tauzero

The Corrs for the view. Meatloaf or Alice Cooper for the gigs and the music. Tasmin Archer for the music.

[quote name='BottomE' post='1246878' date='May 27 2011, 11:58 AM']We do covers and originals but treat them as two bands. Same members - completetly different markets. Covers band finances the other. Also makes the originals tighter as we are used to working with each other.[/quote] We did that too, it meant that when the originals band folded because the singer/songwriter decided to leave and take his songs with him, we still could salvage a very good covers band from the wreckage so it wasn't all wasted effort.

Guitar - Jan Akkerman Keyboards - Rick Wakeman (saves any awkwardness with having Thijs van Leer in) Drums - Phil Collins Vocals - Mrs Zero (she'd never forgive me otherwise although she might insist on Carl Palmer on drums) Bass - me myself I

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1246112' date='May 26 2011, 07:26 PM']Most of the outlay is in petrol costs to and from rehearsal and gigs. The rest is rehearsal cost itself.[/quote] Move closer to the rehearsal studio and get a lock-up there. Rehearse less often for longer.

[quote name='barneyg42' post='1239898' date='May 22 2011, 01:36 AM']Thinks....hmm yeah she's a bit alright, might be on a winner here, but then she followed up with "shame I'm here with my boyfriend otherwise you'd be in!" Oh well got paid. ... Got approached by one of the local girls, bit of a piss head admittedly and guess what........yeah she wants to snog me! When I point out that her other half who's in the other bit of the pub might not be too please she says oh don't worry about him! Err, I declined on this one![/quote] Nice to see you're showing consistency there...

Originally Spiral Six were booked in for this gig but our vocalist was holidaying in Florida so we said that The Lightning could do it instead. So that's what we did. The venue is the Vertu bar in the jewellery quarter in Birmingham, near where we rehearse and just over the road from where the drummer works. Got set up, went on fairly early (about 8:15) as the gafferess wanted us to try to keep the clientele from fading into the night. We were quite successful at that, and by the second set we had a bunch of drunken off-duty coppers dancing around to, er, "Mustang Sally". Quote of the night had to be from one of them, who was obviously fascinated by Mrs Zero - "You're like my grandma only much more sexy". Also nice was that Spiral Six's drummer brought his twin sister down for additional support for us. By the end of the night, we'd been put into the roster of bands to be used regularly, got an offer from someone to play rhythm guitar with us (we're sticking to our current lineup), and someone else took a couple of cards to pass on to venues he knows to try and get us more gigs. All very pleasing.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1243719' date='May 25 2011, 12:20 AM']You forgot the "in your opinion" And you must have quite a bit of cash left over too going from a Fender to a Warwick [/quote] No, this was in the days when the prices of the instruments reflected their true quality...

[quote name='PauBass' post='1244273' date='May 25 2011, 02:13 PM']Interesting, that Akai was sold yesterday on Ebay for....£665! and a day later it's selling on Gumtree fro £200? ....Something is not right here [/quote] And it's moved from Cardiff to London in the process.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1243987' date='May 25 2011, 10:34 AM'][/quote] Well, I suppose you could say it's in a similar state to a half-eaten mint.

[quote name='Heathy' post='1240028' date='May 22 2011, 09:36 AM']The Holy trinity? I quite like that idea.[/quote] Yes, I'd like an ACG, a RIM, and a Shuker too.

[quote name='JayPH' post='1239234' date='May 21 2011, 12:26 PM']How so?[/quote] Because I own considerably better basses than the best Fenders I've played (and I used to own the second-best Fender I've played, I pxed it against the vastly superior Warwick).

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1243458' date='May 24 2011, 09:02 PM']Matt, as resident pedant would you care to instruct our "I know I'm right but I'll ask anyway" questioner (destined_hero) in the differences between "weather" and "whether"? [/quote] As a proper pedant, I shall point out that "it's age" should be "its age". Possessive its has no apostrophe.

[quote name='deanbean502' post='1240400' date='May 22 2011, 03:31 PM']I do like to drop tune and this can sometimes be an inconvenience so i am thinking a five stringer is the way to go[/quote] As has been said, find a cheap one first and get used to five strings. Don't just buy the first cheap 5 you find though, get one that you find as comfortable to play as your current 4-string. That probably means a fairly slender neck, ie. a Peavey BXP, Ibanez, something like that, and NOT a Squier V. Personally, I dipped into and out of 5-strings for years until I found something that approached the playability of my 4-strings, and now I'm (mainly) converted.

