Fierce_LiNk Posted January 6, 2019 Author Posted January 6, 2019 7 hours ago, Vileplume2000 said: @Fierce_LiNk I personally really enjoy playing it. I have to say I'm not into guitar tech. I never played a bass more expensive than say €500, and I haven't played a lot of different basses. But for the price (I think I've payed around €300-350 for the Thunderbird) it is amazing. I went out to try it because of the looks, but it plays great as well. It is a bit top-heavy but that doesn't bother me. It has a decent set of elements in it for as far as I can judge, and the build quality is good. And it looks so damn rock 'n roll. The shop owner also said it is good value for money and I can only agree. If I compare it with the Dean 5-string I have, that has a warmer, more full sound. But the Epiphone plays smoother, faster so I prefer that one. I think it's a safe bet as it is a bass that quite a lot of people use, it's recognizable and Epiphone is quite good in their price range. I don't really know other guitars in that price range which I would recommend as I don't have the experience. There are some Squier Jazz Bass or Precision Bass going in that price range if you want another popular model. But I love my Thunderbird! Oh by the way the one I have is the Thunderbird IV VSB with the bolted on neck and passive elements. You also have the more luxurious Thunderbird Pro, which has a neck-through and I think active elements. If you want just a bit more. Cheers for the post, man. I really appreciate it! I'm quite similar to you too in that I'm not super techy either and have always worked within a budget (except for the drum kit). I absolutely love the look of this and have been looking at comparisons between that and the Pro. It does have active elements, as you say. Hmm! Think I would go for the Pro. It's my birthday this month, so I'm reeeeeally tempted as a present to myself, but we also have quite a few out-goings this month and it is rather close to Christmas. May wait a month or two. I'm looking at a video review for this and the bass sounds wonderful. I think I'm in love! Also, this just arrived today: Donner DT-1 Chromatic Pedal Tuner. £17 and seems to fit the bill for what I need. I know that Boss do a pedal that's about 3 times the price of this, but I think this will suit me just fine. I've given it a quick go and it seems great to use. 2
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 21, 2019 Author Posted January 21, 2019 I've been spending some time over the last two evenings learning how to play the keyboard. It's part of my plan to get a bit better with the theory side of things, including learning how to read music. I've never needed to learn music before, since I've always relied on tabs for guitar and bass, and have mostly learned drums by playing by ear (used a few tabs in the earlier days to figure out what was going on in certain songs). But, with keyboard, there really isn't any way around this. It's sloooooow going at the moment, but progress has definitely been made. I've been using the MuseScore app to find sheet music and have been spending a bit of time trying to decode a few bits and pieces. I've started learning "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?" as I loved the rendition of it that was in BioShock Infinite. I've made @Eenuh listen to it and it doesn't sound tooo terrible already. Kind of in awe at how people can sightread whilst playing the piano. Fucking magicians. Would love to be able to get up to that point.
Fierce_LiNk Posted February 13, 2019 Author Posted February 13, 2019 I've been doing this online note identification test daily, with the aim of being able to get better with reading music. I never learned how to read music, even learning the note names and where they appear on the sheet/treble and bass staff/staves. The tricky ones for me are the ones that appear on the ledger lines. I'm determined to get better at this, but it's going to take a lot of practice. 2
Fierce_LiNk Posted May 26, 2019 Author Posted May 26, 2019 Decided to pop into Absolute Music today, which is only around 5 minutes away from our house. They're pretty much the biggest/best guitar place around here, so we're quite lucky to have it so close to us. The main reason we went was to have a look at a new bass. I have to admit that their collection/selection of basses wasn't particularly amazing, but they did have the Thunderbird IV Pro there for me to have a proper look at it. My initial impression was that the Headstock looked VERY large and quite weighty. It's the first thing I noticed and it then made me feel slightly dubious about whether or not it could be a suitable model for me. I asked one of the staff if I could have a closer look and feel of it. On closer inspection, it's actually surprisingly lighter than I expected and was a dream to play. Spent a good 15 minutes with it and enjoyed my time playing. The shape is great and it just feels nice to play, whilst also not being soooo expensive that I feel guilty. I think that this is probably the bass that I will go for, perhaps in the Summer holidays! Love the booths that they