Mark Dyer

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1395058742' post='2398078'] Our guitarist keeps on about getting me to play with a pick in order to be able to play faster. But I've tried it, really I have and the only result is that I play much, much slower. [/quote] Check out the three fingered technique of Mr Billy Sheehan, you will never need a pick to play fast again.

I currently pay £25 for a one hour lesson, although it invariably extends to two hours with an extra hour of bass therapy discussion.

I identified the acoustic and the Jazz correctly, but couldn't tell the difference between the Jazz and the Musicman that followed, worrying...

Choices... Choices... Choices...

[url="http://www.configurator.sandberg-guitars.de"]http://www.configurator.sandberg-guitars.de[/url]

This kind of topic should have been dead and buried years ago, it doesn't belong on a bass forum in 2014. Disappointing.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1394353409' post='2390478'] … Always start with last few songs last set then first song 1st set then last few songs first set then first song last set then put all linked songs (we do a medley of 8 songs sometimes) and so on until sets full… [/quote] Eh?

I always put together the set lists, I never share the list with the other band members prior to the gig, this promotes something called 'debate' which is to be avoided at all costs! It is also worth avoiding songs that are vocally very demanding for the set openers, maybe your singer is a complete professional and warms up properly and can sing like Freddie Mercury from the off. I can remember starting a first set with Cochise by Audioslave one night, vocalist went for it big time, voice went, rest of gig a hoarse whisper.

It's all been covered here I think, but what I will add is this, not all replacement bridges offer through body stringing, last time I looked Gotoh didn't offer this on all Fenders, I think Badass offer a few options. I choose Hipshot on my Jazz, mainly due to Badass being near impossible to get at the time (something to do with founder passing away or sumfink) and it allowed through body stringing. Did it make an audible difference? I'm going to go against most opinions here and say yes it did, it improved sustain marginally, it added a bit more grunt to the sound for sure and it improved the dead spot on the C. And what some people here call the original Fender bridge a workman like piece of kit, I call a cheap bit of bent metal with nasty, floppy screws that go rusty, some people seem to like that though

[quote name='pnefc42' timestamp='1393959785' post='2386332'] ...Chris W - Hysteria [/quote] There are too many to choose from but this has to get my vote, I've seen Muse 3 or 4 times and when that riff starts the gig goes up a gear for sure. Instantly recognisable within the first 3 or 4 notes, when you hear that intro, you KNOW some serious rock action is about to take place. Exciting!

[url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Musicman_stock.html"]http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Musicman_stock.html[/url]

The Bass Centre here in the UK

Before FB, Twitter, before Soundcloud, MySpace, before the internet explosion, how did we promote our gigs and our demos and songs? Pasting up homemade posters in the middle of the night in freezing temperatures, mocking up really bad leaflets on a photocopier, copying songs onto a cassette/CD and posting them via snail mail to venues and promoters... Yep, give me FB etc any day!

[quote name='ern500evo' timestamp='1393849255' post='2384923'] It's a Bongo Stealth. The only other place I can find the exact one I want is Thomann, and even allowing $300 for shipping and 25-30% of the total for taxes etc the BC price still works out well over £300 cheaper. Oh bugger!! [/quote] I purchased my EB Bongo three years ago from The Bass Centre, had no problems with the order, in fact I could have chosen any bass/finish in the Bongo range, there was slightly longer wait time if it wasn't in stock but otherwise no issues.

FB is essential I'd say. It's a great place for your fans to engage with you (they won't do it on your website), if you can get 200 - 300 likes on your FB page think what that says to someone looking to book you at their local pub/club/bar. It's a no-brainer! It's a great way to distribute ads for your gigs, most venues we deal with now download posters from our FB page to advertise the gig and obviously share the event on their page. All this from the comfort of your own living room, what's not to like? We are now in the process of selling t-shirts via FB. Twitter is also a good thing to get going, start following and Tweeting about all your fav gear, you never know, they might endorse you! Really, try it, I know a few lucky sods who have cut price gear and free pedals because they put some effort into it. I know money can be tight but if your can stretch your band fund to it, BandMix offer a dedicated service for musicians/bands that takes all the hassle out of building and organising a website. It provides a gig listing calendar, audio/video uploads, photo gallery, more templates than you can shake a stick at and an easy to use back end CP.

If you're going to try and palm it off on somebody else I'd do it quick, last I heard, the Government were talking of stopping production of the fifty pound note.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1393427969' post='2380172'] "B@stard, b@stard, what a fecking bustard, I offer that without strings, no royalties required." [/quote] This is a very poor rhyming couplet, and quiet difficult for the audience to grasp?

Louis Armstrong is often quoted as saying "There are only two types of music, good music and bad music" This is of course, absolute piffle. If you think a song is bad but someone else thinks it's good, what does that make it? Good, bad, something in-between? What he should have said was "There are only two types of music, music you like and music you don't like" Which seems to be born out with the majority of answers here, which is refreshing. If you don't like a certain song or genre of music it's your lose, not theirs. Bands and artists make music in the hope that other people like it as much as they do........ With the exception of the 1st e.p. by the band Discharge, they defo made that specifically to be disliked. "There is only music, the rest is just noise" ....... and Discharges' first e.p.

The latest album 'Blackbird' is a must hear, probably their best yet IMO. They announced a one-off gig at Alexander Palace, October this year, if any are going I'll see youz there. Gig of the year for sure!

The background sounds of shuffling paper, keyboard taps and dull phone conversations in the office...

It's not all about the volume. How you and your guitar player/s set your tone/EQ settings on your amps can also make a profound difference. Many guitar players make the mistake of setting up their sound in isolation bedroom mode, often dialling in loads of bass on their amp settings to get a big crunchy sound and it sounds fine... in isolation. Put this into your live mix and it can sound muddy and lost and so begins the volume competition to try and compensate. I learnt this lesson the hard way after a few studio sessions and numerous engineers trying to point this problem out, usually resulting in the guitarists getting told to stop stealing the bass frequencies and dialling in a much brighter sound. Thankfully, this lesson carried over into our live setup at the time and resulted in a much better mix. Word of warning: Approach your guitar players with caution/long pointy stick when mentioning this, they are sensitive souls with an egotistical time-bomb waiting to explode, be diplomatic.

6 Music

There are all manner of reasons why you would need more than one bass but the main one is playing live surely? I've learnt from bitter experience not having a second back up on stage can be embarrassing to say the least! Maybe more so as I'm a lefty it's not practical to borrow an instrument from another band, but anything could fail mid-set, string breaks, battery dies (if it's active), input jack fails, or it just plain decides to not work. It's not 'if' but 'when', innit.