garethfriend

Thanks for all the advice guys, good to know I'm not the only one who has gone through stuff like this. On the commitment front we are now gearing up for gigging whilst at the same time are in the studio a lot, starting next month it will be sunday practice for 3 - 4hrs and wednesday night studio for 2 - 3 hrs (1.5hr round trip), in addition to that I need to actually work out bass parts for a few new tracks so there's a bit of home practice and the gigs as and when too. I tend to get out on the bike on a saturday for most of the day, sunday afternoons too if I can get away with it (get away from practice on time and don't have the Mrs hassling me to do something), I used to ride weeknight evenings but have had to cut that back almost completely due to work pressures. That said I have just discovered some relatively local routes which would be easier to do a quick evening loop round without having to travel very far so that would be a more efficient way to get the miles in. I could cut out a few time traps which will help but I think as things pick up at work I'm just going to be ending up being in the office during usual tv/internet hours anyway which is more what concerns me. Last night I had a fairly pessimistic outlook on the whole situation, today I'm very much more "f*** it, could be worse, best get on with it" I think I'm going to have the discussion with the band and let them know the score, I think I'll plan to carry on as normal and manage my time as best as possible but make sure they know I'll have to prioritise my health and let them know why. They are very much in the mates/bandmates category so hopefully they will understand. To be fair two of them had kids recently and practice got patchy, my thesis is effectively my baby so I don't think it would be wrong to expect some of the same understanding. Not like I can do anything about the fact the timing conflicts with band objectives is there?

I am currently in the last months of an engineering doctorate and have a thesis to submit in march, after this I am lined up for a permanent position at the company where I am currently based (and in fact am already doing the job part time in addition to my full time project work). I play in two originals bands, one regularly and the other very infrequently. My problem as you might be guessing at this point is that I'm now beginning to feel the squeeze on my time. Obviously the thesis and career have to come first. It's not something you do half-arsed. The infrequent band is going to have to go, that's unquestionable, the gigs are too short notice and the workload too high on me to learn stuff given the circumstances. My main band is the big question mark. While I think they would understand I doubt they would wait for me. I only need a 6 month breather really - do what I gotta do - but it's coming at a time when we are rebounding from bad times and gearing up to release a load of stuff and get gigging again. I kind of feel like I'd be sabotaging all the hard work we have put in. I could probably manage to balance this lot (although it would not be easy) if I didn't have another problem, I suffer from depression. Left unchecked it causes problems at home, in work and for the band. I possibly should have got help years ago but I've managed it quite successfully through diet and exercise (which is one of the things they tell you to do anyway right?). Now I could give up cycling for 6 months and keep everyone happy but I'm kinda in uncharted waters with my mental health then. Last time it resurfaced badly was when I got injured and was off the bike for 6 months and that was pretty bad, I don't want to go back there any time soon. I could balls everything up if I go off the rails now, equally it could be a big non-event and the distraction of thesis writing might keep it at bay. I am also concious that if I were to ask the band for some time off (as they don't know about the depression) it would appear I am slacking it off to go ride bikes. I think I'm going to have to bring it up with the band soon so I am going to have to make a decision fairly quickly, even as I type this I am thinking to myself "people have walked away from far bigger bands for far less valid reasons - there's no shame". Maybe I take a risk and ease off on the fitness and find a way of coping that consumes less time temporarily. Anyway in absence of anyone else I can really discuss this with I thought I'd see what opinions / advice you helpful folk have. Should I take a massive load off my shoulders and quit or take a break, or try and keep everyone happy and risk biting off more than I can chew?

The cause of all this frustration seems to be that venues don't differentiate between the hobbyists and the pros, a band is a band to most and therefore have the same value. Don't see how that is the fault of musicians - those that play for free or otherwise. I'm not sure this whole expecting bands to play for free thing is a big problem especially, it's nothing new for originals, on the covers front it's basically Darwinism - those venues that expect a professional job for free go out of business.

I have an SB14 and I have had and played a few Jazzes, they feel pretty much the same to me - I'd fail the blindfold test anyway.

I recognised the stingray instantly but really struggle with P and J basses it seems

so long as it doesn't throw the rest of the band in any way mistakes usually go unnoticed. Did play with a guitarist who once came in early and left the rest of us trying to figure out how to get back on the right chords/sections on the fly. That one nearly actually stopped the show and must have been noticable, thankfully not me though. Twigman - you totally got away with that, didn't notice a thing until the end and then only because you mentioned it.

I have to be honest I sometimes get sucked into the "new music is worse" trap when I forget to normalise my position for my advancing years. If I was 15 again now I'd probably have a very different view on Radio 1's play list. I do think "people" buy what they are told to buy though, my theory is that if you repeat a sh*t song enough times on a big medium it will find it's way into enough peoples brains that some become acclimatised to it and buy it. This is especially true now because the internet has made thinking for yourself and filtering through the crap that doesn't get any airtime looking for the few good bands a chore - a lot of people are lazy. I actually think that the biggest problem with the current system is that it is still transitioning, the old industry is not yet dead so the benefits of any new system are not fully obvious. Take away all the big labels, money, marketing, commercialisation completely and something will have to fill the void, the real debate should be about how to make the most of that opportunity for the artists when it comes. Unfortunately I reckon it's going to have to get a fair bit worse before it gets better.

Also getting something without paying is not the definition of stealing. If somebody avoids tax they are getting something without paying, if you then go on this very forum and say these people are thieves it is pointed out that it is merely tax avoidance, stop being a communist and love the bankers. strangely it's some of the same ones who insist downloading is stealing that fail to make the same distinction with tax avoidance.

Come to think of it if we are getting all morally superior about copyright infringement = stealing, how is getting a tune stuck in your head all day not stealing? There's also nothing physical removed or stolen (just like with mp3s) and for all intents and purposes you have made a copy (just like with an mp3) and can recall it at will (just like on an mp3 player). I dare say you wouldn't always 100% of the time go out and buy a physical copy of the track either. It's money out of artists pockets I tell ya! So there we have it conclusive proof that copyright infringement is not stealing - but it is a crime (albeit one that gets into the realms of being silly when you try and define it) don't do it... I've had "don't stop believing" stuck in my head all day so I might owe the cast of glee a few bob.

yeah I found mine to be very sensitive, I find it less pronounced if you run the gain a little lower than just backing off from clipping. Also found it less of a problem if you turn the channel volume all the way up for some reason. For me it's like home practice volume until you hit 9 o'clock and then too loud to gig most venues past 10 o'clock on the master volume

I used to play guitar as a 100% pick player, pretty good standard too. On bass fingerstyle is definitely easier for me though, find the muting easier. Yeah the "real players use their fingers" thing's crap, real players know when which style is more appropriate.

Update with pictures: First I took some advice and replaced loads of the caps with various better ones, a bit of research threw up some parts that people had had good results with. Got the bass back from fretwork and set about getting the preamp installed. Space is tight so I had to out some length from my control wires to get it all in: [attachment=109383:2012-06-02 21.50.13.jpg] [attachment=109384:2012-06-02 22.21.39.jpg] Battery fits in under the pots nicely but took some real thinking to get it all in there. Worked first time except I wired the bass knob round the wrong way but was only a quick thing to fix. Took it to practice today to try it out. Completely different bass, B string is bowel quivering!!!!! Got some before clips recorded will get the after ones done tomorrow probably if anyones interested.