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The Mrs just showed me this on Reddit, so I found it on YouChoob to share.

Back in the early 90s I was in a punk-funk band. We thought we were going places, had headlined the Marquee, supported Carter USM and Gaye Bykers on a number of occasions, when our drummer left. So we advertised for one; we had a number of assorted chancers who couldn't play, or didn't have their own gear and expected us to buy it for them, then a Dutch guy turned up... He had long hair, denim, was obviously from the 70s (!) and didn't really fit in with us (mohicans etc) but wasn't a bad drummer. His only problem was a tendency to put the "EastEnders"/Phil Collins drum bit into everything, but we felt we could perhaps funk him up a bit. He turned up for the 1st rehearsal with his girlfriend. Who was called Janine (you know where this is going!). We started teaching him our songs, and she kept stopping us to say things like "I fink the guitarist should do a little peggio there", or "what this song needs Is a flutey sound on the keyboard". We politely declined all her suggestions, then she said she'd do a better job than Mikey, our manager (and m8 of many years), and she could get us a great gig in her local pub... We managed to struggle through 1 gig with him before he left to (as she said) "join a proper rock band".

We picked up our 735A cabs for £900 the pair in mint condition, that included quality covers and a pair of pricey winch stands (£115 each online), we also got our matching Art subs for just over £500 for the pair, again with quality covers. Surprisingly we found them on a PA selling page rather than a bass forum, they tend to be more popular there! I dare say you'll find quite a few for sale on PA/DJ forums and probably on metal guitar forums too.

I think this is actually the most annoying thing in the world (first world, that is). Nothing worse than having to push and pull your playing to try and keep a crap drummer somewhere near the beat. Makes the whole business of playing bass a terrible chore, instead of the great pleasure that it should be.

Just to clarify, there shouldn't be any RCF worship here - the word RCF could be replaced with any competitor brand... Yamaha, QSC, EV whatever... HOWEVER when it comes to the RCF 735 and 745... they are stand out cabs because of these things - VC size and resultant performance of the drivers and the horns that they are used are not used in any other ABS cabs - they are only usually found in wooden cabs. VC size and resultant performance of the drivers and the horns that they use are not found in any other cabs at this price point. VC size and resultant performance of the drivers and the horns that they use are not found in any other cabs of this weight. Smaart shows the DSP to be a true FRFR with a pink noise test - and these cabs will actually handle so much lows that a lot of users could (and do) use them without a sub. So those two cabs in particular are cabs that should not exist - and therefore are worthy of mention because for the reasons above, they smack all others (comparable but ultimately non comparable) into the ground. Are RCF the cabs the best in the PA world? No. Far from it. Are the 735 and 745 the best compared to their non-existent competition? I'd say so. If that makes them flavour of the month, I'd say given the reasons above, it's fully justifiable.

Only ever done one audition, way back in the 60s, when I sat behind a kit. Not an audition from Hell, but it turned out fine for me. I answered an ad for a drummer wanted for a re-forming showband, there were three or four blokes turned up, which were quickly reduced to just two of us. We were using the band's old drummer's kit for the auditions, but chatting it transpired that the other bloke and me both had identical kits, red silk Premier, and he was left handed, so set his up as a mirror image of mine. Well, it was a showband, (sax etc) so they decided to offer us both the job, to have two drummers, and left it to us to get together to swap notes etc. When I phoned him to arrange, his dad answered, and told me in no uncertain terms that his son wasn’t going to be one of two drummers, and he, Dad, would make sure his son got the gig. I phoned the band leader, who said he’d just heard from the Dad, and was about to phone me, to ask if I’d have any problem being 1 of 2, to which I replied no problem. In that case you’ve got the job, he said.......

They love it, since it's far smaller than my previous rigs and takes up less space in the band van. It sounded great at the first rehearsal and the sound has been getting even better with every tweak I make to the various patches. These days I'm playing what could be best described as post-punk/gothic music which is a modern take on 80s influences, so unconventional is the order of the day. TBH (apart from short stint playing covers) The Terrortones are by far the most conventional band I've ever been in and they would have probably been OK with this too. I got a few worried looks from the bass player of the band that supported us at the last gig, but I plugged him into the Helix and was about to run through some of my patches to find a suitable sound, but he thought the first patch was fantastic and that was that.

I'm keeping myself busy at the moment with this. Bwahaaahhaaa!!

It's back on eBay!! The BGM award winning bass. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F132586830399 Another high quality well worded ad by the seller. At least they haven't called it an Elwood this time......

