Graham56

[quote name='JPS' timestamp='1334340625' post='1614956'] Having a bit of a Stax fix at the moment. Can't Turn You Loose by Otis Redding, Who's Makin Love by Johnny Taylor and What A Man by Linda Lydell. [/quote] Me too. I've been doing "Knock on Wood" and "Soul Man". We already do "What A Man" - underrated song, great funky bassline. I love how these Stax arrangements are both melodic and driving while still leaving 'space' (for want of a more accurate description). I'm also still working on "I want you back". Got the notes down, all I have to do now is sound like I mean it! Oh and the singer now wants to transpose it to E which will trash the line on a four string...

Lift offered from Bromley area (SE London/North Kent) Patch is using my LMII head on the day so I'll need to be there for pretty much the whole session. So, I'll be leaving Bromley at approx 9.30 and will be getting back around 19.30 (Sunday afternoon M40/M25 traffic permitting). I'll have plenty of room in the car for basses and bassist(s)... Cheers Graham

How about The Coral "Dreaming of You"? Ok it's basically a 1-5, but it is lively and bounces around.

I know he's not jazz, and I know he's still alive.. But...... As far as I can see, no-one has yet dun a good biography of "Duck" Dunn. Cheers Graham

[quote name='whynot' timestamp='1329345482' post='1541199'] I enjoy the drive home from London gigs. Through the centre, some dodgy shortcuts and back into Bromley. Nice way to wind down I find. [/quote] I'm in Bromley too. We probably pass each other in the same dodgy shortcuts! I drop the guitarist, his gear and the PA at his house first. We then have tea and cheese on toast. After that a half-hour drive home with the Beeb World Service on the radio. The tricky bit is getting my gear into the house without waking up wife and/or kids. Living the rock'n'roll dream...

Excuse my ignorance, but... My LMII amp has an "ground lift" switch. I've never used it, but if I did, would I be disconnecting the head from earth? And would that mean that I am increasing the risk to me of a shock? If this is the case, why do they supply this option without lots of warnings? Cheers Graham

My covers band has been offered a gig that I can't do. They've decided to go with a dep. I'm OK with this as I don't want to be the one holding them up. There is a problem though. I drive a MPV, which carries me, my gear, the guitarist, his gear, and the PA (owned by the guitarist). The guitarist has a motorbike but no car, while the others have sufficient transport to get themselves and their own gear to the gig. Between them they don't have enough transport capacity to move the PA and guitar rig. It looks as if they might not do the gig after all. So now I know. They can replace me in a heartbeat. But my car is more important to them... Cheers Graham

It's nothing to do with the age, but more to do with your role in the transaction. If you are buying, it's just an old, beat-up Fender. If you are selling, it's a vintage collectible... Cheers Graham

Just get your band mandolin tech to hand it to him from the side of the stage...

If the gig paid enough. I live in Kent so it's not that far...

Nah, sorry, that looks nothing like Bruce Springsteen.... NEXT!

You've got years of experience so you know this anyway. But for completeness... If you do get lost, don't stop. Play percussive, staccato notes, staying with the rythym, until you work out where the hell you are. If you make the notes short enough most people won't be able to tell what you are playing. But they will notice if you stop or lose the beat. Cheers Graham

I'd be keen. I'm in south London so north London or Midlands works for me. And I know you are all itching to have a go at my beat-up, resprayed, transition-era ('69) P-bass with additional bridge soap-bar pickup... Cheers Graham

I don't think you guys have been thinking this through... The next time any of you try and sell a bass we'll all be checking in here to see what you really think of it. That "lovely sound, plays like buttah, hate to part with it!" will translate to "heavy, neck-diving dog with uneven string response and s**t preamp". Oh, and my lefty P-bass has a great presence, no-nonsense passive sound, wonderful chunky neck, and plays like a dream... Cheers Graham

I had the 24db (for a medium-loud covers band) then changed them to 17s in the same moulds. I found the 24db was too much. The music wasn't the problem, I could hear that clear enough. What I didn't like was the sense of isolation, from both band and audience. There is a feedback energy you get when an audience is enjoying what you do, which at its best makes you raise your game while playing. I felt the 24db filters screened this out and made the gigs less enjoyable - more like a job of work. I ended up playing in a very static position, spending more time looking at the fretboard than otherwise, lost in my own little world. I changed the filters to a 17db and the whole thing is much more enjoyable. I still get protection but I feel I'm in a gig once more, interacting with the band and audience. Dunno what it would be like in massively loud band though... Cheers Graham

[size=3]Me, I'm a hack...[/size]

As for the Chain, while it may be an OK song, this performance has a raw intensity (especially from 3.10-ish onwards) that really gives it an emotional kick. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGykwC0fdJ4[/media] Cheers Graham

More Lefty versions!! Although, as I don't have any money for new basses I wouldn't be much help to them....

I love LaBella flats. I get them from the Bass gallery - they usually haved a good selection in stock. I haven't had the courage to put the heavy gauge Jamerson set on though...

