bassbiscuits

I use both. For covers bands I tend to use round wounds and a modern active bass to cover the wide range of sounds needed. For tribute / original bands I use mostly a passive bass with flats. I sometimes use the active bass with rounds for that too tho depending on how I’m feeling. I like both and I tend to favour one over the other at different times. Been playing rounds/active bass loads lately but took P with flats to last rehearsal and fell in love with the sound again.

I’ve got Elton John’s biog somewhere. Need to dig that out before my hols. Can recommend Duff McKagan’s biog, Flea’s excellent “Acid for the Children” and Johnny Marr’s “Set the boy free.”

Practice - you’ll spot “anchor points” in the song where this lyric and that bass part match up and make it easier to navigate. Also, worth trying one thing at a time. Learning to sing a song well is a job in itself, so maybe do that as one job and learning the bass line as another job. Once you’ve got them in hand, then start combining them. Good luck.

It’s a shame when band situations rob all the joy out of making music. I’ve been a in few where I was meant to be enjoying it, but actually came away with a bad taste in my mouth from dealing with the various problems it brought. Sometimes it takes walking away from it and getting your balance back before deciding what to do next. Hope it all goes well, and good luck with whatever the next step brings.

Year started playing: 1986 Number of basses: 3 Music theory: 2/10 Technique: 8/10 Groove: 9/10

Keys. I’ve been in too many bands where the keyboard player felt obliged to fill any hint of quiet with pointless flourishes adding nothing to the song.

Not at all. I wouldn’t hand over any of my instruments to someone I didn’t trust and certainly wouldn’t do so repeatedly if the result was bad. I guess I must just be getting a good deal then, as a long standing customer. Jolly good.

It sounds as tho the job is really making and fitting a new nut, probably tweaking intonation and neck relief. Fitting strap locks is a five min job. As a guide I think I’ve usually paid about £40 for a set up (fret dress, set action and intonation) and the same sort of price for a new nut (the jobs go together as a new nut will require the rest to be set up around it.) But that’s based on one local repairer that I’ve used for years. There’s probably a few luthier websites online with prices listed for that sort of work to give you an idea.

At my last gig the guitarist had various broken string/tuning problems in between songs and me and the drummer ended up busking various 70s TV themes to amuse the audience in the meantime. It became a bit of a thing as the night went on, and was a lot better than awkward silence and shuffling about onstage.

Cool weekend of gigs. Friday night playing bass with Superbad at the Sapcote Social Club in Leicestershire. Really good turnout, lots of dancing and good sound. Saturday night playing bass with my own band (the Andy Wales Band) at Bar Dos Hermanos in Leicester. We were all knackered and it was a bit ragged and “seat of pants” at times but still plenty of good bits, a decent crowd and some righteous noises were made by all. Gear for both gigs was a Yamaha BB604 and little Markbass traveller rig. Then Sunday, helping our local village guitar teacher with his twice yearly gig for his students (including my eldest lad who’s just discovered Nirvana). It’s quite inspiring to see the youngsters grow as musicians over the few years we’ve been involved. The biblical rain from the morning thankfully stayed away all afternoon and it was a lovely outdoor shindig in his back garden, with me providing the PA and bass gear, being a general helper and being roped in on bass for one song. Gig below from Saturday night and Sunday afternoon’s gigs.

Good work @Chienmortbb. While I do gig my old precision bass quite often, my main go-to bass is a Yamaha BB604 that cost me £200 about seven years ago. Both sound ace, despite probably having a £3k price gap between them.

Yes I gig all three of my basses. But I don’t take every bass to every gig. I try not to play $h1tholes where my kit will be stolen, but it’s more about evening out the wear and tear. I suspect a drunken Saturday night pub crowd will not appreciate the tonal qualities of a vintage Fender over a cheap and cheerful Yamaha, so why bother taking it?

That’s my brother’s mate Andy on bass for the Selector.

The thing is that it just drives people further away from caring what the media say. Which isn't a good thing in a world full of unmoderated social media junk. Bona fide news organisations at least carried some gravitas whether you agreed with their politics or not. Nowadays it just seems a race to the bottom of clickbait and space-filling chaff.