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And I got the gig! Only 30 more songs to learn now

Well, shirley an envelope filter would be .....The Sorting Office? I'll get my coat.

- how did you work out / stumble on what sound you were after? Was it a particular bass player or a bass line on a music track (if so, who / what?) = Was told to go and get a Jazz bass for a gig I was doing at the time by a band member. Did so to solve an argument and found out THIS was the bass that made all the sounds that were in my head. Bass players on a lot of records I grew up listening to used a Jazz so I'm guessing that's how the sound got in there in the first place. - if you know your sound, how would you describe it? (May be a tricky one to put in words, I guess!) =Not "my" personal sound but borrowed. Back PU gives me a tight and defined Jaco type thing.(the yanks call it burp?) Both PUs gives me Marcus Miller slap thing or deep and round for grooving. Then there are other variables but mostly its these two simple settings that work over just about anything. (that I play on or bands I play with. Covers mostly.Pop.Funk.Soul.Rock.Indie) - what are the key ingredients in your signal chain that are essential to delivering 'that sound'. (Hopefully we'll get some great suggestions for combinations of strings, PUPs, EQs, amps, cabs and pedals, depending on which are the most important /really key bits of the chain for you). = Recording or low volume - Passive Jazz straight into desk or amp. Tone all the way off. PUPs back or both depending on tune. Gigs - Passive Jazz bass into sadowsky preamp pedal into EBS HD350 amp then EBS neo cab/s. In descending order of importance in the chain: Passive Jazz bass My fingers and where I pluck. Usually over near the bridge side near the back PU regardless of PU setting. Regardless of the bass I'd probably always do this anyway for finger style. That's how I get "my" borrowed sound. Strings by D'addario because they are nice to the touch and less effort due to low tension. From there its a preference but not essential. EG: I prefer the EBS stuff but its not the only amp that can achieve what I'm going for. I like the simplicity of it more than anything. There is a plug and play element to it that appeals to me. I know quickly if I'm going to get an ok tone or a great tone depending on the room so I can get on with accepting what its going to be on that gig and get on with it. The Sadowsky preamp pedal is more to give a signal boost than any major tone shaping. I use a touch of bass and treble boost. It works like that so I stick with it. I also use a Chorus pedal when I want a bit of sparkle for a riff or maybe in a solo if it fits with the tune.

I barely had time to photograph it, never mind upload pictures last night, it's too good... However, now I am at work I will be sure to take some better composed images at some point soon to show off how well this has been put together, but for today this will have to do. As you can see, it is bog standard, apart from some extra feet and a rotated badge to allow for portrait and landscape (default) orientation. 12 mm ply, and ceramic magnets in case anyone was wondering. An easy carry (scurry!) from the post office to home!

The nastiest drum I've ever heard is a piccolo snare. As a non-drummer, if there is one contribution I can make to this thread, it's DON'T LET HIM HAVE A PICCOLO SNARE!!!

I think this is accurate. For the record, I hate ‘acoustic nights’. Usually some over-earnest scrotter with a beard and unbuttoned lumberjack shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a Jack Daniel’s tshirt underneath playing ‘his take’ on classic rock numbers.

Hi All Lots going on at Chowny at the moment. So am sponsoring a thread to put you in the picture We've new offices in Bristol (in scenic Lawrence Hill) and would love to invite anybody who fancies it to pop by and have a play on our basses or pedals. Just give us a heads up when you want to come. So first stock updates: Stock in of all of the following: Retrovibe EVO Davie504 Basses Retrovibe EVO Retrovibe Volante Retrovibe Vantage Fuzzster Pedals Pitchcraft Pedals Stock incoming over the next month SWB Pro SWB-1 CHB-1 and CHB-2 (2018 editions) We've added a new video studio and are adding new videos to our Youtube channel twice a week. They will be a mix of things (jams, talks etc) Here is Scott Whitley and I talking about the SWB and how we came to make it. And here is Danny Sapko playing on the very first ever CHB that we made. Finally we are releasing our new Bassmosphere Pedal soon. It's boutique designed Chorus/Reverb pedal. Manufactured in China and sold for the price of £62 (plus the usual "basschat" discount). Anybody who wants to come and play some bass (and drums) or just bring your band into our studio to do a song - get in touch. Thanks! Will add to this thread as new stuff happens.

