Leaderboard

It has landed! After the unfortunate situation where yesterday's postman had to take retirement on medical grounds (mainly due to him not being medically alive for his gross failure of duty), today's replacement postman handed me a package hoping to placate my all consuming thirst for distortion pedals. So, here we are. The smallest pedal I've ever seen with so many controls. Plus my new rizla box. Maybe. Thanks to Darren for sorting this out. Will be having a play later today after I get my alibi sorted for yesterday with my legal team.

Photos....

When we set up to play in a pub, the people who are there have chosen to be there. They could have gone somewhere else, but this is where they want to be. Some (a few, a very small number) are there specifically to see us, some are there to check out the music because it's a music pub, and some are there for all sorts of other random reasons. Once we start playing, those punters who don't like rock music will leave. Those punters who don't like our particular brand of rock music will also leave, but not so quickly. Meanwhile, those punters who DO like what we're doing will be texting or phoning their mates and saying "great band on tonight, you should come down here". By the time we play our last set, the people in the pub will have self-selected to be only those who actually like what we're doing, and who will respond to the music ... dance maybe, or sing along, or at least applaud after each song. The gig is far more involving for the band, far more fun for everyone, far more likely to bring repeat bookings. ************************************************************************************ When we set up to play in a club (Social, WMC, whatever), the people who are there are always there. Most of them cannot imagine going somewhere else on a Saturday night, and if they do their friends will ask where they were. They are there for the venue and to see their friends, and the music is almost incidental. They sit there with their arms folded, staring at us, and daring us to entertain them. It's THEIR club and we are the intruders. Once we start playing, those members who don't like rock music will complain. Those members who don't like our particular brand of rock music will also complain, but not so quickly. Meanwhile, those members who DO like what we're doing will NOT be texting or phoning their mates and saying "great band on tonight, you should come down here", because the club is Members Only. After the first set, one of the members (almost invariably a guitarist, allegedly) will buttonhole a bandmate and explain in enormous detail what we are 'doing wrong', advise the lead guitarist and the drummer to play louder because no one can hear them, and then disappear into the smoker's paradise for the rest of the evening. After the second set, there will be a 30-minute hiatus while everyone pretends they've joined the Jarrow Hunger March of 1936 so that they can get excited about the Meat Raffle. Have these people never heard of Sainsburys? By the time we play our last set, most of the people in the club will be sitting grim-faced and glowering their sense of entitlement at us, waiting for us to finish so that they can return to playing Abba on the jukebox (last Saturday it was Phil Collins!). Those who actually enjoy what we are doing and want to dance will be intimidated off the dancefloor by the drunken poseurs trying to throw shapes while playing air guitar, and stumbling into the PA. The club gigs are well-paid and the venues are usually excellent ... big stage, loads of power, built-in lightshow, etc. But in truth if I never play another club I won't miss it. Silvie and I do all the gig-getting for my main band, and we have already decided not to bother with clubs at all for 2019. Life's too short.

Well, since completing the holy trinity bass collection of Jazz, Precision & Stingray that trinity may now have to be broken as i decide which one to sacrifice for my new addition. I've carefully negotiated with Mrs Raslee to keep hold of what I've got right now whilst I work through the honeymoon period - maybe she'll forget ahem!. I have always liked Warwick basses, they just feel right, perfect adjustments and always a quality build. However, I was never overly keen on that phallic top horn on the Corvette styles I previously owned. I vowed one day I'll try the Streamer and today was that day. The stars aligned in space, the sun shined on my wallet, Bootsy was on the one, Trump had his mouth closed and my wife was seemingly on good acid (or at least she must have been on something to have supported the purchase) - and better still Mansons in Exeter had a used Streamer Stage 1 and a LX both in natural (preference). So after engineering the trip to Exeter rather than another fricken National Trust jaunt i plugged the yummies in, also tired a Manson bass too whilst the wife and little ones went off shopping. The LX as expected had a lot more growl, dare I say harsh compared to the S1. I decided right away a no on the Mansons bass...nice but pricey and the tone sounded a bit thin to my ears. Then I tried the Streamer S1 and I was really taken by the versatility of tone on tap, further still it felt astonishingly lovely to play and was a nice weight too, not really owned many neck throughs before either. Both the LX and S1 were nice but the S1 was the clear winner to my ears ....so I text the wife to tell her 'I love her'. I have not researched the build year yet but if feels probably mid 00's or later. Played for the last 3 hours and I'm kicking myself why have i never played one of these beauts before...right now I love it.....of course it could be the honeymoon period...but it is good, very good...in fact I'll end this NBD here....

