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My son with his new customised bass.........Got it for his birthday and has another metallic green 5 string Squier Standard (jazz pups etc) waiting as a surprise. He's been playing around 6 weeks and is in a young band that could easily blow many experienced groups off the planet - they're as tight as a very tight thing...!! Enjoys loads of music, but loves the Chili Peppers - When they were good (with John Frusciante....) - so decided to play this piece...... It's a short clip, but he's on it...... It's a Squier Affinity with Fender Mex pickups, custom plate, new Fender nut and electronic tweeks........ Blows my mind when I think how many more years he's got as well.........

Someone said their singer turns up early and sets up the lights and PA. I nearly fell off my seat. Surely it's the bass player's job to design and print posters, put ads up on Facebook, drive the van, own and set up the lights and PA, buy a wireless system so he can do a bit of a soundcheck from out front, keep an eye on the time for starting and finishing, and then organise the breaking down and packing of everything afterwards? Singers are supposed to turn up and spend half an hour extending their mic stand.

Arguably, strings that weren't noisy would be pointless ...

Early AND brings the PA - that singer's a keeper!

Never let anyone dictate which bass or amp you should be using - they have NO idea.

Perhaps you should change to flats ?

I don't think he's a bass player. He say's he's got professional gear and reliable transport. Next he's gonna say he's got a girlfriend.

Our two guitarists are so confident these days they gaze at eachother's shoes rather than their own.

I'm thinking that this could have been phrased better. Maybe not.

Yep, that's happened to bands I've been in. Often more like 10 minutes after than 30 seconds before the first number starts, too.

How about these? I'm not sure if they would work that well - in fact they might make burger all difference...

More like thirty seconds before the first number starts, staggering drunk. Male singers can be even worse.

Arrived today. Worryingly it was left on my front doorstep by FedEx for approx 5 hours in plain sight. Bloody lucky it was still there when I got home. Plays lovely, sounds great (the aguilar pups are everything I'd hoped for) BUT!!!!! There's no luminlays. They're on my spec sheet and I paid 40 euros extra for them but they're not there. Gutted. Have emailed Adrian so will see what the response is. It may sound petty but I definitely want them fitted.

Got one. She's never missed a gig and even operates the lighting desk when required. Dave

Yes, well... it so happened that the drummers in question were annoying, anti-social idiots whose drumming skills were questionable. Had they been pleasant, considerate people with a great sense of rhythm, things may have been very different.

Everybody in the band has a car. Two members have stopped drinking. This helps me immensely. Not only can I now get bladdered but I get a lift with the PA too! Only took 40 years to get this far!

Me and the drummer in my van. The others can sort themselves out. BTW any working musicians who want ridiculously good deals on van leasing, insurance and free tax advice, debt collection etc etc should seriously consider joining The Federation Of Small Businesses. Vanarama quoted me £260 a month for the van on a basic lease and FSB got me the exact same van on a fully maintained lease (servicing tyres etc) for £170 a month. Membership is £160 a year and the benefits are great. (I'm not affiliated in any way - just a happy customer).

Generally drive there and drive back in my car. I have considered getting a van but it's surprising what you can get in a 206. Everything my band needs apart from drum stands. I let the drummer haul that.

I think the lack of comunication isn't a cultural or age thing. It's lack of maturity as a musician and a lack of knowing how to be in a band playing music with other people.

That would be perfect. Which doesn't explain why I'll be driving 200 plus miles each way for a gig over Easter! One problem is that I'm in a band where if everyone drove towards each other for a maximum of 70 miles, some of us still wouldn't meet up!

Sorry to be late to the party (it's been a manic week! lol) I think the OP did the right thing in approaching the lead member of the band. A personal chat is far better than a text when you decide to leave a band And you did the right thing, if the music was just not for you. Nothing worse than being stuck in a band who aren't particularly pals, and you don't enjoy the music. But on a positive note - you got to do some work which was outside your usual "genre" - nothing wrong with that - we all need to step outside our usual boundaries once in a while... It does our playing no harm. Plus, you got to compose your own basslines - which is very different from learning other peoples' basslines, and replicating them.... no bad thing Blue, I've quoted you above, because I really like the sentiment behind your statement here - that and the fact you seem to have given up a regular nice to five type job and salary, for music, which is obviously something you enjoy As you say, if you can get paid for something you enjoy - you're never really "at work" Good on you sir!

Perfectly understandable. We're all different. I understand how gigging a lot can work for some and not others. I answer to no one and can sleep as late as I want. I'm single by design, as a matter of fact, I broke up with the last woman I dated because I knew she didn't get rock & roll or gigging. Our guitarists wife comes to every single gig with him, she's never missed a show in the 7 years I've been with the band. I asked her why; "Because I love watching my husband do something he loves" That's the kind of lady I need to meet. No woman is ever going to give me any type of grief about gigging. The money I earn from gigging means so much more to me than the salary I drew when I was a part of the traditional workforce. And I had a great paying career. I still feel that getting paid to have fun and do something you love is, well you can't beat it. Sure there's little inconveniences and every gig won't be great, but I still wouldn't trade away gigging for anything. I'm not important enough to hate any genre of music as long as it's professional and played well and I get paid to do it. I truly love this business and I love playing. BTW, sorry about the rant. Blue

The spark between musicians is where the magic lives. Playing without it is like being in a loveless marriage.