Whilst I`m not exactly keen on bands playing for nothing, sometimes, when starting out on the originals circuit it`s one of those things that has to be done. You either get 5 paid gigs a year, or you take a punt on a few more unpaid as well, knowing you`re expanding your audience/merch sales/fan-base. Additionally, and in regards to the op, they agreed to play for nothing. Now irrespective of whatever any other band is getting, if you make an agreement you should stick with it imo. Again, not wonderful but you can gain a reputation as trustworthy, which can work in your favour - it`s how we`ve done things. An example of this is we were playing Gateshead on a Friday night, Blackpool on the Sat night afterwards. A big gig in Glasgow was offered to us at very short notice. So we did all three, doing an early afternoon Glasgow set, we wouldn`t bin the small Blackpool gig for the better Glasgow one. It was knackering, but in honouring our commitments it further cemented our reputation as a band that can be trusted.And the band is now self-funding, we don`t take any money from it but it pays for all recording/merch/hotels/flights/ferries/van & driver hire etc. But if we`d binned all the early unpaid gigs I wonder if we`d be in that position now.

You know I’m just messing with you Al

This is looking very tasty Ref the headstock veneer - if I get time tomorrow I'll do a quick A-Z of how I iron on veneer rather than clamp. Great thing is that it gives pretty much instant results and you can see what you're doing. I did a live demo of the technique at the Midlands Bass Bash.

I essentially picked up a yamaha gigmaster kit for about £60 (gumtree - parents desperate to sell a poorly thought out xmas gift lol) and a yamaha electronic kick, hihat and ride cymbal from ebay for £55. The module I use is a Megadrum which I use to trigger Superior Drummer on a laptop. To convert the toms I used some cone triggers i picked up from ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-pak-drum-trigger-replacement-DIY-foam-cone-Convertible-Percussions-/152148530322 They're nothing more complex than a piezo and a little foam cone but thery're really very good. I followed this technique The cymbals are pretty simple with two piezos on each, some thick clear 3m sticky back plastic (the stuff some people put on their cars to prevent stone chips) and a little plastic box inside which I wire the piezos to a jack. There are some far more advanced ways of doing this to allow cymbal choking etc. Try this for an idea (sorry the guy is pretty annoying but its a good demo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npnuaguzq6Y Any questions just ask. I'm really looking into a 2box drummit 5 module so we can work live without the laptop but it might mean a bit of work needed on the cymbal set up and a better hihat system. More often than not, if we have to use it for gigs we use a real hihat and ride cymbal as they are so much better than any of the edrum conversions I've been able to sort.

I took a picture of it for someone else, and it seems to work ok visually. So I did some other stuff, I got some veneer, spent a bit of time fitting it, overnight glueing etc, and then removed the clamps to reveal: Ok, so that didn't work and I peeled and sanded it off again! I finished the holes, and redid the lower horn as a friend of mine pointed out the angle was wrong, even though it didn't really matter (it isn't a clone), I decided to route it out a bit more: I bought a bit of rosewood as I decided I wanted a bit of contrast for the electronics cover. Not done that perfectly but I am pretty happy with it: And finally, bought some Stunning Stain from Crimson Guitars in crimson red and a black concentrate so I can mix them. This is what the red looks like after a coat, so I think that is what it is going to be done in, maybe a bit darker at the edge

It's the way things are going certainly and round our way there are a LOT of acoustic om nights. A lot of the bedroom warriors need to learn how to project a song and entertain an audience, but I've seen some stand out performances from singer/guitarists or on one occasion a ukulele duo! If it keeps live music in places that would otherwise not bother, I think it's a good thing as long as the quality is there

With no pay there's no Contract. I wouldn't play

Ron's answer to the question at 45:59 reminds me of a passage in Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance where Robert Pirsig wrote that when on the road he would check the bike over every morning . He had done it so many times that just the act of laying out his tool roll on the seat had become the ritual that readies his mind to see the state of the machine as it really is . With peace of mind gained about the equipment he is then able to enjoy the moment .

