment. we don't know what we just did, nor do we have any clue what we'll do next, but we most definitely know what we're doing in the moment (most of the time haha)

what about yours?

ElephantSack · 03-29-2009, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

my main forte is sound intensity. i don't approach music the same way as most, it's not to be pretentious, it's more like the difference between being right or left handed.

my friends and i only play for our personal enjoyment. we don't know what we just did, nor do we have any clue what we'll do next, but we most definitely know what we're doing in the moment (most of the time haha)

what about yours?

In my band we tend to write music that would help us to become better players. That is to say, most of the riffs we write are some of the most challenging we can try to imagine.
Personally, Most of my riffs just come from freestyling. Or, I'll have a beat or a beat idea in my head, and I'll jut build a riff from that. A lot of my guitar riffs tend to be more bluesy and mellow, probably because I'm not the best guitar player. Whereas my bass parts can either be as spasmodic and fast as possible, or in the tradition of the "bass player" I write an even, underlying simplified bassline to keep things grooving and solid.

I don't know if you're the guy that checked us out or not, so here's a link.

AFTERMATH

mr dave · 03-30-2009, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElephantSack

In my band we tend to write music that would help us to become better players. That is to say, most of the riffs we write are some of the most challenging we can try to imagine.

AFTERMATH

that's pretty cool. reminds me of a mash-up of pantera and meshuggah. good recording quality too, what did you guys use? or did you pay for studio time?

my one concern with the method you describe above is that it's an easy way to trap yourself into a corner. you seem to have a good attitude to get around that though, so long as you remember that sometimes 'not' playing a single note is more challenging than playing the entire scale.

as for CO's 5-string hate, whatever

my co-worker thinks they're redundant instruments too. i can understand people not liking the extra width of the neck, that's quite understandable and it 'was' an adjustment when i made the jump. on the other hand, crapping on the instrument because you think the extra string is superfluous is foolish.

for me it's all about tone, it's the same reason one of my guitars is tuned down to C. my approach is not that i'm playing bass so i should plunk down some root notes on my low-B, but to consider its full potential range and to apply it to the moment as necessary.

crash_override · 03-30-2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

that's pretty cool. reminds me of a mash-up of pantera and meshuggah. good recording quality too, what did you guys use? or did you pay for studio time?

my one concern with the method you describe above is that it's an easy way to trap yourself into a corner. you seem to have a good attitude to get around that though, so long as you remember that sometimes 'not' playing a single note is more challenging than playing the entire scale.

as for CO's 5-string hate, whatever

my co-worker thinks they're redundant instruments too. i can understand people not liking the extra width of the neck, that's quite understandable and it 'was' an adjustment when i made the jump. on the other hand, crapping on the instrument because you think the extra string is superfluous is foolish.

for me it's all about tone, it's the same reason one of my guitars is tuned down to C. my approach is not that i'm playing bass so i should plunk down some root notes on my low-B, but to consider its full potential range and to apply it to the moment as necessary.

Yeah I had one in my early days, it was a Stagg... nothing special but i thought i would try it. It just wasn't for me. Not to say i don't like to listen to it. I think it sounds great in certain apps. and i'm sure you can jam out some funky lines on yours, so more power to you.

p.s. I wasn't trying to generalize and say all people who play 5 string suck. It's just not my thing. You'll find my on 4 strings 4lyfe.

DMBassDude · 03-31-2009, 09:02 AM

Dude, if you need a bass get a Fernandes.
if you need an Amp, get an Acoustic 8 by 10 cab.

PROBLEM SOLVED lol

mr dave · 03-31-2009, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crash_override

p.s. I wasn't trying to generalize and say all people who play 5 string suck. It's just not my thing. You'll find my on 4 strings 4lyfe.

it's all good, i didn't think you were making the generalization but i've seen it done before hehe. i actually feel the same way about 6 string basses hehe i find them gaudy and too wide, 4s are usually a little too narrow (especially Peaveys), 5s fit my hands just right.

as for Fernandes, i've never looked at their basses but i like the idea of their sustainer pickup. their vertigo models look really cool to me, i just don't like the idea of needing to get an elite model with a floyd rose if i want a sustainer built in.

ElephantSack · 03-31-2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

that's pretty cool. reminds me of a mash-up of pantera and meshuggah. good recording quality too, what did you guys use? or did you pay for studio time?

my one concern with the method you describe above is that it's an easy way to trap yourself into a corner. you seem to have a good attitude to get around that though, so long as you remember that sometimes 'not' playing a single note is more challenging than playing the entire scale.

as for CO's 5-string hate, whatever

my co-worker thinks they're redundant instruments too. i can understand people not liking the extra width of the neck, that's quite understandable and it 'was' an adjustment when i made the jump. on the other hand, crapping on the instrument because you think the extra string is superfluous is foolish.

for me it's all about tone, it's the same reason one of my guitars is tuned down to C. my approach is not that i'm playing bass so i should plunk down some root notes on my low-B, but to consider its full potential range and to apply it to the moment as necessary.

Hey, thanks a lot, man. Pantera was a very transitional inspiration for us. We actually used to be a classic rock cover band, playing 4 hour shows when I was 11-15. It definitely helped to develop necessary chops and hand strength. But then Pantera, Rage Against the Machine, Alice in Chains and puberty took over, and we went in our own direction with our original material.

I hear you on the whole genre-trap folly. That's always been a trap that we've been wary to avoid. Our full-length should demonstrate that pretty well. And I've always been grateful for bands that have had the guts to expand their repertoire regardless of initial scene notoriety. A good example I think is Between the Buried and Me.

Shit, we're getting totally off-topic here, aren't we? You think we start another thread?

DMBassDude · 03-31-2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElephantSack

Hey, thanks a lot, man. Pantera was a very transitional inspiration for us. We actually used to be a classic rock cover band, playing 4 hour shows when I was 11-15. It definitely helped to develop necessary chops and hand strength. But then Pantera, Rage Against the Machine, Alice in Chains and puberty took over, and we went in our own direction with our original material.

I hear you on the whole genre-trap folly. That's always been a trap that we've been wary to avoid. Our full-length should demonstrate that pretty well. And I've always been grateful for bands that have had the guts to expand their repertoire regardless of initial scene notoriety. A good example I think is Between the Buried and Me.

Shit, we're getting totally off-topic here, aren't we? You think we start another thread?

Perhaps we can just keep talking here and completely ignore that lol

03-31-2009, 09:02 AM	#7 (permalink)
DMBassDude Get Thrashed Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Colorado. Posts: 79	Dude, if you need a bass get a Fernandes. if you need an Amp, get an Acoustic 8 by 10 cab. PROBLEM SOLVED lol __________________ "psh... we'll be fine..." -Titanic capitain, 1912