tauzero

That's what gigging's for, isn't it?

After switching to 5-string almost exclusively 10 years ago, I've started playing 4-strings again in one band. I'm not finding any problems with it. Now I've just got to see how easy it will be to use a 6 with another of the bands...

Have just watched the guitar one. Mrs Zero (vocals) and I were in agreement that the bass one was the worst of the three. I thought there was a bit of an omission from the guitar one, as amplification wasn't covered at all other than a brief mention of big stacks, but the overdriven guitar amp was probably more significant than the fuzz box in creating the mid-60s on guitar sound. You'll always get omissions of quite significant things in a programme covering such a large topic in an hour, though.

I've moved on. I'm now the fat bald bloke standing at the back.

I think my version of diplomacy wouldn't get me into the UN peacekeepers. "Oh god no, it's stinky poo".

As long as they get the postcode right. I've got a Warwick Thumb incoming from Italy, DPD doing the final leg. The seller put the address (including the correct postcode) on the parcel, but somehow the separate postcode field has got a generic postcode in it (B77 1AA). Got an email saying it would be delivered 24/01, then the parcel status went from being delivered on 24/01 to customer rescheduled for delivery 25/01 (no I didn't), then to delivery on 28/01. I rang them up today to find out WTF was going on, and found out then that the postcode was wrong (not, as I say, the postcode that the seller had put on the address label, but the postcode that they'd magically derived) and so it had gone to the wrong hub and it will be delivered on Monday, now they've got the right postcode in the postcode field. I can't help but think that there's a lorra lorra cluelessness at DPD. Just think how much worse it will be buying basses from Europe after Br*x*t, with all the customs, VAT, etc...

I've been buying basses since about 1975. My first expensive bass was a Warwick Thumb in 1988, which cost £900 (beer was about 50p a pint, as a yardstick). It remains the best four-string bass I've played. I started buying 5-string basses in the late 90s, and the two Seis I own are the best 5-strings I've owned (and, indeed, played), far, far better than the crappy Squier 5-string I bought in 2007. The Esh Poseidon V is also rather good. However, everybody else on BC seems to buy expensive stuff and then find out they like cheap stuff better. Am I unusual? Should I be ashamed, or at least a bit guilty?

Makes Parcelfarce (motto: "We can lose an elephant and break an anvil") seem positively brilliant.

Perhaps we could get some hints from here: https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/about-aa/the-12-steps-of-aa. Just replace "God" with "Basschat". And if you fall off the wagon, don't just give up. One year month week day at a time.

I know it hasn't yet been suggested as an option, but just in case - the Behringer AB100 is an A-B switch with two levels on it. The trouble is that they don't work when you're A-Bing two inputs, only when you A-B two outputs, so it wouldn't be suitable for your purposes. Have you considered a little mixer and silent jack leads?

I rather liked the look of the Line 6 G10S, a stompbox version of the G10 wireless - neat system with a dongle transmitter rather than a body pack. So I looked at the price - PMT have them at £238 but the G10 (same transmitter, slightly more basic and less robust receiver) is £99. That's quite a price differential.

At least they only chuck mine over the garden gate, or leave it on the front doorstep. Does show the advantage of Class D over valve amps, though.

Now, where have I seen that idea of having the valve in the middle of the front panel before? Ah, of course - Behringer, that well-known originator of ideas, in their big mic preamp. 😁

They could have proof-read it too - "pitches far above above middle C".

If it's going to be for use gigging in a metal band, something with a few hundred watts output. Other than that, I can't think of any obvious selection or anything to avoid.

I'm definitely out of tier 2 after getting another floor monitor.

Only one Queen of Clubs though.

That wasn't Mrs T, it was a different female leader of the Tory party who did the dance moves.

Mention of posters reminds me that I drew a logo for that first band, and then discovered that the rest of the band thought the name was spelt differently to what I thought. The band was called Cymex, the name of a vacuum cleaner brand, as one of the members had a single which was an advert for the brand which started "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - the Cymex are coming" and we used this to introduce ourselves on "stage". However, the others hadn't noticed the spelling and went phonetically, spelling it "Simex". Probably just as well we only did two gigs 😁

And Gasfoodlodging, although the CD with it on is just in the process of being mixed.

It's a long time ago - I was 18 and it was my first bass, so I didn't have anything to compare it with. I PXed it for a P which was a bit lighter, but I think the fretless P I had later was heavier.

The biodegradable bags that the local Co-op was using were good for a few months, so not likely to be sitting in a bin for that long.

I was at one point so foolishly egotistical that I thought I could do lead vocals and bass. The bass bit was OK, and I sang along to it, but my singing was atrocious. I'm a bit better now, and do some BVs, but the only song I've been allowed to sing while playing bass was "Make me smile (come up and see me)" and I played quite a busy bass line for it but left my fingers running on automatic because the lyrics are so ludicrous that you have to concentrate on them. So, that song, a few mind-period T Rex songs (Telegram Sam, Get it On), and quite a lot of Bowie songs should provide that concentration on the lyrics that means you don't have to think about your fingers.

That's two of us playing first gigs on Hayman 40/40s. Mine was black though, so it's not my old one.