Truckstop

Ha ha! Just got a mental image of Jon reading this thread, getting to my post and going "Great! The sod's given me more time!" before leaning back in his tallback chair, lighting his pipe and opening the paper. I'm sure it won't be much longer mate, hang tough! Truckstop

Well he is getting two basses built. If we're looking at between 1-11/2 years for a build, then it stands to reason that it should be 2-3 years before you see anything, right? I mean, you dont put two microwave meals that take 2 minutes each in the microwave at the same time for 2 minutes. You put them both in for 4 minutes innit? Either way, Im sorry it's taken so long but man, they are worth it!! Truckstop

In reply to the OP: Mate, in a few years everything you're doing right now will provide you with untold benefits! I know it can be boring and uninspiring, but your brain is still picking up those little nuances you're subconsciously missing. 4 years is nothing anyway; I've been playing heavily for 10 years, and I'm only just starting to feel comfortable and happy with my contributions to the songs in my band. Practice makes perfect! Not only in the 'playing your instrument' sense, but also in the 'making a huge musical encyclopedia in your brain' kind of way too. It is my belief that ALL musicians should have a good sense of timing, pace and rythym. It's not just the drummers responsibility. Truckstop

Mark Hoppus sig. Fender jazz/precision hybrid might be worth a go. Reverse P pickups with an offset jazz body and neck makes for a really nice sounding and feeling bass. No tone knob, but the standard tone you get falls somewhere between jazz and precision IMO and they look wicked. I went through a phase of 'needing' a Jazz and a P and honestly, I never even bothered taking a particular one to particular gigs. I just took what was being playedore at the time. Most people in a live situation won't notice what bass is being played, and in recording situations you'll be EQ'ing it anyway to get the sound you want! Personally, I find that my Blazer (excellent P substitute) and my Eagle (jazz-ish neck and reverse p pups) are perfectly adequate for most situations. Unless I need a 5th or a fretless! Truckstop

Wow, lots to digest here! Thanks for all your input, got a lot to think about. I was thinking of a hiring a PA rig and then spending a day with the band chopping and changing different speakers and experimenting with keys and vox going at the same time innit. Anyway, thanks again! Alex

Personally I'll only ever have a couple of shanties over the course of the evening because I just can't drink and play! My landlord's a trombonist with a very well known UK symphony orchestra and the brass section drink like there's no tomorrow. They will often squeeze 4 to 5 rounds in the intermission alone! Truckstop

"A transvestite band would be cool, right?" Truckstop

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1331203542' post='1569238'] I think it's not a bad idea... not not as a thing, imagine how hard it would be to police if things went wrong... maybe just a lot of people you trust swapping. Bass swingers if you will. [/quote] 1000 post limit before you can enter the Basschat Swap Shop? Truckstop

Hmmm, I will agree that the fan is a little loud and very noticeable when you're practicing at home. You can't hear it when you're playing, but it is a little annoying when you're writing notes or when you take a little break. Personally, I can deal with it! Truckstop

Hello all, need a little advice! Following on from the thread about getting a decent PA rig for less than a grand, I thought I'd ask for some advice on what makes up a useful, flexible PA rig. I play in a 5-piece covers band covering everything from Paranoid (soon to be dropped though I think) to All Night Long. We are made up of 1xVox, 1xBV (doubles as a bassplayer too), 1x Bass, 1xkeys, 1xguitar and 1xdrummer. The band have been together for a few months, and I've been a member for just over a month. I've already played two gigs with them and we have another 12 booked in up to June and another few in the pipeline. So we're looking at being quite busy over the summer. At the moment, we use a small, old PA system comprising of two tops (Peavey somethingorothers) for keys and vox and it simply isnt good enough for any room big enough for 50+ people. The drummer has to force himself to play quieter so he doesnt drown everything out! Any louder and the speakers fart out like hell, not very good at all! I'm terrified if we get a good gig in the near future (a wedding or a little festival) and we simply wont sound good enough to impress potential customers. We're quite ambitious aswell; we all want to play week in week out in the future and we want to end up playing large corporate gigs. Because of this, we understand that sometimes we'll need a PA for a large room, and sometimes we'll only be playing in a spit-and-sawdust type room. We were also discussing lighting briefly; is that something worth thinking about right now? So, basically, what makes a good PA rig? Lets say, for arguments sake, we can get £3k together. What can that buy us? Do I need compressors, reverb units, feedback destroyers? How big does a room need to be until we need to mic the drumkit up? And what's the difference between active, powered and passive speakers? Once again, any help gratefully recieved and feel free to throw in any experiences you have. Every little helps! Alex

Quite. How many 'keepers' has everyone had? I've had 3 (but I still own one of them!). Anyway, VMJ decals I believe are just printed on over the finish (as His Right Venerable Sir Lord Earl Skank D Var rightfully pointed out), so again, a little wirewool should do the trick. Maybe some T-Cut too? Hopefully the headstock finish hasnt aged enough to show a massive difference in colour where the decal orginally was! Truckstop

Dare I say: [b]Osprey Guitars [/b](does Scotland count as UK anymore?) [b]Letts[/b] Truckstop

Thank you Mark, yeah I saw your build thread, well impressed! Specially seeing as it was your first try! I'm on the lookout for another project too, got my eyes peeled for another Blazer or maybe a Peavey T-40. I need to get over my fear and move onto lacquer finishes. After that I'll hopefully have the guts to move onto poly finishes of all colours! I do love oil finishes though and I'd love to experiment with dyes and see what interesting tints I can get. Need to source some cheap bodies with decent grains though Alex

Can I have dibs on whatever it is you find please? Cheers Truckstop

You should totally mix your genres. It helps to have a wide range of music so that you can tailor setlists to particular gigs. Say someone saw your blues/rock covers in a pub one night and they want you for a wedding or something, but wanted you to play something more well known? You win, that's what happens! But obviously, if you're just doing it for fun and you want to play blues every month, then do it! That's why you're in a blues band! Truckstop

You can always improve the electronics, but if you choose to sell it on in the future, you can re-install the original wiring and pups. Or even sell it with the upgrades and provide the electronics with the sale. Truckstop

I've always secretly been after a Hoppus, but I've only ever seen one in Salmon Pink (the one colour I'm interested in) and that was like £600 s/h! I passed on it. Lovely collection too, great selection of tones for any situation! Truckstop

Oh dearie me. Is this how people complain these days? Truckstop

It'll work, they are ridiculously powerful. The regenerative fuse also works very well indeed, musta tripped out 5 times on me in the past and always worked straight afterwards. I used up to 7 pedals at once through it with no problems, had I been bothered to fit more pedals on my board I'm sure there would have been plenty of power on tap. Truckstop

Don't forget to get mic stands and leads!!!! Also, with that sort of money you could probably afford to get yourself a decent bass drum mic. Being able to control the volume and frequencies of the bass drum is mega handy! Get some tops and a mixer/amp for £700 and spend the rest on accessories and mics. Truckstop

Cheers! It's the first project that not only did I manage to finish, but also doesnt make me curse the wind for what I have created! Truckstop

Sold me his Boss pedal board and arrived well packaged and nice and quickly (just need some Boss pedals now)! Excellent comms and kept me posted throughout, do not hesitste to deal with this guy. Even if he's selling something you dont want, just buy it anyway. Truckstop

Sold me his Nathan East Parametric EQ and I'm very happy with it. Good comms, well packaged and arrived nice and quickly. Deal with confidence! Alex