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My new rig

It is subjective in some ways but much more objective than we may realise in others. First (only?) question; are you good enough to do what is required of you? If you needed to slap and you can't, you don't get the gig. If you need to read and you can't, you don't get the gig. If you are needed to jump around and strike a pose and you stand there like John Entwhistle on Mogadon, you don't get the gig. If you can play all the Bach Cello Suites in all the keys but are not able to improvise, you don't get the Jazz gig. If you play Bach Cello Suites over everything and it's a Country gig, you don't get the gig. In my experience, praise and criticism come from many quarters and some is utterly unreliable. I have been called both solid and fluid in the media. Is this because the person writing the review only heard one song, one recording, one gig or is this because the writer lacks the language or insight necessary to properly described what it is that defines your playing? Evaluating your own playing is a continuous process that is determined in no small part by the experiences you have as a player. If you never move out of your comfort zone, you will never find yourself challenged and will have a distorted view of your own competence. If you have never heard great players (which is often the case in young players), you may have a distorted view of your own capabilities (which is often the case in young players). Until you have played with great players, you cannot properly evaluate your playing. Outside of London, being asked to do a gig is as much to do with how bad everyone else is as it is a measure of how good you are. It can also be about availability. Great players are busy players and can be unavailable. I KNOW I often get gigs because the 19 other guys the bandleader generally uses are busy. Put it this way, how would Geddy Lee fare in Level 42? (Have you heard Neil Peart with a big band? Ouch!!!). How would Mark King cope with a Motorhead set? How would Percy Jones do in the pit orchestra of Jesus Christ Superstar? Horses for courses but does failure indicate incompetence? Yes or no? I play a weekly gig with some of the UK's greatest players and I am reminded weekly of my shortcomings (one of which is I don't really know tunes, a source of shame in the Jazz community) but, at the same time, I find out things about myself and my playing that give me considerable hope e.g. my knowledge and competence in Latin grooves is much greater that one of the best piano players I use. Also, my reading is better than his. Curiously, I have also noticed that I am a 'better' player when I have rehearsed/practised the material. In short, we all have strengths in our playing and we all have weaknesses. We can play to those strengths of have our weaknesses revealed at the moment we least expect it. The joy of achieving competence in our chosen instrument is in the journey not in the destination.

We did a gig at the Catapult Club in New Cross. The bill was set up like Later, so the headliners went on first and did half a set etc, then finished the evening. It was well rough for 3 lads from the sticks but we had everyone dancing. My more current function band have just done the Courtyard in Hereford- went pretty well.

This one goes out to Blue(wine). Prior to this moment, the greatest event that previously occurred in Pismo Beach was getting a mention in a Bugs Bunny cartoon ("I knew I shoulda toined left at Albuquerque ...").

HPF is 45hz: http://www.tech21nyc.com/support/manuals/effects/Qstrip_OM.pdf

He's just put in a bit of paper that says 'Morning Cloud in the 2:15 at Kempton Park'

I'd love to do that (once at least). The opportunity hasn't come up yet, but I'm only 59. ☺

PM sent.

one of the reason why I “upgraded” to a JR sized from a Metro24 SC; so I can use the Mono case that is currently on sale from its UK distributor. Having said that, here is my board in progress, found a used Temple Duo 17. Not yet wired as my Guma Drive is not yet assembled. :-)

Yes to the lighter relic, but you can't have matching headstock on a P. You'll go straight to hell.

That's what I call packed. Blue

Blue, it's a good, clear ad, just not aimed at the likes of you (or me). And it tells us enough that you or me wouldn't waste our time or theirs replying to it. I've wasted enough time on answering adverts that are basically asking for what these guys are, but are too vague about it.

Thanks I’m happy with it Total cost roughly about £90

Just in the process of buying a Magnum III

I'm with the majority...looks great. Total cost?