have at Absolute. You can just ask for a guitar off the shelf and they've got the rooms set up for you to just plug in and play. Although...in this case, the amp wasn't set up for me to use, so I had to just go on look and feel rather than sound quality. After watching lots of impressions online, I'm sure that this area is fine. Whilst we were there, another guitar also took my eye. An Epiphone Emperor II Pro. I initially was looking for the Sheraton, which unfortunately they didn't seem to have available for me to look at. But, this caught my eye and I asked for a closer look. Weight wise, it felt wonderful to hold, despite its bulkier size. I was impressed by the sound quality of it, so I will definitely be adding this to my list. From reading up about it, it's a perfect jazz guitar. A very fun day just playing around with guitars. It was so difficult to not give in to temptation! Had a look at some of the Fender Telecasters up close and they are such beautiful guitars. Definitely on my list...one day! Could have walked out with about a dozen different models! 2 1
Goafer Posted July 3, 2019 Posted July 3, 2019 Finally had another go at setting up the Squier. Back when I was still learning, I tinkered with the action and truss rod. Fortunately I didn't fuck anything up permanently, but I did set the action way too high and also gave it a decent bit of up bow. All is fixed and it plays nicer now, but it's still nowhere near as good as the Ibanez in terms of playability and sound. 2
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 1, 2019 Author Posted August 1, 2019 I've been having a lot of fun lately and have been feeling in the mood to do much more playing and creating. I bought a little notebook a few months ago and have finally started using it to jot down a few ideas that I've been having. In the evenings, I've been trying to get to grips with scales and their uses. I have worked out that the reason why beginners get put off by scales is because they are introduced completely wrong. I know so many people who have bought books containing hundreds of scales and it basically boils down to "turn to page 10. This is Blues Major in D. Turn to page 11. This is the same scale in E. And so on and so on." I've been changing my approach to understand them and, after all of these years, it finally makes fucking sense. You don't need to remember each scale by rote, but rather find out where the root notes are and consider them to be moveable patterns. So, it's just a case of learning half a dozen or so patterns and then figuring out where you can play that pattern, or what scale you end up playing by inserting it in a certain place. Ahhhhhhhhh. Proper lightbulb moment. Scales are fucking awesome now! I've also made a few playlists on YouTube and have added "drumless tracks" to each playlist, so it almost becomes like a practice gigging experience. It's quite humbling in a way when the drums are removed from a piece and you have to fill that void. It's fun hearing that track and hearing your drums fill that gap, rather than just playing over the top of something. Going to keep expanding these playlists and will try to keep it varied!
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 9, 2019 Author Posted August 9, 2019 So, I recently bought the TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 reverb pedal. I've basically got a list of pedals that I'm interested in, and this one just about won out ahead of the Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz pedal and also the Ibanez Tubescreamer TS-9. I was leaning towards getting a reverb pedal as I want to start doing some post-rock stuff and this seemed to be the most natural choice to make. The pedal arrived the day before yesterday and I managed to put time aside to give it a whirl. All I have to say is that I'm in LOVE with it already. It's soooooo good. I particularly like the church and shimmer settings as you just get this wide and deep sound that makes the space that you're playing in seem absolutely huge. The finish on the pedal itself is absolutely gorgeous and it just looks stunning straight out of the box. The "mash" button is quite interesting, which isn't something that I knew too much about before buying the pedal. You hit the button to turn it on or off, but by holding the button down when it is on, it almost turns into an expression pedal, meaning that you have a bit more control of how much reverb you're getting out of it. It's similar-ish to the analogue shoulder buttons on a control pad. The mash light that appears right next to the decay knob tell you how hard you're "mashing" the stomp button down, e.g. if you don't touch the pedal, the light is off. If you mash down a little, you get a weaker yellow light. Mashing down harder gives you a deeper yellow light. This is all as well as a red light which is on the bigger mash button itself to indicate whether it's on or off. All in all, I absolutely adore this already. I had so much fun with this yesterday just mucking around and I can tell that there's so much depth within this pedal waiting to be unlocked. Would highly recommend.
