bassbiscuits

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1422826812' post='2677312'] My sister has never come to a gig with me as a bassist She came to several of my classical gigs, but hasn't seen me rock my socks off live [/quote] Yeah I think my dad still thought I was standing at the back in some studenty metal band from years ago, He was surprised to see me singing, playing bass, some guitar and harmonica and sharing duties of fronting a busy power trio....

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1422753512' post='2676547'] Awesome! Too drunk to day anythj g else. Awesome! Paul H - your comment made me chuckle a lot! Cheers bud! [/quote]

For years I've been subject to some weird musician curse - that whenever you invite members of your family to a gig, it invariably turns out to be a crap one. I've lost count of the times I've had to explain to a parent/brother etc how last time we played here it was packed to the rafters, while tonight there's about 10 people in and none of them are even listening. Glad to say I reckon I've broken the jinx! My dad, my bro and his missus all came to my band's gig tonight, which is the first time they've seen me play in about 10 years. And guess what - it was a great gig! 'Back of the net' I believe is the term I'm looking for....

My current one is the best I've put together over the years. A USA Fender P bass, through a Little Mark III head into an Aguilar GS410 cab. The sound coming out does strange things to me…. The cab (purchased from Basschat) is a weighty old bugger tho, so more often than not its my Schroeder 1210 (purchased from Basschat too!) which comes to gigs, and that's a monster-sounding cab considering its size.

I love my Fenders - I have two precisions and a jazz, all USA, plus a MIJ strat and a cheapish acoustic. They were all bought secondhand over the last 20 years, not because I went looking for a Fender, but because on each occasion they were the best match for what I needed. And certainly in the case of the strat and both p basses, they are still among the best examples I've ever played. Saying that I've also played a fair few pretty average Fenders too- I just didn't buy them! I'm sure there are higher end makers producing better than off-the-peg Fenders, but for me they tick an awful lot of the right boxes.

A few moments before we were about to hit the first note in a packed St Patrick's Day gig, my keyboard player pulled tight on a lead on the windowsill behind my amp, flipping over a full pint of water right into the back of my bass amp head's vent openings. After a few minutes of very annoyed shaking of the thing and dabbing it with a towel, it miraculously sounded fine - and has done ever since. The same keyboard player gets bonus points tho - for the time his keyboard x-frame stand just gave up the ghost mid-gig as he was about to launch into a heroic keyboard solo. Instead there was just the loudest bang ever and the poor chap sitting there, hands outstretched in mid air, looking utterly gutted, and this pile of leads and gear on the floor below him. He did get a special mention from the singer at the end of the song tho! Good lad

Ah Queen - what a brilliant band. I've been listening to them a lot lately following those two "Days of our lives" programmes on bbc4 recently. What a brilliant bass player John Deacon is. Just so tasteful and melodic. A real lesson in bass playing. Turns out he was born about five mins from where I currently live too in Leicestershire!

Thank you all for shedding light on this one - I'll go to bed having learned something new. Cheers folks!

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1420754502' post='2653184'] My mum has an iPad and uses a rubber tipped pointing device. She's never touched her screen with a fingertip! [/quote] Hmmm interesting. I wonder how that works then? Maybe the whole thing about electrical stuff from skin isn't the whole picture then...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1420755891' post='2653213'] I can only do the bare minimum on touch screens - don't like 'em and prefer to have a real keyboard under my fingers. I like real, moving keys. Old skool, me. [/quote] Ha ha this made me laugh!

Wow! Thanks folks - at least I'm not a total freak, so thanks for reminding me of that at the very least! I like the approach of using the little finger - why didn't I think of that myself d'oh! For what it's worth I don't think moisturisers affect calluses too much tho, as mine are still going strong despite a daily dose of hand cream. But at least I've got a brand new excuse for not answering unwantwd phone calls now: "sorry my fingertips wouldn't let me..."

Someone put me out of my misery here - tell me I'm not the only one in the world with this problem. My fingers, (complete with calluses and thick fingertip skin from decades of playing) don't seem to work very well on touch screens like smartphones, tablets etc. Now - someone said they work by picking up some electrical pulse from your skin. It occurred to me that thick calluses might be something to do with why my fingers don't always seem to work on touch screens. Or it could be a load of old cobblers. Does anyone else have this problem? Can't figure out whether to call Apple or Embarrassing Bodies...

Out: SGC Nanyo Bass Collection SB310 Fender Modern Player jazz bass In: A 15-yr-old USA fender jazz bass What have I learned? That I'd rather have fewer, good guitars than a range of cheaper ones which I bought for the less salubrious / downright dangerous gigs. Sod's law those gigs usually turn out to be the real good kickass ones, where I end up wishing I brought my good gear. And that after donkeys years of playing precisions Ive discovered jazz basses and love them too. Roll on whatever 2015 brings!

Ah I heard this on Planet Rock yesterday I think for the first time in about 15 years - what a cool tune! Was just thinking exactly the same about the bass playing. Definitely sounded like flats and very good stuff. I like it when you hear a tune you haven't heard in ages and think: 'whoa yeah they were actually pretty cool.'

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1417536993' post='2621488'] A very enjoyable programme! Nice one BBC4 The Pink Floyd one that was on the same night was cool too... [/quote] Wasn't it brilliant? Really want to sit and enjoy that whole album properly now...

Great programme - taped it but ended up watching it anyway and really enjoyed it. Made me want to turn the gain up a bit afterwards, then remembered I don't own a Marshall d'oh.... Cool how a little back room workshop ended up churning out a real cornerstone of rock music. Good work folks!

Just bought a bass bridge from Tim. Bought on Sunday, arrived on Tuesday. Spot on delivery and great condition. A pleasure to deal with you mate.

totally - it happens all the time. I have a mid priced Japanese strat which for years has been my main 'pick up and play' instrument (when I'm not on bass obviously). During much of that time i've had one of two nice Gibson SGs too, but they never bring out my playing in the way that modest little strat does. Part of it i guess is the scale/feel/neck shape, and that the strat is so played in that it feels like a pair of slippers now. Have recently added a jazz bass to my stock, after donkey's years of playing P basses, and there's a difference there too - i think the extra playing position over the bridge pickup opens up new doors there too...

There was a big piece on them in Classic Rock a month or two back - took me back to the early 1990s and my first proper band which were big Jellyfish fans!