martin8708

I think 4000 has hit it on the head . In the pre- internet days of music shops , customers were treated as a minor inconvience to the shop staff daily ritual of showing off on the latest Ibanez Jem / snoozing behind the counter / crafty fag break out the back of the shop / boring everybody with tales of how their band almost got signed by a major label . ( Denmark Street the case in point ) I still prefer to support local business , but the availability of reasonable bass gear is limited to say the least . I have expressed interest in a few items in our local music shop , for example , a nice little 40 watt all valve bass amp with no price on it . I was told that they would phone me with the price , but of course there was no phone call . A second visit to the shop for a price on the amp was met with same shop assistant still none the wiser on the price .( not a difficult thing to ask for , the price of an item in a shop ) Shops are now competing with the internet , shops can up their game by providing better customer service than the faceless internet shops , people still like good customer service and dealing with humans . Shop staff lying to customer's is business suicide , I would certainly let the owner / manager know I am unhappy with his poor standard of customer care , both the shoddy set up and poor handling of the amp does not instill any confidence in the OP's experience with the said shop . Hope the issues are resolved soon Martin .

Bought a very cool Sansamp bass driver from Daniel , smooth transaction and great PM's . It does exactly what it says on the tin . Many thanks Martin

There is no shortage of bass players down here , may be due to the fact that Mr King is a local boy , and we have a small music college which turns out students with a diploma in " walking round the town centre with a gig bag over my shoulder looking cool " . A lot of these gunslingers tend to be guitarists who can play a bit of bass. I also come across musicians who can play numerous instruments , including bass , so I suppose they must also be counted as bass players , even if it's not their favoured instrument . These multi-instrumentalists tend not to spend too much money on a bass as they would rather spend it on guitars / keys . Having been in 3 recording / rehearsal studios on the Island , I notice that the studio guitars and drums are pretty good level instruments , yet the studio bass / bass amp is of poor quality , maybe bass player are expected to bring their own gear ( which I do ) , but it's just seems to indicate that bass is the last thing on people's minds when it comes to music .

Pub gigs , landlord waddles up to you and says , " you guys can go on when the football / rugby / cricket / darts has finished on the big screen TV . This tends to be around 10.30 pm . " Can you guys stop at 10 ish , we have to do the meat draw " " don't worry about him , he's harmless " the landlord says referring to the very large , very drunk , very tattooed , guy in the corner that keeps staring at you whilst setting up.

I have considered moving to guitar as here on the Island there are a plethora of bass players ( thanks to Mark King and Platform One music school ) and tons of lead guitarists thanks to Youtube. Rhythm guitarists are pretty rare as everybody wants to be Slash / Jimmy Page or some plank spanker on bass . I figure that as some one with a good knowledge of chords and a decent sense of rhythm should find a slot in a band .

Listening to someone practice bass guitar through a wall must be similar to listening to a dentists drill for a few hours. If you were playing piano or a bit of classical guitar , it would be a more harmonious listening experience , but the " thud , thud " of a bass can be pretty mind numbing , ( or even worse , slappity ,slappity ,slap slap ) even if it sounds great to you . I live in a semi-detached house , my neighbours are in their 80's and hard of hearing , but they can still hear me play an acoustic guitar and sing , so sound does travel a bit more than we think. headphones as previously mentioned .

Can't really comment on the bass front , but out of six Stratocasters that I own ( 3 vintage , 1 Custom Shop, a 25 th Annaversary, and a JV Squier that I picked up from the local ads for £200 ) the JV is one of the most playable Strats that I own . Yup , I keep looking at some of those JV basses as well.

Being sacked ( by e-mail or text ) is pretty cr@p at the best of times , even if the band is going no-where. I would not reply to the e-mail , or just a short acknowledgement of receipt of the e-mail is all that is required . Just enjoy the fishing and keep an eye out for the next musical opportunity , as Lance Mountain said " if you can do the work , there is always a job out there for you " Best Wishes .

If we all did our own set-ups and minor repairs, would we put MDPhillips out of a job ?

Maybe it's the Precision bass ? I have six P - bass's and they all sound slightly different . Also the Markbass 800 tends to be more middley than the LittleMark 2/ 3 . Maybe you could borrow a different P bass to see if it was any different.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1380484913' post='2226065'] Alex doesn't have a bad bone in his body and makes one of the best products out there! I just cannot for the life of me understand some of the posts about Barefaced. One or two guys here almost seem to hate him and the product, the vitriol is barely under the surface. Yet no-one has ever particularly stated exactly why. I don't get it. [/quote] Tis the way of Basschat . I've only been on BC for a few years , but Guy Pratt, Roger Baer and Jimmy Coppola have had similar treatment .

As my day job can grind me down , the chance to lift myself out of the mundane for a couple of hours is quite appealing . Some gigs can be pretty dire , but I just like playing in a band ( even after 30 years ) so I am happy to play when and where . Some gigs don't turn a huge profit , but it's cheaper than playing golf . However , Christmas Eve and the wife's birthday are still out of bounds .

