I might have a gig Thursday night, and it was time for my yearly changing of bass strings. I usually use GHS Brite Flats, they have a slight round-wound sound but are ground down to a flat surface (for those of you non-musicians, a Roundwound string give a bright, 'poppy' sound at the expense of your fingers. Flatwounds are easy to play, but give deep, deep bass that is sometimes too much..the Brite Flats are an excellent compromise!)
Nobody in my 'path' yesterday had the Brite Flats...I called ahead to Brattleboro, since that was where I was going. I didn't want to go the opposite direction by 25 miles to a place I know has them, so I went to a local store. Nope...
But they did have Dean Markley Blue Steel cryogenics. A 'mild' roundwound I have been wanting to try for years, but are ALWAYS a minimum of $10 more than the next best string, and usually $20 more. The salesperson couldn't get the Brite Flats in time, so I bit the bullet (after much soul-searching, plotting travel, cost , yada yada yada) and picked up the $45 Blue Steel string. Now, I have never used them before because of the price...
I winced as she scanned the package...BING! That'll be $18.88, please. HUH?!?! These are $45 strings! It came up to $17 (something) and with tax, $18.88.
Whoa! That's $10 CHEAPER than the strings I was looking for! Oh, Boy!!!
They sound pretty good, too. A little too poppy, but that will settle down in a week, and they should mellow out nicely.
Wow! They don't start sounding good to me for about a month. If I have $$$ then I change them about 6 months or so.
I go for a mellower sound. The Rotos are TOO bright for me! I like the Brite Flats the best, and they last a while. Let's see what happens with these DM's. Others have told me they last a LONG time.
BTW ever try boiling strings? Supposedly it brings back some of the original tone. I tried it when I was a Starving College Student...don't bother!
Actually, the lowered the selling price, but didn't change the tag.
I looked them up online, they're selling for anywhere from $17-39. Our local store got bought by American Music, a chain, and their prices are very close or on top of Nationally Advertised prices now. The tag on the rack must have been a leftover from the old owners.
However, when I do go to Northampton to buy strings, their rack says $5, and the CHARGE $45!!!
I have practice with the 'new' band tomorrow night, and then Thursday BOTH bands are supposed to go to an Open Mic in hopes of scoring some gigs. Can't wait to hear what they sound like behind the guitars.
One of the guitar players in the new band was a bass player for years, and he has a Behringer 450W amp that sounds fantastic. Maybe, when I get a job and a few gigs...
Unfortunately, playing can sometimes be a Zero Sum Game, since it does cost something to play. I miss my van, the Mazda is a GREAT car, but if we do start gigging a lot I'll be looking for a Wagon or another van. We'll see how stuff fits in the Mazda...
And I had one band where the guitar player often OWED more to the bar than he made...
Never tried the Boomers because my basses have a LOT of low-end and I need a string to mellow them out! That's why I tried the Brite Flats. The ground winding is REALLY easy on the fingers, and the sound is smack between a Roundwound and a Flatwound.
I preferred more of a grunting sound with just a touch of "clang", ala Mike Anthony, Steve Harris, and John Myung. I also preferred SVT 8x10 or EV loaded 4x12 cabinets over larger speakers. The 4x12's were my favorite, less boomy than the SVT.
Do you play with a pick or fingers? As a finger player, I needed the brightness for clarity. Groundwounds or flatwounds can have a very interesting "thick, thumpy" sound when picked.
My favorite axe is a late '70's 4 bolt rosewood neck P-Bass with a J pickup added near the bridge in the early 80's, upgraded to EMG's in the early 90's. It's been painted 8 times, based on changing styles. I bought it new in high school. Over 30 years of playing, I've had
12-14 guitars come and go, but this one just keeps on staying!
Due to some recently resolved carpal tunnel issues, I no longer play regularly.
WOW! 8x10?!?! I have one-half of the SVT dual cabinet, the 4x12 cabinet that sits on top of the 2x15, and it is PLENTY of sound! I can fill a large club to capacity with it. I though it was a guitar cabinet, so I tried this one and that one, and tried the Ampeg cab last. Save the best for last, they say? I have a Carvin ProBass 300 with parametric and graphic EQ's and can get a wide array of sound. I needed it for my Dan Armstrong bass, the clear lucite one from 1969, because while unique, it has limited sound with low sustain. This Carvin and the SVT give me the adjustability I need for that bass, and it sounds GREAT with my Fender, although can get a little boomy...
