hello
i've been lurking on and off for some time and have gotten a lot of great info from this forum, so i figured it was time to join the party!
i've been playing guitar for about 12 years now. i've dabbled with bass for very brief periods throughout that time and have always enjoyed the change of pace. well this year, the bug finally bit me - HARD. i made the decision to really put some effort into the instrument.
the first bass i ever played was an entry level (i think) cort of some kind that the bass player in my first band let me borrow. i used to own an epiphone thunderbird, but never bonded with it for some reason. loved the look, but never felt comfortable playing-wise. i partially owned the bass rig for my second band when the original bass player left and offered to sell us his gear fairly cheap. none of us could afford everything individually so we split it. the head was trace elliot, not sure of the model. we ran it through a peavey 2x10 and a homemade 15" cab with an eminence speaker - again, not sure which. i had to quit that band after i finished college and moved away. i donated what was left of the rig - pretty sure the peavey cab and trace head died - to the band
i've been playing guitar and singing in my current band (see sig.) for a little over a year and a half. we're kind of a noisy alternative rock/indie band. collectively, we're heavily influenced by dinosaur jr., pavement, sonic youth, etc.
the last 2 months i've kinda gone crazy acquiring new bass gear. i'm a fan of old sunn gear, and found a decent deal on ebay for a concert bass head in great condition.
i researched basses for a while, and was having a hard time deciding what to get. really my only stipulations were that i wanted to try a maple neck/fb (i have a soft spot for my maple neck strats..), and a satin finish - just not a big fan of poly finishes. i thought for sure i'd go the p-bass route, but i ended up stumbling upon the brubaker brute mjx-4. i'd never heard of brubaker before, but the brute series is their import line (MIC, i believe). eye-catching right off the bat - kinda threw me for a while. active electronics with a music man-style bridge humbucker (with coil split) and a jazz neck pickup. i'm very happy with it. it feels very solid buildwise, nice neck, hardware seems up to snuff. very versatile pickup and tone control options. admittedly i'm a noob with bass, so it's hard for me to comment too specifically on set up and playability. it's intonated well and i only get a little rattle from the low e on occasion - i think that's due mostly to my lack of playing skills. i just ordered today some dr sunbeam 45-105 strings to try. i am playing with my fingers 90% of the time and have a fairly light touch, so nickle roundwounds seemed to be the way to go...maybe? again new and dumb with this stuff lol. i use dean markley blue steels on guitar and may end up trying those for bass down the road as well
this weekend i got my cab. an avatar b212 that i ordered earlier this month. it's got neo faital speakers, line-x coating, an oxblood grill cloth, and red piping (to match my sunn head
). this is my first time dealing with avatar, and i'm really happy with the cab. it seems quite solid. my initial tone thoughts are that it is warm, smooth, and punchy. it gets along great with the concert bass, which despite only being 200 watts ss - is fantastically loud. i live in a 2 bedroom condo and can't turn it up past 2 without shaking the foundation..
i thought long and hard about an earcandy bassbomb 2x12 as well, but decided i preferred the diagonal configuration of the b212.
finally i snagged a deal on an akai e2 headrush delay/tape echo/loop pedal. gotta thank Brian Cook (Russian Circles, Sumac, These Arms Are Snakes, Botch) for the inspiration there. i love all of his bands, and saw him recently with Sumac opening for Neurosis (OMFG). monstrous sound!
Link Removed
anyways it's a fun pedal. not as difficult to get the hang of as i thought it would be. sounds great, and the looper is simple to use.
i'm an effects junky, and have plans for more pedals in the future. it will be slow going as this latest gear onslaught has quite soundly depleted my G.A.S. funds. obviously this rig is overkill for home playing, which will probably be what i'm doing most of the time - but that tends to be my style (i practice guitar at home with a sunn beta lead through a 4x12
). i'm a hopeless wanna be rockstar lol. i would like to get in a band situation at some point in the future, so i will be prepared if i'm lucky enough for that to happen. here's the rig:
so yeah, that's my story. sorry for the long post! looking forward to hanging out here and absorbing some wisdom as i start this new musical chapter
rock on
z
i've been lurking on and off for some time and have gotten a lot of great info from this forum, so i figured it was time to join the party!