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Guess what I bought two weeks ago...😆😆

Several, but one that stands out was the day before my 50th birthday, on the back of a truck in a field in somerset overlooking a large valley. Went up there and my daughter turned up for my birthday that I wasn't expecting and really happy to see. We had a large red velvet cake that there was so much lots of people shared, and there was food and drinks from the venue. We played as it was getting dark, the previous group flounced off as noone was paying them any attention, so we went up, played a gig with another singer, had a few problems at the start but it sounded good, it wasn't that cold other than it being end of may, the crowd wasn't big but it was responsive, we could only see the people who were dancing in the lights. The stage looked across the field and down the valley, lit up with the tail of the sun and then the moon, pointing straight at a perfectly clear sky with a really bright Jupiter and Mars. Kind of lost myself in the moment - I have had funner more interactive gigs, but I don't remember one where I was more content!

It's quite a practical design, really - it doubles up as a bottle opener

Yes. It's the depth parameter of the Ac Bs Pre effect. Between "bass pre" and "SVT" if the effects appear in the same order as the MS-60B manual. EDIT: seems to be in same place in B1on manual so if they're in the same order on the pedal that'll be where you'll find it.

It's still the "will of the people" though, right? (sailing close to the wind there, I know...)

I actually have to thank you for reminding me and that I am pleased to say that I am back to putting something together, though you'll be slightly shocked to hear that one of my TC's forgot it's settings the other day. This doesn't bode well as I need 100% reliability in some of the work I do. Ok, HPF - using a full band compressor as an example. - The threshold of a full band compressor is 'crossed' by the largest area of signal passing through the circuit. For us bassists, that's pretty much always the low end. One of the downsides to this is that the top end can end up being masked as the low end is pulled down in signal (the top end goes with it). If you are driving excessive low end (especially sub sonic frequencies) in to your compressor then these frequencies could be overwhelming the threshold. Or to put it another way, sounds you can't hear are actually limiting the output volume of the ones you do want to hear. * I'll add this before I get jumped on by the compressor police: Some full band compressors use a side-chain filter to remove low end in the sensing circuit to alleviate this problem. Multiband compressors do not suffer either, but in either case, removing frequencies that are not going to be of any use in the signal chain isn't such a bad idea. Think I'm off to buy an HPF..lol

More ' Girls Aloud ' surely Paul ?

Must be something to do with being of certain age.....also joined a (very busy) Glam Rock band at the late summer age of 54. Never had so much fun....the wigs can get a bit itchy though.

It does look like he's putting money in but there's no photo of him letting go....

Two great ones that spring to mind. Depping on bass for a cool blues guitarist/singer called Aynsley Lister at the Suwalki Blues Festival, in Poland, in 2016 - big stage in a park, awesome onstage sound, probably 1,500 to 2,000 people turned out to watch us, and we got treated like royalty all weekend by the promoters, which was amazing ha ha! Also remember doing a lovely wedding gig at a farm in Mid Wales with my band in summer 2015 - a sort of marquee made from interconnected teepees in a field, with cocktail bar etc in it, which was all lit up and night and had a real little festival atmosphere on a hot summer night. I was on lead guitar and vocals, and everyone was right up for it as the climax of the day's celebrations. The energy was incredible, as was the hog roast and real ale on tap, and the band played brilliantly. Remember utterly buzzing listening to Tom Petty on the long night drive home back to the East Midlands afterwards.

Yep, that's how it starts....enjoy the journey!

"Part time housekeeper wanted. Must be gourmet chef and look like a super model. Will pay minimum wage. Send photos for consideration."

