OldGit

[quote name='Musicman20' post='536629' date='Jul 9 2009, 05:39 PM']In the UK....who are the best boutique builders of the tradional vontage instruments?[/quote] If you are after a Jazz or P type you just have to try the Shukers. The JJ Burnell Precision is stunning [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/pbassgal.htm"]http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/pbassgal.htm[/url]

[quote name='4000' post='536726' date='Jul 9 2009, 07:34 PM']As Martin himself has said, you never really know what an instrument is going to sound like until it's built.[/quote] .... and you've played it for a few years ...

[quote name='dougal' post='536905' date='Jul 10 2009, 12:06 AM']Get a lesson so you know how to play the thing without damaging yourself. Get a powerball to warm down with:[/quote] +1 on those. Just back from a gig on skinny electric upright and it's hard work compared to a bass guitar but so right for that band.. A lesson with a good upright teacher (well not such an upright guy but a double bass teacher ...) got me started, pre-empted a few problems and was reassuring. The Powerball is good too. I'd not thought of warming down with it. Good idea. Best tip was the chicken wing right hand movement for plucking .. did your DVD cover that? Also it's not wimpy to use two fingers crossed as one to pluck.

Come on Alex, save us from all this ....

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='536874' date='Jul 9 2009, 11:19 PM']+1 In the 70s I had at various times a Selmer head, a Laney head, a Hiwatt head, Marchall head, HH head & slave, Fender Bassman, Marshall 4x12, Sound City 4x12, Laney 4x12, Hiwatt 2x15, Electrovoice 1x15 reflex bin, Fender Bassman, and a few others I can't now recall. I'd say amplification and speakers have improved much more than basses have.[/quote] WEM?

[quote name='chris_b' post='536443' date='Jul 9 2009, 01:45 PM']What deps do you do? Your feather boa's moulting!![/quote] Ha ha yeah That was for Rich's band before he (re-)joined. The two woman singers did things with boa's, pom-poms, etc

[quote name='Hot Tub' post='536263' date='Jul 9 2009, 10:43 AM']TBH, what I'd really like is a little miniature switch for ON/OFF. That way the bass can be left plugged in all the time. I mean, how hard can it be? Why don't the manufacturers do this?[/quote] Just do it yourself - can't be that hard. I am sure there's a wiring diagramme around somewhere. Edit: All you'd need is a slider switch in your battery cover to break the red wire to the battery. Mind you then you'd have to remember to switch it off ..

[quote name='KevB' post='536250' date='Jul 9 2009, 10:27 AM']Doesn't anyone use rechargeable batteries? For anything that eats up batteries, be it wireless kit, pedals or active basses that aren't unplugged the trick is to have a decent number of backups and a recharging kit then you just recylcle them. Works out far cheaper in the long run, especially things like 9V batteries. I even use them on my wireless Samson transmitter and that only uses a tiny AAA job! Rechargers that have multiple inputs for 9V to AAA batteries are reasonably cheap now.[/quote] We did but our mics eat them and we were getting those "low power" farts and pops by half way through the second set ..

Why don't you arrange with your band to have different types of rehearsal? Learning, writing and working out rehearsals where you play relatively quietly and it doesn't really matter what you sound like; settings and effects rehearsals where everyone can sort out their sounds, fx, patches, and then performance rehearsals where you play as if you are doing a gig. Then you 'd only need to haul rig for the fx and performance rehearsals.

[quote name='51m0n' post='536406' date='Jul 9 2009, 01:15 PM']I only once took charts on a gig, it was an Indie band with 'riffs' that were massively meandering chord sequencies. I stuc to the roots plus a little bit of movement getting from one to the other - seemed to keep them happy anyway. I didnt really mind the music, the drummer was fine, but it turned out that the two guitarists insisted on changing the settings on their amps between each song for minutes at a time to get the sound 'just right' - I kid you not, I smoked a rollup between each song, I couldnt believe it!! We parted company after that gig [/quote] Ho ho Went to see a band the other day - friends of a friend - and before the last tune they tuned up for 1.5 minutes (I timed it) and they wern't audibly out of tune before Lost the dancing audience totally ..

[quote name='silddx' post='536396' date='Jul 9 2009, 01:07 PM']Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you hadn't learned the songs. I meant, say you got lost during Black Eyed Boy, are you able to quickly look down and find what you need from that mass of small and crowded text, on a possibly dark-ish stage, quickly enough to get back on target?[/quote] It's just a safety net .. first time on bass for them, complex arrangements (as you can see) lots of morphing from tune to tune .. organised and arranged stuff in between the tunes Normally for a band that stops and starts between complete tunes I'd just have an annotated set list I use a small UV light stratigically placed to light up the sheets in the dark .. no problem.

