OldGit

[quote name='martinbass7750' post='474026' date='Apr 28 2009, 10:29 AM']+1 for the gloucestershire area![/quote] How about Nailsworth? [url="http://nailsworthfestival.org.uk/"]http://nailsworthfestival.org.uk/[/url]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='473935' date='Apr 28 2009, 07:58 AM']You're right they should make a Sunburst, white, natural and a black with tort pick guard they can cater to everyone and get rid of the colours that every other manufacturer isn't making. It's not like some people might like variety and are so pissed off with a lack of colour options that suit them that they have been sanding down and refinishing there basses in there back garden for the last 3 weeks to get a colour they actually like.[/quote] I like the black and white one - but as I said to them - only at £250. £400 for a 3/4 sized instrument is bonkers. What parent will shell out that much for their 8 year old to grow out of or play twice and then shove under the bed with the teddies and Beanos? A Stagg and a practice amp maybe but a "proper" 3/4 sized bass at that price point has a very very limited market. Still, we will see...

I'd like some clues as to how to get the festival gigs. I have a new project that will work well in festivals but no track record as a band - plenty of individual milage though, some festival related but no experience getting the gigs Any guides, clues, pointers, ideas, Welsh contacts? TIA

[sidetrack] However jargon is incredibly useful in context. It's only when trying to communicate ideas to people outside the knowledge that more common language is needed. Eg on here it's perfectly acceptable to say "the J neck PUP is connected to the jack using CTS pots and an orange sprague cap" .. That means something to most of us, means nothing at all to people outwith the inner sanctum of bass players ... [/sidetrack] Meanwhile groove is about listening and relaxing and having some idea of what fits. It's also about luck. No doubt another bass player with as much skill and groove as the 66bassman would have crashed and burned in that situation if he'd not listened or got on with the drummer ...

Prompted by Bass Guitar Mag's big advertorial for the Fleabass, and interview with Mr Flea, I prompted his people for a reply about the retail price in the UK. They came back to me and explained that the Fleabass is so much better than, say, a Squier VMJ or Vibe because it will be checked by their staff before it hits the stores, it has a great "Badass" style adjustable bridge with through body stringing, great access to the high frets, a great hum-bucking pickup and great Alder wood in the great body. In short it's going to sound great. This will give great sustain, zing, playability at the top end and Flea says when he's playing it "it really cuts through on stage" Er, OK guys that's all fine but what about through a 15 watt practice amp in a bedroom? All this will impress the parent of a beginner so much that she will not mind paying about twice as much as for a VMJ. Is it just me that thinks these are features more suited to an improver bassplayer out gigging? I like the looks and at £250 I think it would clean up. At £450, as we have established, it has no chance as the dominant bass for beginners, despite its possibly superior sound. IMHO, of course.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='473380' date='Apr 27 2009, 02:12 PM']No apolgy needed for me Chris, fascinating stuff. I think there are many parallels with sports and music performance. One of my favourites is the concept of a visualisation of a horseshoe for stress levels 0 being not bothered enough to perform well and 10 being too nervous to perform well with ag=bout the right balance to perform to optimum at 5 ie the top of the horseshoe, I think it gives something to latch onto to control nerves (not something that has really bothered me badly) but I still find it interesting and useful. Confidence = good performance[/quote] Confidence - "fake it 'til you make it" - once you have some of teh riffs, arpeggios, tunes and stuff in your mind, there are things you can do to increase your - apparent- confidence are things like using a different persona on stage. I have a "performing head" for some of the playing I do where I think myself into it before I get up to play. You can also use visualization (like Johnnie Wilkinson and his kick prep where he visualises the ball going over the bar) as well as physical techniques like pressing your hands together hard in front of your chest, rubbing and "tapping" on pressure points, standing up straight and looking straight ahead as you take to the stage, thinking you will succeed. These all help you get to that point. Believing you will be rubbish is a pretty sure way to be rubbish. The opposite is true too.

[quote name='silddx' post='473269' date='Apr 27 2009, 12:08 PM']Hit any note, if it's wrong the notes above and below will be right, so do a tasty little slide one fret up or down.[/quote] and make sure you can hear what you are playing and what the "lead" person is playing. Too often I've played jams whjere one, the other or even both are impossible .. Badly placed bass amps, PA cabs and guitar cabs .. End up playing by guesswork watching the back of the guitar players hand and head .. Work out how you need teh EQ before you go and have a fiddle before you start to play. It's allowed. ... and take your own 1966 P bass if possible