We are a London based Singer/songwriter Guitarist,Bassist and Drummer Who are seeking second Guitarist's to start an original QUALITY Pop Rock band. When i say pop i mean in the good sense of the word with a difference. We are Looking for pro/semi pro musicians from 19 upwards Who dare to dream and believe in what their doing and would want to stay in the band and are looking to push hard and get ahead IDEALLY FULLY COMMITTED PEOPLE I am looking for a Lead Guitarists or Rhtyhm Guitarist with (Energy,Style,Stage Presence,Charisma and possibly own Gear Bv even better) who know their instruments like they know their prick lol who are really creative to help in the creation of new material however if you are a guitarist who can play well and tick all the boxes but is not that creative you may still be of use :-0 !!IMAGE IS IMPORTANT!! SO A GOOD LOOK IS REQUIRED OR A KOOL QUIRKY MUSICIAN LOOK IT ADDS WEIGHT The music is as important also We take musical influences from across the board including :Kings of Leon, Guns and Roses ,Lenny Kravitz , The strokes, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Biffy Clyro , Foo Fighters, The Cure , Black keys, Michael Jackson ,Motown , James Brown, Queens Of the Stone age, Queen , Beatles, The who, Rolling stones, Led Zepplin , Artic monkeys, Jimi hendrix, Linkin Park, Bring me the horizon, Janes Addiction etc etc. We are open minded and down to earth, We have lots of written material and are VERY SERIOUS and if you write or have any other contributions they will be welcomed however (JAMMING IS ALSO A GOOD WAY OF CREATING NEW MATERIAL AND TAKING THE MUSIC IN A DIRECTION EVERY MEMBERS OF THE BAND IS HAPPY WITH) We are looking to make modern rock so We are looking for like minded people who want to move fast once everything is together :-0 !!BUT ARE PATIENT AND WILLING TO TAKE THE TIME TO BUILD MORE QUALITY MATERIAL !! WE HAVE SONGS TO LEARN READY TO GO OUT AND PLAY WE LOOKING TO BOOK SHOWS ASAP (HOWEVER I FEEL STRONGLY IT IS IMPORTANT TO CREATE MATERIAL AS A BAND THAT CAN BE ADDED TO THE SET LIST SO DONT THINK IT WILL BE ONLY ABOUT THE MATERIAL WE HAVE BUT IT GETS US OUT THIER PLAYING AND MOVING FAST ) NUMEROUS INDUSTRY CONTACTS (If your interested you can send me a private message) (Please send a visual/audio of yourself playing and any social media links) PS. Although We are taking this seriously. Getting on and having a laugh together is just as important as making the music. NO BIGOTS your Boring And Strictly No TIME WASTERS you're useless lol. CAUTION (If you are really busy with work or busy with life or Any other reason which will stop you from giving 100% then this is not for you ok its a sacrifice of your time and effort at the best of times so its more than just a hobby for us

B2ADB looks like some odd Soundgarden tuning 😆

85/86 I was writing songs with a guy who was an amazing singer but had difficulties with various addictions which had more or less brick-walled a promising career for him. We were taken under the wing of record producer who was well known up here in Scotland at the time and he bankrolled a proper full scale studio demo. He then hawked the tapes around various record companies and Polydor was the keenest. So he and I went down to London to meet with the record company. In the office, the A&R guy was going crazy about the songs - "This stuff is perfect for the States", "Fantastic Songs", "Great Singing and playing" etc. etc. As we left the meeting with hugely positive vibes, we held it together until the lift arrived and as soon as the doors closed, my producer friend was punching the air with delight. He had a lot of experience in the business and reckoned that a lucrative deal was virtually in the bag. Two days later, Polydor call him up. "It's XXX XXXXXX singing, isn't it?" was the question. Unfortunately, my singer's reputation for drug use and related unreliability cast a large shadow and the idea was dropped instantaneously. Fast forward about a year and I'm earning a crust playing for various cabaret acts. One is a Drifters tribute act and the promoter/ manager has the habit of bringing to the UK former stars of Motown or whatever who's careers have slid somewhat from the heady days of the 60s. One of these is Ben E King. As we're a Drifters band, we are chosen to back Ben E. for a tour. It all kicks off inauspiciously in the usual way for those things at that time with a smashed windscreen in the tour van in the middle of the night driving down from Scotland to the Isle of Wight- the first date of the tour is the end of season party for the staff at some holiday camp. That wild weekend was a story in itself but the tour went on at equally salubrious venues for a while till one day Ben got a call during the soundcheck. No mobiles - he was called away to the telephone. When he reappears, he says that apparently, due to the recent release of the Rob Reiner movie Stand by Me, his song of the same name which we open the set with every night has just gone to No 1 in the Uk charts! Suddenly, we're part of a 60s revival tour and are playing to packed houses in big venues that you've seen on tour schedules by the big bands - Liverpool Empire, Colston Halls, Bristol, Edinburgh Playhouse etc. Talk about 15 minutes of fame? Then Ben went back to the States and that was that. These two episodes in their own ways are my nearest misses but what the heck - I've now been playing the bass and gigging regularly since 1973 and I'm still going, still learning and still enjoying it!

