tauzero

We start playing the intro to "Sweet Child O' Mine". Guitarist says "You're really out. Are you out of tune?" Me: "No, it's a fretless. It's in tune." Him: "It sounded really out of tune." Me: "No, the bass is in tune, my fingers aren't.". I thought he'd have known this, his dad being a bassist... Oh, and yes, it's a pig to play on a fretless, as is the middle 8 to "All Right Now". Practice, practice, practice... and maybe get a 6-string so I can play it five unfrets further down the neck

Has your brother Francis Ford got any films about basses planned?

[quote name='chrisba' post='847406' date='May 25 2010, 12:34 PM']Hmmm. My daughter is at Warwick University. I feel a surprise parental visit coming on...[/quote] Hasn't she told you that Warwick University is in Coventry?

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='846935' date='May 24 2010, 09:58 PM']Apparently (at least from the Turkish kids I went to school with 30 years ago) Cack means sh1t. In Middle eastern cultures, the left hand was reserved for wiping one's ar$e, and to offer the left hand to shake hands was a huge insult. Therefore, to call a left hander cack handed I would have thought fairly insulting.[/quote] The word "cack" or "keck" (in cack-handed) is an old English word meaning "clumsy". The excremental meaning has been absorbed into the language more recently.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='844505' date='May 21 2010, 06:57 PM']Also i thought Tennessee basses were usually a couple of hundred dollars? This is over $3000![/quote] Tropicalmoonmusic seem to be trying it on a bit. They've got a 10-string Stick "clone" on there which I have thought about buying - their previous auctions for them have finished up at $150-$200, they're asking something like $1500 BIN now. No spare cash ATM so won't put in a best offer of $100.

[quote name='arsenic' post='845030' date='May 22 2010, 12:45 PM']Ahh! but which incarnation... When they used to be in a little shop on Broad Street with guitars and basses on the ground level and mainly amps in the bassment - the selection was small but ranged from pocket money stuff to high end gear. They had a mint Burns Bison in there for about £25.00, hanging right next to the stairs to the basement. A couple of the guys from local band Cryer used to work there if I recall. When they moved to Snow Hill and took over the old Yardleys store, the selection increased, but so did the prices....[/quote] I went to both - I first went to the original one when I was still at school. It wasn't till they'd moved that I bought a bass there - my first Precision, as it happens. I remember Gary (who is now at PMT) showing me photos of the burnt out Broad Street shop.

I think Fair Deal in Birmingham have got quite a good balance - a meatspace shop with a reasonable selection (but why were both the Stagg classical guitars that I'd have liked to try out left-handed?) and an online store. For some reason, the online store is a bit cheaper - I tried out a Variax guitar in the real shop then bought it from them online, something for which I feel no guilt. I happily mix my online and meatspace musical purchasing. I don't know how representative the non-lurking BC members are of the general bass-playing public - there was a poll a little while ago about number of strings on people's basses, and of 143 responses, it went 84 4-string, 47 5-string, 14 over-5-string. That's a ratio of about 4:3 for 4-string against over-4-string. I'll be playing in a local Battle of the Bands soon, and of the 30 bands in it (oh, 29, just remembered that one band doesn't have a bassist), I'll lay odds on over 50% (probably 2/3) of the basses being Fenders or clones, and no more than 5 basses with more than 4 strings, and one fretless (that'll be me then). The point of all this blather being that the average BC contributor is less likely to be satisfied by a shop which contains assorted 4-string fretted Fenders and clones of all price ranges than the average bassist on the street. My quest to try out a few fretless 5-strings was doomed to failure, but the bassists from most of the local bands will be able to find something to make them happy from the stuff dangling on the walls at PMT (Reverb Sound Musical Station Exchanges would have been able to help too, before they went titsup*2). Come to think of it, one thing that has declined over the years is second-hand music shops. Musical Exchanges in Brum was a marvellous place. Now it's all gone to ebay and Crack Converters.

[quote name='OldGit' post='844742' date='May 21 2010, 11:41 PM']With All Right Now though it's all of the verses ...[/quote] As it is for Honky Tonk Women, on the record. I've just fired up the stereo and had a listen. Bass on chorus and solo only.

[quote name='twowheeledwriter' post='844701' date='May 21 2010, 10:33 PM']On a serious note, is it just the first verse? I usually only play for the chorus and the solo, and avoid the verses. I use the verses to do some dancing in the style of Bill Wyman... ( - song idea #73 - (Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star)[/quote] That's how it is on the record. Just like All Right Now, another one that some bassists just can't resist.

Congratulations. I'll let the Big Beef Chief know right away.

He's sticking to £1100. Looks like it wasn't originally priced to sell, then.

[quote name='99ster' post='842180' date='May 19 2010, 03:33 PM']Yep. This is genuine. But it's a shame it's been so messed about with...has been used on some great records though. Back in the day I owned a G&L for a short while that used to belong to Dave Pegg - was given to him personally by Leo Fender as a gift...[/quote] It's been "messed about with" (or "enhanced") to improve it as a working instrument. That's the sad dichotomy between instruments as investments and instruments for musical use.