Ha ha yeah Open Mics are like that. We have a regular bass and drums duo come and play ours. They are stunning together- the bass is fantastic the interplay stunning. Check them out here However they can't cope as backing bass and drums for random open mic singers It's just out of their comfort zone Go back to the jam night and make a note of every tune played. Go home and listen to them on youtube. Don't "learn" them per se as jam night versions go awry, specially when singing guitarists are leading the tune and dropping beats and bars here and there but get it into your head. Then when it comes up again you will be expecting the chord changes. A lot of jamming is about having some idea of where the chords are likely to go. Loads of tunes follow patterns like the circle of fiths, minor run downs or a 12 bar/three chord jobbie but then there are exceptions to every rule; Listen to Need your love so bad for an example of a mutated 12 bar blues So the more stuff you've played the better you will do. Of course there will always be stuff you have no chance on.. If you've never heard I predict a Riot it's almost impossible to guess where it will go. As. as the man said, "boy you gotta practice" In this case just work through your CD collection fro Abba to Zappa and lift riffs and lines from everything - including the melodies and lead breaks

Informative report here [url="http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/stones-in-the-park.html"]http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/stones-in-the-park.html[/url] Stage monitoring was very much in its infancy then. Reputedly started at the Isle of Wight festival the year after. Here's Free Mr Big. Look for the WEM columns behind Kirk (at 1:34) That and a couple of side fills was it .. I'm not surpised bands had a hard time hearing themselves back then. I was hard enough in a club. EDIT Just spotted the WEM monitor columns in the footage of the Stones at Hyde Park here (1:57) so I guess they had some. No wedges for vocal monitors though ...

[quote name='silddx' post='472343' date='Apr 25 2009, 07:19 PM']What's the verdict on the latest issue (Flea cover) then? I have to say, it's a massive improvement to my mind.[/quote] Be nice to see one. My usual supplier hasn't had them yet.

[quote name='Buzz' post='471978' date='Apr 25 2009, 01:28 AM']Edit: If we're doing it proper for basses, it really should read: 1) Upright bass 2) P-bass 3) Jazz 4) Rick 5) Gibson Eb 0/3 and T-Bird 6) Hofner[/quote] Or 1) Upright bass 2) Brass bass 3) P-bass 4) Jazz 5) Rick 6) Gibson Eb 0/3 and T-Bird 7) Hofner

[quote name='deaver' post='471794' date='Apr 24 2009, 07:30 PM']The Bass Player book lists 'The Great Basses' in this (chronological) order: 1951 Fender Precision 1959 Fender Precision 1960 Fender Jazz 1964 Hofner 500/1 1967 Rickenbacker 4001S 1971 Alembic 1979 Music Man Stingray Who am I to disagree[/quote] Sure, that is almost right, just speaking chronologically and from a US perspective. However they missed the definative 60's P bass, the '62 in sunburst rosewood and tortie .. Jack Bruce and Andy Fraser might nominate the Gibson EB0/3 as a defining bass in the 1960's as well. There certainly were hardly any Alembics in the UK in the 70's but was that the first active basses?

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='471586' date='Apr 24 2009, 03:08 PM']4. Thunderbird[/quote] yeah that' theobvious contender

[url="http://www.fillyourstage.com/"]http://www.fillyourstage.com/[/url] A website for venue bookers looking for bands... May be worth listing your band as it appears to be free so far.

[quote name='tauzero' post='470928' date='Apr 23 2009, 04:54 PM']I think I've mentioned before that the AB100 doesn't have two gain controls when you're using it with two inputs and one output, it just has one overall gain control. The two gain controls work only when you're using one input and two outputs. Mine's also gone a bit hissy.[/quote] er mine does .. oh and they are rubbish (IMHO)... the power connection is dire and as I mentioned changing the battery needs about 10 minutes, decent light and a bawdle or somesuch .. Bonkers design.

[quote name='Spyke' post='470812' date='Apr 23 2009, 03:02 PM'] I got a long way to go to fit in here lol, need a more professional bass, need another few years of ageing [/quote] Blige yes, You only look about 52

I find Harmonica a nice addition to the gear list Handy for jams where there's already a bass player Then you'll need one of these

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='459224' date='Apr 10 2009, 12:50 PM']As the contender for the longest title on Basschat says, I'm after something to enable me to do this, something that won't affect my sound. My amp is a single channel Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0. Thanks.[/quote] Markbass LMK, failing that a Behringer AB100 Cheap and stupid battery changing process but it does have two gain controls. no eq though but what do you want for £30 ? [url="http://www.dv247.com/invt/30362/"]http://www.dv247.com/invt/30362/[/url]

Jools reminded me so this just a shout out for Bedders in Madness. Brilliant and seldom mentioned in lists of great bass players. Love the tone, melodic nature of his playing and great grin.

[quote name='ednaplate' post='470229' date='Apr 22 2009, 11:58 PM']Excellent. Go to the head of the class. I will now steal that joke and claim it as my own.[/quote] Oh I think you may be about 100 years late for that