Guildford, early 2000's Not exactly an audition... A mate who had a band, mainly with people he knew through work, had booked a gig without really considering that they didn't actually have a bass player. They didn't play very much and I'd never seen them, but he had a knack of playing pubs near work on Friday nights so their mates (apart from me) and everybody they worked with would come along, the pub would sell a lot of beer and the band would go down pretty well. He was the BL, and being a mate I said that I'd come down to a practice, see if we gelled, and assuming no disasters I'd cover for the gig... The lead guitarist had been to GIT in LA and had lessons from Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. The BL, on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, was a triumph of enthusiasm over talent. Quite a contrast. The drummer had previously left the band to move to Spain with his wife, but having found out that she'd been cheating on him almost as soon as the plane landed, was back a year later, in a slightly fragile emotional state. It was difficult to tell if he was any good as he hadn't played the drums since moving to Spain, and was extremely rusty. There was also a female singer who did BVs and a couple of lead vocals, who was OK, not spectacular. That the drummer very obviously fancied. Really not subtle at all. And despite her being happily married. The previous bass player was someone at work who liked the idea of being in a band and owned a bass from when he was younger, but now had better things to do. I'd got a list of half a dozen covers to learn, some unusual choices but fairly mid-paced rock from the Beatles to Radiohead, nothing too trying, all in the original keys. This'll be fun... It rapidly became apparent that the position of BL was purely ceremonial, with no actual leading going on. If everybody started and stopped in more or less the same place, it was a success as far as he could see. the main problem was both his very average guitar playing, and his below par vocals. The odd song would be in the right key for him, and it wouldn't sound bad, but most of them weren't, so rather than changing the key, or letting the girl take those ones, he would screech his way through. And think he'd done a great job. We rush through the covers and the BL wants to move on. I suggest that we weren't sounding very good, how about we work on some of the issues...I politely point out a few parts where the drums were out and the BL played the wrong thing at various points, and it's really lacking in any dynamics... The drummer takes this OK, and apologises that he's a bit rusty, plus the previous bass player wasn't really one for any dynamics (his strength seemed to have been playing the root note of whatever chord the BL was playing) so he's not used to the bass trying to do any more than that. The BL concedes that he isn't playing all of his parts correctly, what with some of them being quite tricky for his standard of playing, and made more complicated because he is singing at the same time, but he thought he'd covered them OK and I'd only noticed because I'd been listening to the songs to learn the bass parts, nobody in the crowd would spot it. I also pointed out that a lot of the vocals would be better if we changed the keys to better suit his voice. Or did different songs that were better suited to his voice. He actually took that very well because he knew when his voice was straining, and was genuinely interested in the idea, but thought it wasn't worth trying right then as he'd need to go away and work on which keys were the right ones. Fair point. The BL insisted that we'll be fine with another couple of practices, and he wants to move on because he's written some songs and wanted the band to focus on playing those at future gigs rather than just covers. He shows the band how they go and we work our way through them. They are all dreadful. Nobody else in the band seems very enthusiastic, but out of politeness nobody says anything, so the BL thinks that they are dead keen to play them. The lead guitarist seemed completely bored, so I had a chat with him during a break. He knew exactly how bad the band was, but like me, the BL was a good mate, and with a couple of very young kids and a wife who clearly wore the pants in his house, this was his one excuse to get out and play his guitar. they didn't play very much, and he was happy to remain at a very low level weekend warrior level. We ran through the set, such as it was, one more time. the drummer was even worse, the girl has joined the lead guitarist in looking very bored, possibly because she is clearly the best singer in the band but only has a couple of lead vocals and none in the new songs, and only the BL is showing any sign of enjoying himself. He's given me a lift to the studio, and on the way back he asks me how I think it's gone, and would I be interested in joining full time rather than just doing the one gig? Didn't seem to mind in the slightest that I'd spent the night telling them how bad they were (actually, I did try to do it as positively as possible), my bass playing is a definite improvement on the previous incumbent and the band was sounding really good... I politely decline, say that it's not really for me but I'll do the gig if he wants me to. But I am not really very keen. He rings me the following day to say that the girl singer has decided that she'd rather stay in with her hubby than come to any more practices, certainly while the drummer was still there.. They could cope with that by cutting the couple of songs that she sings lead vocals on, but probably wouldn't need to as the drummer had decided that he wasn't in any state to be playing in a band at that time so couldn't commit to anything. They wouldn't find a new drummer in time for the gig, so it was off and I never had to return.