[quote name='silddx' post='536377' date='Jul 9 2009, 12:49 PM']Christ! You can play and read that at the same time without getting lost?! All my hats are off to you mate![/quote] No I learn the stuff but then when I can't remember if the next section goes to C or G I glance down. The top sheets there are the layout of the tunes in an "Intro-V-Ch-V2-Ch-M8-V3-Ch-CH-Solo(kbds)-Ch-Outro" stylee Ihe bottom one is once I have it more or less nailed. It's an annotated setlist with the bits that may trip me up highlighted

[quote name='chris_b' post='536343' date='Jul 9 2009, 12:22 PM']I'm currently running through a 2 hour set of Free, Bad Company and Led Zep for some gigs in 4 weeks time. I put a lot of effort into this, for either covers or originals, as my aim is to do a better job than the bassist I'm depping for, so I get recalls and other work out of it. I get the CD or MP3 or Charts (if very lucky) as early as possible. I usually write out the charts, structure of the number, intro, verse, chorus etc. No dots, just chords and any significant points, riffs, stops etc. Run through them so I know the fingering and read them on the gig. If they want to throw last minute changes at me they get the best job I can do, but with no guarantees. If you know the number you can usually accommodate last minute changes.[/quote] Yeah I'm a depper too and that's more or less what I do. I also sometimes use a floor cheat sheet that has the main stuff on it in code (the upper one in the pic) [attachment=28556:SoulDest...sSetList.JPG]

[quote name='Stingray5' post='536116' date='Jul 8 2009, 11:44 PM']If you happen to forget to unplug, make sure you at least have a good quality alkaline battery in there such as, as previously mentioned, a Duracell Plus or Ultra or similar. Even left plugged in, I would expect more than 2 days use (unless of course the battery is at the end of it's life!). I always keep a couple of fresh batteries in my gig box too, along with a battery checker. (My wireless battery pack goes through far more 9v's than my bass ever does).[/quote] +1 Just get used to unplugging your bass... also between setting up and playing and between sets. My bass wireless transmitter lasts a good few gigs and has a battery status indicator so I can check it before setting foot on stage Our radio mics use 9v PP3's though and eat them up . We've found the best longevity/cost balance to be B&Q's own brands .. they seem to do two gigs easily, three sometimes. We started out using rechargables in the mics but they just don't last a gig, even good ones.

[quote name='tauzero' post='535555' date='Jul 8 2009, 11:48 AM']Each of them presumably owns the bass that they want to own and isn't forced to use something they don't want to. Each of them is therefore content and will therefore play to their best capability (unless they're playing the blues, of course, because you have to be as miserable as f*** to play the blues - it's the law).[/quote] Blues bass on a 6 string thumb? Yeah I can undertsand that [url="http://www.oliselectricblues.co.uk/fredy_hollis_gear.html"]http://www.oliselectricblues.co.uk/fredy_hollis_gear.html[/url]

[quote name='aryustailm' post='535449' date='Jul 8 2009, 09:54 AM']Bought a Bacchus Jazz bass from Simon - great comms, and very friendly! Would happily buy from again Thanks![/quote] Thanks Brian. Enjoy it

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='535301' date='Jul 7 2009, 11:35 PM']jeez, Kevin Black eh? BTW I've accepted a job offer. Had the best night's sleep last night that I've had in the last 12 months. Very interesting job too.[/quote] Excellent ews Steve. Good luck with that ... So found a bad yet?

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='535336' date='Jul 8 2009, 01:10 AM']Are boutique instruments a particularly 'bass player' thing? I don't seem to be seeing quite as many people playing boutique guitars these days. (Though I wouldn't mind a Trussart T-type) Or boutique drumkits, keyboards or vocal mikes.[/quote] Interesting point. I was talking to the guys at Jam Guitars in Bristol. They have a shop full of boutique guitars and said they thought it was a much smaller market than the one for custom basses. [url="http://www.jamguitars.co.uk/guitarmenu.htm"]Jam Guitars - Guitars[/url] That's a Fibenare "Erotic" - from £1800... [url="http://www.jamguitars.co.uk/bassguitarmenu.htm"]Jam Guitars - basses[/url] There are boutique/custom sax makers too

[quote name='kevbass' post='534590' date='Jul 7 2009, 12:29 PM']I think the black one would look pretty smart if you put a black scratchplate on it, or a plexi see through one, or just take off the white one and leave it off.[/quote] I understand the plates are stuck on and would take some removing ... so no easy swapping with a screwdriver ...

[quote name='Stacker' post='535214' date='Jul 7 2009, 10:19 PM']If you want some good second hand ones, go to [url="http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/e/"]http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/e/ [/url] and click on Fender at the top left. They have some smackers!![/quote] Everything on there I've asked about has been sold before they reply.. That's teh problem of the time difference. There are specialists in Japan who will sort out stuff for you - at a price.

[quote name='Waldo' post='534539' date='Jul 7 2009, 11:35 AM']Well, the Flea was still twice as much as a new sterling anyway so... Besides, I was just adding my own experience [/quote] Perfectly valid!

[quote name='Waldo' post='534490' date='Jul 7 2009, 10:51 AM']Only once have I spent over £1000 on a bass and I don't think I'll ever be doing it again. I bought a new Modulus Flea and my personal experience was that the law of diminishing returns very much applied. It was superb, don't get me wrong but not enough to justify spending more than double the cost of the second hand MM Sterling I had.[/quote] Ah, but that's not "like for like". The price differential between new and used will alsays distort that kind of comparison.