Gareth Hughes

Sorry Skankdelvar, but I'm a bit confused as to you position here. Could you reiterate your stance more clearly?


[quote name='skankdelvar' post='687228' date='Dec 17 2009, 12:27 PM']I was about to deplore this unseemly hostility towards such an esteemed visitor to our little island during the season of goodwill to all men. For shame.

Then I noticed you [i]only[/i] get to meet him if you buy one of his rather expensive promotional hats. So [i]you're[/i] paying him £15 to advertise [i]his[/i] product. For that sort of money I'd expect a soapy ***-**** from his Missus.

I therefore invite the tight-fisted, gap-toothed, faux-psychotic, fanboy-exploiting fret-masher to pack his cash-filled Hermes bags and shag off home to his adoring acolytes, thus avoiding the likelihood of having a tightly-rolled item of headwear rammed up his Sheriff's badge.[/quote]

Oh bother - I've just soiled myself. Me likee that bass a little too much.

I saw McCartney a few years ago in Dublin and was astounded. The big thing that struck me was - ignore the lights, the stage show, the acrobats, the living legend onstage,etc - this was just five guys playing rock n' roll and LOVING it!!! And they played so damn well too.

I saw the X-Factor and thought the singing was sadly a little dodgy from everyone.

Fee or no fee, I think the fact that The Beatles Guitar Hero was just released and there's millions of teenagers (and nostalgic parents) watching the show might have had something to do with it. Sometimes the idea of a fee is laughable anyway - you're playing to millions of people via tv - can you imagine how much that air-time would cost to buy? For someone like McCartney it's win-win for him all round.

[quote name='basshead56' post='683125' date='Dec 13 2009, 04:44 PM']Thanks very much for that Gareth, very much appreciated.
I have been looking at some of the options from Thomann in the last day or two.
I may be up around your neck of the woods early in the new year (like every second person in the South, )
Thanks a million
Colin[/quote]

Good luck finding some parking when you're up here!! I'm actually gigging in Newry on the 3rd and I'll be in early afternoon for a soundcheck, so if you're in town that day let me know, I'll have my upright with me. Then I'm away on tour on the 6th so after that I'll be of no use to you!

If you're effects loop is a parallel one then yes. If it's series, then no, as you'd be breaking the signal from your LH500's preamp. If you have the trusty old Boss TU-2 tuner, I just discovered (after 10 years of owning one) that both outputs work at the same time, with no degradation of signal, so that's one way of splitting your signal.

Actually, I just had a look at the manual for the LH500 and it seems that it's a parallel effects send, but it's at +4db, so if you can adjust the input volume on your combo you should be fine to use it that way. Of course, I could be completely wrong, so anyone more experienced please chime in.

Hey Colin -

You could do worse than getting one of Thomann's double basses. I recently bought one costing £780, which included free delivery, and I'm more than impressed. I asked for a low set-up and they did a great job with it. I even played one from them that cost about £300, but with a great set-up it played like something cost five times that much. To put it in perspective, my last bass cost me £3000, and I honestly don't miss it now that I have my new one. I've been playing upright for 10 years, all of that professionally (I'm a cheeky bugger), and I'd buy the same cheaper bass again over the expensive one, it terms on tone and playability.

Bear in mind that if you're paying a hundred quid or so on shipping that it doesn't add to the value of the bass, so Thomann's free delivery makes it a very attractive option. If you fancy taking a spin up just north of the border, near Newry, you're welcome to try out my bass.

I have to confess I gave a good ten minutes of my time working out that first section last night. And then the F@£$%&G song wouldn't get out of my head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How about we all learn this and post our own versions dressed in the feminine versions of our traditional local attire?

Maybe it could become the Basschat anthem to be played at the next BassDay?

Or maybe I've watched all of his video's too many times?

Any pics?

For convenience of size I'm using a modded Electro Harmonix BassBalls Nano. The mod adds external controls for the frequency centers of the the envelope. Makes it a lot more usable for lowend, IMO. Otherwise hands down I just love my Electro Harmonix Mini Q-Tron, especially after I had a mod done, adding an external trimpot to balance the effect signal to the bypass signal. This pedal is just plain stanky. Soon as Bigwan stops fruiting about on his honeymoon I'll be asking him nicely to rehouse the Q-tron into a smaller box.

I'm using the old faithful Boss OC-2. It's usable but not without it's quirks. Aside from the obvious wiggle on forced notes, it's got a distorted synth sound that you either love or hate. It certainly doesn't sound like the note you play only an octave lower, but still - it has it's charm.

Tips are just practice as much as you can - I know that's obvious, but when it comes to following the conductor, following the music and remembering to breathe, it can make life a lot easier if you know the next four bars cold - or can see a tricky section coming up and not have to panic about it. Also, tricky passages can be navigated by doing a quick edit - get the starting note and the ending note right for starters. Then, say it's a bar of 16ths, try just playing the first note of every beat. Then the first and third note, so that way you're playing in time and hitting all the predominant beats. Obviously this would be sacrilege for an exposed bass part, but the majority of the time you'll be buried under everyone else. An orchestral bass player told me once to think of the bass as the rhythm of the orchestra, so it's about keeping the pulse moving, hence the first beat suggestion.

And yes, get a stool!!

+1 t the above, especially there are stupid questions. Stupid answers, yes, but not questions.

A thing to remember is that EQ is like seasoning food - after a while you'll begin to hear even the most minute of changes, whereas when you first start you heap on everything - turn it up to 10, drown the chips in vinegar. Sometimes all you need is a dash.