No... not an amp.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-DUMBLE-MADE-SPEAKER-LEAD-CABLE-FROM-1976/323129353022?hash=item4b3c02a33e:g:Tu0AAOSwmRNaok-9 A fool and their money and all that.

I installed a Wilkinson humbucker in my 4 string OLP and it was without saying a massive improvement over the original. Gave it a good setup as per the Ernie Ball website and set the pickup height. Now, I found I had four or five frets on the D string ( 4th to 8th) I hadn't really noticed with an 'after buzz' if I dug in too hard. Spent a good few hours going up and down with the string heights and forward and back with the relief all to no avail. I was more or less set to nip over to a luthier mate to have a little tickle with the frets when a sudden nagging thought about magnetic pull just wouldn't go away. Yep, the new pup had a bloody strong magnet which was dragging the D down enough to introduce fret buzz. Dropped the pup down 1mm more both sides and the stupid buzz has gone, albeit with the guitar volume now very slightly quieter thru the amp. So, without holding down strings at any fret, the E side is now 5mm from pole piece to underside of string and 4mm under the G with the strings set at 3/32" at the 12th fret. Dontcha just love it when something so simple works out just fine and dandy?

I'm liking this. Get your funk muscles ready. . . . fantastic band. . . Paul Turner. . . great bass. . . new album out in May. Sorry Sound comes up muted. Can't change that for some reason!!! You'll have to change that when you click on the clip.

You could always tell her you`re buying a DIY glider kit and the wings and tail section arrive next week ;-)

The advise of roughing up the guard first and then doing a very light cover first worked a treat.

A C120?? Are you crazy?

I do like a bright lass. Lucky lad.

Examples of the same bass line through each with a couple of variations ie low ratio 2:1 low threshold vs higher ratio 5:1 high threshold assorted attack release times would be awesome. Best of all in a mix! I realise this is probably not achievable but its actually the only thing that matters....

I thought you were a Les Dawson tribute act.

Sorry, but I've spent way too much time driving drummers and their drums around. Extremely irritating, especially when they don't even keep their drums at the place where they live! It's like they deliberately do it on purpose just to be annoying! And then, when they extract the urine by moaning, being totally ungrateful, not ever offering any contribution to petrol costs and then, on top of all that REFUSE TO BLOODY PLAY IN TIME, it makes me feel like chucking it all in, buying an accordion and playing it outside Sainsbury's.

Let's hope he can sing!

Every serious originals band that I have been a member of, has had a band van (or similar) normally with a driver/roadie. For local city centre gigs I usually get a taxi. It drops me and my gear off directly outside the venue (and if I know when the gig is going to be over I can pre-book it to pick me up again at the end of the evening). The cost both ways is about the same as parking a car for the evening and overall it's more convenient and a lot less stressful.

Of course if you don't like chicken you could try GHS Fast Fret https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/GHS-Fast-Fret-String-Lubricant-4oz/7CT?origin=product-ads&utm_campaign=*PLA+Shop+-+All+Products&utm_medium=vertical_search&network=google&adgroup=**All+Products&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=9533d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=29215885694&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIurjMnuv_2QIVSpPtCh0nIAmeEAQYASABEgJA7vD_BwE Other lubes are available

Stainless steel tend to be rougher to the touch than nickel, hence more finger noise, at least in my experience.

I don't understand this. I keep looking at my stash of strings on the shelf... they haven't made a noise for the past hour or so. maybe they're like dogs sometimes, the minute I leave the house they start making noise. I'll ask my neighbours...

I used to think that I'd like to do that, even if my income came down quite a bit. But then I enjoyed a busy summer, travelling up and down every weekend (not even the full week, but typically Friday lunchtime till Sunday silly late in the am - technically MOnday)... and I changed my mind. The 3 hours or so playing each night were great. I even didn't mind that I didn't always have my own room and had to share with a tractor (that's our guitarist, who snores like one)... but the WAITING AROUND was unbearable. I liked the guys, we got along great, but it felt we were stuck with nothing to do for far too long. Free beers are welcome, especially when it's warm... and coming home with a good wad of notes was great (even if it paid less than my day job, somehow that money seemed more valuable)... but it was BOOOOOOOORING for hours and hours each day. I really admire bands who are out touring all over the place for months at a time. I'd go crazy... I'd have to find a way to bring some kind of activity to my day... bring my bike so that I can cycle in each new place, I don't know... but even then... What I'd like is to be able to play good paying gigs within a 70 mile radius a few nights a week. The kind where I just drive and show an hour an a half beforehand to set up things, play, get money and go...

He`s a natural, great playing, really impressed by that.

Got them off of amazon - did a search and found a place in Germany doing them at about £7.84 per set, delivery extra so I bought 6 sets at once to keep costs down, 6 sets of strings for about £52, can`t go wrong with that.

Won't be long until he's teaching you! Great playing.

Bass sound check.

I had a listen a couple of days after I'd bookmarked your link above. Great harmonies, interesting composition. Do you perform or is it all online?

We like to collect stuff in pursuit of happiness; to fill voids in our lives; to recapture our childhoods; to construct the illusion of stability and security in an uncertain world and more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_collecting We dress it up in other ways, sure. But ultimately, we're all just a little bit insecure and afraid. Freud also thought it has something to do with potty training and pooing. I'm mentioning that purely for Mark's benefit

PMd thanks!

Not sure about the looks matching the sounds, but for very deep lows I`d be looking at a Thunderbird.