[quote name='Delberthot' post='842165' date='May 19 2010, 03:21 PM']wouldn't ghost lines be difficult to use as they would be constantly moving about in their white sheets, rattling their chains and going "whooooo"?[/quote] It would be the perfect instrument for playing "Unchained Melody" on.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='838476' date='May 15 2010, 09:51 PM']Given that there is no verb "to pedant", one can be neither "pedanted" nor "out-pedanted".[/quote] There is no noun that cannot be verbed.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='838253' date='May 15 2010, 04:55 PM']Hmmm interesting. Keep the £550 offers going in, guys.[/quote] Stuff that. If you're all willing to pay £550 for it, I'm offering him £525 so if I accidentally win it, I can still come out on top.

It's faintly reminiscent of my first bass, a Rosetti 7. Except that it's far higher quality.

[quote name='richrips' post='834425' date='May 11 2010, 05:18 PM']Really cool. I'd have had them if i didn't already have something similar. I didn't realise there was a vintage genuine equivalent to my cabs.[/quote] Not just those, Ohm made a 1x15 cab (and possibly others) that I regret having sold - a more complex flare to the horn than the BFMs though, I assume a parabolic curve. Similar dimensions to an Omni 10.

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='832830' date='May 10 2010, 09:43 AM']I'd love 10 minutes with her, although would probably struggle to find something to do for the last 7 minutes. [/quote] The 12" version of Mustang Sally?

That'll be because it's going to be sent in the next minute.

[quote name='Bigwan' post='840696' date='May 18 2010, 11:50 AM']FAIL! That'd be Alannah Miles you'd be meaning![/quote] I blame my Alannisheimer's.

[quote name='davidmpires' post='840771' date='May 18 2010, 12:51 PM']I have some hardware to help me practice such as a Jamman looper courtesy of Davo London, a Zoom H4 and a Tascam with the cd thing. Now up until now I put the songs on my pc and have to use two headphones to hear the bass on one coming from the amp and another one coming from my pc with the song I’m learning. Now I want to be able to use just one, what’s the best way to do it? And cheaper way. I want to be able to mix my bass with my pc so I only need one set of headphones and stop disturbing my OH with the sound of the amp.[/quote] Get some CD-RWs and burn the tracks you're working on as audio tracks (rather than MP3s) to them then use the Tascam CD trainer. As I will be doing this evening, in fact.

I've been throwing some suggestions at covers band B - we have both male and female lead vocals. Finding songs for male vocals is dead easy. Female: Torn - Natalie Imbruglio Black velvet - Alanis Morrissette Zombie - Cranberries Because the night - Patti Smith Fever - Peggy Lee

[quote name='Telebass' post='840530' date='May 18 2010, 09:15 AM']No, and the laws of physics say otherwise. The tension increases when the length of string that is under tension is increased, not the 'speaking' length of the string. Hence string-thru-body does have a small increase in tension, and basses with separate tailpieces might also have similar.[/quote] Note: I can't see the video, I'm at work. That definitely doesn't seem right. The tension in the string and the speaking length determine the pitch, regardless of how much string there is elsewhere. Where it might make a bit of difference is that as the string is displaced in the process of plucking it [*] or fretting it, it is also lengthened, which will increase the tension in the string. Assuming a friction-free nut and bridge, the longer the overall unclamped length of string is, the lower will be the increase in tension due to string displacement. However, considering the ratio of displacement to speaking length, the effect will be negligible - it's perhaps 1%, so that's the increase in tension, and if you extended the string to double its length, you'd at the most halve that, and given friction losses in the nut and bridge saddle, it's very unlikely that you'd feel any difference at all, except that your bass would be six feet long. [*] or slapping it, if you really must

Have tarpaulins or similar on hand to put over the gear if it starts to rain. If it pisses down, don't play. It's not just the 240V wandering round looking for a handy route to ground, it's also the slippery stage/ground that provides a hazard. If it's just drizzle, make an informed decision. Ideally, have a reserve indoor venue. We moved an entire rock festival from the Tamworth castle grounds to a large upstairs room in a pub about 20 years ago.

A bit of an unusual one this, because I was in both the support band and the headline. The Casa Bar in Tamworth is the old cinema, which has undergone a couple of major upheavals and is now a large room with a bar up one side. Rather than having the stage where it was before in the place's incarnation as a music venue, it's an unstage with a drum riser facing the bar. Audience levels vary drastically - it's a good place to bed a band down a bit as, if you're not a school band with a lorra lorra mates, it's very low pressure (ie. small audience). The PA also isn't great - I took my mixer amp along. There's no foldback but there's a fair bit of spill so you're not playing deaf. First up, me on guitar and Mrs Zero on vocals, aka Second Time Round. All went well, did more of my own stuff than we've been doing of late, which was nice (partly so the other band could hear them, I'd like to do some of them with the other band). Next, me on bass with Different Glory. Generally went well, although I'd completely forgotten that we'd moved one song down a tone, which caused me great confusion. Guitarist: "If we'd had foldback, you'd have realised you were playing the wrong thing quicker". Me: "I realised I was playing the wrong thing immediately, I just couldn't remember the right thing". Still, it generally went OK, and the alternative covers version of the band will be playing there soon (that's Different Glory plus two vocalists, which we still haven't found a name for).