tauzero

Left hand - I can have them up to 2mm before they start being an issue but I'll probably have cut them before then as 2mm is too long for guitar. Right hand - I've just measured them. 3mm, and that's just about the right length. I don't pluck just with the nail, I pluck with my fingertip but the nail is definitely involved because if I break a nail, my playing with that finger is thrown right out.

I started on guitar, and still play it (doing a gig tomorrow night, in fact). Went to university, put a band together with another three students in our hall of residence, and sort of got relegated to bass. After dropping out of university, didn't do anything for a while, then when I moved to Tamworth I put up an advert saying "Lead/rhythm/bass guitarist available". Got recruited as bassist by one of the local bands, and that has been my main instrument ever since - I'm definitely a better bassist than guitarist, though I enjoy doing both.

[quote name='elephantstone' post='1012106' date='Nov 4 2010, 02:35 PM']Yes it does have a headphone output.[/quote] Just plug some headphones into the headphone output then. See if that's any good for the drummer. If not, you'll need a different approach, but (assuming someone's got some headphones) this experiment doesn't actually require any equipment to be purchased.

[quote name='elephantstone' post='1011874' date='Nov 4 2010, 11:52 AM']Am i right in saying that we could take a lead from the midi output of the synth plug it into some sort of headphone amp then in turn to quality headphones???? would this be the right solution or am i completely wrong?[/quote] No, not from the MIDI output, that will be outputting MIDI signals. Has the synth got a headphone output?

I've just found an article on the subject - [url="http://content.yudu.com/A1pppt/MIPNOV2010/resources/30.htm"]an interview with Chris May about the Aspiration series.[/url] But dammit, they don't exist without pictures...

Little? I'm 175cm and nearly as much in circumference...

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1011674' date='Nov 4 2010, 08:53 AM']I've just read through some of the original post with Janek getting slated. I honestly don't think he deserved it.[/quote] He does come over rather differently in real life than in print. There's something in the way he writes that makes him seem rather egocentric, but he doesn't seem at all like that in real life - more like someone who knows he has accomplished things and is proud of them but not boastful about them.

<waves hand> Could I be next please?

What's parking like round there?

Looks aren't the be-all and end-all to me, but I will ignore just about any J, P or MM shaped bass. I like the swoopy look - Ritter, Sei Flamboyant, that sort of thing, and to a lesser extent the Peavey Cirrus and Grind. Playability does trump all though - when I bought my Thumb, it was because it was the most playable bass I'd ever picked up, though it looked rather odd to me (after a Hayman 40/40 and a P).

I've never tried doing a key change. Must give that a go sometime. Looks like the Vocalist Performer needs you to set the key, judging by the little blurb on it on Digitech's website. I have no knowledge of it.

Ashdown Superduperfly head Tech Soundsystems 4x10 for rock gigs BFM Omni 10.5 for small intimate gigs (needs sorting out to stop it farting though) GK 200MB (forerunner of the MB150) for ceilidh band rehearsals in the pub, though I have used it for bigger gigs too

If it doesn't know the key, the only harmonies it can generate are 5ths and unison/octave (if I've got my theory right). The 3rd changes according to the chord, which will depend on the key. You're not setting the key so it can juggle your original note (not unless you want it to, anyway). You adjust the mix - separate controls for guitar (if you're using it), main vocals, and generated harmony vocals. The manual is [url="ftp://ftp.digitech.com/pub/PDFs/Manuals/Vocalist_LIVE4/VL4%20manual%2018-0477-A.pdf"]here[/url] - that will give you a better idea of the capabilities of the unit. Saying all that, the price seems to have rocketed since we bought ours. I'm sure ours was sub-£300. At least the VL-2 (two harmonies) is still around £220.

Yes, with no instrument plugged in you can set key (note and major/minorness). It's worked fine for us (Mrs Zero and I, with her singing into it and me guitaring), and also in the club band I used to be in.

I generally take a spare - it's a Hohner Jack so it's as compact as a guitar. Haven't actually needed it but it's not much extra to carry.