[quote name='JayPH' post='1238863' date='May 21 2011, 12:10 AM']I have just got my first Fender Bass as a treat from my redundancy money and I absolutely love it. If you can't get one now, save up until you can. You won't be disapointed[/quote] If I got one now, I would be dreadfully disappointed.

[quote name='JMT3781' post='1232601' date='May 16 2011, 12:00 AM']I find myself looking for a catch with this one![/quote] 20 kg of amplifier is - well, not so much a catch as it would break your rod, more like a boat anchor. £510 with 7 hours to go, it's currently looking a definite bargain for anyone with a strong back.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1238026' date='May 20 2011, 12:06 PM']Is that a Wishbass? They make some cool instruments.[/quote] No, a Prosebass by our very own Paul Rose.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1237567' date='May 19 2011, 11:08 PM']I really don't get why there's such a massive market for 'luxury' Fender copies, but there are loads of manufacturers filling that market with instruments. Why not just make something new and better if you're such a good ****ing instrument builder?[/quote] That's because the average bassist has a comfort zone about six inches wide. In a mix of pragmatism and shallowness, playability and looks are at the top of my list. I'd sort of love a Wood & Tronics because of the superb playability, but the reason I haven't sold my soul to the devil again [1] is that the looks do nothing for me. The reason I cashed in my entire bass collection (of two basses) and got a massive (at the time) loan from the bank was that the JD Thumb was the most playable bass I'd ever encountered (still is) and it was oddly attractive to me. [1] Last time, he got a refund off Paypal. The cheek of it.

Add me to the Ritter Roya camp (my favourite Antoniotsai owes more than a little in the styling department to Mr Ritter). But also and

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='1237496' date='May 19 2011, 10:11 PM']I hope this is irony, cos I've always found just the opposite! Bass players are always forward thinking and looking to try new equipment ie, graphite necks, composite bodies, new cab designs, class D amps etc etc. Guitarists can't seem to get beyond a strat, tele or les paul through a valve amp, all 50's technology![/quote] Um, yes and no. [b]Some[/b] bass players are willing, indeed eager, to try new equipment. The fact that guitarists are even more benighted than bassists is something that I thought we accepted as gospel anyway.

It's a piezo pickup, integral to the bridge.

[quote name='chipmunk_jr' post='1234504' date='May 17 2011, 04:20 PM']Every band you seem to see live, there bass players seem to play fenders. I've played a couple and I cant see what all the fuss is about???? Ive played much nicer basses for a lot less money.[/quote] It's because bassists have no imagination or ambition. If they did, they'd be lead guitarists.

[quote name='ash' post='1233362' date='May 16 2011, 06:12 PM'][b] ...and this is what I got back from the chief executive himself...[/b] The sir, I have not seen your instrument but if it is shaped [b]anything like[/b] our instruments- head, body, pickguard, pickups, logo plate- it would be covered by a variety of U.S. and E.C. trademark registrations. A number of John Birch instruments I have seen in the past infringe these rights and sale of them would be unlawful.[/quote] Does that mean that Fenders are infringing on Rickenbacker's trademark? It seems a rather waving-hands-in-the-air-vaguely sort of definition of what is infringing and what isn't.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1233380' date='May 16 2011, 06:22 PM']What a bastard [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Fender-Telecaster-Bass-1951-51-Squier-classic-/270742425332?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3f09818ef4"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Fender-Telec...=item3f09818ef4[/url] No bass deserves such punishment. Looks like that one was this one [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280655237467"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=280655237467[/url][/quote] While I'm no great Fender enthusiast, and I think the Tele bass is a particularly ugly model, I also think it's a great shame that such a well-kept instrument should be vandalised for profit. It's removed someone's chance of buying a pretty well pristine example for a reasonable price. Note: if somebody bought it to vandalise for their own use, fair enough. It's the fact that an instrument is still on the market but has been turned into crap that I find objectionable. I also find it remarkable that someone would pay £35 more for it in shagged than in pristine form. It just goes to show that P. T. Barnum's [i]dictum[/i] "No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American public" is equally applicable on this side of the Atlantic. Still, given that Ebay and Paypal fees will mean he won't have made any profit on this, perhaps he'll be discouraged from wrecking any more.

I think it's simply that he doesn't understand how to set the "local pickup only" option - he says it's collection only in the listing.

Elites - stainless roundwound 40-100 and 40-125.