bassbiscuits

Surely Oasis's 15 minutes of fame must be up by now?

I went to see Guy Pratt (Pink Floyd, Roxy Music) doing a stand-up gig a few years back, and afterwards me and my missus spotted him sitting alone in the bar, so we went over to chat. He was great - we had a few more drinks and chatted for ages. He signed my "My Bass and Other Animals" book and got another for my missus. He was really sound, and good company. I had a shocking hangover in work the next day but for a perfectly good reason i reckon. I also met Steve Harris once at the Rotosound stand in a music show in London, and queued for him to sign a flyer for me. Sadly I was too starstruck to say anything when it got to my turn! D'oh.

Caught them in Leicester two weeks ago - the dog's b...cks! Really impressed.

Astonishing isn't it? Fair play to that man - what an extraordinary story. I only hope that he's correct and the cancer doesn't return etc. As for now it's certainly an outcome none of us expected. Amazing!

My main basses are both USA Fenders - a jazz and a P bass. I've put each of them in for a pro set up at some stage, but have always ended up cranking the action up a good bit afterwards - i play quite heavy handedly, and although very low action is lovely, i prefer a bit of room to lay into it live without the notes choking out. They're both strung with Rotosound 40-100 Swing Bass round wounds. I've been using these as long as I can remember so they just feel comfortable, although a heavier low E would be good for the couple of songs where i tune to D. Flatwounds can almost always allow you to get away with a lower action though, as theres not the round binding to clank against the frets, and their stiffer so move less anyway. any help to you?

Good band - saw them a a few years back at a festival where i'd just wandered into their gig and BAM! They were frighteningly loud! Good stuff tho. Shame they're calling it a day.

Huge Hands - yep it was Pete Ray Biggin on the drums - he was blinding! I gotta confess i spent more time looking at him than watching Mark King - my mate who isn't even a musician of any sort was just blown away by that drummer and how he commanded the whole band in and out of songs. Just a great great drummer. A couple of other pro session drummers i know were there too and ended up chatting backstage with him after the show - by all accounts a top bloke too! Flat Eric - good work sir! Wasn't it a great night? Need more nights out like that.

sorry to hear about your health problems fella - hopefully giving the bass a rest will help those wrists recover a bit. But definitely keep hold of one bass - i didn't play for a number of years between one thing or another and only had one bass stashed - but things changed and now i'm really glad i kept it. most importantly tho, get well!

that's incredible!

Well, that it's sort of been hijacked as a Children In Need song rather than being an unusual tune you don't normally hear a solo acoustic player tackling...

Yeah man - it was a real bonus night out! Was due a good live gig too and that definitely ticked the box!

My mate has just spent ages learning this for his solo acoustic set, with all the proper complex chords and everything, only to be ambushed by this. To say he's miffed doesn't really cover it....!

Had the privilege of catching Level 42 at Leicester's De Montfort Hall on Monday night. Bit of a last minute decision to go, and despite not being a huge fan I thought it would be worth it if only to witness the legendary Mark King in action. The gig was absolutely AWESOME! Exceeded all my expectations, and then some. Live, with loud thudding bass and the most kick ass live drummer I've seen since Stewart Copeland on the Police tour a couple of years back, it was less 80s pop and more heavy jazz/funk and by far the tightest live band I've ever seen. Genuinely brilliant band, and a level of musicianship that makes me feel like I've just been tinkering with the bass for the last 20-odd years.... Not bad for a wet Monday night in October eh.

Yeah gotta echo what everyone else has said really - I'd heard all the rumours of his illness etc, but then when his family confirmed what was going on, my heart sank all over again. He was an incredible player, and has left behind a brilliant body of work of generations to enjoy. Lucky enough to have seen them live twice (Stiff Upper Lip tour 2000 and Download 2010) and they were brilliant. Was listening to Black Ice album last night very loud while the wife and son were out, and Malcolm's playing is immense. I heard something a while back saying: "Everyone eventually dies, but not everyone really lives." Well Malcolm, you've certainly really lived and given us so much music to enjoy. Hope the future is as kind as it can be for you.

Cheers JTUK - good advice mate. Yeah these certainly have some miles on the clock - I currently have two Ohm RW-2 cabs (1x12 plus horn), and two small Samson cabs (about 1x8 plus horn) and a Soundcraft powered mixer, which are all ok for solo acoustic but not much else. (it has two x 500w channels, so you can split into 4ohms per channel) The speakers are each 150-200w max so i was hoping even fairly basic PA speakers like the Peaveys would be a step up.

hiya Anyone out there familiar with Peavey PA cabs called Hisys 6xt? can find almost nowt about them online, and in fairness they look like older models which pre-date the internet era a bit! They're rated 200w / 400w peak at 8 ohms, and they;re asking £225 for the pair in fairly used cosmetic condition. Are there any bass chatters that have used these and have any opinion of them? I'd be getting them really for just acoustic solo/duo work at most. cheers folks

ahhh - lovely looking bass. well done!

On a related subject to this i've recently bought a jazz bass having been a staunch p bass player for years. I initially went for the 'everything on full' approach to vol/tone, which works well on the P bass, but I've now realised there's some very diverse good sounds from the jazz that aren't on P basses. 1. Neck p/up on full, bridge p/up on 75%, tone on 75% = sounds like a P bass with added definition from the bridge p/up, but fattened and smoothed off by rolling down tone. 2. Neck p/up on 75%, bridge p/up on full, tone on 75% = really fat, full, honky midrangy tone 3. Everything on full = really pleasing but slightly scooped mid sound which is ideal for slapping but seems less good for cutting thru a full band. Gonna keep on exploring as there's a world of sounds hiding in there (though i still like the plug in and go approach of the P Bass!)

ha ha that's dreadful!

I'd second everything said about the SGC Nanyo Bass Collection instruments - had a SB310 and still have a SB301 fretless. Both under £200 and both fine basses!