Interesting Things

[marnold***]

Just a couple of interesting tidbits I've learned/discovered over the past couple of days:
1) I read a whopping great Bass Player mag review of about every bass string made. They described the DR Hi Beams I just put on my bass as bright and growly, the two words I used to describe them in my original post on The Fret. It's nice when smart people agree with me

2) I played my bass via the headphone jack on my Acoustic B20 the other day. It sounded a good bit different from what was coming out through the speaker. So I tried getting the amph off the ground and also tipping it back at an angle. Quite a difference. I think I liked it best tipped, but it's not particularly conducive to the life of the amph without a proper stand. Having both pickups on full on my bass went from being my least favorite sound to being my favorite.

3) I found out on the J/C forums that the block on my JT580LP trem has the same screw spacing as an Original Floyd Rose. Sooo . . . now I'm considering getting a brass block from Floyd Upgrades. I know that if/when I upgrade to an OFR, I can just keep using the same block. The only problem is the moderate PITA of disassembling and reassembling the whole bridge.

4) I watched disc two of the Joe Bonamassa Royal Albert Hall performance. Amazing stuff. Particularly interesting were the two DVD extras. One is his acoustic performance of "Woke Up Dreaming" which I remembered as a highlight of when I saw him in Green Bay. The other is an interview where he goes through the origins of a lot of his songs. When he's playing, I know enough guitar now to know what he's doing and why he's doing it. I just haven't a clue as to how to do it myself.

[FrankenFretter***]

I've been considering the brass trem block for my LFR, but I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on that one yet. If you do decide to make it happen, be sure and post your experience here. I'd like to know if it's worth it.

[NWBasser]

The headphone out on my GB Shuttle seems to have some type of speaker emulation circuitry because it sounds like it's coming out of a good cab. Easily the best headphone signal I've heard for bass. Far better tone than a Tascam Bass Trainer.

Also, you gotta play your bass through a big rig sometime. The experience of shaking a building is incredible! Nothing quite like a half-stack or bigger bass amph to really feel what's happening.

A big +1 on the DR strings. I think a set of Hi-beams or Fat Beams would spice up the dullest of basses.

[oldguy]

Those things are interesting, Matt. I'll check them out. Always good to be learning new facts, it keeps you fresh.

[marnold***]

Also, you gotta play your bass through a big rig sometime. The experience of shaking a building is incredible! Nothing quite like a half-stack or bigger bass amph to really feel what's happening.

I know it. I've only played through ~200W combos. Pretty powerful (certainly more powerful than my B20) but not like a stack. It's not so much the volume as the *feeling*

[Spudman***]

What's really cool with a bass rig is...even if you just find a 100 watter that you can get a great sound out of ....then you line it out to a huge PA system. That's what I'm talkin bout. Nothing like the whole world vibrating under your fingers. Schweet!

[NWBasser]

Yeah man, when you start pushing >500 watts with a couple big cabs, it's like entering another dimension.

A dimension where you make earthquakes with your fingers!