simonlittle

Also if all else fails or you're fingers don't yet feel up to the gig go to your local pharmacy and get some micro pore tape and tape them up. You can play through micro pore and it is the closest feel to skin on the strings..

There are loads of ways people suggest for preventing blisters but the best way is to just keep playing and build your chops up. If you're going with my method soak it and burst tonight so it can dry out overnight. It'll be pretty raw for a good few hours once you cut the blister away so you might as well sleep through that fun period

Ps. I use small nail clippers to cut the skin away once I've burst the blister bubble (puke!). It'll stung to burst it but once it's done it's just dead skin. Be careful around the healthy skin though otherwise you'll know about it...

If it were me I'd soften the skin in warm water then (puke) see if you can pop the blister and cut away the dead skin. Keep it dry and uncovered to let the skin dry out as much as possible and you should have something you can work with by tomorrow night. Main thing is keeping it dry and clean once you've got the dead skin out the way. If I have a run on bass guitar and go back to a heavy upright gig having not played it for a few weeks this can happen so I'm well used to this trick. On the gig, trying plucking further up over the fingerboard where the string is less taught and easier on the fingers- you'll last that bit longer trust me. Good luck! I feel your pain...

I'd highly recommend an Ampeg PF500 and matching 1x15" cab. Maybe the PF350 head if you want something less powerful. Both have headphone jacks for practice and you can mount the head to the cab for flip-top storage. The 15" cab sounds lovely and warm with plenty of vintage ooomph. It has a tweeter too which you can turn up or down on the cab itself to suit your sound. I've had one for a few years now and done all kinds of shows from large club dates to medium festival stages and it always sounds great. It sounds like a valve amp but it's not. And you can add a second cab at a later date if you do much bigger/louder shows but I've not felt the need. And the best thing? They're really cheap! I got the head and cab in a bundle deal from GAK for about £550. Best amp deal going. Definitely worth checking out. I promise you won't be disappointed.

You could try something like iMPC maybe and load your own samples onto the pads through iTunes file transfer. Should be nice and simple plus iMPC is a fun app to muck about with regardless...

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1429733105' post='2754479'] Obviously reliced [/quote] ...and this! Why oh why do they bother?! I remember reading an ad on eBay for a bass that the seller had lovingly reliced himself. He proudly stated that the pick guard had been nailed to the outside of his shed for the last three months. I mean, seriously...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1429521637' post='2752127'] I don't like shltty brown, sunburst or black either. In fact (and I'm sure I've never said this on here before), I only really like white basses. Or at least basses that are white, arctic white, olympic white, blonde, vintage white, antique white, cream, ivory, bone, seashell, flax, vanilla or linen. So quite a wide range to choose from, really... [/quote] +1 to that. All my basses are either white or natural ashy coloured. Except my violin bass. But a white violin bass would look just plain wrong. The string spacing is an instant dismissal for me too if it doesn't feel right. I had a Thumb VI for many years that was always a struggle to play due to the spacing (and the tree-trunk of a neck!). Have decided that five strings is now my upper limit...

It's truly a thing of beauty. Great stories behind it too. Must be a real treat to have her home once again!

Ian bought my Looperlative LP1 today. Came and met me at the local station, great communication and a lovely chap. A pleasure to do business with

They've got a couple at The Gallery at the moment. They usually have at least one in so you should head over there once you arrive!

Incredible find! Love this...

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1429107214' post='2748068'] Yes, the sound of smugness. Also, I used to like Prefab Sprout and The Divine Comedy. Since ripping all my CDs to iTunes, I now immediately hit skip whenever one of their tracks come up. [/quote] Not the ones with me on bass though, obviously...

The accidental applies to all octaves of the same note. The natural sign after the tied note is technically unnecessary but is the remind the player that the note is now naturalised. In proper classical notation that would not be there but in more modern notation it's often added for clarity. Personally I prefer it to be there as it avoids confusion when sight-reading. If I was writing the chart I would include it, but possibly in brackets... Hope that helps!

I'd just stick a jazz neck on a proper standard P-bass. I much prefer the feel of a P-bass neck and have thought about switching to that on my jazz. Jazz necks feel like a guitar to me. But then I do play upright bass half the time...