casapete

Not long ago I did a gig 150 miles away - got all my stuff out, put cabinet in place and then realised I'd left my Markbass head at home! Great having lightweight amps,but in this case I reckon it was due to being so small that I left it in my hallway. Played all night just into the PA with no monitors! Won't be doing that again in a hurry - I now have a checklist in my car. Senior moments, doncha just love em...........

[quote name='EskimoBassist' timestamp='1318258343' post='1399763'] To me, being in tune is really important. It's being OUT of tune that really kills a vibe for me, and unfortunately I've shared the stage with many musicians who haven't bothered to check before playing. Shudder, shudder. [/quote] +1 I remember before digital tuners how dreadful some bands did sound. Also tuners have helped players to adjust the intonation on their instruments far more easily than before, so that they played in tune as well as in concert pitch. Anyone remember seeing footage of The Stones tuning up in a caravan just before their 1969 Hyde Park gig? Poor old Mick Taylors first gig with the band in front of 250,000 people too! The band were barely in tune most of the time - (still sounded great though!).

Just experienced my first ever problem with a Musicman instrument. Was using my 2003 MM Sub on a gig last night, and it cut out completely. Reinserted the lead and it was fine for rest of the show. Took it to my tech to have a look at today, and he says its a solder issue on the circuit board of the preamp. Apparently the boards are machine soldered (wave method or something?) and this does n't allow much solder on the joints to accumulate. The circuit board flexes slightly when inserting the jack lead, and eventually causes the solder to crack. Simple job of applying more solder to the joint to sort out - he did the others whilst he was at it too to prevent same thing on them. I've had MM basses for years and never had this happen, so hopefully its an isolated incident - just thought I'd share in case it happens with yours. Cheers, Pete.

GAK at Brighton usually have good stocks of GK stuff, and their price is only a bit more at £514. Maybe worth a try if you're in a hurry etc.

Aaah yes, the old 215 BL. HH marketed these as an all round general purpose job (bass/keys/guitar etc), and they were right heavy buggers - 132lbs/60kgs of Taberpan (chipboard) heaven ! 200 watts / 4 ohms. Most people paired them up with an HH VS amp top. (we always used to laugh at their guitar version - HH VS (versus) Musician!) Think the later cabs (without the clip on cover) had the uprated 1500E speakers which were a bit more use IIRC. Get what you can for it is my advice - £75 would be a result I reckon.

Seen the AWB maybe a dozen times over the last 30 odd years, and whatever the line up they've always been great. Alan Gorrie such an underated player/singer. My favourites are Work to do, If I ever lose this heaven and Keepin it to myself. Also the great album they made with Ben E.King (Benny and us). First time I saw Steve Ferrone play was with AWB, one of the best drummers I've ever seen. Hamish Stuart still working with his band too - saw him in Leeds at The Duchess a few years ago and they did a few AWB tunes as well as some of his solo stuff. Great band featuring the superb Ian Thomas on drums, and Steve Pearce on bass.

[quote name='Hutton' post='1374726' date='Sep 15 2011, 06:21 PM']Does that mean you'll be moving on to a G&L? [/quote] LOL yeah maybe so - going to take a while though!

The only thing that made me stop using my 63 P-bass was a Ray. Just a logical extension of Leo's original classic, what's not to like? I love MM basses - got 2 Rays and also a Sub and they're all brill. Can't ever see me using anything else as my No.1 go to bass really. And they look ace......

Thanks Chris. After a fair bit of sweating it turns out the chords are : B7#9#5 / E7b9 / Eb7 / Ab13 / A maj7. Phew, jazzers eh, what are they like etc......

Just doing a part for this song, but can't fathom out the chords at the very end of the song (too jazzy for me!) - anyone know them please? Longshot I guess, but worth a try! Cheers.

Had a good one last night at The Robin 2 in Bilston with the ELO Experience. Nearly 300 punters all singing along with 'Mr Blue Sky', brill!

If you look on ebay, you'll be able to find a box of 10 Duracell Procells for around £7 to £8 delivered. Should keep you going for a couple of years at least!

Just sold a case to Steve - easy transaction,payment / collection exactly as planned etc. Nice one Steve, hope its okay for you. (Now let your brother use your Musicman!!!)

May be a bit of a dumb question, but I have 2 Shure SM58 Beta mics which I bought maybe 12 years ago. Both still sound fine to me, and apart from an occasional clean / tidy up have never needed anything doing to them. I do look after them really well, never dropped them and never lend them to anyone (not even on a wedding gig!) So how long can I expect them to last - do they deteriorate over time / get dodgy? Or do they just go on for ever?

I have two 4x10 cabs of identical type, one is 4 and the other is 8 ohms. To my ears the 4 does sound better - bit louder/fuller, but there's not a lot in it TBH. Always choose the 4 for a one cab solution, and occasionally use the 8 on its own ,or with a matching 8 ohm 1x15 for really loud/big gigs I use the 4 with a Markbass LM2 which never gets hot - am pretty sure amps are designed to drive the right speaker load these days, so if it says min load 4 ohms then it should be fine!

Slightly OT, but reminds me of something I read recently - "Too many people spend money they have n't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like".

I have a couple of grey Fender leads dating from the mid 1970's which are both still fine. They are the thin type with screwed on jacks that came free with Fender instruments back then, and I've never known one pack up yet. Still use them at home with no probs.

Last time anyone on a gig struck up a conversation about one of my Stingrays was maybe ten years ago! However, its pretty much guaranteed that everytime I use my Hohner B2A stick bass, ther'll be someone who sidles up and says "ere mate, how the hell do you tune that thing?" Markbass amp rouses some interest too, (though mainly due to its size, and not the sound I'm getting!) If I go to a gig and see good straightforward gear, I usually (perhaps wrongly)assume the bassist will be okay. ( Fender/Musicman into Ampeg etc indicates this ). Boutique bass with too many strings into latest high end amp could mean there may be some excursions into bass solo wasteland.......Of course, there are always exceptions! Old fart me?...surely not.

Just got a rack tuner from Chris. Exactly as described, arrived when he said etc. Top feller! Cheers Pete.

Few years ago I won a Soundcraft mixer amp for a bargain price, only to find the seller had 'dropped it' whilst packaging it up.