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 3, 2020 Author Posted January 3, 2020 Before Christmas, I suddenly had an interest to learn about harmonics (pinch, artificial, natural, blaaaah) and thought that I would put the effort in to learn about them. Was looking at loads of videos about pinch harmonics and thought that I would give it a go. Couldn't get it right, then I kinda got it, then I lost it, and then I thought I had it again...and then my high E string snapped. The day before we left for Belgium, which meant that I had no time to get a replacement. So, that was my guitar playing over for most of Christmas. I scheduled for the new strings to arrive the day after we got back and I thought that I would have a go again today at getting pinch harmonics down. I can do them! I have to turn the gain up really, reeeeeeally high on my shitty amp and also turn on my distortion pedal (Boss DS-1) and the Tube Screamer to make it sound anything close to resembling what it should, but I can actually do them. I got it a bit quicker than I was expecting, and then I was playing around with it to get my technique down until I could hit them almost all the time. I would say that I can do it maybe 70-80% of the time, which is not a bad start. I thought that I would never get it! Fucking relieved. Time to become a metal lord now. \m/ 1
Dufniall Posted April 20, 2020 Posted April 20, 2020 I'm looking to do some home recording in these days of being homebound. Anyone has some advice? Currently I can record bass and guitar through the Rocksmith USB cable but that's not ideal. I also have a microphone with an XLR connector that I would like to connect to my PC. So I guess I'm looking for a small DI or mixer that let's me plug in both an XLR and a jack, and connects to my PC through USB. But there's so much on the market so I'm wondering if you have some pro tips! Also curious to hear what software you guys are using. 1
Fierce_LiNk Posted April 20, 2020 Author Posted April 20, 2020 4 hours ago, Vileplume2000 said: I'm looking to do some home recording in these days of being homebound. Anyone has some advice? Currently I can record bass and guitar through the Rocksmith USB cable but that's not ideal. I also have a microphone with an XLR connector that I would like to connect to my PC. So I guess I'm looking for a small DI or mixer that let's me plug in both an XLR and a jack, and connects to my PC through USB. But there's so much on the market so I'm wondering if you have some pro tips! Also curious to hear what software you guys are using. I haven't got started with this yet, but I was planning to get a Focusrite Scarlett as my audio interface. Seems quite easy/simple to use and set up, plus it's good a pretty good rep. There are numerous models based on your needs/amount of inputs. After that, you've got a ton of choice with regards to the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), but I've downloaded the free version of PreSonus Studio One. There are several packages that you can pay for, but the basic version is free and pretty cool from what I've used of it, so far. I desperately want to get the Focusrite so that I can connect my guitar, but I just haven't got the time or the money atm to do it. I think that's all you'd need at this point, alongside a good pair of headphones/speakers/studio monitors. I bought a laptop in December which has the capability to run something like PreSonus, whereas my previous one wouldn't have been able to hack it. So, it's worth checking your computer spec, too. 1
Dufniall Posted April 20, 2020 Posted April 20, 2020 Cheers @Fierce_LiNk, some good advice. My PC can run it, and I have a reasonable set of speakers (I have these, they look like a KRK ripoff but sound good for the price they are). I'm looking into it a bit, and the Scarlett 2i2 is indeed popping up as the most popular one at the moment. One that caught my eye is the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 1 or 2. In functions it looks pretty similar to the Scarlett, although the Scarlett is made from sturdier metal. I do like the clean look and button layout of the Native Instruments though. Another plus for the Native Instruments is that you get Guitar Rig 5 for free for a limited time. And it's cheaper. My second doubt is whether to go for the Audio 1 or 2 (or for the Scarlett Solo or 2i2). Right now the solo versions would be enough, as I can record both guitar and mic with it. But I may be missing out on stuff I want to do in the future such as recording stereo or maybe use 2 microphones at the same time. Then again I'm just starting with this so chances are I won't be using the extra options anyway. Think I'll go for the Audio 1, but not 100% sure. 1