[quote name='Moos3h' post='669221' date='Nov 29 2009, 04:42 PM']Still playing Devil's Advocaat here, but because it's two weeks after delivery? If you sold a bass and didn't hear anything until now, wouldn't YOU be a little peeved that this has taken so long to surface?[/quote]

Yes and no. I agree with your point that the onus is on the buyer to check out his purchase on arrival but sometimes life gets in the way of doing an in-depth checkup. Like, my new upright arrived about three weeks ago, but with a 9 month teething and barely sleeping I haven't had a chance to give it a good blattering. It feels lovely, sounds lovely, etc, but three weeks later I still don't 'know' the instrument as well I would have before my kid came along. If eBay gives you 30 days then you have 30 days. After that, you're on your own.

To me the bottom line is the item isn't as described so you're entitled, under eBay rules, to ask for your money back. And it was £400!!! Doesn't matter if that's a good price for a Geddy Lee Signature bass. If you'd ordered a £2 coffee and the waiter brought you a £2 tea you'd ask for what you originally ordered. The price is irrelevant when you don't get what you paid for.

Good man yerself Commando Jack, and welcome from a fellow Nordie - there's a good few of us lurking around here.

What's your regular gig?

Jamie - I needed a rough and ready upright for bar gigs as my carved bass was taking a beating, plus carved bass + loud amps = feedback, so I took a punt on one of Thomann's basses. I bought this one - [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_22_02.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_22_02.htm[/url]
I specified the string height I wanted, they set it up, it came well packed (with shipping included in the price) and I was AMAZED at the quality of tone and playability. I honestly haven't needed my luthier do any work to it to improve the playing or sound.

And to put it in perspective - I've been playing upright professionally for 11 years, this is my fourth bass and my last one was a fully carved, costing £3500, so for a £750 bass I wasn't expecting a whole lot but I am honestly gobsmacked at how good this thing sounds and plays.

I know buying this way is sight unseen but I think it was worth the gamble - I can't say enough about the quality of the build, or the in-house set-up Thomann do. So if you got something like that you'd be able to invest in a good pickup, a bow and a decent case with the rest of your budget.

Feel free to PM me if you want to ask anything about it. Gareth

Lovely Lovely - I bought one of these last year in New York - with the dollar so low then you'd all kill me if I told you what it cost in sterling

Mine is currently strung with D'Addario Chromes and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just did a week of 'The Pirates Of Penzance', with a big hunk of foam under the strings at the bridge and the tone almost fully off. Never would have thought I'd go for a sound like that but it ROCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Same here. Bought four issues - well packed and posted immediately. The oldest one is 19 years old and in great condition. And plenty of communication throughout.

Loud it is not. Had one and could never cut through anything. My Markbass LMK is far louder at 500w. Go figure. EA say their pots work differently than others, meaning you need to really run them with the knobs at 10 for full volume whereas other brands have all the volume at 3-4 and then little extra after that. Smells like .... to me.

Plus I had serious reliability issues with mine that Overwater too were gents with.

Having said that, you would be able to sculpt an amazing dub tone with it - but you could also do that with Markbass.

These amps are amazing - I bought one about 2 months ago and use it more than my MarkBass F500, even tho the F500 is smaller - just something amazing about the LMK. And for doubling gigs it's a no brainer. I get all my leads, plug board, Fishman DI, Boss Tu-2 tuner, a Nano BassBalls and my LMK with speakon leads and plug into a small projector bag. The whole thing is smaller than your average rucksack.

Never fainted but did fall asleep once for a split second, and I was standing up too. It was an insanely hot venue with no air conditioning, back in the smoke-filled bar days. (The fact that I had a new girlfriend and had been spending the wee hours of the night and every single minute of the day with her didn't help either).

I did have a minor panic attack onstage earlier this year in Weimar, Germany. Being somewhat claustrophobic and playing in a large but low ceilinged basement venue was not a good mix. That fact eluded me at soundcheck but at night I looked up during the first song and couldn't see my way out. There was no backstage, rather several hundred year old, thick brick walls. The entrance was down a stair case that had now seemingly disappeared. I had to finish the rest of the gig staring at the floor, imagining I was playing some outdoor festival. Honestly has to be one of the most horrible gigs of my life (for non-musical reasons;))

[quote name='lowdown' post='647721' date='Nov 6 2009, 10:16 PM']Where do you keep them,in a jar?
I like to have mine on toast.

Garry[/quote]

I like the cut of your jib sir!! I guess my punctuation isn't as good as my reading.

I bought a great French bow from Ken Smith in the US. Seemed very good value for the money.

Hey Danny -

That'd be Trevor Dyer. Good man himself. He actually took over my gig in Simon's band, which is cool as I had originally taken over from him a year or two before. Poor git had to be in Dublin airport for a 6am check-in to Italy with Simon this morning. Do we feel sorry for him........nope.

Give us a shout if you're looking any lessons anytime. I'm also got a few show books if you want to copy them - always a good exercise methinks. 'West Side Story' can be a bit of a roast to jump in on.

Actually, that brings us back on topic - does anyone have any show books/charts that can be shared for the greater good here?


[quote name='acidbass' post='647144' date='Nov 6 2009, 12:26 PM']Gareth - a bit OT, but I had you recommended to me recently by Trevor (whose surname escapes me), the bassist in Simon McBride's band, as we were discussing double bass tutors. Small world eh?[/quote]

I learnt to read from Chuck Rainey's Complete Electric Bass Method, Book 1. It does get predictable when you play through the same examples in all 12 keys, but then that helps as you learn to associate patterns with sounds. Here's a link:

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Player/dp/0825624258/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257509722&sr=8-7"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Electric-...9722&sr=8-7[/url]

And +1 to all of the above, especially keeping the eyes of the girls/guys. Ooooooo.........shiny object..... AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - what line was I on!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?