Obviously 5 Believers » gear

Tascam MP-GT1 Guitar Trainer

Michael — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:05:30 +0000

For learning new songs and practice between band rehearsals I use my Tascam MP-GT1 MP3 Guitar Trainer. This walkman-sized unit is built to last having an aluminum back and sides and contains a 1Gb memory for storing up to around 240 songs in MP3 format.

Its easy to upload songs and put together a playlist to practice before a gig. The songs can be speeded up & slowed down and the key & tuning can be changed. A guitar tuner and a good selection of digital fx are built-in. I only use the fx on mine if I am playing guitar. As I play bass through it most often I don’t use the fx as it sounds good without needing any for bass. A bass specific version is also available, the MP-BT1, however this was not available when I bought my MP-GT1.

Tascam MP-GT1 Portable Memory Guitar Trainer, Red

Tascam, £145.00

Tascam MPBT1 MP3 bass trainer

Tascam, Electronics, £144.00

More information including full specification and a pdf of the owners manual is available on the tascam website.

Squier Musicmaster Bass

Michael — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:59:17 +0000

I have recently sold a very nice Squier Vista series Musicmaster bass in a beautiful vintage shell pink colour.

This is a very well made bass and is very similar in to my white Fender mustang, It has a solid alder body and maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. It is a shortscale (30″) bass and the truss rod adjusts at the headstock end rather than the body end of the neck.

Whereas a mustang bass has a split humbucking pickup like a mini precision bass one, the original 1970s Fender musicmaster basses used standard six pole (strat or mustang guitar) pickups with a solid cover. For the vista series musicmaster, Squier used a specially designed four pole pickup, similar in appearance to the ones used in original 50s precision & 60s telecaster basses. This pickup gives the bass a great punchy tone that works well in rock music.

Another difference between the vista series and an original 70s musicmaster is that the vista series has a string-through bridge with separate saddles for each string whereas the original design had only two saddles and was top-loading only.

New Guitar for Beginners

Michael — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:50:43 +0000

At this time of year a lot of people decide learn to play guitar and often ask advice on what to buy for a complete beginner.

For a new instrument I don’t think its possible to get a better deal for the price than the Yamaha F310 Acoustic Guitar Pro Pack.

The guitar is a basic, but good quality electro-acoustic with steel strings and as it is a full size instrument it is suitable for adults and older children. Electro-acoustic means that there a built-in pickup with volume and tone controls to enable playing through an amplifier or for recording. The package contains everything you need to start playing including a guitar stand, soft case, strap, instruction DVD, pleckies, spare strings and an electronic tuner.

If only something like this was available when I started playing.

Yamaha F310 Acoustic Guitar Pro Pack

YAMAHA 2006, Electronics, £132.81

Ashbory Bass

Michael — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:23:27 +0000

My Ashbory basses will probably be making an appearance at the next few o5b gigs.

Ashbory bassess are tiny fretless instruments made by Fender with a scale length of 18″ (compared to the standard 34″ scale of a Fender precision bass). The remarkable thing about them, apart from the diminutive size, is the chunky silicone rubber strings, which with the transducer built into the bridge gives the bass a rich double-bass like tone.

Although the Ashbory is a fretless instrument there are printed fretlines on the fingerboard. At first I was concerned that the intonation was very inaccurate as I initially found it impossible to play my Ashbory in tune, however I have since realised that the string should be fretted not directly over the fretline like a conventional lined fretless bass, but over the marker dots between the lines, like an unlined fretless bass.

I currently own two Ashborys, a black one and a blue one, the black one was used on The Runner on the obviously 5 believers CD.

Largesound.com is a great web site devoted to Ashbory basses. The isn’t a lot of activity on the forum, but there is a lot of useful information on the site. The basses, strings, spare parts and accessories can be ordered from Largesound. When my blue Ashbory arrived (from an ebay seller) with a damaged E string tuner, Brock & Kelly at Largesound sorted me out a replacement tuner for just a few quid which was delivered very quickly from the US.

Yamaha Bass Magicstomp

Michael — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:46:39 +0000

While I was in Birmingham last weekend for WordCampUK 2008, I checked out a few music shops. I found a new old stock Yamaha Bass Magicstomp which I tried out and bought for a pretty good price.

There were also versions for Guitar and Acoustic Instruments, but all of the magicstomp pedals have been discontinued for a few years.

The patches for each different model can be loaded onto the bass version using the software included in the box (WinXP/Mac only), so I suspect the only difference between the various models is the colour of the case.

My Magicstomp does everything I need from a pedal at the moment (compressor/limiter & valve emulating preamp) and is small and very quick & easy to set up. It also sounds great. I have been editing some of the preset fx patches, putting in some compression and subtle distortion programs, expect to hear it on the bass at the next few o5b gigs.

SOS Bass Tuner

Michael — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:07:36 +0000

I used to use a floor pedal tuner to keep my bass in tune, however since discovering the Planet Waves SOS Bass tuner, that is the only tuner I use.

Once you’re used to it, it is very quick and easy to use. It is suitable for 4, 5 & 6 string basses (B,E,A,D,G,C) and accurate tuning can be achieved silently.

Select the note to tune to so the LEDs flash
hold the tuner over the string so the lights are directly over the 12th fret
Play the open string – you will notice two oscillating illuminated areas on the string.
Tune the bass – if the oscillations are vibrating faster its going the wrong way, when the two illuminated areas are static then the string is in tune.

Planet Waves Strobe Tuner For BASS Guitar

Planet Waves, £21.99

NS-Design CR5M

Michael — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:36:23 +0000

If anyone is wondering what instrument I’m playing in the photo, it is my NS-Design CR5M.

The CR5M is a five string electric upright bass designed by Ned Steinberger and manufactured in the Czech republic . It has both piezo and magnetic pickups and uses NS5FL strings made by D’Addario.

Rather than just emulating the sound of an acoustic double bass, it has a flexible and unique range of sounds somewhere between a double bass and a fretless bass guitar. Its a lot easier to transport than a double bass and for a band like o5b it is certainly easier to get a clear sound with no feedback and giving a punchy tone which can be heard clearly without being buried by the guitars.