Thunderthumbs

That kid's great. OK, he hasn't got the notes sorted, but he's picking up rhythm, slapping and pulling, and he's a groover! Wish I had all that at 3 years old. Don't think I've got any one of them mastered yet at 41

[quote name='Perry' post='119787' date='Jan 13 2008, 09:22 PM']Hey Guys. how y'all gettin' on with it?[/quote] Perry.....emailed you again. Cheers, Pete.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='119310' date='Jan 12 2008, 09:48 PM']for those of you who are speaking of problems with time get your hands (if you can) on an article called the metronome as guru. It (imo) solves all time issues and turns you into smug time git Jake[/quote] Have you got a copy? Where did you get it from? Could you scan it?

Andy.....that really looks as good as it sounds. So glad I was there to hear it before you collected it.

I scared the sh*t out of myself the other day. I put my headphones on and jammed along to some Stevie Wonder, and recorded the bass. Then I listen back to it. I play in a covers band, regular gigs, and I think I'm pretty tight with the drummer. So I was shocked when I listened back to the bass I'd recorded. My timing was all over the place. Again, it is that thing over being overly critical of myself (or then again, not), as it wouldn't sound like that in a live situation. But it's highlighted just one area of my playing that I really need to start tightening up again.

Known about Tal for quite a while now, she's a tremendous bass player. If only I was half as good.

Hi Keith, Welcome to BC. Have fun. Cheers, Pete.

If you have a way of staying in touch with the Bride/Groom/organiser beforehand, then do so, on a regular basis. They will want reassurance that everything is to plan. We recently played at a wedding over in Hull. The bride got our website details from the agent she'd booked us through (for which she paid them £200). She emailed me through our website, and from that day forward to the wedding, [b]all[/b] correspondence was done between the bride and myself. I kept her constantly assured that we'd be there at the time requested, we'd set up as and when required by them and/or the hotel, we'd play the lengths of sets she wanted at the times she wanted, etc. We learned not one but three numbers specifically for their wedding. The did the first two dances, as she wanted one but her husband wanted another (good start to a marriage!), and we did one specially for her that she'd just mentioned in passing one of her favourite songs. We did that one later on, which of course made her happier than she was to start off with. She ended up saying it was brilliant, and that she just wished she'd have found us on her own rather than paying an agent £200 simply for passing our details on to her. His paperwork also had the wrong arrival time, etc. So it's best to work directly with whoever's organising the wedding if possible. The key to any wedding is.....it's their wedding, not your gig. They are the ones you have to please. As long as they go home talking about you (for the right reasons of course), you've done your job.

I play bass (and here's the embarrassing admission) - because my elder sister was into The Bay City Rollers and fancied the bassist, Alan Longmuir. That's when I first got a fascination for the "guitar with only 4 strings", so I suppose I've got her to thank for where I am now. Bought myself a bass at school when it was plainly obvious my mate in the band we formed was a much better guitarist than me. Taught myself how to play. Loved it then, and love it now. Hugely influenced by Bruce Foxton when I was a kid, and joined a covers band when I was 17. Through that, I've got some great mates, and a couple of very close ones. The drummer was best man at my wedding - and I was at his. It also allowed us to swap musical tastes, and through the 24 years since then I've had a great journey music-wise. I had a break from regular gigging for about 10 years, but then doing the odd gig with a friend of mine gave me the love back. It started with him opening his set with a song I'd never even heard, let alone played. He played me the bassline, I picked it up, and we did the gig from there. It made me realise I had a talent that was being wasted just sitting at home doing nothing when I could be out gigging. So I looked in the locals for an advert. Found one immediately which suited me, got the job, and we're still together 2 years later, and hopefully going from strength to strength. I've even now got to the point where I enjoy practicing at home again, and am now even looking for lessons with a top quality teacher to help push me beyond my boundaries and limitations. There's a band out there for you, that'll fit into your lifestyle. Just keep looking. And just keep playing for the fun of it. It's a beautiful instrument.

[quote name='OldGit' post='118723' date='Jan 11 2008, 05:15 PM']ha ha I'm sure I'll think of something Sax solo somewhere?[/quote] Want a music stand?

