beely

Bob Seger.

A couple of years ago a young local band were due to play an outdoor festival in Perth. Their bass player couldn’t do the gig and, since I know the parents of one of the band, they asked me if I could dep for them. “Sure” says I, “give me a set list with keys etc. and I’ll get them learned”. This was Wednesday, gig was on Saturday. How hard could it be? A few covers, which I kind of knew, and some originals: a dozen songs in total. I missed a vital clue. Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire is not in Dm. I carried on regardless. Come the gig, things were going well, no major calamities. The bandleader called for Ring of Fire. “What do you mean, its not that Ring of Fire?” Turns out it was another song of the same name by local Americana band, Red Pine Timber Co. Well, that was a busk-and-a-half I can tell you. Got through it ok but that was a lesson learned: always check. Goodness knows how many brain cells I lost in that four minutes.

Just purchased an SM57 from Jack. Great comms and packaging. Definitely wouldn't hesitate to purchase from him in the future. Cheers, Beely.

Hiya. I bought Cris's AER Amp One. Great guy to deal with. Excellent communications and packaging that would survive an earthquake. Would definitely have no hesitation in dealing with him again. Cheers.

So pleased you are happy with it. I got my Mustang (exactly the same as yours) in 2015 after years of playing a Rik. I too changed the strings to flats (D'Addario Chromes in my case) and am absolutely delighted with the sound. Unintended bonus is on small stages I tend not to whack the singer with the head-stock so often. 😎 Well, she thinks its a bonus.

The theories for an "overdriven" sound put forward here chime rather well with an often-used recording studio trick. You record a clean and well rounded sound to capture the fullness of the bass. You then duplicate this on a new track to which you then add drive, distortion, grit, whatever you want to call it. At the same time you high-pass the track so you are left with a really gnarly, unpleasant sound with actually, not much bass in it. This then gets blended in with the original track, just below actually hearing it. It's amazing how this can make the bass sit better in the mix. I would imagine that is what is being experienced when hearing that sort of sound in a live situation.

Went to see Martin Turner at Backstage in Kinross. Fantastic night with all the band right on form. Not even having to get up at 5am today could spoil a fab night. Could have done without hearing the "Three nuns" joke again though.

My favourite Steely Dan album as well. Listened to it so much I wore out a vinyl copy.

….which one would annoy/inconvenience you the most? The reason I ask is I went to see a band last night, in a barber’s shop of all places, and the bass player broke a string in the second-last song. (A string on a P-bass) That’s actually two firsts in one evening. Never been to a gig in a barber’s shop and have never seen a bass player break a string. The bass player decided to finish the set on the three remaining strings, which he accomplished very well indeed, mostly involving visiting parts of the fret-board he didn’t use very often. Anyway, it got me thinking. What string would you miss the most, assuming a four-string? For me it would likely be the A or D string. Something to do with the gap between strings I suppose. Anyone have a string they would least like to lose? Having actually seen a bass player break a string, I was expecting to see a Unicorn on the way home.

Wishbone Ash. Saw them in the Caird Hall, Dundee circa 1972. My first ever "big" concert. Aged 16, I had not long started learning to play guitar and was totally overwhelmed by the experience. Martin Turner is still one of my favourite bass players.

I can sympathise. Many years ago I used to dep for local band when their bass player was on holiday. I often recall it as my "summer job". I also recall the utter, utter humiliation of having to play Engelbert Humperdink's "Ten Guitars". I'm still reminded of it to this day.

First saw Tom Petty many decades ago, opening for Nils Lofgren at The Edinburgh Playhouse. Loved his music ever since. Absolutely devastated by this. Our band set features several of his songs. RIP Tom, you were a massive inspiration.

What an honest and decent human being. I bought a set of plans for a Tuba24 and stupidly paid the cost of two sets of plans rather than one. The difference was refunded into my Paypal account before I had even realised my mistake. Well played sir!

I have just given up on Photobucket. Utter crap now. I am now using Dropbox. Much, much better.

[quote name='markoire' timestamp='1502314206' post='3350673'] I've had a hiscox case for my 4001 for a long time. It was the only one I could find big enough [/quote] Similar to the Hiscox case I have for my 4001. There is only one sticker with any sort of reference on mine. It reads: STD-EBP Pic here. [url="https://www.dropbox.com/s/i2ntrw3y3gavvy5/4001%20STD-EBP.jpg?dl=0"]https://www.dropbox....TD-EBP.jpg?dl=0[/url]

Talk Talk: The colour of spring. Made me so happy, I vacuumed the entire house in 15 minutes. Since I have house to myself today I will probably follow that up with It's my life then Spirit of Eden.

A bit of a three-in-one here. Acoustic guitar, electric guitar and sax. Perhaps not examples of technical excellence but somehow they all just "fit". I give you; Year of the cat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqZc7ZQURMs

Have to agree about getting the key correct to suit the singer’s vocal range. A couple of examples from my own band’s set list are two Tom Petty songs. I had to take “The Waiting” from D to C, mostly because of one note in the chorus, but raised “All the wrong reasons” from F to G, not just because it suited my voice better, but it also helped the fiddle player. As Norris says, its not usually the case where you only have to sing one song. In our entire set there are only about three songs that I don’t sing either lead or BV’s. We are fortunate that we have four singers, two male, two female who take lead and/or BV’s. After Bryan Adams/Mel C’s When you’re gone, (original key of C) my voice most definitely needs a rest.

Just as a matter of interest, who was the tech who did the work? I'm going to be putting mine up for sale soon and I want get it checked over first. They are great amps but, due mostly to the weight, I simply can't envisage a situation when this will get gigged again. Cheers, Beely

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1497261179' post='3316811'] I don't want a race to mediocracy and being like every other band, but there really are a lot of songs that are good and well known that don't get played a lot that are good in public. [/quote] This. Very much this.

Can anyone tell me the gear ratio of the tuners on a 2004-2006 Fender MIJ Mustang bass? I’ve tried to find out what it is but can’t seem to find anything definite. I think it may be 20:1 or even less but I’d like a set nearer to the ones on my Ric 4001 which I believe are 27:1. Cheers for any help.

The funniest thing about when something like that happens is the puzzled, almost panic-stricken looks exchanged between band members. Something is badly wrong and no one can quite figure out who or what is wrong. And yes, it has happened to me.