Fierce_LiNk Posted April 20, 2020 Author Posted April 20, 2020 33 minutes ago, Vileplume2000 said: Cheers @Fierce_LiNk, some good advice. My PC can run it, and I have a reasonable set of speakers (I have these, they look like a KRK ripoff but sound good for the price they are). I'm looking into it a bit, and the Scarlett 2i2 is indeed popping up as the most popular one at the moment. One that caught my eye is the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 1 or 2. In functions it looks pretty similar to the Scarlett, although the Scarlett is made from sturdier metal. I do like the clean look and button layout of the Native Instruments though. Another plus for the Native Instruments is that you get Guitar Rig 5 for free for a limited time. And it's cheaper. My second doubt is whether to go for the Audio 1 or 2 (or for the Scarlett Solo or 2i2). Right now the solo versions would be enough, as I can record both guitar and mic with it. But I may be missing out on stuff I want to do in the future such as recording stereo or maybe use 2 microphones at the same time. Then again I'm just starting with this so chances are I won't be using the extra options anyway. Think I'll go for the Audio 1, but not 100% sure. Those speakers look fine and should be handy for this sort of stuff. With the audio interface, there's such a wide selection out there, but as long as you have one that is stable and isn't going to be a pain to use/keep cutting in and out, you'll be fine. They can get very expensive, depending on the amount of inputs that you need. I have a similar issue as you because I originally was looking at the Scarlett Solo but I'm not sure if that has enough inputs for what I could be doing in the future. It's a fine balancing between going for a cheaper model for now and future-proofing yourself. I would think about what the long-term needs are and look at the cost that way. If you 100% are going to be needing the inputs, I'd go for one of the other options. It's a pain when you've got a piece of technology there and it doesn't do the full job that you need it for. Looking at the cost difference, I'd be tempted to go for the Audio 2 out of those two models. I think there's enough there to justify the extra £30. 1
Fierce_LiNk Posted April 26, 2020 Author Posted April 26, 2020 Lately, I've been in a biiiiig Soundgarden mood. I've decided to put some time into working out the grooves and fills for some of the songs off the Superunknown album. The obvious one to go for was Black Hole Sun. I didn't realise some of the intricacies of the drum work for that track until I sat down and studied it. I'm fairly confident I know all of the song inside out now, as I must've listened to it over a million times now! I've moved onto My Wave, which is one of my favourite songs off that album. Quite neat and deceptively tricky with some of the timing in that track, notably the shift from the second verse into the chorus. It goes from 5/4 then into 4/4 and it sounds quite strange when you listen to just the drum part by itself. There's this one monster fill before the third verse kicks which took a while for me to nail down, but I'm quite pleased that I've got it now. Had a little look at The Day I Tried To Live today briefly. Again, it's quite different and unique. The percussion work adds a lot to the song and it's quite distinctive. I've got the rhythm and groove of this down already, but just need to work on some of the fills and when to throw them in. Alongside this, I've also set myself the target of learning all of the drum parts for the Smashing Pumpkins album "Siamese Dream". Geek USA was a fucking effort, especially some of the fills and again some of the little details in that song, but I'm really pleased with how that's come along. Thinking of just starting my own Grunge band project, haha.
mr_bogus Posted May 9, 2020 Posted May 9, 2020 (edited) Piano and synth connected to the 10 year old mac mini, cos the Scarlett audio device stopped working with the newer Macbook when I let it upgrade to Catalina 😢 That’s a Korg X50, still my favourite & most versatile recording + gigging keyboard. (The Nord stage, by comparison, hasn’t left its carry bag since lockdown started!) Edited May 30, 2020 by mr_bogus 1
Fierce_LiNk Posted May 10, 2020 Author Posted May 10, 2020 18 hours ago, mr_bogus said: Piano and synth connected to the 10 year old mac mini, cos the Scarlett audio device stopped working with the newer Macbook when I let it upgrade to Catalina 😢 That’s a Korg X50, still my favourite & most versatile recording + gigging keyboard. (The Nord stage, by comparison, hasn’t left its carry bag since lockdown started!) Were there meant to be pictures in the post? If there were, I can't see them. I want to see that Korg. 1
mr_bogus Posted May 30, 2020 Posted May 30, 2020 On 10/05/2020 at 5:11 PM, Fierce_LiNk said: Were there meant to be pictures in the post? If there were, I can't see them. I want to see that Korg. Oops, the link disappeared Edited & added!
