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During my life I've certainly eaten for more than 10,000 hours but still regularly manage to spill food down my shirt. Clearly the theory is flawed

A pre-owned 2021 Jazz finished in Sonic Blue with 4 ply Tort pick-guard and all case candy, covers, certificate etc. It has a slab rosewood fingerboard and with the now standard v,v,t controls I guess it is based on a ‘62 JB. The neck has more meat on it than Custom Shop stack knobs I have played but still has the 38mm nut. it is fitted with a fresh set of Flea GHS boomers which will be coming straight off, might put a set of TIs on it. I’m now thinking about an off white/cream/parchment pick-guard......although the tort does look nice....!

Best I can do, plainly more hours required.

i absolutely see your point; I will counter it though. Band 1 - 1997-2000 youngsters playing, people went off to Uni etc. was best man for drummer and guitarist. Band 2 - 2000-2007 Remaining members plus new guy, did 2 albums. Was best man at new guys wedding. Band 3 - 2007-2013 Invited to join, 1 album, 1 EP - I left to be a dad, get married etc. Still talk to people from this band regularly. (break in playing) Band 4 - 2014-2017 Covers band - not really my thing, but did 3 years of it as we all got on (guitarist changed once - drummer changed once; neither enjoyed pub gigs) still talk to all members. Band 5 - 2017 Attempt at big Motown band. Met singer from last band here…he disliked the female vocalist - you know the scene in “The Commitments” when Deco has to play tambourine…? That. Still talk to 6 of the 7 members, the female singer moved to Spain. Band 6 - The 602 Original drummer cited mental health issues. Replaced with drummer who I’m still with. Guitarist relocated to Birmingham for work… Replaced with a chap who stayed into next iteration. Singer decided he wanted to stop. Covid etc occurs… Band 7 - Flying Oceans a rebranded 602, which I didn’t really understand the point of…singer returns. So…without an in depth life story of each band and other side projects - I’m not sure the problem is that close to home. As mentioned before, it’s not always going to be an easy ride. I’ve been really vague/polite about the circumstances - just so it doesn’t come across as a whinge. But the drummer wanting to carry on, and leaving “with” me…probably suggests i’m alright…

Granted that we're all on some sort of spectrum, and I'm far nearer the control-freak get-it-done-now-and-get-it-right end of that spectrum myself, but I'm forever astonished at how many of the people I've played with over the last 15 years have either had substance issues (usually booze or dope or both, of course) or self-worth issues or were just perfectly feckless in how they lived their lives. I'm only talking about people I've actually played with here, so a sample size of perhaps a hundred musos. If I were to include all the musos I've met but haven't played with (i.e. a group largely comprising flakes and fantasists) my sample size gets quite respectable. To me it's clear that a "career in music" (bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!) frequently attracts a certain personality type - along with plenty of perfectly sensible, hard-working folk of course - and that a lot of them work really hard to live down to the image of what a rock musician is supposed to be. One of the saddest things I ever hear is when some desperate Keef Richard wannabe sees me doing something he wouldn't do, and says "not very rock'n'roll, is it?" like there's a rule book which he memorised as a 14-year-old and can't let go of.

The 10,000 hours thing is such a nonsense. People with natural ability will ‘master’ (whatever that means) a skill far more quickly, whilst those without that natural ability may never get there, wherever ‘there’’ is. From my own experience, it’s all plateaus coupled with surges in perceived competence.

Ironically of course you're probably one of the very few of us in a domestic situation that's welcoming of new basses. Seems almost a waste of such extraordinary cunning.....? Unless of course it's s coded message to the rest of us 🤔

First gig of the year for the festival band I play in. We were at a local food festival. The drizzle put some of the audience off but we must have played to about 50-60 hardy souls and once the sun had made an appearance we had them dancing. It makes so much difference when the crowd are responsive. I went through my Laney Digbeth preamp into FOH with a tiny practice amp for monitoring.

It depends. You can have a wooden bodied Bogart if you prefer and the basses now come as standard with a rosewood fretboard, though you can still have it in the classic style with a composite fretboard if you prefer. The 'Blackstone' model refers to a composite foam coated in a resin shell. It was designed to be an analogue to alder wood, but unlike wood the bodies should be completely consistent. You know how you could occasionally get two basses of the same type made with the same wood and yet one would sound markedly different to the next because the wood was more 'tuneful' or where one bass might seem to suck up frequencies or simply weigh an absolute tonne more than another of it's kind (70's ash-bodied Fenders, I'm looking at you...). The Blackstone composite was made to get around that, to provide a base for the instrument that was absolutely consistent in terms of weight and tonal character, allowing for the electronics to make the real difference in the tone. It also allowed for some amazing colours and patterns because the builder, Stefan Hess, could layer colours directly into the resin. In truth, I don't know if the Blackstone idea was any better than just selecting good wood to make the basses out of but it was certainly unique and came from that period in the 80's where many bass builders were looking to innovate with materials and construction. I've had my own Bogart Blackstone for a good few years now. In a way it reminds me more of a 34" scale Modulus Quantum than it does the Status, Zoot or Zon graphite necked basses I've owned. It has Bartolini pickups but it is quite bright with an excellent balance across strings and all over the neck. If consistency was the goal when the bass was designed then I think it absolutely achieves that. It sounds absolutely great through a modern amp with a mild scoop on the mids, but it is not anywhere near as bright or aggressive as my Spector NS-5CR. So for anyone who labours under the old misapprehension that graphite/composite instruments sound sterile, I'd invite them to play this and see what they think. This is possibly the most fascinating era of bass design, for me. Kubicki, Status, Vigier, Bogart, Modulus etc were all trying new things. Stefan Hess was a bit like the Rob Green of Germany at the time as his graphite products were sold to a variety of other manufacturers in Germany to go into their own basses (I understand that his necks featured in both Clover and Schack basses at the time). Even a few days later I remain very sad that Status as we know it are done. I really hope they will continue to make new instruments in some form rather than just becoming a parts and spares shop. However, I would not like to see them going down the Wal route of scalping with ballooning prices and a slow, trickling output of builds to keep the bubble inflated.