[quote name='witterth' post='1349738' date='Aug 24 2011, 12:03 AM']Ever tried doing that "sonic clunk" that you can do with fingernails,Pick,fingers or even your thumb? you must know that "Vague attack" to the string without making a real note 'till you find your feet. ....just me then....... top tip, or nonsense?[/quote] I do this. If I play short, percussive notes vaguely in the correct key most people don't notice the actual note values. They will notice if I drop out completely or screw up the rythym.

My pub covers band often plays Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight", which is based around the "Good Times" bass riff. In fact we usually throw in a chorus or two of "Good Times" just to make the point. It surprises the audience as it stands out from our usual rock/blues sound. It's not that difficult to play the notes in Edwards' bass line. Nor Niles' guitar work. But to make it sound anywhere near as crisp, bouncy, danceable and just so damn groovy as they play it? That's a LOT more difficult. We come nowhere near it... Cheers Graham

Boredom... I took it up in my late 40s after many years of strumming the odd chord on a guitar. I wanted to do something else apart from work and bring up the kids. Then I inherited a no-name crappy bass from a family friend and did very little with it until I saw an evening class in bass advertised at Morley College in London. That class was the trigger. Aretha's "Respect" was the inspiration. Tommy Cogbill's line just stands out to me: driving, rythmic, melodic, with brilliant use of space, and yet defining the structure of the song. Cheers Graham

I'm a lefty and I play a lefty. When I tried to play righty it was really uncomfortable and gave me a headache. I also have a cheapy righty strung upside down but the balance is all wrong and the neck-dive is ferocious. One advantage is that I stand to the right of the drummer with the headstock aimed out to the side. This is a useful space-saver in some of the postcard-sized stages we play. It would have been better if I had learned on a righty as I would have a full choice of instruments rather than the very limited selection there is now. Playing lefty also means I need to be completely self-sufficient and I always carry a back-up bass. It's highly unlikely I'd ever be able to borrow another player's bass in crisis. Cheers Graham

Well we played the gig last Saturday and it went really well. The marquee was very long and split into two parts – a sitting/standing/talking drinking bit and a dance floor with the band. There were two heavy duty power leads running from the house to the marquee. One to a distribution board for the lights, disco lights, mirrorball etc. Another to the back for us and for a small PA used for recorded music when we were not playing. We set up and all looked good. Switched on the amps and PA. Plugged in our lights. As the second light unit went on – phutt... all the power in the marquee went off. I ran around checking circuit breakers until we realised that it wasn’t just the marquee - we had tripped the main circuit-breaker in the house. There was a chef hired to provide the food and he was also running around, panicking about his ovens and microwave. We reset, got everything running and decided to go without lights. Just about ready for the downbeat when... yep, down went at the house mains again. The houseowner did admit it was a very sensitive trip. The chef was by this time at 60,000 feet and climbing... We tried a reset but it tripped again before I’d even made it back to the stage area. The chef by this time hated our very existence and wanted to kill us... This time the houseowner couldn’t get the trip to reset. Luckily the next door neighbour was at the party. And luckily he had external sockets on his house wall. So we draped a power line over the fence which was used to supply the band and the stage area. We were OK to go now. The chef still had no house power and was sharpening a very large knife... So we played. The first set was fairly laid back and we had some dancing, although most people stood at the far end, talking and drinking. The chef got his power back and began to calm down. In the second set we started with an impromptu version of happy birthday just so we could drag everyone into the dancing area to sing. Then we immediately kicked into Lady Marmalade, a song that we find guarantees dancing. We kept it up for the next 90mins or so, and had a good proportion of folks dancing all the way through. We were much more disciplined than normal between songs – finish one, 15 seconds to sort yourself out then “A wun, chew, three four...” into the next one. We also changed the set on the fly to keep things moving, but this time with no discussion or argument. Somebody, usually the singer, would call the next song then off we’d go. And it all went really well. Sounded great – no reverb or boominess from floor or walls. And not too loud – no complaints from neighbours. The host and his wife loved us. Lots of people came up to us, said how good we were and took fliers away with them. Even the chef had mellowed by the end... So thanks for all the tips. A much better night than the usual two drunk blokes and a dog in a dodgy Saff Lunnon drinking hols. Cheers Graham

In our pub gigs we very rarely have the luxury of a soundcheck. Plug in, switch on, make sure everything works, then go. The singer usually plays a little with the vox PA in the first song or two. One of the few times I did play a few lines in a soundcheck nearly caused me trouble. We played a gig the same evening as one of England's less-than-stellar games in the World Cup. The game had finished, the TV had switched off and there was a gloomy and quiet mood in the London pub. I was checking my gear and without thinking played the bass riff from "Another one bites the dust". A meaty hand attached to a large bloke tapped my shoulder. "E're mate, we don't want any of that 'bite the dust' stuff here". The thing is, I have a definite Scots accent. And he was a big and rather pi**ed bloke. Hmmm, I thought, if I say anything now this might not go well... So a nod, a raised hand, a smile, and I played something else. Cheers Graham