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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

#49,841
I think i started around kernel 1.2.13 or so and Slackware was king. I remember downloading floppy sets from a local BBS and only having enough space on my 130mb drive to hold kernel source or a copy of Netscape, but not both at the same time.

I thought it was cool then, now I think it's just an arduous poopshow for anything that's "desktop" related and entirely usable as a server.

But, I remember all the calls for Linux and X Windows taking over the desktop, I'm pretty sure I may have even had a sip or two of that Koolade back then, but it'll never happen. I actually ditched Linux outside of work when I started to use a NeXTstation (all we did was ssh back then to other servers, and a 21" monitor for a x86 PC cost way more than buying old NeXTs did, so we all got those instead), and eventually my coworker pointed out that OS X was basically a modern form of NeXTSTeP.

I rode that for a long time 'til Apple decided to sell lifestyle products and not things I cared in. I've gone back to Windows, it's the path of least resistance and as much as I can make Linux do on the various pieces of scavenged hardware I've been pulling out of the junk piles at work, I simply refuse. :)
 
#49,843
Woah, I had 3 pages to read to catch up! All this crazy talk about OS reminds me of flirting with programming back in the day.

scabpicker said:
Hehee, @rutrho @djciano : I don't know if I have the same issues. At work, I had several co-workers who came by originally to ask me technical questions at my old cube also ask "Doesn't that noisy air conditioner bother you?" Nope, not in the least, I grew up in the flight path for D/FW airport. I could literally ignore a 747 coming in low. Jets are pleasant. I used to go into D/FW and wander around, partly because you could hear the jets doing different things than taking off and landing above my house. If I'm not outside, even a fighter jet will require afterburner to get me to look up from what I'm doing. I'll probably go outside and look for it at that point, but I'm that kind of binary. When I'm actually focused on something, I'll forget to put on pants before I pursue it.

Human voices asking me questions bug the hell out of me, though. If you're a co-worker who asks me a question a second time, I'm going to be a pain. I apologize. Your payoff is that when a customer does the same thing (or anything that makes me upset) on a call, I mute the mic and fire a long string of curses as creatively as I can muster at them for my relief and your obvious enjoyment. All praise the mute button, and e-mail, that the customer can at least re-read once before firing off a stupid reply (or I can re-read once before firing off a stupid reply).

Noise doesn't bother me, and I can switch back and forth quickly between focuses (nope, not the same as multitasking). Playing live is exciting because there's so much to concentrate on. Practice has the focuses of being on time, playing the song competently, and listening to each other, and having my backing vocals be somewhat on key. Four or five things? Boooooor-ing! But live when you have a crowd to react to, a show to put on, schedule to adhere to, etc? Well, now ya got something. I've been accused of lots of things accurately - an adrenaline junky is probably the most accurate, in moderate doses. I don't want every show to be a terrifying affair, but I feel like we're cheating everyone if we don't take some sort of chance with each show. It can be as mild as a weird set list, playing a song you have only practiced 1-3 times, or extreme as everyone plays nekkid while on mushrooms. Ya gotta take some chances, or it might as well be Broadway!

But then again, I have these band members who are almost focused on performing a reliable-ish show. We compromise. Sometimes, I'm the reasonable one, and somehow we keep getting asked to play shows we weren't seeking. It's a nice feeling.

So, long story short: I like to think I'm focused on THE BIG PICTURE, and sometimes I'm surprised to find out that others have a completely different idea of what that's a picture of, and sometimes they intersect nonetheless. To some exltent, I'm just a scatterbrained dingbat that just happens to have a knack for landing on the right spot. I'm not ashamed of describing myself that way, even if I'm certain to miss sticking a landing or two.

@cornfarmer : I will happily back off my octave fuzz lust for anything that allows me to run the fuzz-ish circuit in parallel with the overdrive-ish circuit. The DOD250/GGGMuff clone/mod/sorcery being described by rutrho seems like a sweet idea to me. The idea that themarshall has about different stacking options is intriguing, but it might drive up the cost beyond what might be practical if someone wanted to make a profit.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm a split kind of. I'm thankful I was "diagnosed" as a kid. They enlightened me to what I was not good at; changing focus. I would have a hard time starting where I left off when coming back to something after being distracted. Often times I've noticed it because I'll either think too far ahead, or think about too many things at once. I've wondered if it's a matter of how long between switching back and forth.