I am still waiting for Yamaha to do something new with the bb to excite me. Yamaha BB’s mate? Completed it 😂👌🏻

A fun day yesterday at CarFest North, after 2 years of cancellations. We played on the Wigwam stage, which was fortunate, as that one was built, unlike the main stage, where they had a few issues, meaning they ran very late and Richard Ashcroft ended up not playing.

Don't get me started on pee'ing accuracy. Put it like this, I'd make your average Stormtrooper seem like the best shot in the galaxy.

When people at work find out I play, a good proportion say they wish they could play an instrument but they don't have the time to dedicate to it, and a fair few of those have quoted an arbitrary 'so-many-thousand hours to be proficient' figure that they've heard. I always just ask them to log on to their Steam (or whatever) account and show me how many hours they've clocked up playing Age of Assassins: Warfare and Witchcraft. You may be able to tell I don't game, but the people I'm talking to invariably do and their tally is usually somewhere near to (if not far in excess of) the number of thousands of hours they've just told me they don't have available. Fortunately I don't feel I need to achieve mastery to have fun ...and anyway, if complete mastery means playing every possible style then there aren't enough hours left until the heat death of the universe to make me want to learn how to slap 😉

I've been slappin' the same pentatonic scales with poor technique for about 10000 hours.

Use of the word 'plateaus' is of course complete bolleaux. 😉

I suspect that the '10,000 hours' is only one component of achieving mastery, Grasshopper.

It seems pretty good in my area. Having a university with an active and un-stuffy music faculty in the town helps. For example, the university has entered into a partnership with a local recording studio and rehearsal rooms business. Dubrek by name. I don’t know Cornwall very well, but could the lack of young bands reflect the demographic? Fewer young people living there as they are priced out of accommodation, resulting in the average age of the region moving up?

I initially misread this as “unfortunately music is full of DRUMMERS, weirdos etc…”

Sounded absolutely huge. Playing in what was essentially a giant tin box and standing on a giant wooden box so getting a good sound wasn't easy, however I couldn't be happier. Another unlikely win from Harley Benton.

There's a difference between enjoying a drink and a jam with some friends and trying to put a band together that has everyone pulling in the same direction. What works for me on the new band is we are all on a similar page in terms of age, family circumstances and work circumstances. So we all understand that if the guitarist has a work trip to France we can't rehearse, that's ok. We all have jobs that mean we don't rely on the gig money, so we don't end up traveling to sh*tholes to play for thirty quid each and we can protect the band image and our family time. If my kids are sick on the day of rehearsal we cancel with nobody whining because it can happen with any of the other guys too. And most crucially we all want the same thing for the band in terms of what type of venue we play, how far we will travel, what we want to charge, and how many gigs we can take on. I've never found another band with that type of cooperation and understanding and I don't think I ever will again until I'm in my late fifties or whatever with a load of other retired people!

No. The 602 is deffo dead. singer was in both. Drummer and I plan to move on together. Meeting some people next week.

I think I spontaneously combust if I cross the threshold of a church without 48hr prior notice @Eldon Tyrell

Absolutely J, I want to enjoy what I’m doing. When the fun stops…stop. It’s not affecting my enjoyment of playing, actually had my rig set up and enjoying playing my J bass the last couple of days - I’ve had it years and I forget how much I love it because shiny things get in the way.

10,000 is an arbitrary figure, but progress depends very much on how you spend the time spent working on acquiring a skill. When learning an instrument, quite a few people focus only on the instrument itself and neglect musical theory. That's OK (sort of) if they merely wish to play parts learned note for note, but they can find themselves all at sea when they need to improvise, because don't understand the "why", as opposed to the "how". You don't need to have a comprehensive understanding of orchestral arrangement, but it's helpful to know why something works. It will speed up the learning process immensely.