I also have a Fender 2x15 cabinet I got from...Yankee Candle! The guy who started Yankee Candle played guitar, and set up a band stage in the Rec building and provided all the equipment. When they got bought out by the British company, the new owners decided they didn't need an in-house band and sold the stuff. A friend of mine got it for me...for $65! I like the Fender basically because it weighs less than half of the 102 LBS of the Ampeg, but it does sound OK.
I used to use my thumb! I had the fastest thumb in the country, but the sound was muted. When I switched to my fingers I got a lot of presence back. I used my thmub because I started out as a Rythm player back in the days when bands had rythm guitars, but couldn't keep up when the music started having '2nd' guitar players in the early 70's. So I switch to bass, but kept the right-hand style of a rythm player. It came in handy in the three-piece bands that were popular then!
That's like my Dan Armstrong. I found it sitting in a case at a local shop for $250. A friend called me up looking for a bassist, and I didn't have one. I don't even remember if I tried it! It just looked too cool! It has a neck like a guitar, and is kind of a 'tenor' bass. I have had it since
1974. It weighs a TON, and I was looking for a deeper sound, so I bought a Fender P-Bass Lyte a few years ago. Light is right! But it plays even easier than the DA, and is quite adjustable in it's range.
I'm looking at an Ibanez 5-string either this weekend or next. There is a 'local' music store that started out with one store in Salem NH, and now covers the East out to Buffalo and down to NJ. I used to go to their original store 25 years ago! They have it in another store in RI, and have to move it to Springfield. I'm not really comfortable with a 5-string, but the Ibanez SG series plays like a dream (I've played three of them at different times) and they are inexpensive. If you put EMGs on them they sound great, and they have true active electronics in the tonal circuits. Funny thing is, I get along just fine with my 4-string Fender in the Modern Rock band; the other band plays 50's, 60's and Country type music, and I'm getting the 5-string for that band! The keys we play in, I keep running out of places to go on the low end!
Get a wrist brace at CVS or Brooks or Wal*Mart. I have the same trouble, but I wear the brace for a day and I'm good to go!
BTW, we had a rehearsal last night, and I got to hear the Dean Markley's with guitars in front of them. WOW!!!! the definition is SO good you could hear every friggin' mistake I made! ;) On the plus side, for those songs that are 'close together' on the runs, you could actually tell I wasn't playing the same note twice! i still like the tonal qualities of the Brite Flats, and they way they feel on my fingers, but the definition on the DM's is exceptional.
Reminds me...I'm going to pick up another set today, I like them so much, and need a new battery, too. Both bands are going to an Open Mic tonight and I want to have the Fender sounding it's best! ;)
Remember, you can always turn it down. They have a nice, clear tone that can me mic'd and mixed back in with the DI. The 8 speakers together create enough area for plenty of bottom.
How's it smell?
Those things are really cool!
Daddy's?
I went the surgical route. My hands were damaged from bass playing, power tools, cycling, programming... I mountain bike with my Dr., and in his professional opinion, he suggested switching hands more often when I play with myself.
RENTAL CABINET?!?!?! These things sell for $$$$$!!!!!
LOL! It was well away from the wax, in a separate building! Where the heck are you? When I go to the convenience store or Wal*Mart, I can always tell when there's a YC employee within 20 feet!
Even driving on Rt 91 past the plant, you can smell what smells like bubblegum!
Not the best sounding, but real easy to play, and way high on the "Smooth" meter!
DING DING DING! Give the man a cigar! Where the hell ARE you?!?!
Playing bass by yourself is fairly boring!!!
Um...as long as you're where you're supposed to be! ;)
The real shame is, the cabinet was MINT! when I bought it, but after 7 months being hauled around in a coupe, some of the 'leatherette' is shredding off the case...:( It plays well, but looks beat. I used it last night. Two years ago, one of the cast aluminum EV's blew it's brains out; the paper DISINTEGRATED near the end of a gig! I bought a 15" made for a PA cabinet for $40, and I actually like the sound. It added a bit more mid-range, and the cab was boomy anyway. So it mellowed out a bit.
Had a good time last night. $65, played for an hour and a half and drank free. Can't beat it! (it was an open mic and a few bass players showed up.) And my 'regular' band came so we played about 9 songs and had fun. The drummer from that band was the 'house' drummer, and I've played with everyone else there, so it was a cool time.
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