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This irrational dislike of Markbass based on the look is not shared by most bass players, 99% of bands and 100% of audiences.

Manchester...erm, mid-80s... Our drummer (in an originals-with-the-odd-cover 80s Rock Band) was about to become a Dad, and had reluctantly decided he'd have to shelve the rehearsals and gigging for a good while, so he'd stepped down, and we were on the urgent look-out for a replacement. As a thoroughly nice chap, and knowing we had gigs booked we needed to fulfil, he had even left his kit at the rehearsal rooms for new drummers to use, in part or whole, for the auditions. We organised a Sunday afternoon, with an hour slot for each drummer we'd contacted, and it started unremarkably, but then, second to last, was the standout. And not in a good way. He turned up in a six-wheel Transit, immediately earning about a thousand bonus points, but it became terribly clear that all this thing held was his kit...and there was little room for anything else. After refusing to use of any of the already-set-up kit, he began ferrying kit in. And more kit. And more kit. After ten minutes of watching boxes piling up, and with his end of the rehearsal room beginning to look like the dockside of the Queen Mary before a round the world jaunt, we volunteered to help, and then we all spent the next 45 minutes setting up a furry tigerskin-covered double-kick kit, with six raised toms, three floor toms, eight rototoms and so many cymbals we couldn't see him any more. As he tightened up the third china cymbal, I said "No gong, then?", and he froze, looking concerned. "I didn't bring it...should I have done?" I assured him it wouldn't count against him, and eventually, with about five minutes left of his allotted hour, he was ready. The singist had been forced to nip outside to intercept the last auditionee, apologise and ask him to bear with and go for a pint in the local for twenty minutes, and then our hero launched into the first intro, to a then-bog-standard Bon Jovi tune we'd decided would make a good starter audition song. Now, in 35 years of bands, I've never played in a freeform jazz ensemble, and I certainly hadn't back then, so I was unfamiliar with the five-count intro, and the thirteen-bar drum fill*, but this chap was clearly a master. We couldn't possibly fault him for brio, enthusiasm, and certainly energy...it was his counting which left quite a lot to be desired**. In addition, having taken so long to set up his mahoooosive kit, he was determined to hit every single drum and cymbal as often as he could, with scant regard for the song, or indeed the befuddlement he was creating amongst his prospective fellow band-members. I shall leave to your imagination the meal he made of the drawn-out ending, suffice to say Richard Wagner, had he been hanging around the rehearsal rooms (unlikely) and not dead for about a century (for once, fortunate), would probably have shaken his head and said something unflattering about bombast. In German. He finished by standing, his arms aloft and his eyes shining. Had that thing Usain Bolt does (not the running, the archery-arms thing) been around, he would have been doing that. We shuffled our feet, unable to maintain eye contact with him or each other, for fear of collapsing into hysterics. Eventually the singer thanked him for his time, and we all heaved-to loading his van again, while the singer went to buy the other auditionee another pint. He didn't get the job. * I'm probably doing an enormous disservice to freeform jazz ensembles around the globe here, so apologies if so, but I'm at a loss as to where else to place it musically. Perhaps amongst those gangs of glassy-eyed, saffron-robed enthusiasts one encounters on the city streets, each banging a drum in a random manner with a blissful expression and no regard for hard-pressed shoppers... ** I note that 'dyscalcula' is the numerical equivalent of dyselxia, and apparently A Real Medical Thing. It may have been that he was a secret sufferer; that would explain an awful lot. Edit: I've just spotted that I've spelt 'dyslexia' wrong in the footnote above. Oh, the irony...

We're called The Cheeze We play 60s & 70 pop, rock and prog mainly Every Christmas we have a band curry where we discuss what to rename the band. Every year after a load of silly and non-PC suggestions washed down with several pints, we come to the conclusion that we are too well established to change. However it is a name that is remembered. We also get a fair bit of "they can't possibility advertise that they play cheesey music, so they must be good" effect

The best advice I've heard on auditions was from Juan Alderete and it's something that seemed obvious to me, but apparently not obvious to a lot of people who've tried out for bands I've been in: If there is a recording of the song - album, demo, live tape, youtube, whatever - learn the part as it was recorded by the old guy, irrespective of what the band say about your artistic freedom. You can change it later if you get the job and you're more likely to get the job if everyone is hearing what they recognise as being right.

