randythoades

Well, here's the thing. I am learning concert ukulele to take camping and impress everyone with my natural musical ability!! Doing ok so far but at the stage of playing full songs now. When I try to play songs I know on ukulele they just sound wrong somehow. I think it because I am playing the songs as I know them in guitar keys. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good tab book specifically for ukulele with rock and pop songs for learning rather than Amazing Grace and Scarborough Fair? I got a couple off Amazon (playlist series) but some of these also sound a little odd and a lot of the tracks are a little obscure. Others on Amazon get very mixed reviews so I would prefer t go with a recommendation. I want to learn some good and easy campfire songs for people in their 40s. Thanks in advance

+1 for Ibanez. For that sort of money I would look for a used Japanese RG from 90s. Pick them up on ebay for probably a little less than that but excellent guitars and will hold its value. I think the Edge is overall a better system than genuine Floyd Rose.

Well done for giving it a go Al. Really depends on the venue. Monitoring through small monitor speakers does sound really tinny but DI sounds good in my IEM and is always consistent. I still do take my amp to a most gigs, just for a backup and also for a little presence and low end heft for the people at the front (and for my use as a table to hold my stuff). At my gig on Friday night I had to turn up my amp a little as guitarist decided not to bring IEM and vocalist IEM phones broke so needed on stage sounds. We get good comments about the clarity of our sound and always DI/mic up all instruments including drums through PA. Makes it much easier to control overall sound too. Also makes it easier wen asked to DI as we are used to it.Playing a festival during the summer and the sound guy is very happy that I have no problem just turning up with pedal board and bass. He was getting a lot of stick from some of the other bands wanting to bring monster stacks wen only 15 mins between bands for setup. Just of the back of that we have probably got another gig that he gets involved with.

I converted one of my violin basses to fretless and intonation is a little suspect. Because of the short scale and floating bridge, a small adjustment in fingering makes a huge difference (and not always in a good way) but it does force you to listen to what you play and adjust fingering as you go along compared to the jazz bass. I don't play fretless often enough really to be good at it, but I am sure you would become used to it I actually use a bass ukulele for this sort of sound and find it a little better.

I use the VT bass DI all the time now as a DI into PA. We use IEM so this seemed like a good way to go ad I am very happy with the results. I use second output into effects loop of amp for on stage monitoring (if IEM goes down) and a little extra heft to the sound. The only thing I find is that the level control is a little twitchy and I get the odd bit of clipping if I happen to hit a string a little enthusiastically rather than a nice smooth overdrive that you wold get from the amp... I can't seem to quite get the optimum levels between bass and pedal. I may just put a limiter pedal just before it just to smooth out the input gain.

I have one and use it a lot. The sounds are really nice and feel 'natural' to my ears compared to the processed sound of the Pod. It is not as in depth or sophisticated as the Pod but all the sounds are grouped in genre and reasonably easy to edit once you have worked out the menu system. I now use mine as the go to box for recording and have moved away from plug ins etc. as I find it easier to get a sound I like and record it rather than tweaking for days afterwards.

I have used the Behringer GI 100 Ultra G box (red one) an it work really well. Although I now prefer to get a good sound first either from amp or effects pedal and record sound as is to stop my constant tweaking!

I have 2 Aria violin basses, made in Japan 69-71, one fretted, one fretless. Love them to bits. I still keep buying or making other basses but I always go back to them. Great thump with flatwounds playd with pick, lightweight and no one else uses them. Would like to try a decent Hofner though,just to compare...

I had one of these. Lovely guitars. Sold it to buy a (yet another) Stratocaster and always regretted it. Loved the simplicity of it and really light and airy sound. Good find!

I always DI into PA using either Tech 21 VT bass DI or a cheapy Joyo Dr J Sparrow DI (and to be fair the sound difference is very marginal). We all use IEM live and the drummer and vocalist use IEM for rehearsals too so I need to be through the mixer in order to send a mix to them too. At rehearsals I don't worry about IEM so us the Effects return socket on amp to bypass all the preamp stage and just use as clean poweramp for my own (and guitarist) monitoring. Works really well if you have access to a decent PA (particularly if there is a sub).

I started on EUB and moved onto acoustic bass after about 8 or 9 months. Interestingly I have started playing EUB a lot more, purely from convenience more than anything else. No feedback, no dropping the back seats in the car, no shuffling around to try to make room in rehearsal studio. This weekend I did the unthinkable and sold my acoustic bass (we are moving house into a renovation project so would have nowhere to store it for the next year) but now thinking about taking that next step and splashing out on a great EUB instead of going for another acoustic (my Bassix is a prototype model so a little rough around the edges as well as from plenty of use). Not sure I will look the part in a traditional rock and roll band though - but making music is about breaking down boundaries and being different - maybe I will become famous (in a small area) for the EUB rather than the 'boring' acoustic basses that all the other rockabilly bass players use! Won't have space to paint hot rod flames on an EUB though...

I used to use the K&K Dual preamp to blend both (which does the job well) but to be honest, without loud drums piezo (Bass max) sounds better on its own, with loud drums mag pickup on its own better so it almost is too much effort. I think I am the only one who can tell the difference. Certainly the band don't and I am sure the punters don't either...