Oddly enough, there are many situations where I excel at switching tasks or even multitasking. Hilariously though, I've noticed it's when I kind of go into autopilot and just react, etc. I'm a goalie in lacrosse and I have to watch the ball, read the play, constantly keep my head on a swivel to keep tabs on all players and the developing play, talk nonstop to the defense to direct and warn of movements, stay positioned properly so my angles are good, and lastly stop the ball when a shot comes...how I do all that constant multitasking and task switching I have no idea...maybe just in the zone focused because there's so much going on.

It's the same thing for music, with the symphony of a thousand sounds, interactions and things going on simultaneously. Work's the same way too. Maybe if there's a ton of things going on I'm able to drown out my mind and focus. Odd how the mind works. Maybe my mind just overloads and instinct kicks in, or maybe I'm just crazy haha! I definitely fit into your last paragraph.

@cornfarmer and @rutrho +1 to this maybe a 250+muff and a switchable octave? Simple to no surface controls for the OD and Oct to leave room for fuzz controls?

oZZma said:
I want to add some electronics to my songs. I'm looking for something suitable for harsher sounds (think about Today is the Day's third album).
I had a Volca Keys but I couldn't find a sound I liked with that thing. Maybe I should have tried with that + distortion pedals, but I have sold it (now I regret it a bit)
I also didn't like that there was no way to memorize the settings I liked (knobs were wayyyyy too small and sensitive and had no signs on them)
and I also I didn't like that you lose a lot of time playing with pots without actally "writing" anything. Too time-sucking

Ok, basically I don't like synths :smug:
Recommend me some synth I can be friends with :smug:
Click to expand...

If you want to go the software route, I have little to no experience. But I have had and messed around with a microbrute for 2-3 years. I went with the micro because of the patch bay and sequencer. The patch bay allows you to control other sections/knobs with the mod wheel. The sequencer is awesome, very useful and simple to set up and create on the fly. I was hesitant because of the smaller keys, but I got used to them real quick. I can try to write up a review for it if anyone wants.

Either way, I would highly recommend it, especially for someone starting out. Easy to plug and play. You can quickly learn the basics aspects of synthesis with it. Also it's very intuitive being all analog with tactile knobs/sliders for everything.

Also a big +1 doesn't sound like most other synths and can get all out nasty and gritty.


Now what was I just doing again?
 
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#49,844
Novarocker said:
Woah, I had 3 pages to read to catch up! All this crazy talk about OS reminds me of flirting with programming back in the day.



Yeah I'm a split kind of. I'm thankful I was "diagnosed" as a kid. They enlightened me to what I was not good at; changing focus. I would have a hard time starting where I left off when coming back to something after being distracted. Often times I've noticed it because I'll either think too far ahead, or think about too many things at once. I've wondered if it's a matter of how long between switching back and forth.

Oddly enough, there are many situations where I excel at switching tasks or even multitasking. Hilariously though, I've noticed it's when I kind of go into autopilot and just react, etc. I'm a goalie in lacrosse and I have to watch the ball, read the play, constantly keep my head on a swivel to keep tabs on all players and the developing play, talk nonstop to the defense to direct and warn of movements, stay positioned properly so my angles are good, and lastly stop the ball when a shot comes...how I do all that constant multitasking and task switching I have no idea...maybe just in the zone focused because there's so much going on.

It's the same thing for music, with the symphony of a thousand sounds, interactions and things going on simultaneously. Work's the same way too. Maybe if there's a ton of things going on I'm able to drown out my mind and focus. Odd how the mind works. Maybe my mind just overloads and instinct kicks in, or maybe I'm just crazy haha! I definitely fit into your last paragraph.

@cornfarmer and @rutrho +1 to this maybe a 250+muff and a switchable octave? Simple to no surface controls for the OD and Oct to leave room for fuzz controls?