Nah! All educational banter. Cam and I are good buddies. He's just taller, better looking and a better singer than me. However, despite that I'm in two much better bands than he's in! And I have a massive amount of respect for the other guys I've been exchanging views with, although I might not always have had the time when crafting a quick reply to be showing it! +1 Let (polite) free speech reign. Besides @JSB is clearly a big fan of my Markbass combo so maybe I can sell my DG M900 and Vanderkley cab and spend the money on an FRFR

When the band can turn up on time, I'll then consider a metronome!

No, its a ballache!!

Our drummer *is* a metronome. His tempo is so consistent I was recently able to mix and match bits of the multitrack from three different takes of the same song. Was impressed.

Hooray! New strings have completely solved the problem. The Warwick Black labels arrived so I fitted those. Not only can I get the E-string action down with the others, I have been able to lower the action on all the strings by quite bit as well. Not sure if it is just a one off rogue E-string, or if this is a systematic problem with the 'Red labels'. Tension in the black labels seems slightly higher than in the Reds. They seem slightly brighter than the Reds, which may well be because they're new, but fundamentally sound much the same. Physically the Black label B and E strings have a significantly finer outer winding than the Reds. The only thing I'm not yet convinced by is that the Blacks have a taper wound B string. It seems to sound a bit 'hollow' compared to the original (non tapered) Reds. BUt whether that is the taper or something else I really don't know. Newtones are on the way and I'll report on those when they're fitted. Thanks for all your suggestions on this.

Hi all. In my 74th year and still playing, I have never really recovered from the theft of my '77 Stingray some 15 years ago. I used to be a "one bass guy" but since that time I have never really felt so "at home" again and have been through a handful of basses since, though choice limited by pension and her indoors. I did manage to land a year of issue Sabre bass from US but it didn't quite hit the button. So.......... the purpose of this thread is to ask if anyone out there has been able to A/B a pre EB S'Ray with a post EB S'Ray and their conclusions. The date of any compared basses would be useful. I know I should be over this by now, they are only peaces of wood, but heart refuses to be ruled by head !!

I was interested to read elsewhere in this parish of drummers who use metronomes in practice and on stage. These are of course gigging musicians. I hesitate to use the term professional since its meaning has been severely diluted in recent years and it does not serve well for this topic. To me it makes sense for the drummer to use it as opposed to the bassist but since both roles are crucial for the rhythmic drive of a band, others may have an alternative view. I am referring mainly to the use of metronomes (as opposed to the click) when performing. I assume that no bassists do this on stage. Correct me if I am wrong please. ***** At home, I am very weak willed when it comes to practice with a metronome. I have a few of them. Most of them are bundled with tuners in pocket sized devices powered by battery. To access either the tuner or the metronome functions I have to press and hold a button for a few seconds. Further, I have to cycle the time signature options and if I miss the one I am looking for, I have to go around again. This is so off-putting that I seldom bother unless I have a specific reason. The result is that I don't spend enough of my practice time with a metronome. It's shameful of me to be so neglectful. This morning I have taken my grandfather's (latterly my father's) clockwork metronome off the shelf and I will put it in my practice area for easy access. Standing alone and with no other responsibilities than to keep time, I am optimistic that I will use it more than the others. My tuner need only work as a tuner and its nested functions can rest in peace forever. There are no wires or batteries, just a winder for the mainspring in the mechanism. I have removed the excuses that bundled devices allow me to get out of jail with, so to speak. I am optimistic that I will get more use from this metronome than the others. It's also a lovely bit of kit if all I ever do is look at it. Wish me luck. PS: I'd love to see one like mine being used by a drummer even if it is out of sight of the audience. Then again I would like to see a world united by peace and the pursuit of a Winter home in a new solar system. Silly me.

@Al Krow if you get a 735A you know you are going to need a Yamaha BB735A to go with it!

Indeed - carrying a dumb bell is easier than carrying a similar weight javelin.

Surely that's more a "jazzy guitarist" than a "funky guitarist"?

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This is a lot more common than you'd think. The responsibility for keeping time is shared by the whole band, it's not all up to the drummer. It's difficult enough finding people who can play (and aren't nuts), but finding people who can play, who aren't nuts AND have natural rhythm, great feel and good timing is a real mission. But this is one of the main differences between a really good band and the thousands of bands out there who are, er... not quite as good.

Try hot air, heat gun or hair dryer, to tighten the cloth.

