bc_dup1 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 After toying with the idea of getting one for a while I've just successfully bid for a Roland V Bass on Ebay. Consolation for not bidding for the Mike Lull. With Christmas post it'll probably be at least a week before I see it. (Does anyone else get these sudden feelings of doubt as soon as they have committed themselves to spending a wodge of cash on a new piece of gear?) Time will tell if this was a sensible buy. It could be a toy for a couple of weeks, ignored for a couple of months and then resold or it could become a permanent part of my rig. I feel as though both possibilities are about equally likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassaddik Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 i just bought one for the second time- they are tons of fun and actually useful/usable on a gig ! in fact, im headed over to continue programming some sounds. i am finding out new things even now... hope you love yours... if you need any help or find any cool tricks, we should share with other V bass users here... but don't let greenboy in on it... Praise ye the LORD. ....praise him with stringed instruments and organs... Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. excerpt from- Psalm 150 visit me at: www.adriangarcia.net for His glory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc_dup1 Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 Thanks - I'm an effects novice & will need all the help I can get. I developed a yen for one of these when I was playing in an electronica band. Now that I'm back playing in a disco-type dance band I'm not so sure that it will be as useful but if I don't try it I won't find out........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getz out Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Congrats. Those look like fun and very useful, but sometimes I like things simple; especially at a gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc_dup1 Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 I may find the same thing. I've been toying around with my BP-8 and I'm getting some nice sounds with my little practice amp, but basically I'm only really using the compressor, preamp, noise-gate and some eq. I won't know how useful even these are until I get a chance to use it in anger with a proper amp. I can't imagine using most of the other effects. I've only heard the V-Bass during a 20 minute try-out in a music shop, which is hardly satisfactory - I only heard the factory presets, for a start. But a couple of the sounds really had me going "wow" - upright, synth-bass and possibly even fretless sounds that actually sounded useable. The Jamerson imitation, at the flick of a swith, was closer than I've ever got tweaking a "real" bass and amplification for hours. And if I ever get back into playing more experimental music again the range of potential sounds is phenomenal. And thats' without really getting into the various bass/amp/cab simulations, which some people have waxed lyrical about........or, of course, creating my own sounds. I feel that in 6 months I could be back to the "keep it simple" philosophy or I could have sworn off "real" bass for good - it could just as easily go either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getz out Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 What I like about the V-Bass, or at least what is appealing, is that it truly changes your instrument into a controller. That's pretty cool. Plus, if I remember correctly, you have a "flat" rig using Acme Low B2s. This would make it even more appealing. I'm rather technology forward, but I do have reservations that keep me from taking the plunge. Mainly, there are "too many screws." The pickup could go. The foot controller could go. The DIN cable used for the midi could go. You could get tracking issues. From what I've heard, these aren't really issues that have caused problems, but I am somewhat risk-averse when it comes to gigging. I like to keep it relatively simple on stage because all too often things go wrong (for me). I think I would feel safer with a piezo-equiped bass driving the MIDI controller. Don't really know why, but something about the add-on pickup weirds me out. I'm looking forward to your review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc_dup1 Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 I break just about every rule in the book when it comes to playing without proper back-up. Crazy I know but in decades of live gigging on guitar and bass I've never had a real problem. I've never even broken a string on bass (and only a couple of times on guitar). Plus, living in the centre of a small and fairly isolated city, almost all my gigs are within about 3 miles of home, so if the unexpected happened I could get home and back in about 20 minutes. If the system works for me I'll probably look for a cheap but playable bass and have the pickup installed. Some of the cheaper Yamaha 5s would probably be ideal, or a Geddy Lee if I want a 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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