Gareth Hughes

And Mike Huckabee, a Republican party candidate in the 2008 US Presidential election, is also a very passionate bass player and enthusiastic supporter of music education. Not so famous in this part of the world but has a huge following in the US. There's a great interview with him in the February 2011 issue of Bass Player. In my opinion one of the most informative and inspiring interviews that magazine has done in a long time.

Been there - done that. My attitude is to do away with the snobbery involved in 'I don't like that kind of music therefore I won't play it'. As for playing with people you don't like - again, that's snobbery. Just because it's music that doesn't mean that the principles or work don't apply like they do to any other job. How many folks here with day jobs can't stand their boss or other folks in the workplace but still work alongside them year after year? If you're a professional musician why should there be different rules/opinions? Not doing a gig for the likes of the BNP is a valid excuse in my opinion, just as those with dayjobs have chosen not to work for the BNP. One facet of being a professional bass player, in my opinion, is to be a professional bass player - meaning that I play the bass lines required to a professional standard. If it's a country tune and I try to play something funky then I'm not being very professional. I look at what we do as having a skill or a trade - just like being a plumber is a trade. A plumber doesn't go into a house and think -that guy's an idiot and I don't much like the look of this toilet he's bought so I'm not going to install it-. If he did you'd think him a joke and never book him again. Instead he installs the toilet to the best of his ability, gets paid and leaves. Sure he might call you a prick on the way home. That's fine - as long as he's done the job properly. Same goes for being a professional bass player. It would be great to be a Nathan East and handpick the genre of music you'll play and the people - but that's not how it is for the majority of working musicians. And I'd be fairly confident in saying that Nathan has done his fair share of gigs he wasn't too thrilled about in the past - but I'd bet he did them professionally.

Nice one. I love my SFT - tis a lovely pedal, with an inspiring sound. Fair play - I'm in awe of folks that can get their head around stuff like this. I regularly plague Bigwan with newbie questions and 'what if?'s. Any soundclips coming?

I'd say keep the Warwick. If your only dilemma is what to do for the gig - could you borrow an amp from someone? If it's just for one gig it should be sortable. If it's a long term gig, residency, etc, then that's a different story. BUT - if you keep the Warwick then bloody well use the thing. Take it out and take care of it. It was made to be played, not pampered. If your current amp is unreliable - how about selling the Kramer and using the money to get the amp serviced? Might be little more than a dodgy part somewhere and the repair charge mightn't be as steep as you think. Personally I'd rather borrow £30 or whatever for a repair bill than lose several hundred or close to it in selling a bass - and then you still have an amp to sort out. DOH!!!!!! I just voted for you to sell it - my mistake. Clearly want you to keep it, and clearly can't read things properly.

Absolutely - sounds like a plan. I don't have a gig that night yet, so Murphy's law will surely bite me on the ass as soon as I make plans - but failing that I'll be there. I have it in my diary, so lets get the PM's going coming up to the date. Maybe we should all wear sunglasses and look like a real gang? Hang around the entrance and intimidate the classical folks - hum some swing tunes?

Foley huck - for the size of them, think of what he'd get if he auctioned his balls.

Thanks for that aonindy - looking forward to it a lot. And it's my old neighbourhood - a nice trip down memory lane for me.

I position the neck much the same - so that the first few notes are out of sight. I've found that helps with vibrato given I have short arms. As for tuning - look as much as you need, IMO. I still look at the dots on my electric basses, and that's after 20 years of playing those The attitude of 'Real men don't need dots' is bull. Maybe it's true - or maybe real men just don't play some of the same, horrible sounding rooms I do, with the noisiest, bass-heavy, ham-fisted piano players. Visual references are great, IMO -and then after a while you'll develop a physical relation to notes with your fingers: ie, if A is under your first finger, then A# must be under your middle finger and B must be under your pinkie.

What - no juicy details? What happened? Prying minds (with feck all else to do) must know!!!

I had a soundguy - someone I know well, who has done sound for me many time and has worked the same venue for years - fry my Aphex Bass Xciter by leaving Phantom Power on the XLR. My Aphex was already running off a 9V power supply so things didn't end nicely for me. In this instance I'm insisting he use his own DI box next time - glad I didn't connect the cable to my amp head.

If it helps - I did the same thing about 15 years ago and the bass was handed in. Good luck.

And a lovely guy too. I was playing with Foy Vance in Ronnie Scott's a few years back. Dave was in the band going on before us. At soundcheck I went up to him, asking about his Rob Allen bass he was playing. Gave me a load of time and insight, even offered it to me to play. Top bloke - and demon bass player.

Kolstein Heritage strings have a lovely low tension to them, designed to emulate a gut feel. Me likee a lot.

A beautiful idea and sentiment. I'll be there in spirit. And if there wasn't a great big bloody sea between me and the gig I'd be there in person.

Digging the playing a lot. And loving the look of the guitar guy with the white Strat. He might be playing the best rhythm in the world, but he totally looks like he just got his guitar at Xmas.

Yep - contact any of the Genz Benz guys - even directly thru their website. My 3.0 was sending a big low spike to the speaker ever time I turned it on/off, but only when MUTE was engaged. Asked Jeff Genzler about it - he arranged to have the UK distributor sort it out, at no expense to me - not even shipping. Great company.

PM'd

I'm gigging in Bangor on Wednesday night if that's any use.

My Eminence actually arrived with a crack in it - on the bass side F hole, on the outer edge from the middle of the F hole to the edge of the body, about an inch and a half long. Cracked right the way thru the top. Took it to my luthier and determined there would be no problems structurally to the bass so I just left it well alone. Eight or so years later and it's exactly as it was then. Anyway Clarky - the point of my rambling is that you shouldn't have much to worry about - especially as these are laminate instruments. Aesthetically you might want to repair it tho, if its bugging you to look at.

[quote name='oldslapper' post='1089141' date='Jan 14 2011, 11:43 AM']There's a bit of me that gets exasperated with the misguided belief that you have to be perfect before venturing out.[/quote] Well - I'm not cheap, BUT....... how much you got? In 12 years I haven't had a single MD or bandleader ask what my training/education was. I've had plenty ask about what experience I've had, who I've played with, etc - and that's normal to gauge a player's ability. If you know that someone has played with Frank Zappa, for instance, you automatically know that that player has some serious game WITHOUT hearing them play. An important thing is to be honest about your ability. I've turned down several gigs because I knew they were beyond my ability. It's fine to take a gig that's a bit above your ability and will push you - but it's just stupid to take a gig that will leave you looking like an incompetent fool. I almost lost a very credible and lucrative gig because the person who recommended me had said I was an orchestral player. When the MD mentioned this to me at my audition, I explained I had played some orchestral things in the like of Broadway shows but that's a far cry from being an orchestral player. So we looked through the material and thankfully I was fine with it. And you're spot on with "the misguided belief that you have to be perfect before venturing out." I know someone working with one of the biggest bands in the world who told a little white lie about a certain aspect of a job and then learnt damn quickly on the job. And I know from talking with some other professionals, way higher up the food chain than me, that I'm not the only one waiting to get found out!!!

Fair play with the lessons. I just took my first upright lesson a few days ago (getting almost stranded in the snow on the way there too!!). I've been playing upright professionally for about 12 years - basically got one and got gigs just because I had one so very much learnt on the job - so after all that time I have a LOT of bad habits to correct. After one lesson I'm already feeling, and more importantly - HEARING - the changes in my playing, especially with my bowing. Yes, I am a wee chuffed ferret. How I wish I could go back to my younger self and give me a slap for not taking lessons then.