pete.young

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='240952' date='Jul 16 2008, 03:23 PM']The offending tunes are: Fever Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Canteloupe Island Watermelon Man Summertime Mac The Knife Tenor Madness[/quote] Uh-oh. So much for my jazz credentials: the only one on this list I could play from a standing start is Summertime, and I don't care how many abysmal renditions you might hear at the heart it's a brilliant piece of writing by one of the all-time-greats of the contemporary music scene. I kinda see what you're driving at. Your gripe is not with the songs but the useless and deluded people who think that all it takes is bowler hats, waistcoats and jumping up and down yelling "shoot that tiger"! My grandad used to say there's no such thing as a bad tune, only bad musicians. Anyway Bilbo, with the kind of stuff you're knocking out on a regular basis in the Mar Azul I'm surprised that you've got any time for playing jazz ;-) Say Hi to Gione for me.

[quote name='Oscar South' post='241370' date='Jul 16 2008, 11:14 PM']I occasionally sub as bassist for a local Ceilidh band (gig coming up actually), the way this band operates is that the Melodeon player just plays tunes and everyone else plays along by ear, its not too difficult and the only real challenge is making sure you play the same as the guitarist (as the tunes can often be harmonised in a few different ways). I'm not sure how the regular bassist plays really as I've not been to any of their gigs that I didn't play at. The style doesn't really invite a very 'busy' bass role, my personnel approach consists of keeping a pretty even beat most of the time without much variation, broken up occasionally with a bit of Mccartney-Mingus-esque hybrid double time style walking (if you can imagine it ) on the more 'intense' parts and sometimes joining the melody in unison/parallel octaves. It just struck my however that apart from taking a little from Dave Pegg, I've really never looked at any reference point, what approach does anyone else who plays in the style take?[/quote] Get yourself a copy of 20 Golden Tie-Slackeners by the Oyster Band, from www.oysterband.co.uk . This is a master-class in ceilidh bass playing by the legendary Iain Kearey, and in English ceilidh music in general. There's a lot more to it than just following the guitarist. And by god does it make you want to get up and dance! For something more current, Rick Kemp (yes, him of Steeleye fame) is currently playing with Whapweasel, who are my favourite current band. They have a number of CDs and are excellent live. Bellowhead also have some great bass lines, played on Tuba rather than bass guitar.

My Immortal, Evanescence. It's about time for the classic wedding story - the bride decided that she'd like to go out of the church to 'Robin Hood', thinking of the Bryan Adams number that we all know and love. No problem, says the organist. As they walk down the aisle at the end of the service , the organ strikes up: "Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding through the glen. Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men, Feared by the bad, loved by the good, Robin Hood ..."

[quote name='tauzero' post='237435' date='Jul 11 2008, 04:40 PM']Not a film, a TV series - "Edge of Darkness" by Kamen and Clapton.[/quote] Oh yes. I still have this on very clunky video tape somewhere. Probably the best thing Clapton's ever done ;-) Still talking TV, John Tams deserves a mention for his very authentic contributions to the Sharpe series. All Ry Cooder's scores have something going for them, Southern Comfort, Long Riders, Johnnie Handsome, Across the Border, Paris Texas, and Buena Vista Social Club. Our older readers might recall The Battle Of Britain, a classic classic march Aces High and some of William Walton's finest work.

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='239392' date='Jul 14 2008, 06:31 PM']Jakebass isn't a pro. He just likes to claim he is. I've seem him down Tonbridge Market flogging lighters: 3 for a pound. I wouldn't mind but their faulty and leak as soon as you get them home.[/quote] Sheer class. BBC, don't ever change. The trouble is that it's all very well having principles, but the market will decide, and the people running the venues are in an amazingly strong position. I think the decline is gradual. My grandfather was a pro musician in the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and those dudes made good money because they were in demand. Now everything's a commodity, people expect to get their music for nothing and it's filtering down to the live music scene. Ultimately we're all going to end up as folk musicians, playing what we want to play. After all, if there's no money, what incentive is there to compromise on what you want to play?

[quote name='Mr Bassman' post='229428' date='Jun 30 2008, 01:38 AM'][attachment=10131:moped.jpg] Who needs a car? unless of course youre two tyred![/quote] Ye Gods! An NSU Quickly. I had one just like that in 1975. No worry about air resistance, it didn't go fast enough to generate any! My upright fits in the back of my A6 Avant if I fold half the back seat down, and doesn't stick inbetween the front seat backs. Pete

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='229726' date='Jun 30 2008, 02:13 PM'][b]I WILL SURVIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!![/b][/quote] ROFL! No doubt you will. Was there something in particular that prompted this outburst, or was it just a general comment on Live, the Universe etc?

