I'm still working on the Blast Cult--getting it worked into the rotation. I haven't made it to the bass shop to get the second sound post put in, but I did foam the f-holes, FB projection, and tailpiece. I've played 2 gigs with it since--the first I found the tone lacking, the second I seemed to have the E, A, and (somewhat) the D dialed in better. The G was not coming through as well. It occurred to me the clicky pickup should add a little bit of the G back in, so I ordered that from Gollihur, receiving it in usual quick time. Installed it last night--I think I am getting just enough of the G to get the tone somewhat balanced. In the right hands I think it would be about 75% of the way to being a pretty convincing slap monster.
But, with the Pirazzi Gold strings that I chose to hopefully give me a good pizz tone, and the RB Pro dialed in for a more balanced sound, I feel like I am getting close to that sort of all purpose sound I was going for. I suppose that on a different bass that would be easier to get--I am thinking the Blast Cult tends to color/deaden the sound a bit--even with just one sound post.
I don't feel like I have it quite up to the level of pizz tone that it had with the BC Low Life strings that were on it when I got it. But I should be able to get close. And it seems to slap a whole lot better.
I've noticed on both basses the RB Pro clicky input seems to be sensitive. The sweet spot is about 3 o'clock on the input dial. At about 3:15 it goes from solid clicks to full-on psycho-billy click monster. But it's still easy enough to dial in. And on both basses I noticed the clicky location seems to be pretty forgivable. Not a lot of response/tone change at different spots, per my experience.
At that 2nd gig I was humping that E string in a small club and it just seemed to fill the whole space--nice and deep and solid with good sustain and the feedback easily controllable. So that is encouraging. The A was right there with it. The main change was just to scoop the mids more--although I am not a fan of extreme EQ-ing. Selah. When I switched to EB I noticed the tone was off a bit, so I'll need to sort that out more. 2 outdoor gigs coming up this weekend--one with band PA, one with what should be a substantial sound system. So we'll see how it goes.
To re-cap, what I'm doing is moving from playing my comfortable, cheap, reliable old CCB to what should be a better-sounding (and is definitely a better-playing!) Blast Cult. My goal is to play DB 3/4 of the gig--with only about 1/164th of that time spent slapping, lol. As it was I was only motivated to play DB on about 7 or 8 songs. Better playability = play on more songs. Music style is trad country/outlaw country.
Old:
FMI SB45, Shadow Bridge P/U, Shadow Click, Shadow RB Pro pre, Superior Bassworks Dirty/Red guts, f-hole plugs. Flamed and stickered by me, because that always helps.
New:
Blast Cult 145, BC Monolux Bridge P/U, Shadow Click, Shadow RB Pro pre, Evah Pirazzi Gold strings, f-holes-tailpiece-FB projection all foamed. No flames, no stickers, because--No!
I have 2 clickies--one on each bass--rather than figuring out a way to move back/forth. Since I'm still not 100% committed--lol.
I play through a Fender Bassman 800 into a Fender Neo 410 cab--or 2 of them for a big outdoor show with no extra PA support (rare). I have the DB feeding a separate DOD Bass EQ pedal into a Fender A/B switcher. I use the EQ mainly to match levels, and to scoop any ringiness if it appears. EB goes through a Boss tuner, DOD compressor, DOD chorus into the switcher.
Thanks for reading. It helps me to write this stuff down occasionally, and any feedback/advice I get is always good/appreciated. And if it helps other people along their path, then great. I'm OK with being either an example of what TO do or what NOT to do!
But, with the Pirazzi Gold strings that I chose to hopefully give me a good pizz tone, and the RB Pro dialed in for a more balanced sound, I feel like I am getting close to that sort of all purpose sound I was going for. I suppose that on a different bass that would be easier to get--I am thinking the Blast Cult tends to color/deaden the sound a bit--even with just one sound post.
I don't feel like I have it quite up to the level of pizz tone that it had with the BC Low Life strings that were on it when I got it. But I should be able to get close. And it seems to slap a whole lot better.
I've noticed on both basses the RB Pro clicky input seems to be sensitive. The sweet spot is about 3 o'clock on the input dial. At about 3:15 it goes from solid clicks to full-on psycho-billy click monster. But it's still easy enough to dial in. And on both basses I noticed the clicky location seems to be pretty forgivable. Not a lot of response/tone change at different spots, per my experience.
At that 2nd gig I was humping that E string in a small club and it just seemed to fill the whole space--nice and deep and solid with good sustain and the feedback easily controllable. So that is encouraging. The A was right there with it. The main change was just to scoop the mids more--although I am not a fan of extreme EQ-ing. Selah. When I switched to EB I noticed the tone was off a bit, so I'll need to sort that out more. 2 outdoor gigs coming up this weekend--one with band PA, one with what should be a substantial sound system. So we'll see how it goes.
To re-cap, what I'm doing is moving from playing my comfortable, cheap, reliable old CCB to what should be a better-sounding (and is definitely a better-playing!) Blast Cult. My goal is to play DB 3/4 of the gig--with only about 1/164th of that time spent slapping, lol. As it was I was only motivated to play DB on about 7 or 8 songs. Better playability = play on more songs. Music style is trad country/outlaw country.
Old:
FMI SB45, Shadow Bridge P/U, Shadow Click, Shadow RB Pro pre, Superior Bassworks Dirty/Red guts, f-hole plugs. Flamed and stickered by me, because that always helps.
New:
Blast Cult 145, BC Monolux Bridge P/U, Shadow Click, Shadow RB Pro pre, Evah Pirazzi Gold strings, f-holes-tailpiece-FB projection all foamed. No flames, no stickers, because--No!
I have 2 clickies--one on each bass--rather than figuring out a way to move back/forth. Since I'm still not 100% committed--lol.
I play through a Fender Bassman 800 into a Fender Neo 410 cab--or 2 of them for a big outdoor show with no extra PA support (rare). I have the DB feeding a separate DOD Bass EQ pedal into a Fender A/B switcher. I use the EQ mainly to match levels, and to scoop any ringiness if it appears. EB goes through a Boss tuner, DOD compressor, DOD chorus into the switcher.
Thanks for reading. It helps me to write this stuff down occasionally, and any feedback/advice I get is always good/appreciated. And if it helps other people along their path, then great. I'm OK with being either an example of what TO do or what NOT to do!