Keep it, you`ve got a Mexican Wall before Trump gets his

So I took a trade I didn’t really want, but it was for a Basschatter who I consider a mate and it was a fair deal and he wanted my bass more than I did so went ahead. He offered a Roger Waters Precision in great nick and all the bits. It sat in my car overnight, such was the way - I’ve got a new daughter who’s been in hospital since she was born on the 4th April. I came home and plugged it in. Christ it’s lovely. So what do I do? I wasn’t selling to raise funds, I don’t “need” it. But the neck is very similar to my old MIM 50’s which I enjoyed...and it plays really well. I thought I liked skinny necks?! The black/Black/Black/chrome thing doesn’t work for me...so it’d have to see a few new bits to stay. The Bitsa I was debating keeping definitely has to go if this stays...

Prob just someone saying what s legend you are

I keep trying to start an INXS tribute band named Stranglew4nk, some right weirdos come to audition

I have a gen 2 2i4 and love it. Working via a Mac and Logic Pro X. No issues at all

^ 'chocolate starfish' - nice one, profanity filter!

I had a band called Not the Hoople once. We did two gigs. We were not a Mott the Hoople tribute, it was a silly joke name because one of the local bars had tribute acts with really lazy names that may as well have been "not Queen" and so on. We were an acoustic duo. We did have a Mott the Hoople fan arrive who thanked us at half time before leaving saying "it's good but not what I was expecting". To be fair, it wasn't even good.

So the moral of this seems to be "Buy but don't sell.." Well, that's what I'm sticking to then!!

I've used Jacks Instrument Services in Manchester for the occasional oddity. He's pretty good imho.

At which point you whip out your smartphone, plug it into the PA in the rehearsal room, play them the original to prove that you're right and they're wrong ... and end up wondering why you didn't get the gig.

My KZ ZS10s arrived this morning They take quite a bit more energy to drive than M6 Pro's but they definitely have more separation and clarity, and sound bloody great, but a replacement for 64Audio, UE, JH, etc they are absolutely not! I was expecting more low end, sub and low mid... However, they were £33!! For spare Generics (for deps, etc) I'll probably stick with carrying some M6's, but for myself, I will happily use the ZS10s until I can afford to get customs done... Has anyone else pulled the trigger yet? Would be interested in your thoughts!

Chrome bridge and knobs. And swap the scratchplate - still for a black one, but with the Black / White / Black construction so you get the outline. Would be perfect then.

Sadowsky are certainly entering a fairly crowded area at that price point, especially if you open that up to what you can get secondhand for that kind of money. The Sadowsky is a very different beast to the American original Fender and I would be as bold as to say that as good as Sandberg are, the Sadowsky name carries a bit more weight and pedigree for a lot of bass players. I would be very surprised if there is a noticeable difference in sound between the Metros and the new Express models. There may be some noticeable differences in fretwork and feel of the neck but I would go out on a limb and say it won’t be worth the approx £700 difference between models. So where is the appeal in the existing Metro range? I guess the same appeal that makes folks buy any variety of expensive instrument, because they have the money and are happy to spend that much. Also there is a certain level of exclusivity attached to it and a certain level of romanticism that the Metros are crafted in small batches by fine craftsmen in japan and not made in some generic factory that churns out models for almost every other guitar and bass company out there. It will be really interesting to see the first lot of real world reviews come in.

Huis Clos - un drame de JP Sartre (Scène: une chambre en enfer. Entrez John et Henry). John: Regarde! Une guitare basse qui intègre des fonctionnalités de marque déposées par Rickenbacker! Où est mon avocat? Je veux menacer quelqu'un! (Henry inspecte la basse) Henry: Est-il possible de fabriquer cette guitare basse mais beaucoup plus bon marché? Et de le fournir dans une couleur que personne ne veut? Avec des potentiomètres qui ne fonctionnent pas parce qu'ils n'ont pas été soudés correctement? Les deux ensemble: L'enfer c'est les autres! Fin

It sounded great thanks, I played it for an hour and am really pleased. I fixed the output jack (just needed the contact bending in a bit). A pleasure to play such a light bass, my dodgy shoulder is very happy. My fingertips are sore though, not used to those 105s! The band liked it too, so once I’ve fine tuned the set up I’ll take it to a gig. Here it is tonight alongside my number one, and the studio’s house amp.

Or a chrome bridge and knobs. The “all black” look is a bit too rawk for me...

Keep it, but get some black tuners on it

And finally, it lives!! (Minus some knobs, I need to order those...) I set it up well, and I now have a low action and good intonation. It’s very, very light and is obviously quite neck heavy. But the strap I’m using is really grippy so it’s not really a problem. The Wilkinson pickups are a revelation; for twenty quid they’re incredible - all the thud you’d expect and really punchy, but if you turn the mids up on the amp it gets honky, almost Jazz bridge pickup like. I’ll definitely use them again. Brilliant. The only issue is that the output jack is intermittently cutting out, there must be something not connecting properly so it needs sorting before I gig it, but I’m going to give it a go at band rehearsal tonight and see how I get on with it. I’m really pleased with it. There are things I’d do differently next time, but that’s all part of learning isn’t it? I’ve leaned a lot, surprised myself and really enjoyed putting this bass together. I wonder what’s next?