I have seen many advertisements of this nature over the decades and they really have absolutely nothing at all to do with forming a working band. A cursory analysis of the content reveals that the advertiser's true (if unconscious) purpose is to find some friends with a common taste in music and politics, and a desire to 'have a laugh together'. And - as in a lonely hearts ad - he'd like to see a picture of the respondent. Really, all that stuff about "dare to dream and believe in what their (sic) doing and would want to stay in the band" is the 19 yr-old male guitard's equivalent of "cosy evenings by the fire and looking for a long-term relationship". IMO, a band of this nature "rehearses" often but without direction, talks a lot, has loads of hissy fits about who likes who better and seldom if ever performs in front of an audience.

I know what you mean, Mick. I`ve been racking my brains deciding what basses to keep/sell, and have finally made my decision, being the three US Precisions that I have that have no mods at all, plus a Vintage Tony Butler Sig Precision as backup. I`d been thinking of different permutations, colours, value etc, and then realised I was looking at it all wrong, simply which do I like playing the most should be the question I needed to answer.

And lastly, this. One of the most haunting pieces of music I’ve ever heard. The intro section (0.00 - 0.25) conjures childhood memories of strikes, IRA bombings, plane highjackings etc and the end credits section from 0.26 sounds like the music they’ll play when Armageddon comes. And on that cheery note...

@intime-nick?

Update time. the rather rare stack knob PJ-Ray! now with a Nordstand J blade in it as well.

Right....to keep this topic going here's another one....this time with a Moog inspired bass solo over the outro (3mins ish onwards)...again all thoughts appreciated! This is just an OC2 - all wet signal 1 8ve down. A bit of compression & EQ on the DAW after recording. Its not the finished article just a decent demo at the moment! If it was live I'd use a boost pedal to bring the volume up a bit and of course some compression to keep it fat! Dinosaur demo with SYNTH BASS & solo.mp3

I have a Behringer 8500 and bass vocal range, it works incredibly well for me, especially as every other Behringer product I have come into contact with has been awful

Wowsers! Thanks everyone. You've definitely all given me some food for thought. Like I said, they are my best mates. I know they appreciate me and it's only this small issue relating to gear that is on my mind. Forgot to mention, our main sound engineer is also the bass player that quit, resulting in me getting the job. He used an amp and no in-ears. As a result, he used to turn up loud so he could monitor himself as well as doing sound on the fly. Slight 'pot calling kettle black' but I know he was just doing what he had to. He's a good guy. I think the main thing I'll take from everyone's advice, is that I was hired for good reason and I should own it. You can't please all the people all the time.

Nuremberg - 1993. To answer the question - no!!

Here's my black Thunderbird

You're close! Bass Player's review revealed it to have a 400w power section. As I said , for me it easily matches my LH500, so I'm happy.

I'm in what we have here is a random composition attained by preloading some drum patterns and instrumentation onto the keyboard , choosing a style for it to play in (C&W with a little seg in the middle to ID it) and then choosing a chord sequence for it to follow. The random bit comes in as I chose 3 chords all a semitone apart and changed them on every beat , except the little country bit in the middle, this put the 3 chords on a different part of the beat each time around until 12, I think, I couldn't work that bit out ! Still , it seems to work , but may of benefitted from shortening a touch , but I was in the groove playing it and couldn't find the way out of it enjoy

DO PUBLISH contact details so we can all GET IN TOUCH and arsk to ordishun.

