Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread

[ugly_bassplayer]

Got a cool new pedal today, the Pine Box Customs Siren....I quickly hit the wrong switch on my power supply and fried the pedal...that's a first for me!

Never fried a pedal, but a guitar dudes amp caught fire once.
Like 3-4 foot high flames.

Howd you hit the wrong switch?
sent some euro 240v into it?

 

[emjazz]

Never fried a pedal, but a guitar dudes amp caught fire once.
Like 3-4 foot high flames.

Howd you hit the wrong switch?
sent some euro 240v into it?

My power supply can do 9 - 18v on any output...thought I was switching a different pedal to 12v. Obviously that means the pedal has no built in protection. Have done that once or twice before with no negative effect.

I also bought a used Demeter pre thay showed up not working and had many parts switched inside, and my Acoustic Image amp seems to have a power section that's distorting...hasn't been a positive gear week for me. Hahaha

 

[monsterthompson]

My power supply can do 9 - 18v on any output...thought I was switching a different pedal to 12v. Obviously that means the pedal has no built in protection. Have done that once or twice before with no negative effect.

I also bought a used Demeter pre thay showed up not working and had many parts switched inside, and my Acoustic Image amp seems to have a power section that's distorting...hasn't been a positive gear week for me. Hahaha

I hate that. I've cooked a pedal in my day. Dang.
Rough week indeed.

 

[emjazz]

I hate that. I've cooked a pedal in my day. Dang.
Rough week indeed.

The upside is I finished mixing a new trio record and it's off to mastering...and most importantly my family is all healthy. All in all, I'll take it. Hope you all are staying healthy.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

My power supply can do 9 - 18v on any output...thought I was switching a different pedal to 12v. Obviously that means the pedal has no built in protection. Have done that once or twice before with no negative effect.

I also bought a used Demeter pre thay showed up not working and had many parts switched inside, and my Acoustic Image amp seems to have a power section that's distorting...hasn't been a positive gear week for me. Hahaha

Dang...sux.
Everything breaks....eventually.

 

[emjazz]

Dang...sux.
Everything breaks....eventually.

Last week I handed my P bass over to a friend to level the frets. He took my $100 and it came back with the same issues. So yeah...hoping this is the tale end of it. Fairly certain it's the universe telling me to stop wasting my time and to just practice.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Last week I handed my P bass over to a friend to level the frets. He took my $100 and it came back with the same issues. So yeah...hoping this is the tale end of it. Fairly certain it's the universe telling me to stop wasting my time and to just practice.

Wow, coincidence.
Brought my pbass yesterday to the luth0ier's.
Ruff fret edges where getting on my nerves.
Hope it comes back smooth.

 

[emjazz]

Wow, coincidence.
Brought my pbass yesterday to the lutbier's.
Ruff fret edges where getting on my nerves.
Hope it comes back smooth.

This is a Squier P from 2001 that I just found for $250 and switched some nice parts and electronics to. Big neck, but such a fabulous bass now. Just needs the frets to be right, and a new nut. Hopefully I can find a local person who can get it right. Outside of NY I don't have someone that I know and trust.

 

[monsterthompson]

Internet jam from yesterday. Get past the first few minutes and the dropouts seem to stop.

We were testing/jamming to prep for the Tijuana Synth-Con in just over a week. We'll be presenting as NASSTA (Network Audio and Spooky Synths from Trevor and Adam)

Some of the earlier bits are sound-check stuff when I didn't know tape was rolling

Edit - 14:40 is when an actual bass starts to appear. It takes me a minute to get things figured out. I could’ve sworn I ended up with a bass loop I really liked, but I’m not hearing it now where I thought it was but it’s in there by 33-34:00 range with a shimmer verb.

 

[monsterthompson]

I’m late to this party but I’m now addicted to this compilation.
A little studio themed comedy for the end of the week.

 

[steubig]

hmmm... interdasting. I think if I had unlimited time to spend with my gear experimenting with all sorts of different combinations, I might gravitate towards that sort of approach. But I don't, and so what I desperately try to do is learn/codify/recognize (and then most importantly) /remember which combinations do what, and then I keep that whole litany of sounds in the back of my mind as a library or database of sorts...specifically so I don't have to think about "how do I get this sound?" and/or "is this [hypothetical] sound even available with today's setup?"

And so what that approach necessitates is that I have the whole kit&kaboodle horked up at all times, just so I know via muscle memory what I need to do in order to make [thing] happen.