Back in the Jurassic period ( about 20 - 30 years ago ) band members seem to have more loyalty to each other ,and make the effort to pull together and work hard to make the band a success . My impression of bands today are if they are not an instant success , the towel is thrown in and we all go our separate ways . Stef, I have been in your situation too many times , which I why I now practice acoustic guitar equally with my bass playing. I have also starting singing about a quarter of our current set list , Hopefully , the more I can offer as a musician , the stronger my position in the local circle of musicians will be . Dont throw in the towel , just up your game and people will want you in their band .

This happened to me with my Markbass tube 800, the charge on my credit card statement did not match the Pound Sterling price advertised on the listing . The reply from Thomann was as above , my credit card company exchange rate is obviously not as good as Thomanns rate . Maybe bank transfer is a better option ? Still, the amp arrived quicker than most UK companies delivery times , very efficient company to deal with.

If I had a spare £3k to blow . I keep going back to the Mike Lull JAX T4 Jeff Ament in Cardinal red at Bassdirect . Always fancied a T- Bird .

Tell her it's an investment piece that will appreciate in value . Make sure she likes the colour ( seriously !! ) , I bought a bass hassle - free with the wife present because she liked the colour and shape of the bass.

I've played in duo's with just guitar / bass and just simply tapping your feet to your own internal metronome seems to work well . The guitarist is quite a foot-stomper as well , so it's easy to check if we're in time ( or not )

I was in the market for a new cab to compete with a two ( loud ) guitarist's band as the Markbass cabs were wiped out by the Marshall's and Mesa Boogies . I did phone Mark a few times with some enquiries about some cabs , all questions were answered in direct ,matter -of - fact manner which is fine by me , as I'd rather someone cut out the bullsh#t and cut to the chase . I did make the journey to the shop which is a good few miles and a very expensive ferry journey for me , Mark set me up with a few different cabs ( took my own bass + amp ) and left me to twiddle around while he went to his office to probably answer the mass of e-mails that had built up over the week- end . Mark then came out , taught me how to set-up my Markbass EQ, did not laugh at my bad playing and managed a wry smile at at me using a Fender P - bass as my main bass . BUT - he did sell me a cab which was a killer cab that absolutely slayed the guitarists , we also chatted about the Isle of Wight and Mark seemed to appreciate the effort I made to visit his establishment. I would rather have expertise and knowledge than plastic smiles and shiny Armani suits ( and I deal with those sorts of t*ssers on a regular basis ) , so I will happily use Bassdirect with no hesitation at all.

I was in a 3 piece for over 10 years ( guitarist who sings / bass with backing vox / drummer ) and it never sounded thin . If you have a strong rhythm guitarist the sound will always be full , the only time I have been in bands with a weedy sound is when the guitarist plays continuous lead or solo,s that he's learn't note for note off youtube . There is a definite lack of good rhythm guitarist's around , everybody wants to be a rock-god .

Gallien Krueger amps , they probably sound great , but look Star Trekky (original series ) . Also difficult to spell. Don't like the name Genz Benz either , sounds like a child's bendy toy.

I have had the pleasure of owning an Alleva , and it was truly a wonderful bass , very well finished and incredibly playable and I would buy another without any hesitation . Life has taught me there are two sides to every story , we have heard an awful lot from the purchaser . Dealing with the public for nearly 30 years has also taught me you can't please all the people all the time . Stories and events become twisted and manipulated over time . With this outcry of disgust and horror , I eagerly await a wave of A-C basses to appear in the for sale section , so I'm off to raid the piggybank and click on wonga to pick up some bargains . But , I somehow doubt that will happen , as those that own one of Jimmy's bass's know just how good they are . I can't help but thinking those doing the most slagging off are people who have never owned or played an A-C bass and never have any intention of owning one .

Cool rig , I used to have a 2 x 604 rig powered by a Tube 800 , till I went down the Vanderkley route . The Tube 800 is stronger in the Mids , gives you a bit more of a cutting edge in loud bands and the head-room is great , good fun watching the guitarist fiddle with the volume knob on his amp while the Tube 800 is just getting warmed up .

I was considering taking my new acoustic guitar to Chandlers for a set up , so this thread has planted a small seed of doubt. I normally set up my basses and electric guitars myself , but I was going to splurge on a pro set up as the nut and saddle needs adjusting ,and acoustic guitars are ( for me ) more difficult to adjust . There is no-one on the Island I would trust , not aware of any one in Southampton or Pompey , and Chandlers seemed to have legendary status as guitar techs to the Gods . Is the new shop still worth the trip for the set - up ?

My old P bass My newer P Bass My old J bass Yamaha BB1200 Mo Clifton upright

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1374954987' post='2155269'] Yep. In my wildest dreams of musical fame and fortune, JJ Cale would be what I'd wish for - a lifetime of playing music just how I wanted, the respect of my peers and none of that celebrity nonsense. [/quote] Agreed. Sad news indeed, JJ Cale was a big part of my musical diet when growing up. Thanks for all the great songs .