simonlittle

Not being funny but have you experimented with a narrower shoe for gigs? I have this problem even with separate pedals; especially if I’m wearing Doc Martens! Same thing with overly pointy shoes. Never happens in rehearsals when I’m invariably wearing sneakers…

The best sounding B string I’ve ever come across is on the Ken Smith HF Burner I bought about six months ago. Absolutely thunderous sounding; almost synth-like in the purity of the tone. Regular 34” scale but built beautifully. Aside from that I’ve had a couple of Warwick 5-strings (bolt-on and NT) and both of them had excellent B strings; very even across the whole fingerboard. Definitely worth investigating.

I’ve seen a few guitarists using these K&M stands. I’m sure they could handle a bass… https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/KandM-17581-Heli-2-Electric-Guitar-Stand-Black/1YZ5?origin=product-ads&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22290702940&gbraid=0AAAAAD_kjLRlsHmsJiER70uSV0b6kZVO_&gclid=Cj0KCQjwnovFBhDnARIsAO4V7mC-U_GJ_w_DSSP58fTh0Q0ZFaAaMmQ0rX9uyswijgE3b_9k59j6gQ0aAtu7EALw_wcB

Oh man I forgot about fretless basses! Bought three different ones over the years because I thought I should have one in the arsenal only to sell them on years later when no opportunity to use them live presents itself. Nearly did it again a few weeks ago but common sense prevailed at the eleventh hour…

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been looking up Thumpinators again…

I also have a couple of these, plus one of the grab stands. The grab stands are great if you need to change instruments a lot during a gig. I find the little fold-up ones a bit of a pain on gigs to be honest as jazz-type shaped basses need a bit of finagling to get them to sit right, plus most of my basses have a jack socket and/or a control knob right where one of the little feet are. I always leave one in the car for emergencies/can’t be arsed to bring the big stand days, but the grab stand is the one I like and trust the most on gigs.

Sold a 3Leaf pedal to Dan this week. A real pleasure to deal with. Many thanks

Sold some strings to Sean this week. A real pleasure to deal with. Thanks Sean!

Just sold a Mayones bass to Ash. A lovely guy to deal with and a great player too. Thanks @Ash_Gdn

As pretty much everyone has said, it is all about practice. I sing BVs with a good few of the bands I play with and it took a while to get a good method down for learning the parts. Knowing the bass parts to the point where you’re paying entirely from muscle memory is essential. Even in a jazz context where you’re playing walking lines, falling back on your most bog-standard shapes and lines will help you forget about playing the bass and concentrate on the singing. Practising the backing vocals away from the bass at first also really helps. I like to do that in the car. Or on a long walk with headphones. Getting the vocals into your muscle memory will come with time. When you know them well enough away from the instrument I find combining them with the bass parts is way easier. Plus you’ll be worrying less about finding pitches as you’ll have more of an idea of where they sit in your voice. Getting familiar with your vocal range is just like learning the fretboard. I’ve found it very rewarding to really dig into the backing vocal thing and it’s been a real bonus for gigs. Good luck on your adventures @Mokl

Welcome from another Londoner @BombTheBassist!

Sold Luke some patch cables this week. Lovely to deal with and paid instantly. Recommended Basschatter! Simon

I’d also recommend CD Baby if you want to make your music available on all the digital/streaming services. The big difference between that and Distrokid is that CD Baby charges a (very reasonable) one-off fee per release as opposed to a yearly subscription. I’ve released a load of music via CD Baby alongside Bandcamp. Bandcamp is fantastic but operates very much its own eco-system; you’ll make more per download, can set up subscription services and have full control over pricing etc with , but sadly Joe Bloggs on the street isn’t as likely to get on board. Running Bandcamp alongside CD Baby is a good combo I reckon.