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mick karn: tuning and strings

so i was listening to a mixture of all things karn today, and i was curious what does he tune to? sounds like to me in japan hes in standard, however, on his solo stuff and some of the dali's car material hes kind of tuned all over.

also, did/does he use flatwounds or roundwounds. sometimes his sounds seems 'flat' and sometiems it sounds 'round'. i also heard a rumor the strings he did used were new, but aged 14 years.

thanks for the help
a little more in regards to tuning, i've either learned or started to learn most of Mick's bass parts from Japan thru to The Tooth Mother & Polytown, & the only one i found i had to alter the entire tuning of the bass was the song Dali's Car, every other song i have been able to play in tune in a440 tuning. there is a song on The Tooth Mother called Gossip's Cup where he actually plays some intentional quarter tones.
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New Mesa 800D (not D800) vs Genzler Kinetix

Interested in both these amps, so I was reading through the thread, someone mentioned price and I’d like to give an Australian perspective. I already own (and love) a Genzler Magellan 800 and have been interested in the Kinetix for a while, also interested in the 800D because my favourite album was recorded with a Mesa 400+. Right now the Kinetix costs $1850au and the 800D is $2300au. I think this is because Mesa is sold via a distributor and Genzler is imported direct by a retailer. I’d love to give both a shot but the Kinetix is much more in my price range.
Opposite here in New Zealand.
Genzler Kinetix $2700 NZD.
Mesa 800D $2299 NZD.
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Finally did it!

I don’t imagine too many (if anybody) remembers me here, but I used to post all the time. Anyways after 21 years of calling myself a bassist I finally played my first show last weekend. I screwed up a ton and my fingers were so dry it felt like I was playing strings made of sandpaper but I managed to fumble through our whole set. Now that some of the self criticism has dissipated though I feel amazing. I don’t really know if anyone knows how many flubs I had other than the old dude who was right in front of me watching me play, but he seemed to be having a great time and actually helped keep me from getting too into my own head when I forgot we added a couple extra bars on the guitar solo section.
But yeah, at one point I think I had TB set as my homepage on my phone so it just feels right to report in, nice to see it still healthy here. Love ya Talkbass.


Dude, that’s probably the best thing I’ve read all day !!! Awesome !!!

I’ve lost a lot of my memory due to a bad head injury, chemo, etc etc … but still remember my first gig, 43 years ago ! It’s an awesome feeling of achievement when you’ve completed that first gig. Yeah, there are always things you’ll wish you had done differently, but just the feeling of knowing that you’ve conquered it, and people rocked out to your playing… it’s one of the best feelings in the world !

Congrats !
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Bergantino "super" stack

Well, I ended up getting the stack figured out. I got both. :)

There was a nice fellow selling a HT322 and HT115 about 45 minutes away from my gig I had on Saturday in Tacoma, so I left home early and went up to buy them. He made me a deal I couldn't refuse, so I figured what's the harm in having both?

I really dig them. I can't decide if I like the 322 double stack better, or the 322/115 stack. They both sound amazing.View attachment 7546234View attachment 7546235
That'll get it done! Nice Rig(s)!

GT-1B vs GX-1B. Is the shiny new object worth buying?

As far as I know it's unbalanced outputs... a TRS to XLR adaptor wont do anything for you.

I have a GT-1B and have tried the new GX-1B a few times. It's definitely mechanically better built, and the preamps have been renamed to contemporary offerings (or hints at more contemporary offerings) but I would not say it is sonically superior to the GT-1b.
You might find the screen/UI a little bit easier to work with, though.

If you want to go deeper into the Boss AIRD/Modelling environment, save your money and step up to one of the GT-1000 units, instead. The 1000Core is quite a step up in features, routing, and I feel that it sounds better.

Fender Rumble 800 - Vintage and Drive for that SVT/BDDI tone?

I often play on Fender Rumble combos in rehearsal studios - not the 800, mostly the 500 I believe.
The vintage switch and the drive don't sound like SVT, at all. Vintage in a different way, not the SVT way.
I always switch it of, and I don't use the drive either.

When you see the number of threads about "how to sound like a SVT without a SVT?", I think if the Rumble could sound like it, we would know by now.

That said, it's a highly regarded amp.
My SVT-ish and ,Bassman-ish juice pedal combo setup, but match with Ampeg RB112 stacked.

My combo EQ setup pretty much like rumble EQ curve - scoop.
Both ultra hi/lo engage, bass 10.30, both mid and treble 2.30.
Push the mid EQ to make entire tone less scoop.
Then tweak the Caline Wine Cellar for clean SVT tone, Joyo engage for grindy SVT, and Bassman pedal tweak to nail that Super Bassman big scoop mild dirt tubey sound

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Peavey Import Club (BXP Line and others)

Gillian, my 5 string playing friend, grabbed a 'Darkwood' Cirrus BXP on her trip up to visit; that's it on the far right in the photo.

As I recall she paid £199 for it. Being multiple US Cirrus owners we were interested to see how it compared.

Put that Darkwood through its paces for hours, was deserving of the Cirrus name. Darn fine bass.
I, too, have a “Darkwood” Cirrus BXP 5 string that I got as my first foray into five string world. I already had a U.S. Cirrus 4 string but didn’t want to spend the money on a U.S. fiver if it turned out that I couldn’t play it. The BXP was my first bass from Indonesia and the quality blew me away. It sounded very close to my U.S. Cirrus…and since I replaced the preamp with the sweepable midrange Millenium preamp, the sound of the BXP is indistinguishable from my U.S. Cirrus. The neck is not quite as nice as the one on my U.S. Cirrus five string, but it’s still a great neck. I agree, it’s a darn fine bass!

Kim

Boss ME-90B with active and passive basses

What @DonaldR says is how I do it (albeit on another multi). I have specific presets for every bass I own. I find it the easiest way to swap. I need to mute the multi anyway while I swap instruments and 1 extra tap won't kill me or take up too much time.

If you're not using it you can also try the boost on the drive/ synth section and see if that's enough and doesn't change your tone too much. Otherwise I'd just make another preset and be done with it. It's still only 1 extra tap if you run in memory mode.
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What's the Most Overlooked Skill for Bass Players?

It would have to be an OUTSTANDING gig to put up with that.
Any gig where someone abuses you becauss you’re the bassist…is not going to be outstanding. If someone told me I had to do those things because I’m the bassist, I’d have a good laugh and leave. Life is too short to play with ignorant bullies.

Double Bass portable recorder

A +1 on the Zoom Q2n. While it can run for a while on its 2 AA batteries, I use a little 10,000 mAh power bank that will run it for days. Sound is great and you can use it for audio only or to video your band as well.

I must say that the Zoom customer service amazed me. I had a problem with the USB jack and sent itn for service and they sent me the latest model, brand new, for FREE!
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