We don't play with backing tracks. We do play with a click when required. When is it required? When we have the synth player playing synth patches with arpeggios or samples being triggered that are beat dependent. It's not cheating - as unlike backing tracks, we can go round verses, choruses, bridges until the cows come home. We are not limited by the playback of a backing track. At one point, I was syncing MIDI across the stage for patch changes and being able to trigger different tempos (so we are still not bound by a song structure) - but ultimately, it was overkill, extra complication and another thing to go wrong. It also depends on the drummer... a great drummer can groove to a click and push and pull the tempo around that click. Hell, I use three drummers regularly and they all share a common pad with all the notation (they are all theatre show drummers) - makes learning new songs really easy for them... they just turn up and read.

Our drummer can count a song in one tempo and then start playing it at a completely different one. Add to that an ability to slow down to a virtual standstill at various points - you get the picture. Drives me effing nuts at times and it's incredibly difficult to keep going at the right tempo, especially since he doesn't seem to notice. When we listen to recordings he'll often say 'We slowed down a bit there'. 'I've told him over and over it's not 'We'. Rant over.

Not paying attention to the bass player is the most prevalent amateur band crime in the UK, currently.

I've learned some valuable lessons over the years... Glasgow, ten years ago maybe. I was looking for a new band and had put an ad in Scumtree and got contacted by a dude. Let's call him Robert. They were putting together a new covers band and just needed a bass player. They were all experienced, mature musicians, was I interested? I explained that I probably wasn't as experienced as them but had been gigging a lot with the usual suspect covers and should be fine. So Robert says, "great come along to our next rehearsal and we'll see how we go". I asked him for a list of songs. He replied, "don't worry about that. Everything we do are standards (sic.) so you'll know most or, at worst, some of them". Should have seen the big red warning light there. Got to the rehearsal, three guys much older than me (and I'm not that young) turns out all were peripatetic music teachers and had years of experience. Oh well, it's never been a bad thing playing with people better than me. Starts calling out songs. One after the other. Never heard of them. Who is that by? Who? Played a bit of each one. Not a clue. Whatever a "standard" is it clearly isn't "Wishing Well" or "Freebird". "Not to worry - we'll try some and I'll shout you the chords - see what you can do". So he starts playing and making these weird hand gestures at me. I stand there looking - rabbit in headlights. "What are you doing?". Turns out that there is some convention of hand signals for chords? Never heard of it. Never seen it before. Never since. Packed up and left. Lesson learned

Every song has its perfect tempo at which everything just works properly. Don't use a metronome in my current band, though the drummer is great and has a creditable stab at tempi off the top of his head. No great need to change that under the circumstances. When I was in a pro touring band the drummer had a digital metronome connected to an earpiece and had the set's tempi programmed into it. A few seconds listening before each number, a quick count-in and we were away. Works really well. At a gig it's difficult to spontaneously play everything at the pace it should be.

I've just ordered a pair from David at Retrovibe for £85.

I approve of this setup!

I know your comment wasn't completely serious, but in 40+ years of playing in bands I've never once come across this attitude outside of this forum (i.e. in real life).

I know...!

Agree entirely. In my experience it is only the people who don't know or care to learn any theory who use the .."it stunts your creativity" concept. I have never come across anyone who abandoned theory because of the same argument.. ANY knowledge is never a waste of time.

Ummmm - yes you can. You just turn your bass volume down. Most Clip on tuners work by sensing the frequency through vibration.

And then worked with George Martin who DID study music. The 'music theory stunts your creativity ' argument is a justification. Any knowledge empowers you. A lack of knowledge will not improve creativity, it will be irrelevant to it.

I love the idea of a couple of pedals, but in practice I know at a gig they would stress me out and add more complications and more chances for things to go wrong. In all honesty I barely even use my amp settings, it’s mostly flat and my stingray does my small EQ tweaks.

Well, I've enquired. Let's see where this goes...

I think one of the things with KISS is that due to their flamboyance many think they can`t cut it musically. Fair enough, but on some of the tracks I`ve heard - am not a particular fan - when Gene Simmons` basslines have been pointed out, well I think he`s better than given credit for.

for a start, he opens with "respectfully", so he's not being as much of an chocolate starfish as people are making out. It's just his opinion based on his (no small) experience. I like Kiss, as they're a band with a mid-level talent, but great showmanship who have undoubtedly left their mark. I wonder if the Kiss naysayers are a touch jealous a la Adam Clayton.

Depends what it is? Brass strap buttons? Just replace like for like with new versions, and leave the originals in the case, then give the new owner the choice if you decide to sell. Shouldn't affect the value if the holes aren't altered. Even on a vintage Fender, which I'm assuming this isn't, if a part is no longer functional, then you need to replace it. If your concerned about original appearances, try and be as sympathetic as possible with the replacement bits. Simple as that.