It's the same material (3mm cast Acrylic). The flipside to having great optical clarity is that it does have some reflections but not that you'd notice in any of the playing environments my screen protecctor has been in over the past few months - indoors with lots of stage lights and outdoors. I'm just finishing off the design for the Helix Floor model as well ready for prototyping

An excellent thread! For me the sound I like comes almost entirely from the bass itself. Pedals to some degree too, but that’s only to provide sounds which would be impossible to achieve with the the bass alone. I never really found “the tone in my head” until playing a Yamaha BB1025x a couple of years ago. It was grin inducing in a way that I’d never experienced from a bass before. Since then I’ve made sure I have at least one P-style bass in my arsenal. A recent discovery is that I have a lot of love for MM humbuckers too - they seems to cut through certain mixes better than a P, yet retain a degree of fullness often lacking from soloed Jazz pups. I’ve found my MTD Super 5 (dual coil-switchable MM buckers) to be the perfect Neo-Soul/R&B machine. Smooth and deep yet defined and cuts through a mix surprisingly well. Once upon a time I might have been in the camp of having “my sound” and sticking with it regardless of the context but now I think of myself as a bit more of a tonal chameleon. I’ll play the bass with the tonal configuration that works best for the music at the time. As has been said, though, the goalposts do shift if you’re in a covers band vs an originals band. I’m not in a band at all, so I suppose I play covers by default! In summary, I guess I don’t always know the bass sound I want immediately but I do know that I want the bass itself to be the primary factor and that I don’t want the amp to be colouring the sound at all. Those are the only two constants.

I bought one of those new years ago for £365, couple of surprising quality issue with loose pots and wobbly input that wouldn't tighten... That tone though! I've never been as satisfied with a tone before or since that bass...

+1 to the above as starters, just to get the principle established. Nylon-tipped sticks won't help (they're what I use exclusively, but they're no more quiet than wooden-tipped...). Another 'ruse' might be to get him to use Vic Firth hickory sticks. If he's a hard hitter, he'll soon get tired of 'em busting..!

Good, dynamic drumming, at any appropriate volume, is largely a question of technique. The real solution, if the bloke is up to it, is a good, competent drum prof to teach how to get the best from the kit, in all styles, at all volumes needed. It won't be over-night, but it' the 'real deal'. Meanwhile, there are solutions that work, but always, as usual, with a downside. Hot rods..? A very useful tool, indispensable in some styles, but a 'heavy hitter' will probably trash 'em pretty darned quick; they're not the strongest sticks around. This could cause budget issues, as they're not cheap, either. Worth a try, but not much to gain, without restraint from the fellow, I'd say. Drum screen..? Excellent as a solution, but very expensive, much stage footprint lost and one heck of a 'faff' in intimate venues. Worthwhile if the cost, weight and space are not an issue; I fear it'd be tiring over time, though. When I was playing in folk-rock bands, 'back in the day', I made up a set of covers from linen sheets and knicker elastic (don't ask how I acquired that..! ) to slip over the drum heads, a bit like a shower cap. That certainly muffled the drums (I've never been a 'lumberjack', but we were rehearsing and playing in very quiet venues...). The sound of the kit was, of course, radically changed, so if big, expansive 'Queen'-type toms are required, it won't fit the bill, but it may be worth trying (cover the heads with a cut-up tee-shirt to see if the tone is workable..?). Drum lessons, though. That's the secret. Technique, learned, as quickly as possible from a good teacher, that's my 'top tip'. Good luck with it; it sounds as if he's worth it. Keep us posted as to progress, please..?