Played a pub gig Thursday night. Was warned that it's a very tight fit. Since it wasn't expected to be loud I took my Fender Rumble 100. It fitted perfectly into an alcove next to the drummer and about 18 inches up off the floor. Took my Ibanez Talman shorty which always sounds great and went through my pedalboard which is MicroThumpinator, Spectracomp and Sansamp Bassdriver. None of my sound went through the desk, but any concerns about lack of power were gone in seconds and ended up at about 30% volume. The band isn't what I'd call quiet so very happy with the outcome. Playing outside tonight though so will have to take some bigger stuff.

Last night at Lingfield Racecourse. Same tonight in a tiny pub? Hmm.

Loving this at the moment by the Heptones so working on the Bassline today

It feels like I've taken 10,000 hours practicing Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and I've definitely not mastered it!

MDP infection rates are up then.

Tonight's rig

Ready for its first outing

I know your pain. Music should be fun and you need to be around people you can disagree with and still get the job done. It takes a long time to get a band of like -minded people together, and unfortunately music is full of dreamers, weirdos, and people who can dish out criticism but can't take constructive suggestions. Stick at it, you'll get there!

Saw this on FB market place, and even with the price of petrol, it was well worth a little jaunt up the M5. I love that folk won't touch HB gear, especially when I know just how good it is. The price was ludicrously cheap, the amp a belter. Loud as the apocalypse, built in tuner which works like a dream, silent fans, and a very usable compressor. Everything you want to access on the front of the amp, speakons at the rear. Excited to gig this.

Wow they think of everything: a built in washing line? That's so cool 😎

Any song that has a similar overall sound that you are aiming for with your compositions (and that you think is well produced/mixed/mastered. Also as Dad said it's not a constant A/B between the reference track and yours. The way I would work is to listen to your reference track a couple of times and then start working on yours. When you think your are getting close to your final version, have another listen to your reference track, so you can hear what more you need to do.

Bristol is absolutely full of bands and some incredible venues. I think it’s the concentration of both two universities coupled with the sheer number of creative spaces that makes it. Some of it is junk but some of it is sublime.

No matter how much I practice I know I can always be better. Just learned a song this morning for a gig next weekend, a relatively easy song but I still had to sit down and go through it a good few times. Does this make me despondent, no, it makes me feel great that I can work out a song in 30mins or so that I’ve never heard before, and also makes me look forward to the gig more.

10k is one nice round number. It has nothing to do with skills, if there's no target and decent program to follow. Nearly anyone that has inpiration and produces lots of perspiration because of the training, can reach something. Mastery is another story.

It's been designed like that to suit people with enormous sausage fingers.

Been there, done that. It sucks, but for the sake of sanity it is best to leave it all behind. The fact that the singer emailed me after I quit (in person, band meeting) and called it a "futile and theatrical gesture" says more about the toxicity than I ever could.

Marketing departments certainly like this, but apparently many players do feel that an amp's more powerful that way too. As players mature, they tend to grasp the benefit of linearizing the rotation and scaling of the range of the control though.

Watched The Eagles from 1973 earlier. Love them or hate them, they were the mutts nuts when it came to nailing harmony vocals

In my view, much is misleading. 'Mastering' is used, mostly, to adapt a finished song to its target medium or audience. The same track, to be put on a CD, or a cassette tape, will have different mastering parameters. A song destined for car-radio FM will be treated differently to one being produced for HiFi buffs. If you're producing for Soundcloud, it's not the same as for a hard-copy CD. That being said, if you really mean 'how to mix and treat the final product in my home studio', the most important tool you'll need is your ears. The next most important, for me, is a reference point. This means, to me, having an idea of what sound I'm trying to create, compared to other material, from other sources (my favourite band, or a song I know well; probably several...), that I'm wanting to get close to. This doesn't mean copying, simply listening to whatever it is that makes it 'good' to my ears, and that I want my stuff to sound as good as (OK, vain hope, but...). Another important notion, for most stuff, is the famous 'less is more' discipline. If you want to add an effect, do it, by all means, then reduce it by half. Save successive 'takes', with the Fx added, and listen back now and again to the original 'dry take. Is there really an improvement..? Disk space is not an issue, these days, so it's a Good Idea to save each and every evolution, and go back at times to hear what (if any...) has got better. Surprises are in store, often enough, as things go off the rails. No matter, just go back to a previous version and re-build in another direction. Takes frequent breaks, go outside for a walk, have a cuppa, and have fresh ears again. Listen through several systems, if possible. Mix with headphones for detail, then play back through monitors to see if it still works. Often not stated, but very useful, is to listen to the finished track in mono; there are many gremlins in a stereo mix that become flagrant heard in mono. In what order..? From those you've listed, I'd have a hard time stating, as I don't use such stuff, basically. I have a 'standard' Reaper (Cockos...) NY Drum Compression bus preset which is my default overall drum compressor, and a Cockos NY Master bus compressor on the output, again, by default. I do, on occasion, turn these off, for particular stuff I do, but that's it, for me. No exciters, or saturation etc, but that's just me. How should you use them..? Run your compositions through them in whatever order and listen to the result; choose what sounds best to you. That's as much advice I could give; others will doubtless complete, correct and/or contradict the above, most certainly. Hope this helps, a little.