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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.

StingrayPete don't dress up as no Fedex guy

Damo, it's rarely worth it nowadays mate.

Havin read on this thread that the Rumble feature on the Tech 21 Para Driver v2 is a high pass filter I thought I`d give it a try this eve, and am pretty pleased with the result, albeit through my practice amp at home volumes. Engaged I have to push the bass on the PD a lot more, in fact to full on, plus back off on both the highs and mids a bit, add a bit more gain, and reduce the blend to 80% instead of full on in order to get the same sound as before. So why do it then - well the sound is the same but seems more focused, and, being a heavy hitter the sound could boom a bit at times whereas now it doesn`t so I`m getting a more controlled version of my sound. I suppose it`s a bit like finally finding the compressor that actually does what I want it to really, keeping me as me, but also reigning me in a bit. I`ll update as to whether it works in the band or not next week, but am feeling pretty chuffed at the moment.

Here's another heads up. You respond to the ad because the musianship in their clips seemed very high. I responded to an ad based on what appeared to be a " smokin" guitarist. Then found out he was no longer in the band.. 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.

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What he said. Parametric eq is a nightmare for the knob twiddler but if you know what you’re doing then it’s can provide a quick and easy fix and sort out a dodgy bit of feedback or rumble. It’s like tuning in a radio then cutting or boosting to fix the issue.

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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!

Lateral thinking... Any mileage in persuading the Other Half that basements make ideal office spaces; that they are the 'new black'..? Make it cosy enough down there to have SHMBO want to relinquish 'her' space in favour of your basses..? Just a thought.

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

See, my point exactly!

That sums up Jazz basses for me too - I love the sound that others can get from them, whereas for reasons of decency I shouldn`t be allowed anywhere near one.

More ' Girls Aloud ' surely Paul ?

54 is late summer?? No wonder I'm feeling the chill.

I always thought that Wal could make a fortune by giving up making the basses and just selling the pickups and electronics. I'd certainly put them on all my other basses

I`ve found that basses played through Markbass gear without the rest of the band sounds a bit bland, however it`s when the rest of the band is going that they come into force, fitting really well in the mix. That said, Markbass cabs do have a high-end roll-off so it maybe that that`s what you`re finding missing, the high end definition that Jazz basses are known for? I found this out when using the same amp eq settings through a Trace Elliot cab and the suddenly there ice-pick highs that emerged. For what it`s worth I`ve found that the Markbass/Barefaced sounds great, heard a good few Basschatters with these rigs and the true(truer?) Markbass sound comes out.

Never liked any singlecut basses, MusicMan toilet seat basses or those ridiculous 7+ string monstrosities anyone makes....

I bought a lovely Fender Jazz from Nick. Great comms, easy deal, friendly, well packed and quickly delivered . Highly recommended

when I sold my last Wal the other year I was fine with it right up until the buyer came round and plugged it into my amp to check that it was all in working order...and that sound came out...too late to change my mind, but did make me think that I should start planing to get "my" Wal

I remember bits of different gigs that, if they had all happened on the same night, would be a truly memorable gig. With The Wirebirds, we had an unexpectedly good gig at a bike rally in April last year. We'd already played two sets in a social club, then driven an hour to a remote field only to be told we would be on late as they were behind schedule. Managed to sleep in the car for an hour or two (missed the burlesque though) and went on after midnight. Proper stage, PA and lights run by people who knew what they were doing, and despite, or maybe because, us all being knackered, we played a good set, everyone dancing (including the girls from the burlesque show), that was a night to remember.

@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

Yep, I actually prefer it to Headhunters and for my money def one of the top 5 jazz funk albums I've heard and that's many. On the subject of jazz funk one of the best combos from the 70s here with this mighty, monolithic slab of bonecrunching funk

A small cellar bar in Midsomer Norton which years later I would go on to own. What made the gig special? We played a set of all original material we'd written together as a band, the place was rammed and people were standing on the tables around the edges of the room the whole crowd singing my own lyrics back at us so loud they were competing with the band. It was spine tingling.

In my case that was about....10 seconds 😀

I just got my Wal and I will say the necks feel a bit more V-shapped than the rounded P's and Jazz's and Warwicks etc that I have been used to playing. I think I will learn to love it

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.....

And we have a winner!!!

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

Dehumanizer is also absolute quality, criminally overlooked

Keep your 'intelligent and reliable guitarist'. As rare as the proverbial Hen's teeth.

Yes, they were written months ago. The dog ate them. They don't exist. They've been heavily edited. We've decided to suspend democracy. Please call me Adolf. I'd have 'em all hanged and pull the lever myself. D. Davis is a tosser. My bum hurts. (Delete as applicable).

99.9% of the time, that happens anyway. We've had one instance of the first word in an ad being 'Fender' where the item was not a Fender - and that was because of a genuine error on the part of the seller, who obviously did not intend to deceive anyone. And it got picked up straight away. Which just goes to show that any deliberate attempt at selling a fake here will be shot down in flames immediately. 'Basses for Sale' is a self-policing forum. Whether you think that's a good thing or not is moot.

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!