Fierce_LiNk Posted June 7, 2020 Author Posted June 7, 2020 On 30/05/2020 at 9:43 AM, mr_bogus said: Oops, the link disappeared Edited & added! Loving the equipment. Looks very tasty! 1
mr_bogus Posted June 8, 2020 Posted June 8, 2020 11 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said: Loving the equipment. Looks very tasty! Thank you! Shameless plug time, here's the product of the Yamaha piano and Korg synth: https://soundcloud.com/trople/quatrazerotronical 3
Fierce_LiNk Posted June 14, 2020 Author Posted June 14, 2020 Very nice, @mr_bogus. Chill as fuuuuuuck. I've bought the Focusrite Scarlett and used that for a large part of yesterday, along with PreSonus Studio One. Still using the free version of PreSonus but I will no doubt upgrade at some point in the future. The Scarlett is great. Really simple to use and it works like a dream with Studio One. Looking forward to really playing about with this over the summer, and I can already tell that this is going to suck up a loooooot of time. I haven't hooked up my drum kit to this yet to see how that sounds or works, but I would imagine that it works well. (I've got a Roland V-Drumkit, so it's just a case of plugging the guitar cable into the output and hooking that to the Scarlett) 1
mr_bogus Posted June 15, 2020 Posted June 15, 2020 23 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said: The Scarlett is great. Really simple to use and it works like a dream with Studio One. Looking forward to really playing about with this over the summer, and I can already tell that this is going to suck up a loooooot of time. I haven't hooked up my drum kit to this yet to see how that sounds or works, but I would imagine that it works well. (I've got a Roland V-Drumkit, so it's just a case of plugging the guitar cable into the output and hooking that to the Scarlett) So turns out it was an easy fix for the Scarlett, MacOS Catalina by default sets the bitrate from the default 48Khz down to 44Khz which makes it freeze. So all fixed and up running with the Scarlett + Macbook + Logic again Have used PreSonus Studio One at a colleague's house, it's great. Really straightforward and intuitive UI/UX, even not being familiar with the software I could find my way around it really easily and figure out what was going on. 1
Dufniall Posted June 18, 2020 Posted June 18, 2020 Looks like the Scarlett is a popular choice, and seeing your reactions and reviews online I'm guessing it is the best value for money interface out now. On 20-4-2020 at 3:27 PM, Vileplume2000 said: I'm looking into it a bit, and the Scarlett 2i2 is indeed popping up as the most popular one at the moment. One that caught my eye is the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 1 or 2. In functions it looks pretty similar to the Scarlett, although the Scarlett is made from sturdier metal. I do like the clean look and button layout of the Native Instruments though. Another plus for the Native Instruments is that you get Guitar Rig 5 for free for a limited time. And it's cheaper. My second doubt is whether to go for the Audio 1 or 2 (or for the Scarlett Solo or 2i2). Right now the solo versions would be enough, as I can record both guitar and mic with it. But I may be missing out on stuff I want to do in the future such as recording stereo or maybe use 2 microphones at the same time. Then again I'm just starting with this so chances are I won't be using the extra options anyway. On 20-4-2020 at 4:09 PM, Fierce_LiNk said: It's a fine balancing between going for a cheaper model for now and future-proofing yourself. I would think about what the long-term needs are and look at the cost that way. If you 100% are going to be needing the inputs, I'd go for one of the other options. It's a pain when you've got a piece of technology there and it doesn't do the full job that you need it for. Looking at the cost difference, I'd be tempted to go for the Audio 2 out of those two models. I think there's enough there to justify the extra £30. ...However, I decided to go against the grain and got me the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 2. I actually already got it by the end of A pril, but forgot to mention it here! Main reasons were the price at that moment, the aesthetics (the red of the Scarlett wouldn't look so sweet on my desk haha) and the Guitar Rig 5 inclusion. I've been toying with it a little bit, mostly jamming along with YouTube songs on bass or guitar and trying out the different sounds included in Guitar Rig 5. That works pretty well, I can just plug in my headphones and jam along without bothering anyone. I also tried recording a bit. It comes with Ableton Live Lite which I find a bit cumbersome to use so far. I'm having difficulty importing drum tracks or creating them using Ableton, and muting and unmuting channels is not as easy as it should be. So that will either take a while to learn or maybe I should look into a better/more userfriendly program for recording. I did manage to put down a bass track though over a drumtrack our band's drummer recorded. Mailed him the .wav back so our first corona collab song is in the making. I think what I need to do first is take my sweet time in learning Ableton, so at least I know what I'm doing when recording. But there aren't many guides for the Lite version. So any advice for a recording program or some beginner tips are welcome! 1