These Far West EUB look fantastic so would be interested in anyone has any playing experience: [url="http://farwestmusicalinstruments.co.uk/the-redhead/"]http://farwestmusicalinstruments.co.uk/the-redhead/[/url]

That is great news. I have a Bassix 'stick' type EUB and love it. Just selling my acoustic bass as moving house and won't have room to store but would be interested in getting another EUB in the future so be good to have some up to date details for Alan as I also tried to go onto he old website and it is not functioning... and the facebook page is 3 years out of date.

Well, I tried out a couple of the options and finally went for an Artec of all things, the VertexP passive pickup £30 [url="http://www.artecsound.com/acou/vertex.htm"]http://www.artecsound.com/acou/vertex.htm[/url] Easy to fit, no batteries needed and really nice sounding, not quite 'acoustic' but exactly the sound I was after. Thanks guys

I have a Bassix folding EUB. Not sure if the link below will work but photo of it in my music room. [url="https://www.dropbox.com/s/84l2faklrw621ha/IMAG0380.jpg?dl=0"]https://www.dropbox.com/s/84l2faklrw621ha/IMAG0380.jpg?dl=0[/url] It as a fibreglass 'frame' to give it the width of an acoustic bass but you can use it without just like the Stagg etc.Overall, a really nice sound and I was very happy with it until I bought my acoustic bass, although it is difficult to tell the difference sound wise in rehearsals as I hear very little of the acoustic, it is just pickup into amp. The acoustic is easier to just pick up an jam at home though as no need for plugging in, but the EUB just stands like a large mic stand in the corner and is much easier to take to rehearsals. Doesn't have the look though so my band members at the time were very happy once I got the regular bass, it just looked like they expected it to look. The main central section folds in half with strings still attached (bridge is molded onto the fibreglass body) and fits into a normal bas gig bag but tuning the ****** back up again is a bit of a pain so I rarely do it. I don't think it really offers any benefit over the Stagg style as the bass shaped frame still takes up quite a lot of room.

Thank BRX, I have never tried the Jazz Chorus and I didn't ask about it. Maybe I should take another trip and have a look. The JC22 seems to only have 2 x 6.5 inch speakers so it may sound a bit boxy but the 40w has 2x10 but that puts the weight up, but hugely lighter than my AC15. I have always been intrigued by them so may have to get up to have a try out. Cheers

Thanks Mike. I did check out the Mustangs, the Superchamp and the Valvetronix series but I didn't try the Roland. All were really good in their own way and I am sure perfectly usable on stage but I realised that I didn't need all the various tones, I just want one good clean (ish) tone and they all felt a little lacking. Just wasn't the same. I ended up buying a used Zoom G5 pedal as well as a small Vox VXII lightweight amp for home jams and thinking now about using my 'big' amp for gigs and the odd rehearsal but using the amp sims on the Zoom straight into PA or into my lightweight bass rig as the ultimate weight and space saving device.

I am possibly one of the few who does gig but doesn't really enjoy it overall, because of this exact thing. I get completely demoralised if there is an empty house and I would rather have been at home with Chinese takeaway and the wife. However, a busy venue is great fun, no matter how badly or well you play. So I would definitely take the crowd. I understand the 'paid rehearsal' argument but I wouldn't pack the car with all of our gear, drive for an hour and a half to then spend another hour and half setting it all up, the same taking it all apart if I was just going to the studio for a rehearsal. I would just turn up with my guitar and amp, plug in and play until I was ready to go home. But as others say, I don't rely on music for income so I would possibly think differently if I did.

My 15w is just a bit bulky and cumbersome rather than out and out heavy so it is just to try and find something without the big transformer and valves.S happy t look into al the suggestions above, thanks. In the past my experience of SS was sterile and without character, but I know things have moved on..

Just been looking at the You Tube vids and does seem pretty good, but 100w will be seriously overkill for me, I run my 15w at just over half power and it is plenty of power. Essentially I would need it only for stage volume but I am actually liking the idea of the modelling as it cold possibly provide a better DI sound than I currently have. Will go into Andertons and have a look. Thanks

I could always get the Mustang ii as a smaller on stage amp as I DI anyway.

Hi RhysP Thanks for this. I had kind of discounted these because of all the modelling / effects etc which I don't really need but I suppose that would cover some bases if I set it to a clean DR or Vox amp model and I could use the delay and compression on amp (as they stay on permanently anyway) and reduce my pedal board size. Thanks, i'll go and have a look.

I know that this won't get much love but I have been 'relegated' back onto guitar in my long term band so think it is about time to sort out my amp situation. My current rig is a Hayden handwired Cotton Club 7/15 which is effectively a Vox AC15 clone. I only use the clean channel with treble rolled back a bit and get my crunch variations via pedals (Danelectro Cool cat Trans Drive and Drive pedals) and guitar volume and add a slapback delay and a touch of compression. We play a mixture of pop and rock from the 50s onwards. I like my sound and don't need massive volume as we have a very considerate drummer and we all go through PA, the only issue I have is the size and weight. I find it very heavy and cumbersome to lug in and out of the car and wonder if anyone is using solid state combos and if any of them are recommended to go and have a look at? I would certainly appreciate the lighter weight and perhaps the reliability. Would something like the Roland cube or Vox Valvetronix take pedals ok or perhaps the Vox Valve Reactor series?

My Armstrong pickup just came with the connecting wire and I added the jack socket myself. The Krivo came with jack socket already attached.