@Grangur is the man to speak to about refinishing a Warwick check out the job he did on @Al Krow corvette in the Warwick thread on gear porn it looks stunning and flawless

Fender Precision - TI flats Fender Jazz - Superbrights Musicman Stingray - Superbrights Roland DB500 No effects Done

No he’s said you could get near depending on how you dial things in. His is dialled in differently as it’s his sound. He also refers to them with reference as to how good their sound is. The key is not just the bass in isolation, it’s in the context of the song and what guitars are doing around him. Yes he has a signature sound, but it does alter slightly as to how he mixes it and clean and distortion. Listen to the evolution of it through Kings X albums Faith Hope Love, Gretchen goes to Nebraska, Tapehead, Ear candy, Dogman and it’s not just down to down tuning for which they were one of the first main stream rock doing it alongside Dokken, even though blues had been doing it for years. Listen to his Bass sound in other bands Supershine, KXM both albums and Grinder Blues, you will get more of a picture of possibilities and how to fold the bass around the music. Now there is nothing wrong with the bass being more upfront and the main driver of the song, so that will require a sound which in isolation will sound more pleasing. Subtle differences depending on the band, take Glenn Hughes, playing with Joe Bonamassa he will sound different with Black country communion compared to Deep Purple. Look at Muzz Skillings compared to Doug Wimbish In Living Colour and how they differ, and that is with the same guitarist. Muzz is in the Vivid and Times up albums. Its all about balance, and I won’t mention you don’t need to crank the distortion on it, because you’ll probably say it’s a dirt pedal and that’s what you are supposed to do with it, it’s the primary function.....

I used to be good and then my hands started falling apart, so I wound up being less good and more sneaky. Nowadays, I must be faking it fairly well, as I still get a fair bit of work. But the crucial part of getting work when I was in Nashville was definitely how well you got on with the other guys, plus the ratio between your ears being open and your mouth being open. Oh, and you had to be able to play the parts., of course.

High Barn in Great Bardfield, Essex. Stunning music venue and recording studio, now it is just a very classy wedding venue. Played there in our Free tribute band, all ticketed and sold out. Brilliant gig, our best ever and well worth the 140 mile round trip.

Hmm... have you seen Forbidden? It's not worth hearing, mind.

Please someone tell me there's a Dio period album that's their best. Just for fun like.

The fact that you've described two of your fellow band members as a "F**kwit guitarist" and an "egotistical keyboard player" in an open forum means to me that this isn't the band for you. Either you need to convince the rest of the band to get rid of them or you need to go.

It depends which type you tried - the EBMM Stingrays always had 11" radius profile - the Classic Stingrays have 7.5" profile and feel different (more rounded, less flat). Also the neck finish on all but the Classics and some limited editions (PDN) is the super slick wax and oil and has been since the early 90s. The necks are hand finished so that is the only area of potential very minor variation. The wheel truss rod adjustment and six bolt neck attachment replaced the bullet head stock adjuster in the early 90s as well. The bridge changed to the shorter version in the mid 90s -The MM bridge is anything but flimsy - in fact is one of the chunkiest of any bass - it's just that the later ones don't have the mute assembly and the area it was fitted to. Are you sure it was a US Stingray you tried? Many of us don't have a problem with the weight of a Stingray (for a 4 averaging around 9.5 lbs these days) and even with a super light one like my US Sub 5, the design enables superb balance on a strap. The shorter headstock compared with 4 in line helps improve the balance amongst other things. The 3 band EQ appeared in the late 80s I think. If the new basses weigh 8 lbs or so they will be super light.

I work on the principle that I am the best at playing in the style I do. If that's what you want then no-one else will be as good. If you want something else, choose the person who does that best. There are too many variables in other ways to compare.

given that: 1. it's not a regular source of income; 2. you're not enjoying it; and 3. You have something better lined up I can't see why you need our advice on what to do next The only thing I'd suggest is trying to force your good guitarist's hand and see which way he jumps. I've done that before (although in my case the guitarist was the one that we wanted to get rid of) where I quit the band, and then the key bandmates that I'd been talking to about forming a new band with had to pick between auditioning a new bass player for a band with a guitarist they didn't really want, or coming with me and finding a new guitarist.

It was easy to ban the Ric content from the forum because most of the members can't stand the clanky neckdiving tat anyway

Nick and I did a tradey-swap yesterday, my new 50's p is superb! Thanks matey! Very speedily arranged meet up, v mellow fellow with lovely kids!