Thought I'd start a thread on my next builds, a pair of Les Paul like basses or my take on them. They will be made entirely from quarter sawn African Mahogany (FSC sourced) painted black nitro and both using Rocklite finger boards, one in Ebano and the other in Sunadri or ebony and Indian Rosewood substitutes. Other items to be used will be Mojo Thunderbird pickups for at least one of them, dual action truss rods, Warwick 2 piece bridge and Hipshot ultralite tuners. There will be mother of pearl inlays on the fingerboard and headstock along with Rocklite Ebano veneers. I'm not in any great hurry to finish these so i may take a while but so far other than buy some bits I have started wood preparation. The neck laminates have been ripped and stacked and will be left for a while to relieve stresses, the body timbers have been rough planed to an oversize dimension again to allow it to settle a little before planing to size and gluing together. So they are currently sat resting on top of my bench until I'm ready to plane the neck laminates and glue them. As that seems a very poor start let me introduce you to my tiny workshop and a basic list of what's in it Most importantly my bench, 10" Saw bench, 14" band saw, 10" planer thicknesser, router table, drill press, 12" disc sander, oscillating bobbin sander. Beyond that there are power tools, loads of hand tools hidden away and a dedicated sharpening station tucked away in the corner behind the bench. Being so small it's very difficult to keep clean and tidy so I apologise for the dust and the mess

Hi all, I'm not a bassist myself, but my wonderful partner plays both electric and double bass so I guess I could be a bass widow? I'm taking a big risk posting here as I know he reads these forums regularly but hopefully he won't catch on. He is amazing, musically and as a partner. Before I met him I was shy and nervous but because of his love and support I have written and recorded an album, won a songwriting competition and performed at several festivals. The last year has been incredibly hard for me but he has been my rock, so loving and so supportive. I couldn't have made it through without him. His birthday is coming up and I want to get him something really special to show how thankful I am both to and for him. But I don't know where to start! My initial thought was whether there were any respected bassists that I could arrange a lesson with, or something like that. But I'm looking for any ideas or advice on something to get him that he would love but also not guess I would be capable of choosing. I have a decent amount of money to play with so let me have it! I should mention he plays the double bass more than the electric and tends to play country/bluegrass above anything else. I'm looking forward to your suggestions and thanks for letting me join! (And let's just hope he doesn't see this as it's pretty obvious it's him isn't it!) Thanks all! SD Xxxx

I use one of these: http://www.radialeng.com/bigshotio.php Simple, robust and nicely put together. Basically one signal is adjustable to match the straight through item. Put the hot bass through the channel with the pot.

Decided to take the original screws out as the were only 6mm long and replace them with longer to give a bit more grip and include a flat washer and a spring washer rattling has ceased

Like this you mean?

There's doing it for free for a good cause or a good promoter then there's doing it for free for a womble promoter for free when all the other bands are being paid. The promoter might ask the band to all write "mug" on their heads before they go on at whatever time he decides on the day.

The decal arrived today, so I applied that this afternoon. Rothko & Frost have again supplied a high quality product at a fair price and with good service. I know others have had less successful experiences with them but I have no complaints, perhaps I’ve been lucky or they’ve been unlucky? Anyway, it looks great. I chose silver for the main part of the logo as I knew I’d be putting a mist coat of amber tint on it which would golden it up a bit. I signed and numbered the back of the headstock again too, as with the Bruno bass I recently completed. My little daughter Dulcie for whom the bass is named didn’t sign it, like her big brother did on his namesake instrument; she can’t hold a pen yet! I don’t think I’m going to bother clear coating or polishing, the nitro has buried the decal and hidden the edges well and looks nice and vintage, so I think I’ll just leave it as it is and see how it wears / ages naturally. In retrospect it’s just slightly darker than I’d have preferred; next time I’ll do fewer coats of tint before adding the decal, or use clear nitro for the final coats. I’ll let it rest overnight, give it a very light sanding tomorrow, reassemble the bass and hopefully give it a go at band rehearsals tomorrow.