If you want to go the software route, I have little to no experience. But I have had and messed around with a microbrute for 2-3 years. I went with the micro because of the patch bay and sequencer. The patch bay allows you to control other sections/knobs with the mod wheel. The sequencer is awesome, very useful and simple to set up and create on the fly. I was hesitant because of the smaller keys, but I got used to them real quick. I can try to write up a review for it if anyone wants.

Either way, I would highly recommend it, especially for someone starting out. Easy to plug and play. You can quickly learn the basics aspects of synthesis with it. Also it's very intuitive being all analog with tactile knobs/sliders for everything.

Also a big +1 doesn't sound like most other synths and can get all out nasty and gritty.


Now what was I just doing again?
Click to expand...
I would be very much interested in Reading your review!
Anyways nasty and gritty seems promising :cigar:
 
#49,845
There's lots of videos out there to check out on em. I'm sure some exist that show how gritty they get. I'll start writing a blurb up when I can. They also work really well with pedals in my experience.

Screenshot_20190907-102640.png


This would be a "dream" rig for me, or as deep as I'd want to really go with synthesis. Small Euro rack with a quality synth. Minibrute 2 IIRC. They cost a bit more unfortunately, sure it's still worth it.

@br1qbat knows way more than I do about this stuff and I'm sure others here do too. I just love playing around with em and incorporate small bits/leads/seq into stuff I do. Blows my mind how much the real modular rigs cost and how much those peeps can throw into them. I don't even wanna peer down that rabbit hole.
 
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#49,846
as requested, awful examples. sorry i wasn't feeling it and phoned it in, but hey, it's better than nothing, right?


Clean.
HM2 on, P&C off (this means it was clean blended)
HM2 off, P&C on (this also means it was clean blended, extra so even as i keep the P&C pretty clean on it's own for when you mix them together)
Both on.
Hm2 on, P&C on and off to help it stand out.

Honestly the P&C does so much more (within it's confines of "one trick pony," at least) but I didn't feel like futzing with knobs and cables anymore. Sorry.


Clean.
DOD250 solo.
BBM solo.
Stacked.
Stacked with moar clockwise twist on the Muff.
 
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#49,849
Novarocker said:
There's lots of videos out there to check out on em. I'm sure some exist that show how gritty they get. I'll start writing a blurb up when I can. They also work really well with pedals in my experience.

View attachment 3531946

This would be a "dream" rig for me, or as deep as I'd want to really go with synthesis. Small Euro rack with a quality synth. Minibrute 2 IIRC. They cost a bit more unfortunately, sure it's still worth it.

@br1qbat knows way more than I do about this stuff and I'm sure others here do too. I just love playing around with em and incorporate small bits/leads/seq into stuff I do. Blows my mind how much the real modular rigs cost and how much those peeps can throw into them. I don't even wanna peer down that rabbit hole.
Click to expand...
I'm no expert. My little euro system is basically a make weird sounds box.
 
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#49,852
Quick question for all my down-tuned brothers from other mothers... if you're playing lower than B do you just drop the low string down or go down a step (or whatever) in standard tuning? Group I'm meeting next weekend has a 7 string guitar down in A and a 8 string down in E.

I'm going to try dropping my 5'er down to A standard and hoping that it doesn't get too floppy... or sound terrible. I'm trying to keep it in standard tuning so it doesn't eff up my intonation too much. My other option is to play a ton of stuff in around the 12th, but I start smashing into the guitars range there. I'd rather not do drop A but that might be the easier solution and just get a .135" string or whatever.
 
#49,855
rutrho said:
Quick question for all my down-tuned brothers from other mothers... if you're playing lower than B do you just drop the low string down or go down a step (or whatever) in standard tuning? Group I'm meeting next weekend has a 7 string guitar down in A and a 8 string down in E.

I'm going to try dropping my 5'er down to A standard and hoping that it doesn't get too floppy... or sound terrible. I'm trying to keep it in standard tuning so it doesn't eff up my intonation too much. My other option is to play a ton of stuff in around the 12th, but I start smashing into the guitars range there. I'd rather not do drop A but that might be the easier solution and just get a .135" string or whatever.
Click to expand...