Would it be of any help for me to suggest having a listen to the Digitech Vocalist 2 or 4? You plug in a guitar and a mic, you get out a clean (or mucked-about, if you wish) guitar and original vocal and harmony vocal, and you can change the relative levels of each. The guitar input is so that it can work out what key you're playing in (in that respect, it is actually more intelligent than the average guitarist) and adjust the harmonies accordingly.

With both the covers bands I'm in, it tends to be suggestion a few days before rehearsal, run through it, if we've got it then good, if we haven't then we know which bits we all need to get straightened out. Neither band is doing a lot of gigging though, so there isn't any great time pressure - I think it would be better if there was a bit more pressure, it might act as a bit of a stimulus. The ceilidh band is a bit different - at a rehearsal the melodeon player will say "there's another one we could do, it goes like this", plays it to us, we play along, then it's in the next gig.

I was thinking of bringing Warwick JD Thumb Warwick Thumb fretless reprofiled as a JD Antoniotsai 5-string Mazeti 5-string fretless Peavey Grind 6-string Ashdown Superduperfly (Superfly 1000) Tech Soundsystems ND410S Maybe a Crate PB150 as a headphone amp. Or a Tascam CD-BT2.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1005503' date='Oct 29 2010, 05:31 PM']Is there anything anyone attending this bash would particularly like me to bring from the following?[/quote] The Pedulla and the Sei please. Please, please...

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1005715' date='Oct 29 2010, 08:27 PM']There surely has to be a single point of rhythm reference and I've always thought of that as being the kick drum. That's the drummer's key responsibility isn't it? Not that I'd ever claim to have a lot of live experience, but 4 bands spread over 6 playing years (excluding the schooldays) with a reasonable number of gigs ought to have taught me something I reckon.[/quote] I'd have said it was the drummer generally, not just the kick drum. I think I have a holistic approach to drummers. Especially as drummer #1 has a double bass pedal and occasionally (really) wanders off it.

I've now left the band in question - it gradually progressed from just hating "Dance the night away" to include all the UB40 stuff, and then a few others, and then we brought in the most rocky number of the set which was "Summer of 69" which I didn't hate playing but the guitarist didn't grasp the concept of down-down-down-down rather than down-up-down-up so I decided to go back to rock. Out of the stuff in all the current bands' repertoires, "Gloria" is the one. Now that Mrs Zero is probably the new lead vocalist, that's gone.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='1005973' date='Oct 30 2010, 01:47 AM']I emailed them to see if they had any and the guy responded by saying that he doubted that they would get any in - well don't advertise something at a fantastic price that you can't sell.[/quote] IIRC, the term for that is "illegal".

[quote name='silddx' post='1004362' date='Oct 28 2010, 08:51 PM']She had been excluded from music classes but she used to break in to the music room after school and learned music and practised piano on her own, until she got caught. They then recognised her ability and tutored her after hours.[/quote] IRTA "tortured her after hours", which did seem a little extreme.

[quote name='silddx' post='1004245' date='Oct 28 2010, 07:31 PM']God, I've been playing for 30 years and other than the first five frets on the E and A strings, I have to work out what the notes are called.[/quote] I've managed to learn most of the notes up to the 12th fret on the E and A strings and I've got a reasonable grasp of the B string. As everything else is across two and up two, that's it covered (though it does mean my 7-string playing can get a little slow as I have to across-2 and up-2 twice). I have had occasional stabs at learning dots but can't say that it would have been a significant help to me, though it would have come in handy now and again. It's all very well learning carpentry, but if you're putting up an Ikea flat-pack, the instructions come in very handy.

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1003223' date='Oct 28 2010, 12:06 AM']Here's [url="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2684648/Scorched-Jimi-Hendrix-guitar-sells-for-280000.html"]one of several Stratocasters burned by Hendrix[/url] - it sold for £280,000 in 2008: [/quote] Isn't that "roasted"? Where's tino when you want him? I regret not buying a Hofner violin bass of similar vintage to McCartney's back in the mid 80s - could have had it for £75 but it was such an utterly crap bass that I didn't. That could have been my pension, that could...