Which is why I tend to be an All Or Nothing player when it comes to pedals: I do gigs/projects that need a "normal" bass player -- in which case I don't bring any pedals, period -- or I do gigs/projects that need a "whack-ass" bass player (aka, "we need Bob Ross") -- in which case I bring every pedal...which is kinda my only choice at this point, since they're all tied down rather firmly to a couple of pedalboards in a pair of roadcases.

Trust me, I often wish I could go with the different setups per project approach, if for no other reason than to cut down on the size/weight of my rig.

i certainly don't have unlimited time, but i do like to save space and weight.

i get the trying to remember what does what . . .

parsing this out a bit, you're already doing part of what i do, where certain situations don't get pedals at all.

my setup is pretty modular (not pedal board per se), with little "islands" of sound (three fuzz; three fuzz plus other; looping; stereo looping with synth stuff).

for me there are combinations that get that approach (for instance me with a pipa player); ones that get playing preparations as well as regular bass (with another bass player who does preps and effects); a few where i do the three-fuzz-pedal thing (sax/bass/drums and trombone/bass/drums); others where i add some noise makers to the fuzz (ad hoc); others where i use almost everything, including looping (duo with flute/vocalist where i am the band); and things where i use everything, including massive stereo rig and synth stuff (my duo toques).

but it's also nice to take only an overdrive pedal to boost for solos on more normal gigs.

in a peculiar way, it's a bit about projecting differently personalities on me/the music (yeah, i might have been sipping something . . . ).

 

[steubig]

Internet jam from yesterday. Get past the first few minutes and the dropouts seem to stop.

We were testing/jamming to prep for the Tijuana Synth-Con in just over a week. We'll be presenting as NASSTA (Network Audio and Spooky Synths from Trevor and Adam)

Some of the earlier bits are sound-check stuff when I didn't know tape was rolling

Edit - 14:40 is when an actual bass starts to appear. It takes me a minute to get things figured out. I could’ve sworn I ended up with a bass loop I really liked, but I’m not hearing it now where I thought it was but it’s in there by 33-34:00 range with a shimmer verb.

there's some very cool music happening in baja cal. as far as i can tell there are scenes in tijuana and ensenada (with some cross-talk between them) that are very interesting. being in san diego helps to dig into that a bit more.

one thing i keep wanting to know is: are you guys in the same room or doing this over the net?

 

[steubig]

My power supply can do 9 - 18v on any output...thought I was switching a different pedal to 12v. Obviously that means the pedal has no built in protection. Have done that once or twice before with no negative effect.

I also bought a used Demeter pre thay showed up not working and had many parts switched inside, and my Acoustic Image amp seems to have a power section that's distorting...hasn't been a positive gear week for me. Hahaha

wow. no fun.

 

[monsterthompson]

one thing i keep wanting to know is: are you guys in the same room or doing this over the net?

We’re doing it all over the net. He’s tried it with other musicians but not had it work as well as what we’ve been doing. This is why our presentation is called “network audio” and will cover both the technological and musical challenges of working together online in real time.

Once this is all done, I’ll be happy to try setting up a similar network jam or two with some of the thread regulars.

 

[steubig]

We’re doing it all over the net. He’s tried it with other musicians but not had it work as well as what we’ve been doing. This is why our presentation is called “network audio” and will cover both the technological and musical challenges of working together online in real time.

Once this is all done, I’ll be happy to try setting up a similar network jam or two with some of the thread regulars.

i figured the name said it, but wanted to make sure. it’s surprisingly effective, considering not being in the same room and all. good job to you guys.

i know people who have done telematics concerts (i haven’t). the drummers have said it’s very difficult cause you can’t *feel* the other people (especially two drummers in two different locales).

so you’re “beaming it into” tijuana?

 

[monsterthompson]

so you’re “beaming it into” tijuana?

They’re beaming it all online. The folks in Tijuana have decided to do the Synth-Con virtually this year.
Tijuana Synth-Con 2020 - Tijuana Synth-Con

If you’ve got a little high school Spanish under your belt, you should be able to navigate the site. Though, the descriptions are a bit lean.

 

[monsterthompson]

Oh man.

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Mood of the last few weeks. Dont give up.
Cheers.
(All done with ZERO computer except to raise the levels)

 

[monsterthompson]

 

[emjazz]

That's such a brilliant idea!!