Just have a go at trouble-shooting yourself, if you have a multi meter then use it to check the pickup resistance. Something may be shorting to the shielding so have a look for that

Peavey T40?

I was bidding against you up to £330! Looks great and I’ve had one before so know they sound superb. The guy who you bought it off is a real gent too I’ve bought stuff off him before and he looks after his kit.

I'm in the second biggest Scrumpy'n'western band on the planet. As soon as the biggest scrumpy'n'western band on the planet retire, I'll have made it....

One of my favourites. The whole intro sequence is great.

Nice one! I remembered first time my band from Uni got in Sandman and I was chuffed. But Bass Player is one for the kids/grandkids etc. Enjoy it

Well done, I enjoyed reading it and was pleased to see a Brit featured.

Progress on my bass from this timber

So this thread seems to have died of natural causes. Anyone else pick one of these up?

They had good stocks of Trace stuff, and always had a lot of GK too. Bought my first GK head from there - remember Dave setting it up and telling me to try it with any bass I liked from their massive selection, then leaving me in the upstairs bass dept for an hour to make a racket to my hearts content. Loved the fact that they gave good advice without ever trying to give you the hard sell, which always appealed to me. Always a good crack with the staff, who were very funny and dry without coming over as tw*ts at all, very unusual for music shops at the time.

I also found it comfortable to play, the sort of reverse explorer shape worked well for me, and they also included a lower "horn" stump so you could play it sitting down with out it sliding off your leg, something the Guitar version lacked.

Yes I saw these come up on their FB page today, the Fretless is very rare! I think the price is for the Bass only and the GR77B is being sold separately for £395 . The Bass is solid, good passive tone , well made , I was told it was Ibanez built. The synth side of it was fantastic at the time , but to be honest the tracking was not brilliant at the low end and a bit of lag. I think Midi Guitar app on the iphone tracks better. But it was always fun to have a big Roland Bass pad blasting out. It was a pain to gig , I only took it out to gig a couple of times and the floor unit quite big and you need a second amp for the synth. I used to run the bass through a GT6 so got some crazy sound out of that combination. I always wanted a G707 guitar to go with it.

Looking for 100% committed and professional guitarists who “preferably have their own gear”?

you aint from round these here parts are ya?!!!

Hey Joe, that song where guitarists can noodle pentatonic nonsense and convince themselves that they are a better guitar player than their peers because they aren’t playing over a straight 12 bar.

I think it's Lee Sklar who has a "producer switch" on his bass that does absolutely nothing, but if he gets the shout that something isn't right with the bass sound he flicks it in full view of said producer and invariably gets the nod...

The feel of a tuner isn’t just about whether it holds tune - it’s also about how confident you feel when tuning. My Eminence uprights have some Musicman-type tuners on them that feel like they’re going to break when I tighten the strings. @knackeredjazz recommended swapping them for Hipshots.

I suppose it's a bit early in the game to tell them to go fück themselves with a traffic cone

This is, I’ve found, very common with bands I’ve played for or worked with, small and big, not bearing about the bass player nor their gear, but some exceptions have been quite the opposite and those bands always sound the better for it. Any group of selfish individuals who are only concerned with their own sound and not the blend of those sounds is not only going to be a drag to play with but a drag to listen to as well. The simple fact of the matter is that the bass is as vital as every other instrument and as ‘of course’ as that sounds it is a) rarely acknowledged, let alone applied in practice and b) rarely defended or even mentioned by us bass players while singers, guitarists and drummers ruin everything because of ego and intransigence. I no longer have any truck with people who do not understand the democracy of sonics and I am incredibly lucky to play with people who don’t bring ego to the stage nor the rehearsal room. It’s a difficult balance to strike, especially when egos are involved but stand your ground Sir, you and your bass are as important as every other element of the band, don’t get pushed around because you are new or consider yourself lucky

I'm thinking there's been a change of factory because I never found any of those points on my previous 4. The one witha QC date last November looked like this. The with QC date this January looks the same as yours.

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

That's got to be the thread title of the year so far.

Not sure if I posted this here or on TB, but here’s my 76 Thunderbird

`Twas a no brainer for me, I had the lovely chaps at Alpher build me a Cobia 5 string (still the only one in the world), my choice of everything and the serial number is my birth date, cool as you like!!

Well this was a fantastic shout, Trev - not previous aware of this. Really well made and funky as. Enjoyed their take on't Quo, too!