KevB

Samson Airline for me. I got one when I was doubling on midi pedals as the cable seemed to prefer getting stuck under a pedal. For a fairly budget end bit of kit it's OK. If you listen closely at practice vol there is a bit of 'white noise' under the signal but it is unnoticeable at gigging volume. Also a handy system if you swap basses as you just need to swap over the plug in transmitter unit from one bass to the other. Only had 2 occasions where I picked up stray signals from elsewhere. Also handy at sound checks so you can wander off to the back of the venue and hear the full mix while playing.

Never really thought about adding it up but it can't be too much. Not gigging at present but last gig would have been; 2nd hand Trace 1x15 combo cost approx £200 2nd hand SWR 2X10 ext cab cost approx £100 Behringer tuner pedal about £18 Samson wireless about £100 Hartke Bass Attack about £70 A few cheap leads etc I reckon I still spent less than £500. Played with lots of other gear at open mics and rehearsal rooms etc but nothing as yet makes me want to dash out and replace any of the above. Only major change over last 6-8 years has been retiring the 4x10 trace extn cab and replacing it with the SWR noted above to give more space in car for other band member's stuff and save my back hauling the 4x10 about. I've also used PK5 pedals with a sound module in some bands but I don't consider that backline.

Couldn't be arsed to listen to the Jamiroquai one but in the beatles clip I did think, like one of the early posters, that it was surprising how similar basses can be made to sound. I say 'made to sound' as for eg the jazz doesn't really sound how my own jazz sounds at all so it's far from a definitive test. Also given that the mix is (understandably) tweaked so the bass is far louder proprtionally in the mix than would happen at a real gig then a lot of those subtle differences would probably disappear. Wouldn't swap any of those on display for any of my current 3 main basses.

See I told you all this way back on page 3 or so Glad you are back on track.

They were notorious in their day. Would turn up to gigs on the pretence of 'We're here to clear up after the punters have gone' and the next thing you know they'd be away with your best instrument in one paw and half your back line on a trolley legging it back to the common. Thieving hairy bastads.

Maybe time to go back and learn the original lines to those tunes you have been previously making your own up for? It's always easy to slide back to your comfort zone. Could be there are some bits in those tunes that might give some inspiration?

Thanks for the info, better view of it in this one; [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fX2_bxEkg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3fX2_bxEkg[/url]

I'm sorry if this is common knowledge as I don't know that much about JB but I was watching the reruns of TOTP from 1977 and I noticed the bass player in Hot Chocolate - the 'ric' doesn't look quite right and I wondered if it might be a John Birch? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFI96L0F5Fc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFI96L0F5Fc[/url]

Well that's assuming this site isn't complete bollocks of course; [url="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html"]http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html[/url] Using that site £259 in 1972 came out at current equiv of £2885. Makes you think a bit.

£259 in 1972 is equiv of nearly £3000 in current money and people reckon they are overpriced now!

It reminds me of the bit in spinal tap where the guitar player gets a violin out to play across the guitar (parody of Zep) except this isn't particularly funny. Won't be forwarding him my $2400 any time soon...

And that Ritter has a nice happy face on the back that will continue grinning during the insertion - result! Actually, the back config of battery covers etc reminds me of the banana splits from the 70's. Maybe it's an age thing...

If it is done properly and the 2nd guitarist is more than a passenger then 2 guitar bands can work very well indeed. Think Quo, Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, Stones even would work OK with one guitarist? nope me neither. I once did a 5 piece with 2 guitars and if either of them was missing it would have made a huge hole in the sound.

It's all Carole Kaye really you know...

From what you have said regarding the other band members feelings (guitarist and drummer) it sounds like it's only a matter of time before he's gone if they regard you as the more important player. Just ride it out, seems he's digging his own grave at rehearsals anyway. If I was one of the longer serving band members in this position I'd probably be sounding out alternative rhythm guitarists already by now. As a few have mentioned they are usually not hard to find.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1343661858' post='1753293'] WTF is it with Thomann?! They seem to send out loads of dodgy gear. [/quote] Or they just supply huge amonts of gear in turnover and no one ever bothers to send out a message 'I've just received an item from Thomann that is faultless'? I've bought a few things from them, including a bass, and never had an issue with any of them.

In view of the way this thread went with the idea that it is worth combining Midlands gatherings since the last onw was West Mids how about making the next one East Mids and alternating each year with both West and East Mids people attending each time? Increases the catcment area and more likely to fill a venue. I was going to go to the west mids one but as it turned out Deep Purple were playing the same night and it took precedent!

Anyone who appreciates Glascock's playing is OK in my book and kudos to you for learning some of his lines. I've been looking for a good transcription of Dark Ages for, well, *ages* so if you ever get it sorted feel free to share on here!

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1343125664' post='1745545'] Five pages and no mention of[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Meros"] Dave Meros[/url]? For me, the ultimate Ric growl. [/quote] I think Meros's basses are heavily modded though, some Fender pickups etc. Great tone none the less.

Going back to one of the OP's original points re Macca's sound, as well as string choice etc didn't he make use of the foam mutes to get that 'thuddier' sound too? I've dabbled with them on mine but I prefer a 'clean' sound. They do make a big difference to the overall tone as you'd expect. The one gripe I do have about my ric is the colossal amount of paint on the necks. In humid sticky weather it can be hard getting a smooth fast transition up and down the neck. Mind you I probably have one of the worst fretting hand techniques in the history of bass playing

It's up to you but my experience has been that I've been 12 months between bands before now. I keep my hand in by doing jam sessions at open mic venues. If you are disillusioned with playing I'd say pick the one single bass that you prefer playing and the single amp/cab combination you think sounds best. Keep a decent cable and a tuner then sell off the rest. If you don't even pick up the remaining bass during the following 6 months for a noodle then maybe time to move on but give it some thought..

I have to say the last project I enquired about got me thinking how much travelling I realy want to do for rehearsals. It's not distance any more, it's time taken to get there. Even with the relatively short distance involved I realised that with them rehearsing on a weekday evening I'd be lucky to make it to their rehearsal space before 8pm even if I went straight from work and didn't eat. As it turned out after I'd been slaving over the song they wanted me to learn for a week I just got a curt email telling me they'd then auditioned 'locally' and found someone so that was that. I couldn't see it being a regularly gigging band so I wasn't too bothered. I'm now in another similar situation in that a Nottingham based originals band are looking for a bass player and I'm again not convinced it will be a 'busy' band it it takes that much longer to learn a set of completely unknown material which i don't even have chord sheets for. Very hard going by ear, some of the material is OK but other stuff is a bit grim. Only offer I've had for ages so think I'll see how it plays out. I suspect I'm not going to be a comfortable 'fit' for them so doubtful it'll have legs but we'll see.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QuHqjnfpLE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QuHqjnfpLE[/url]

I keep getting a message saying I've posted more media files than I'm allowed, is there some way of resetting the counter? Anyway I was going to post youtube links for; Stranglers - Walk On By Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hanging On Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues All quite distinct from the original versions!

+1 for Axesrus. Been a while since I've done any home mods but when I did use them in the past they were always helpful and prompt in replying to emails. Tried their best to keep carriage costs as loww as possible too.