It kind of depends on what you want or expect. If you want your low string to feel and play like an E in standard tuning, than you are looking for a string tension of about 36.5 lbs. Assuming your 5 string a 34" scale, this would require a huge string that probably wont intonate or sustain for poopie. According to the attached you'd need a string with a unit weight of .00403 to maintain that tension. To put that in perspective the unit weight of a 145 is .00363 and a 135 is .00316. So, at the end of the day you'll probably want to compromise and play a little looser string. Maybe set your action a little higher to accommodate the looser string.... But yeah, I think a 135 in low position, and adjust the other string accordingly, would be the way to go.
string size.JPG
 
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#49,856
sqlb3rn said:
I used the 5 string DR Hi Beams 45 - 130 in A standard and it was perfectly fine. I don't think you will have much success tuning down to E0 tho.
Click to expand...

arbitrary said:
A 5 in A standard shouldn't be a problem at all; just a whole step down. Seems to make the most sense. I'd honestly just drop my 4 down to drop A (105's); never really had a problem with it, just adjusted my technique.
Click to expand...

hardtop said:
But yeah, I think a 135 in low position, and adjust the other string accordingly, would be the way to go.
Click to expand...

Rad, thanks y'all.

I have ProSteels on there right now, .045-.130 so I'll play with those for now. Maybe see if can scare up a set of mediums down the road.
 
#49,857
gfen said:
as requested, awful examples. sorry i wasn't feeling it and phoned it in, but hey, it's better than nothing, right?


Clean.
HM2 on, P&C off (this means it was clean blended)
HM2 off, P&C on (this also means it was clean blended, extra so even as i keep the P&C pretty clean on it's own for when you mix them together)
Both on.
Hm2 on, P&C on and off to help it stand out.

Honestly the P&C does so much more (within it's confines of "one trick pony," at least) but I didn't feel like futzing with knobs and cables anymore. Sorry.


Clean.
DOD250 solo.
BBM solo.
Stacked.
Stacked with moar clockwise twist on the Muff.
Click to expand...



Thanks for getting this done, but what took so damn long, sheesh buddy, we expect fast results and we needed this like, yesterday, and now the whole project is behind schedule and way, way, way over budget..........don't kill the messenger - that pederast O'Hanrahan is buckin' for a promotion so go talk to him.

On a side note, now I'm interested in a Prunes n Custard....~200 bones though yuck.
 
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#49,859
cornfarmer said:
Thanks for getting this done, but what took so damn long, sheesh buddy, we expect fast results and we needed this like, yesterday, and now the whole project is behind schedule and way, way, way over budget..........don't kill the messenger - that pederast O'Hanrahan is buckin' for a promotion so go talk to him.

On a side note, now I'm interested in a Prunes n Custard....~200 bones though yuck.
Click to expand...

I also don't own any elephant books....

I think its Hanrahan, without the O, but its been awhile.
 
#49,860
Quick advice question... I have a trade lined up today for my Spector Euro 5LX in decent shape and the other party is offering a Ric (not sure if 4003...I'll need to check when I get there), or an American Deluxe P, with the P/J config (not P/H). Both have been gigged, so I'm not too concerned with minty-ness....I'm a player not a collector. I'm meeting the guy in town to try em out, so obviously I'm not going to trade without putting my hands on them.

So here's my question...yes, Mr. Al Cisneros plays a Ric. But P/J seems like a really solid choice, especially if I switch in some Quarter Pounders. Thing is...why wouldn't I pick the Ric and sell it for roughly the cost of a different bass if I hate it? They hold their value reasonably well, correct? I've never ever ever played a Ric, and I'm pretty ambivalent about Fenders...they're the standard, sure, but I've never felt a pull to choose a Fender over, say, my Warwick. I do need a bass that won't fizz out my Big Spider tho...and both will probably fit the bill. I'm bringing the Spider along with to see if it makes a difference but...what say you, fellow Doombots? I'm picking one up today whichever way this shakes out.

Any thing I haven't considered, or do you have some advise for an aspiring young (HAH!) doomusician such as myself? All thoughts, advice, criticisms, etc welcome!

(P.S. I have an Ampeg SVT-CL and a Fender 810 Pro, so that may factor)
 

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