stewblack

I've had those amps with the little valve in the preamp stage, and prior to that just good old fashioned ornery heads.

On Sunday I officially join the world of the all valve head owners. 

With this in mind, what do you have to say? What do I need to know? I am a bundle of barely suppressed anticipatory excitement. Help me wile away the long hours by talking valves to me.

What is? A JessyJay?

Just now, Mickeyboro said:

I had this. But I actually found I liked both songs...

I prefer the bass line on Domino but yes I also now enjoy playing Domino too. 

9 hours ago, beely said:

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.

 

I enjoyed a not dissimilar experience having learned Van Morrison's Domino. In my defence they had. Brown Eyed Girl on their list so I just assumed they liked V the M. 

What on earth is a Jessy Jay? I was heard to ask. Literally no idea.

Did many years in a Specials tribute which was absolutely brilliant. Love the music, great musicians around me. Only downside was the drink and drugs. Lots of debauched tales I could tell but I shall respect the anonymity of the other guys in the group.

Beautiful work on the headstock. My issue with semi acoustics is the way they fall forward away from my body, how far has the relocation of the strap button gone to fixing this? You suggest it's still something of an issue on the TB thread, I was wondering how much... if that's even something you can quantify.

If I had that kind of cash i'd definitely go for a custom build. Have it my way! Wouldn't suit everyone, but I would like the look, shape, colour, weight etc etc.

And I'd have change for a nice case too 😉

3 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Yeah, I've played with Andreas a few times, we were rehearsing a band together a couple of years ago, but the promised monthly gig vanished when the venue's manager changed and the band lost impetus.

Does he still have that Soundcraft mixer? He bought that off me.

Where is the jam now? I think we met at one of them at Coleshill, Rob Beckinsale was there as well. I had an acoustic bass (guitar) that I had just bought, that was the one and only time I played it!

We did, my goodness, didn't know that was a fellow Basschater. We move the gig around. We're in Pewsey next week, Minster Lovell yesterday. Andreas is upping sticks and moving to darkest Dorset so the future is unclear.

2 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Is that Andreas' jam at Coleshill?

Whaaat? You know my Teutonic sidekick?? It's similar but no longer at Coleshill.

Lovely Sunday afternoon gig in a super friendly pub. We are a disparate gang of musicians who gather unrehearsed and sit at the end of the room jamming out mostly well known tunes in a vaguely blues / country style. Myself, singer and slide guitarist are regulars, others may or may not show. We also encourage the locals to join in. Yesterday a guy brought his harmonica collection, he was really good.

It's more than background music, less than a full on gig, and enormous fun. And getting paid for a Sunday afternoon never did anyone any harm.

I always play suited and booted. And of course it isn't possible to play bass in public without a hat.

No musicians should ever be mistaken for anyone else. We should always stand out simply for being the coolest people in the room.

I've nearly walked away for being told what and how to play and that my sound was wrong. 

I don't understand people who fuss and worry about such things when they have their own stuff to deal with.

I'm persevering, we'll see.

Just now, ubit said:

It's amazing how wrong some online tablature is. I like that Songsterr site, but I see so many that are obviously wrong, it's annoying!

I guess the idea is that so many people will edit and improve that ultimately the chords will end up correctly laid down. In reality musicians are lazy bastards and just take what's there and run with it.

When I read the title I thought I knew how I felt about this kind of sniffy attitude. However I was wrong, the OP is anything but sniffy. I have a lot of sympathy for what he's saying.

I play with a guy at an acoustic night once a month. He picks a couple of tunes, I learn them we meet and play. Last month I failed entirely to make sense of what he was playing.

Transpired he downloads the first chords he finds online, and somehow adjusts what he sings to match no matter how horribly wrong the chords are.

Nuts.

Worst time this happened to me on stage was in the Wedgewood Rooms. A big crowd, all going welI, I swagger to the front to play the intro to Rudy, A Message To You. 

We'd played it for years and years and suddenly I could not bring one note of it to mind. Not only couldn't I play it, I couldn't even remember how it went. 

That moment of blind, bowel loosening terror has remained with me ever since. To this day I get a shiver of dread when I have to start a song. It's a viscous circle. The more I worry about it the more likely it is to happen.

So I'm learning to read music. A glance at the opening bars of any song I start sets me on the right path.

20 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Most companies are like that though.

Apart from fender. I got a fender vapouriser, and asked fender for the circuit diagram of it and they sent it to me, which impressed me. Mind you, that is a valve design, I doubt they would do it for something more modern.

The guys I've used to fix amps in the past have always been able to work on them without a problem. Many different brands. Not MB. I have to courier it to the approved repair company. Not cool.

Got to say I love gold basses. Shame it's active.

Thanks for the laughs folks. I'm sure none of you really experience such strong emotions about the look of an amplifier or a guitar. 

Being serious for a moment, I like everything about the MB gear I have except for the fact that I can't buy bits or schematic to repair my broken amp myself. That stinks. 

Anyway sorry for hijacking a fun thread. Let me try to join in: Um, phwoooar I love how that bass looks/think it's horrid. (Delete as applicable)

Kev, I've been playing for about a hundred and twenty years, recently decided to get lessons so I might learn some theory.

I've played countless genres, been in signed originals, bog standard pub bands, functions and tributes, I have gained a reasonable idea of how to navigate a fretboard. 

So I sit down with my relaxed, friendly, fresh faced young tutor and he asks me to run a couple of tunes so he can get an idea of where I'm at. 

Not only am I unable to bring to mind more than one recognisable song but the rendition I produced was so appalling he must have thought I'd found the bass on the pavement outside having never seen one before.

We never know when performance anxiety will strike but learning to overcome it is such a useful tool. If you can go back I would. The confidence you will gain will be invaluable. Also personality is so important in a band and they obviously liked yours.

4 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Oh and it looks even better all lit up. 😀

Oh yes, the internal lights are very sexy

7 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Or alternatively a decent mild dirt pedal? E.g. TC Mojomojo at the budget end (which I guess would fit very nicely with the value for money theme that the Bugera is bringing to the party), but seems to be liked by many and doesn't lose low end, or something like the Grizzly Bear if you're after a broader tonal sweep and something a little more sophisticated (but new, the Grizzly costs as much as the amp! )

I have pedal options to warm the sound should I decide to. Overdriving the input isn't particularly pleasant (as one might imagine). I bought this as a back up to my Orange Terror but I suspect they'll rotate depending on who I'm playing for,

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

From what I've heard even the tube version is extremely clean sounding, just a little warmer. I think these amps are designed that way. Probably not the right choice for someone looking for built in "dirt". 

I don't mind that clean sound, your word warmer is the key here. Thats why I think the tube version must be amazing. Because the M has just about everything else 

I'm betting the tube version is a killer. Ran my MOSFET through a barefaced 110 and an ampeg 410 at rehearsal and it sounded awesome. Huge bottom sharp and crisp tops good selection of mid-range options to suit the room. Only criticism I could find is it's a little bit clean for my tastes. Which is why I suspect the tube preamp might make all the difference.

Ah, see your point...

But it would have been one helluva trade though right?