Jul 06, 2004 07:37 pm Sounds like you got all the basses covered !
Sooorry about that, couldn't resist .
I'll bet it sounds great, can we get a listen ?
Great Bass Sound (ABG)
Posted on Jul 06, 2004 10:44 am
TallChap
Answer:On a good day, lipstick.
Member Since: Jun 24, 2004
Just finished recording a bass part for a Swing/Jazz/Funky kind of thing. Tried an electric bass, but it was too "clinical" (even with dirt on the sound). Tried the fretless electric, but it was just too cliché. Finally used a Acoustic Bass Guitar with older strings, went direct from the bass's on board pre-amp into the recorder (with a lot of compression), and added an extra track with an MXL991 going through a tube pre - pointed into the sound hole at the neck. The condenser picked up all the finger noises and growl, and the direct signal was clean and warm (round?). Added a little reverb, and panned the two tracks apart a little...
Mixed together, the two tracks gave a great "bull fiddle" sound. Just thought I'd share. Quite proud of that one.
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Jul 06, 2004 07:37 pm Sounds like you got all the basses covered !
Sooorry about that, couldn't resist .
I'll bet it sounds great, can we get a listen ?
Jul 06, 2004 08:32 pm TallChap, I was checking out your profile, and noticed what you did to that Ovation... that thing must sound pretty novel ! What kinda stuff do y'a use that for ?
Jul 07, 2004 11:15 am Hey Hue:
Ovations always have sounded like mandolins to me. It's quite funny that they recently (ish..) introduced a line of mandolins.
My beast sounds great. It has a jangly "celtic" aspect to the sound. Having four courses of strings it's very loud. I've written some celtic inspired tunes, plus some middle-eastern flavoured stuff. It's actually very cool if used on ballads for arpeggiated chords - if you can get your fingers around the tuning (G, D, A, D - the high strings are dropped a whole tone). Think of a mixture between a twelve string and a mandolin...
My wife absolutely loves it, says that it stirs something in her soul. Oh, the poetry...
Had to teach myself to play it, so I still have a long way to go.
Jul 07, 2004 07:56 pm Yeah, that's got'ta sound sweet ! I have a freind that is about to repair an old Applause, with a busted head-stock... it's an early 80's model, with an aluminum fretboard, (that's got to be the strangest thing to play), I'm told it sounded nice before it's demise... this might be a configuration he's interested in persuing .
What kind of strings did you use, and did you have to cut your own nut ?
Oh, and my reguards to your wife . Sounds like y'a did ok Ian ! ;)
Jul 08, 2004 12:08 pm The modification was performed as follows:
Nut: Extra slots cut into the bone nut in similar manner to 12-string spacing.
(Collect the sawdust from the bone nut, pack it into the unused slots, and add a little drop of crazy glue. It fills the holes really well. Then just file back to shape where there's overage) - Practice first on something....
Bridge: The bridge has a "string through" type configuration. Holes were bored into the bridge to accommodate standard style bridge pins. The strings are run alternating bridge pin and straight through.
Tuners: Two banjo style tuners added to the headstock to facilitate the new strings. Turn ratio is wildly different (almost direct drive). Headstock looks almost standard, since the banjo tuners hang off the back, rather than the sides. The banjo tuners were placed so they were in straight lines from the the corresponding string.
Low to High:
G = Standard "E" peg
G = Standard "A" peg
D = Standard "D" peg
D = Standard "G" peg
A = Banjo peg
A = Standard "B" peg
D/E = Banjo peg
D/E = Standard "E" peg
(I put "D/E" to show my "celtic tuning" or standard mandolin tuning)
Strings are as follows (use your favourite gauge)
G = Standard "A" string tuned down
D = Standard "D" string
A = Standard "B" string tuned down
D = Standard "E" string tuned down
If standard Mandolin stuning is used, the "E" strings are tuned to concert pitch.
Beware:
Since the fret positions are guitar sized rather than teeny-tiny mandolin sized, standard mandolin chord shapes can KILL your hands! I'm a bass player who has developed long finger stretches over the years, and it's still a real challenge to get the fingerings clean.
Good luck with this.
Jul 08, 2004 09:41 pm can you upload a sample of it for us to listen?
Jul 09, 2004 10:39 am I'd love to see a picture of this as well. I may have someone who's interested in making up one of these.
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