I have 50p riding on this, don't let me down!!

https://geek.wish.com/c/5ac32757414de23d554e440c

We were young and a little whizzed...

Hi I’ve bought and sold many things on eBay. And if I was uncomfortable with a eBay sale I would just refund him through PayPal the worst he can do is leave negative feedback

So should we be imminently expecting you to withdraw your current FS items, then Mick?

Any bass with the Sadowsky name on it will be the best bass you can find at that price point, and now there are 4 price points rather than 2. A lot of manufacturers should be very worried.

[Sound engineers yacking on a Bass players forum, not a sound engineers forum alert!] Ideally a boundary mic (My preference is a Shure Beta 91a) inside the shell, and a second mic (Audix D6 all the way, it has such a nice punchy smack to it!) on the outside of the front head [/forgiven!]

I’m pretty sure the build quality of the MetroExpress will still be very decent. If not, £100 spent on a fret dressing at your favourite luthier would make up the difference.

Got the popcorn out

Sounds like you've already made a decision and I can't say that I blame you. Good luck.

As @PaulWarning says you get used to bad band names after a while. Arctic Monkeys is a terrible name, but once I'd heard it said a few times you forget how bad it is. it might sound silly, but i can put off a band by the personalities themselves. I used to really like Pearl Jam until i saw an interview with Eddie Vedder, who just came across like a complete knob. I still like their music, to a point, but I can't hear them without thinking 'what a ****'.

Great job Bruno! Really like that colour on a P bass. Suits the maple board really well too Fab job. Well done EDIT: The black scratchplate is the right one too

By the size of transformer in the bottom picture (unless it is an optical illusion) I agree with RandomBass.

I’m buckled up for this one!

You won't have any clipping issues on the 2i2 if you're purchasing a 2nd Gen version (there shouldn't be any 1st Gens at dealers anyway). You should also be absolutely fine with the driver on Windows, there are of course some other programs that can sometimes mess with things, but if you should have any difficulties at all, just give our UK based tech support a call and they'll have you sorted in no time at all Cheers Si // Focusrite Media Relations

2 because that's how EZ drummer sets it out

And here is the finished article, minus the new black strap buttons (see further down for those). All screws and components tightened properly, strings reinstalled. Complete with strap buttons! Not the security lock type, which I'm not keen on - just normal buttons. Now I have black hardware, black pickups, and an almost-black fingerboard (after oiling); the only mismatch is between the silver-coloured strings and the gold-coloured frets. I can either get myself a set of black D’Addario tapewounds, or indeed decide that that would be overkill, and learn to live with this look instead! I like my Corvette much better now than when it had chrome hardware. What do you guys think?

We have those conversations regularly. It's merely Aguilar's turn.

I’m still saying watch... (obviously joking)

Does that make me a jazz drummer, then..?

BOURNEMOUTH Mid 80s and our soul/Motown band is expanding, we are looking for a keyboard player. Get a call from bloke in his 40s who tells us of his talented daughter. Our guitarist took call and explained all the relevant stuff. Dad assures him that she can blow through this material - no problem! Family turns up at guitarist’s house with keyboard, stand, armfuls of music scores. Pretty 17 year old sets up behind singer but no amp - keyboard has built in speakers we are told so all will be good. We show her set list and she counters with one of her own including “tie a yellow ribbon” and “viva España”. Smirks are beginning to appear on faces of various personnel but no one seems to have the heart to say anything. Guitarist is just about to when girl cranks up her built-in drum machine and launches into “España” in a hideously tuneless voice. Some band members attempt to tag along musically and both girl plus both parents are grinning enthusiastically as she blazes on oblivious to the suppressed laughter emanating from behind. Trumpet player is overtaken with mirth and just manages to get outside the door before he explodes into laughter. We find him 10 minutes later weeping uncontrollably by the stairs! When song ended it was a difficult moment for all but our ever diplomatic guitarist explained we were perhaps doing the wrong material for her talents. The family seemed very satisfied with the explanation and left the house beaming from ear to ear! To this day I feel guilty for the poor girl but in reality there was little that could be done. We went on to hire the fabulous “Mr Amazed”, but that as they say, is a story for another day.