Fierce_LiNk Posted June 21, 2020 Author Posted June 21, 2020 On 15/06/2020 at 10:29 AM, mr_bogus said: So turns out it was an easy fix for the Scarlett, MacOS Catalina by default sets the bitrate from the default 48Khz down to 44Khz which makes it freeze. So all fixed and up running with the Scarlett + Macbook + Logic again Have used PreSonus Studio One at a colleague's house, it's great. Really straightforward and intuitive UI/UX, even not being familiar with the software I could find my way around it really easily and figure out what was going on. Glad to hear that you got it working! It's a nice bit of kid the Scarlett, so hopefully you will be able to get some mileage out of that + logic. I really like Studio One. It's straightforward, as you say. Everything just makes sense when you use it and you don't feel like you're fighting against the software to get the simple jobs done. I really rate it. On 18/06/2020 at 1:56 PM, Vileplume2000 said: Looks like the Scarlett is a popular choice, and seeing your reactions and reviews online I'm guessing it is the best value for money interface out now. ...However, I decided to go against the grain and got me the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 2. I actually already got it by the end of A pril, but forgot to mention it here! Main reasons were the price at that moment, the aesthetics (the red of the Scarlett wouldn't look so sweet on my desk haha) and the Guitar Rig 5 inclusion. I've been toying with it a little bit, mostly jamming along with YouTube songs on bass or guitar and trying out the different sounds included in Guitar Rig 5. That works pretty well, I can just plug in my headphones and jam along without bothering anyone. I also tried recording a bit. It comes with Ableton Live Lite which I find a bit cumbersome to use so far. I'm having difficulty importing drum tracks or creating them using Ableton, and muting and unmuting channels is not as easy as it should be. So that will either take a while to learn or maybe I should look into a better/more userfriendly program for recording. I did manage to put down a bass track though over a drumtrack our band's drummer recorded. Mailed him the .wav back so our first corona collab song is in the making. I think what I need to do first is take my sweet time in learning Ableton, so at least I know what I'm doing when recording. But there aren't many guides for the Lite version. So any advice for a recording program or some beginner tips are welcome! I'd recommend PreSonus Studio One. There's the free version, which is pretty great and I will eventually be upgrading it when I have some more money. It's so simple to use and there's a good amount of depth to it. Very professional piece of software that has simplicity at its core, but there's tons more to it if you keep looking. I've barely scratched the surface with it and can tell that music production/making is such a time killer. I touched Ableton Live Lite as the free version came with the Scarlett. I really don't like it. Doesn't feel intuitive to use and just...has a very ugly sort of feel to it.
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 11, 2020 Author Posted July 11, 2020 On 31/10/2018 at 7:33 PM, Vileplume2000 said: I also started playing with some university friends in a rock cover band, and that lead to me buying this one: I wanted a bass that just looks rock and roll, and although some people dislike the balance (it has a bit of a neck dive) I really love to play it. I also upgraded my 15watt combo to a Fender Rumble 100 watt (can be seen in the first picture). Very lightweight but enough power for at home or in the rehearsal room or a small café or something. I also have a pedal board going although I don't really use it a lot. I'm looking at getting a new bass soon, but am strapped for cash and @Eenuh is banning me from spending too much money with the impending wedding. What are your thoughts on this bass still? I was given a £100 Amazon voucher recently, so will most likely put that towards either the Thunderbird IV or the Pro. The Pro is about a hundred quid more expensive though, so not sure if it's worth it or not. Very tempted...
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 11, 2020 Author Posted July 11, 2020 Double post: I HAVE BOUGHT THIS BECAUSE I AM WEAK. Praise be to @Eenuh for realising that the best way for getting me to shut up about "should I buuuuy it or nooooot?" was to just get it over with. 3 1
Dufniall Posted July 12, 2020 Posted July 12, 2020 Haha nice! I still enjoy playing the Thunderbird, such a great looking piece of work. Did you go for the Pro or the regular one?
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