[quote name='blamelouis' post='118658' date='Jan 11 2008, 04:29 PM']You should read Numans book ,slags off joe hubbard big time! Pino also took lessons off Joe Hubbard who is now a martial arts coach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wacko: [url="http://www.p2c2e.freeserve.co.uk/sfcukx/sfcukx.html"]http://www.p2c2e.freeserve.co.uk/sfcukx/sfcukx.html[/url][/quote] Half expected to see a photo of him smashing someone over the head with a fretless sunburst Jazz. Sadly not I wonder if Gary Numan would slag him off to his face now?

Been passing message back and forth with Si the past few days, and he's given me invaluable advice on redesigning my website, and some great marketing ideas too. Thanks for all your help Si. Am I to pay you commission when we get that "big" gig? If you want great advice, don't hesitate to ask him, you won't regret it.

Si has given me lots of in-depth advice to do with my band's website. Lots of stuff it'd have taken me weeks to discover through design/marketing books and websites, etc. Great bloke to deal with (and from reading his messages - a very dry sense of humour too - very funny "Harry Potter" - he'll know what I mean). If you want some great website advice, he's your man. You won't regret it. Cheers, Pete.

Sold an amp to Steve (peety). Came and collected with cash despite me being able to deliver. Had a good chat too. Top bloke, and a pleasure to deal with. Cheers, Pete.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='118148' date='Jan 10 2008, 08:31 PM']Is Steve Berry still nr Manchester, Thunderthumbs? He would be a great teacher.[/quote] Don't know....might check him out. Cheers for that. Ollie Collins is another one that comes recommended...and he's a friend of a friend too I think.

[quote name='jono b' post='118143' date='Jan 10 2008, 08:26 PM']I was looking at the Ashdown ABM 410 T, which is an 8 ohm cab. However, the ABM head (the 500W one at least) is 4 ohms. Does this mean the head and cab are not compatible with each other? Or, does it mean that I need to run another 8 ohm cab to get it to work? I'm not really sure how impedance with heads and cabs works. Cheers Jono[/quote] Not that they're not compatible, but if you run two 8 ohm cabs together, the overall ohmage is reduced to 4 ohms, and therefore you'll get full power output from your amp. An 8 ohm cab will just reduce the maximum output from the amp, that's all.

phsychoandy......have you got this sorted. If not, I'll tab it for you......but it'll cost you a GB Spitfire

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='118086' date='Jan 10 2008, 07:29 PM']About 3 years ago, I remember doing a big band gig and reading that line on 'Sir Duke' cold. Then I KNEW I had turned a corner on my sight reading![/quote] All credit to you my friend. That takes some doing. That's why I'm at that point where I now want to push my boundaries, and put some serious hard work in. A few lessons wouldn't go amiss.

Not learning, but just been jamming along to Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder. My God do I need to practice more.....stiff and sloppy as hell.

Nice one. Trouble is, I'm going to be here all night now!

[quote name='cheddatom' post='117934' date='Jan 10 2008, 04:08 PM']heh, you seriously think that?[/quote] In all seriousness, probably not [b]most[/b] that dismiss it, but yes, a lot of people have a "Fast Show" opinion of jazz. Whether it was formed before or after seeing the Fast Show is a different matter. I'm not blaming The Fast Show for it, I'm just saying it exists. Obviously that opinion is out there otherwise the whole Jazz Club sketch wouldn't exist. Hence things like Chops' "Beret and beard" comment (no offence taken or meant). All I can say from my point of view is that the first time I saw the Chick Corea Elektric Band live, with Chick Corea, John Patitucci, Dave Weckl, Eric Marienthal and Frank Gambale, I was absolutely astounded by the quality of the musicianship from all five of them, and stood up to applaud them all at the end with a lump in my throat. It's very rare I get physically emotional about seeing bands/artistes. What it also did was give me a great interest in musicians of other instruments. I have at least one CD of all of the artists above simply because of that concert. I doubt very much I'd go and buy solo CDs from most of the bands I was brought up on, as I think most rock/pop bands are based around the writing skills or musicianship of one main player. Of course there are going to be exceptions of course - before I get bombarded with "what about (insert band name)".

I'm looking for some too. Just found this [url="http://www.proaudiocovers.co.uk/"]http://www.proaudiocovers.co.uk/[/url]

I think far too many people just watch too Fast Show and dismiss it because of that. There's some jazz I don't like, I can admit that, but there's an awful lot more of it that I love. My drummer's more into acoustic trios/quartets, etc., and I'm more into eletronic/fusion, etc. so it makes travelling to gigs together a great time musically.