goblin

Not got my own, but I tried their 'Hum Cancelling Series Jazz Bass Set' today in a 5 string MIA Jazz, and they sounded absolutely amazing. Nice and clear, VERY punchy with a nice sound. Not cheap at £199 for 4 strings / £229 for 5 strings, but if I want to transform a Jazz, I'd be certainly going for them.

[quote name='iamtheelvy' timestamp='1393708412' post='2383678'] Ha, I saw that meeting with TM - was just behind you mate! "Hit me like a man!" [/quote] I'd been awake since 5am having not got a wink of sleep, and had just driven for how ever many hours...what was he expecting? First time round I cracked my knuckle which didn't help

I went down this morning with a mate, had to leave at quarter to 6 in the morning, urgh! Was certainly one of the better visits though. It wasn't quite as full, and yes there was slap, but not so much that it was irritating, and I only did it once to get it out of the system (on Dave Swift's Fodera, poor thing ) Had a cracking time though, starting with being collared by T M Stevens who complained I didn't fist bump him hard enough, so had to do it again haha. Caught up with plenty of faces including Tom Kent, Dave Swift, Barrie (Molan) and the list can go on and on, but the highlight was meeting Leland Sklar... I'm a happy chappy now!

I once had a run in with a chap at an open mic night, I'd taken my amp along and once played, unplugged and moved it out of the way, and put my bass in it's case at the side. Fast forward an hour, I was out in the smoking area catching up with a few people I hadn't seen for a while, and I heard bass... not very good sounding fretless playing. Yep, some older chap had plugged my amp back in, and also pulled my bass out of it's case and started playing it without my consent. When I confronted him about it, his response simply was "well it was there and no one stopped me, so it's not my problem"

It's really good, and it cuts through quite well, plus, it has a preamp in it so you can plug it in. Drop me a PM as I'm looking for move it on if you're interested.

I host an open mic / jam night once a month, they tend to vary though. Most of them will have a PA, and since they're not normally at a high level, you could be okay DIing into a vocal PA. The way I do it is I have mine as a band setup, so I'll have a trio as house band (me on bass, guitarist who sings and a drummer), and then people can get up. That means there's always amps provided, and there's a PA there too... has to be said, last time we were really quite loud

Oh wow, that's beautiful!

Just keep going with it, you'll get there! It's like everything, if you can hear it, then you can probably do it with the right mindset! For the first week of trying to learn it, I got heavy handed which subsequently slowed me down, it was only when I started to just tickle the strings for it, I had it up to full speed in about three days (I had nothing else to do to be fair!)

It was Room 335, until I got the opportunity to do it back in December. Since then it's been Street Life by Randy Crawford (which I heard another band doing at the same gig!). So...who wants to guess what I discovered I'll be playing on Tuesday night's gig?

Having used both regularly, both have their merits and drawbacks. My own rig is a passive rig, the band's rig was active. My passive rig currently consists of a pair of EV SX+ tops, an (admittedly) active HK Actor Sub and a Soundcraft Powerstation 1200 powered desk. The main thing I like about passive, is if an amp plays up, it's easy enough to quickly swap an amp out if required (used to run passive subs so got a spare Peavey CS1000). There're also less heavy lifts (just the desk really, as it's also flightcased - 54kg!), and then there's the advantages of only really needing to locate power for myself in one place (I set my rig up by the desk so I've got quick access if required). So what about the active system? Well the one the band used is a Yamaha DXR12 pair with a DXS15 sub. It's a nice enough PA. My main gripes include powering it, more weight to lift onto speaker stands, and also if a punter carelessly knocks one over, there's more damage to be done (internal and external). However benefits wise, they do fit into the car better, and the desk has potential to be a lot more compact, making it easier to find somewhere to put it, and then there's no real need to worry about speaker cables as all the XLR is required to do is send a signal to the amp in each speaker. So it does work in that sense. However, sound and practicality wise, do I find the system to be worth £2500, I'm not sure. Compare that to paying less than £1000 for the EV system and sub...definitely not!

It's certainly an interesting experience. I recently ran into some political issues with Electric Lounge, decided it wasn't worth the hassle and walked whilst I was ahead of the game, with the intention to not burn any bridges. Either way, I said I'd dep for them for the last couple of gigs as finding a bass player who drives, who's also willing to stump up an amount of cash for PA, isn't going to be an easy task. Anyway, I found out the week of one of the gigs they'd had other ideas, and decided to completely sack me off completely, but they were gigging at my friend's pub (gig I'd got them as well to be fair), so I thought I'd go down and watch anyway as it's my local. It's certainly interesting being on the outside looking in. Sometimes you notice issues that've been highlighted out to you, which since you're happy at the time, you didn't think anything of. I also had the moments of "wow that sounds really good, I never noticed that", so it goes two ways. Do I miss the band? A little bit, but you'll find that it happens when you leave any band, unless sh*t really hit the fan. But, party bands come and go, I've still had some good dep gigs in, and I'm in the process of putting together another function band with the same concept, but managed the way I want to manage it, which will be beneficial to the band (I hope!)

I'll be down on the Sunday

iRealB, The Amazing Slow Downer (changes speed without changing the pitch, can also change pitch by the semitone without changing speed)

Lots of choice to go from, I've not yet come across a bad 1x12 yet either. I use a Hartke HyDrive HX112 which I love, if the 1x15 wasn't so cheap I'd probably run a pair of them! Nice thing about it for me is that they're switchable between 4 and 8 ohms, so in 8ohms I use both cabs with the Hartke head, for small gigs where I only really want a big of backline / PA covering the rest, I'll take the Superfly and 1x12 and get 250 watts into 4 ohms

Having played both, I have to disagree I'm afraid. The fit and finish on the Tribute I looked at was far less superior. It didn't balance desperately well either, and the feel of the neck was truly terrible. I wouldn't have paid anywhere near what I paid for my USA model for it.

For something MusicMan sounding, I'd go for the G&L. However, if you can get your hands on one (Bass Gallery have one for £1100), get a proper USA made G&L, they're so much better than the Tribute models. The Tributes aren't bad, don't get me wrong, but it seems a bit odd to jump in too soon on the G&L if you're prepared to save for the Sandberg... why not save up for the G&L? I'd let you have a go on mine, but I'm too far away from you!

I used to drive a Vauxhall Agila which was cracking for carrying gear...not much good for anything else Then a VW Polo which you can still get two DBs in!! Have a look at the Mercedes A Class too, I currently run an A170L CDi and it's like a van once the seats are clipped out! Take a look at the A140 petrol and you'll be surprised at how insurable it is. Also despite what a lot of people think, it WILL NOT FALL OVER! That was a cock up with a Swedish motoring magazine fitting incorrect tyres to the car. Merc then went and stiffened everything up anyway so make sure it'll never happen again

Sunday Morning by Maroon 5's also pretty good, not particularly technically challenging, but one important thing to remember is that it's not what you play, but it's how you play it. The most important thing my teacher taught me is that anyone can play the notes, but if there's no feel, then it's worthless.

Anything by Rush is a good bet, YYZ is good fun, although for GCSE I'd suggest playing it safe and going for The Spirit of Radio. Street Life by Randy Crawford has a cracking bass line too! As does Diana Ross' I'm Coming Out.