Hi, Christine I've used that bridge in a couple of my own builds so if you hit any stumbling blocks, just give a shout. This is one of them:

That bass bar looks good: I’m going to enquire about it. Thanks for the tip guys. r

On the gigs we've played when everything is too loud, our drummer used to put foam rubber discs inside his drums. They were 2" which and cut just larger than the diameter of the drum that they were pushed into. Worked a treat! Mind you, all the drums only had single heads so made it very easy. The snare just had a tea towel over the top head, that worked well as well. Now however things are different. He recently got one of these. Absolutely brilliant!!! Loud enough but not too loud and so easy to transport. Recommend every drummer to at least give them a try, they'll be impressed!

Bass needs more power from an amp to create a better sound. I'd start at 500 watts not because I need to be loud but because I want a clean powerful sound at whatever volume the band plays at. If you've been out of bass playing for the last 10 years, you might have noticed that the bass world has changed. You can still buy the old stuff, but it really is the old stuff. Modern bass gear is smaller, lighter, louder and sounds light years better than the average stuff of years gone by. I'd look in the BC classifieds (because you can find great gear at a good price) and look at separates because you can change your mind about your sound (and you will) an be able to upgrade each piece individually.

I was fortunate enough to have a few prompts throughout my time as a bass player. Tone 1: John Entwistle's clanking Precision tone on The Who Live at Leeds, Live at the IoW 1970, etc - drove me towards Precision-type basses and valve amps. Tone 2: John Entwistle's more rounded-but-still-wonderfully-articulate Thunderbird tone circa Quadrophenia / Who by Numbers - inspired initial purchase of EB-3, which I felt outperformed the Epi 'birds at the same price point, and later an actual Gibson Thunderbird. Tone 3: John Entwistle's enormous 8-string bass tone on songs such as Success Story and Trick of the Light - OK, I'm never going to make my Hagstrom sound like a custom-built Alembic, but it's been a good starting point. Unfortunately, along came Tone 4...and as far as I'm aware, The Ox never played fretless, so I've had to look to other sources with that. But it's been a very enjoyable exploration.

Probably why I never go out of my way to listen to the house mix. Blue

Given the scale of the bass it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It is quite thick compared to most, but as long as you get your geometry correct it should be fine. Especially given the skills you've already demonstrated

If the folks who’ve posted tracks here would like to migrate them there that’d be lovely.

I've forced myself to take another look and you're right - he was hiding behind Kimball's not inconsiderable bulk! No idea why they gave the solo to the bass player then...

Would that be a Police record? Ouch... Coat got...

I hadn't heard of Hot Rods so I googled it to see what they were... Found a thread on a drummers discussion board answering an identical question about being too loud for smaller venues, and one of them honestly suggests that to be quieter on stage the offending drummer should mic up his kit because that way they can turn the volume down through the PA

Nice to see Diego Maradona keeping himself busy on BVs!

Here's mine again...

I've tried a few preamps for DB and always seem to go back to the FDeck Clone. Has a great buffer and the useful HPF and phase switch. You can get them made in several forms and are pretty cheap.

I've always thought East 17's Stay Another Day is sparse enough to cover in a variety of styles- one to make your own.

It's bad enough seeing the first Christmas ads on the box in September, now you've gone and started it in May I'm tempted to lock and hide this thread.

Reading the song lyrics onstage is a bit like an actor going out on stage holding the playbook.

Aye. It's tuneless, derivative, poorly played and entirely lacking in emotion or creativity.

I've been using - and I've been very impressed with - a Bergantino B Amp. Very/increasingly flexible, around 800w, will go down to 2 and 2.7ohms. Fully parametric eq, studio quality DI, VR compression, cab profiles (if you use Bergs but good with others), very nicely designed and great build, presets/memory function, very punchy and very loud (if you need that). Light too at around 6.5lbs. Not the cheapest option but an extremely impressive amp in all respects (IMO)

My first build was also adding a body to a commercially bought neck - it's a great way of starting Welcome to the world of the highly driven but sightly crazy

Back on topic, should I be excited that PMT are now open in London, given the numerous other stores located in and around the capital? Am I missing something?