i've been playing guitar for about 12 years now. i've dabbled with bass for very brief periods throughout that time and have always enjoyed the change of pace. well this year, the bug finally bit me - HARD. i made the decision to really put some effort into the instrument.
the first bass i ever played was an entry level (i think) cort of some kind that the bass player in my first band let me borrow. i used to own an epiphone thunderbird, but never bonded with it for some reason. loved the look, but never felt comfortable playing-wise. i partially owned the bass rig for my second band when the original bass player left and offered to sell us his gear fairly cheap. none of us could afford everything individually so we split it. the head was trace elliot, not sure of the model. we ran it through a peavey 2x10 and a homemade 15" cab with an eminence speaker - again, not sure which. i had to quit that band after i finished college and moved away. i donated what was left of the rig - pretty sure the peavey cab and trace head died - to the band
i've been playing guitar and singing in my current band (see sig.) for a little over a year and a half. we're kind of a noisy alternative rock/indie band. collectively, we're heavily influenced by dinosaur jr., pavement, sonic youth, etc.
the last 2 months i've kinda gone crazy acquiring new bass gear. i'm a fan of old sunn gear, and found a decent deal on ebay for a concert bass head in great condition.
i researched basses for a while, and was having a hard time deciding what to get. really my only stipulations were that i wanted to try a maple neck/fb (i have a soft spot for my maple neck strats..), and a satin finish - just not a big fan of poly finishes. i thought for sure i'd go the p-bass route, but i ended up stumbling upon the brubaker brute mjx-4. i'd never heard of brubaker before, but the brute series is their import line (MIC, i believe). eye-catching right off the bat - kinda threw me for a while. active electronics with a music man-style bridge humbucker (with coil split) and a jazz neck pickup. i'm very happy with it. it feels very solid buildwise, nice neck, hardware seems up to snuff. very versatile pickup and tone control options. admittedly i'm a noob with bass, so it's hard for me to comment too specifically on set up and playability. it's intonated well and i only get a little rattle from the low e on occasion - i think that's due mostly to my lack of playing skills. i just ordered today some dr sunbeam 45-105 strings to try. i am playing with my fingers 90% of the time and have a fairly light touch, so nickle roundwounds seemed to be the way to go...maybe? again new and dumb with this stuff lol. i use dean markley blue steels on guitar and may end up trying those for bass down the road as well
this weekend i got my cab. an avatar b212 that i ordered earlier this month. it's got neo faital speakers, line-x coating, an oxblood grill cloth, and red piping (to match my sunn head
). this is my first time dealing with avatar, and i'm really happy with the cab. it seems quite solid. my initial tone thoughts are that it is warm, smooth, and punchy. it gets along great with the concert bass, which despite only being 200 watts ss - is fantastically loud. i live in a 2 bedroom condo and can't turn it up past 2 without shaking the foundation..i thought long and hard about an earcandy bassbomb 2x12 as well, but decided i preferred the diagonal configuration of the b212.
finally i snagged a deal on an akai e2 headrush delay/tape echo/loop pedal. gotta thank Brian Cook (Russian Circles, Sumac, These Arms Are Snakes, Botch) for the inspiration there. i love all of his bands, and saw him recently with Sumac opening for Neurosis (OMFG). monstrous sound!
Link Removed
anyways it's a fun pedal. not as difficult to get the hang of as i thought it would be. sounds great, and the looper is simple to use.
i'm an effects junky, and have plans for more pedals in the future. it will be slow going as this latest gear onslaught has quite soundly depleted my G.A.S. funds. obviously this rig is overkill for home playing, which will probably be what i'm doing most of the time - but that tends to be my style (i practice guitar at home with a sunn beta lead through a 4x12
). i'm a hopeless wanna be rockstar lol. i would like to get in a band situation at some point in the future, so i will be prepared if i'm lucky enough for that to happen. here's the rig:so yeah, that's my story. sorry for the long post! looking forward to hanging out here and absorbing some wisdom as i start this new musical chapter
rock on
z
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