fretless M-85

Happy Face

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That's pretty wicked. The bass is overwhelmed at times.

But the guitar stuff aint bad.
 

hieronymous

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That's pretty wicked. The bass is overwhelmed at times.

But the guitar stuff aint bad.

I have a tendency to either make the bass way too loud or not loud enough. Plus, I'm using a dark sound so I think it gets lost if not played through a system with low-end. Thinking of getting some kind of overdrive to help introduce some high-frequency information. Not quite ready to subject the 48 year old fingerboard to roundwounds!

DV Wright, the guitarist on the recording, is a great musician, and he's really got the effects and looping thing down since I last played with him two years ago.
 

mellowgerman

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Finally remembered to listen to your soundcloud clip. Love the jam! Reminds me of Maggotbrain, but a little jazzier. Of course, I do wish it was a little more biased toward your bass, volume-wise. In any case, thanks a bunch for sharing!
 

hieronymous

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Finally remembered to listen to your soundcloud clip. Love the jam! Reminds me of Maggotbrain, but a little jazzier. Of course, I do wish it was a little more biased toward your bass, volume-wise. In any case, thanks a bunch for sharing!

Thanks for listening! I may just have to go back and remix it - want to redo the drums/reverb, I had the stereo drum mic panned hard left/right, but on another track I moved them in a bit and it sounded better. I can boost the bass too. I'll repost if I come up with a new mix - looking at Sep. 1 as the "official release date"
 

hieronymous

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Happy Face

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I know you all have been anxiously awaiting my verdict here.

Back from an area with limited internet access. A dreadful thing. Like when we were younger, not just young.

Upon Vale = a nicer balance, but take down the damn ride cymbals a bit.

Stanagram = a cool piece.
 

hieronymous

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Didn't pick up the AleM-85 for over a year, but finally felt moved to do so. Been experimenting with recording direct into a Zoom H6 direct into my iPhone, also been working on my Phil Lesh interpretation:



Getting some "static" in the recording, not sure what's up with that.
 

mellowgerman

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Didn't pick up the AleM-85 for over a year, but finally felt moved to do so. Been experimenting with recording direct into a Zoom H6 direct into my iPhone, also been working on my Phil Lesh interpretation:



Getting some "static" in the recording, not sure what's up with that.


Mmmmm, that sounds very nice. Thanks for sharing. Makes me wish I had brought my Starfire to the office today instead of the Telecaster!
 

mellowgerman

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What is this "office" of which you speak?

My destination when I leave the house at 5am, 5 days a week. Also where I am tasked to assure live closed captioning is up and running on a whole list of news programs across the country. The good thing is, when there are no technical difficulties or real-time crises going on, I am able to strum or pluck upon an instrument, as keeping my eyes on a slew of monitor screens is all that is needed at those times. I actually find the instrument on my lap, keeping my hands and muscle-memory busy helps me relax, focus, and catch any quality or technical issues. When needed, hands from bass to keyboard/mouse/phone takes approximately 0.6449 seconds. Works out well!
 

fronobulax

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Of course that was just a semi-snark from someone whose "office" is home, all the time, and thus the guitars, basses and piano are all within easy reach. Sometimes closer than the kitchen :)
 

hieronymous

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51257163596_6b838c6f1b_w.jpg
 

hieronymous

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OK, so after that veer, I'm going to post this again...




...and wonder - how much of the sound is A) the strings (LaBella Deep Talkin' flatwounds), B) the electronics (Alembic), C) the bass (including scale length, body & neck wood), and/or D) the wooden saddles? Actually, the pick may be a significant part of the equation. Obviously it's a combination of all these factors and more, but I do wonder if the sound would change significantly with metal saddles for example, or an Alembic style bridge. For now, I'm going with if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
 

mellowgerman

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OK, so after that veer, I'm going to post this again...




...and wonder - how much of the sound is A) the strings (LaBella Deep Talkin' flatwounds), B) the electronics (Alembic), C) the bass (including scale length, body & neck wood), and/or D) the wooden saddles? Actually, the pick may be a significant part of the equation. Obviously it's a combination of all these factors and more, but I do wonder if the sound would change significantly with metal saddles for example, or an Alembic style bridge. For now, I'm going with if it ain't broke, don't fix it!


Of all the factors you listed, I think the saddles/bridge would change the sound the least. My gut tells me the most significant factors in the equation are the pick, strings, and Alembic pickups/electronics. Of course, with Alembic pickups and electronics, the point is to get the clearest possible amplified representation of the sound of the wood and strings possible, so every factor in the equation matters!
When it comes to brass vs. wood saddles, a friend once sent me a blind test of his Newark Street Starfire with the two different saddle types on it. I was able to identify which was which, but the difference was so minuscule even through studio headphones that I had to give it a good 5 listens before I had my answer. That, to me, means that in a live or studio mix, the difference would be negligible and not worth the hassle. A full-on recessed 2-piece Alembic brass block bridge however is a very different animal and that might make more of a notable difference.
 
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hieronymous

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Of all the factors you listed, I think the saddles/bridge would change the sound the least. My gut tells me the most significant factors in the equation are the pick, strings, and Alembic pickups/electronics. Of course, with Alembic pickups and electronics, the point is to get the clearest possible amplified representation of the sound of the wood and strings possible, so every factor in the equation matters!
When it comes to brass vs. wood saddles, a friend once sent me a blind test of his Newark Street Starfire with the two different saddle types on it. I was able to identify which was which, but the difference was so minuscule even through studio headphones that I had to give it a good 5 listens before I had my answer. That, to me, means that in a live or studio mix, the difference would be negligible and not worth the hassle. A full-on recessed 2-piece Alembic brass block bridge however is a very different animal and that might make more of a notable difference.

Thank you o mellow one! Yeah, despite the image of the wooden saddles contributing to a "woody" sound, I think it's probably just observer bias. Would love to know what an Alembic tailpiece/bridge setup would do, but that would be non-reversible and hard to document.

Regarding the electronics, I realized I had the Q boost switched on for the bridge pickup, so it's boosting a specific frequency band which I think is contributing to the punchiness of the sound.

I recorded a bit with different picks yesterday, will try and put something together.
 

mellowgerman

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Nice. I've found that choice of pick definitely makes a difference. These days, on bass, I only use Tortex picks around 1mm thickness. On guitar I'm a little less picky (pun 100% intended) and will switch between standard medium picks up to the thicker Tortex ones depending on my mood, what song I'm playing, or what's closest by.
 

mavuser

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u sound great man! do u think there is any way to get the Harry-lembic pickups in a GSR M-85, but somehow have the battery and whatever else be external (since there is no control cavity in a fully hollow GSR M-85)?
 
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