[quote name='OldGit' post='232476' date='Jul 4 2008, 09:36 AM']If it hangs to the left like the T'birds that would help I guess ... Where are you, Pete [/quote] Ipswich, unfortunately.

[quote name='OldGit' post='231688' date='Jul 2 2008, 11:48 PM']Anyone owned played or seen a Gibson / Epiphone flying V bass in the flesh ?? Do they neck dive and roll away from one's body as the T'birds do? Any other points ? I've never played a Gibson bass that sounded nice to my ears, or "fitted", especially Thunderbirds ... but I have a very long held gas yearning for a Flying V ever since I saw Jim Lea in Slade playing one in the 1970s .... Just wondered ..[/quote] I've got an Epiphone. Or rather, my son has, but since he never plays it ... It doesn't suffer from any noticeable neck dive. It makes a good thumpy sound and works quite well with my all-valve Burman. It's a 32" scale so good for smaller hands. It just fits in the big Tribal Planet gig bag.

[quote name='BigBeatNut' post='228719' date='Jun 28 2008, 09:10 PM']Or, how small do YOU go ?[/quote] It used to fit quite comfortably in my 1955 Austin A30, with the front passenger seat folded up. There was even room for a drumkit in the boot and a drummer in the back seat! The Triumph Spitfire was somewhat less successful.

[quote name='Moose' post='219221' date='Jun 15 2008, 02:32 PM']Bring me to Life by Evanescence. [/quote] Yes, we have that one in our set. We also have My Immortal nailed, mainly thanks to have a brilliant keyboard player. What an extraordinary song. I've been working on 'It's my life' by No Doubt. Prolly a synth line originally but it falls nicely under the old fingers.

I'd be inclined to do as much cab swapping as you can without switching it off. You'll probably also need to make sure you don't have a combination of cabs that gives you less than 4 Ohms total load - I'm not familiar with the SVT-II but it would be surprising if it did run down to 2 ohms. I'd also back the gain off to zero before swapping any cables round.

I thought Brian May did alright for an old bloke.

[quote name='dood' post='228289' date='Jun 27 2008, 09:01 PM']I'm being pedantic ;o) -Pete Malandrone is Bri's tech. Andy Guyton does make Brian's replica red specials though.(at about 7 grand a pop to the average punter apparently) I know Andy and have to say his attention to detail is stunning, especially with reference to Brian's unwavering need for perfection on his guitars.[/quote] Thanks for putting me straight. Yes, it's attention to detail that really sets his work apart. I spent 25 minutes examining one of his set-neck instruments and I couldn't find the join. Craftsmanship of the very highest order. Next time you see Andrew, tell him I have a Fylde Electric which needs setting up properly. That should get his attention! Ben from Crimson Guitars probably deserves a mention in this thread too. There's something really compelling about his Workshop Diary.

Brian Eastwood of Bender Collision fame, obviously :-) He doesn't make many basses, but Andrew Guyton makes the best 6-strings I've ever seen. When he's not too busy being Brian May's guitar technician that is.

[quote name='ped' post='226151' date='Jun 24 2008, 07:42 PM']I want mine auctioned off, the money being split between Basschat and the Dogs Trust.[/quote] After the aggravation I had from the Dogs Trust following the death of my mother, who was a supporter, I wouldn't cross the street to piss on the Dogs Trust if they caught fire. They wouldn't let go even after I sent them a copy of the death certificate. They might care for dogs, but they sure as hell don't give a sh*t about people. Details provided on request. Which leaves only one worthy cause :-) As far as basses go, they're only basses. I trust whoever survives me to be sensible about it. I worry most about the concertinas. No-one in the family will ever play them, hardly anyone is making comparable instruments, they are completely irreplaceable and need to be played and appreciated. I've always felt as though I am holding them in trust to pass on to the next generation. My current plan is to try and identify committed young players to hand them over to when the time comes. The trouble is that the time always comes sooner than you expect!

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='205163' date='May 23 2008, 07:01 PM']Browsing around (as one does), and found this simple table of frequencies produced by various instruments, from low to high. [url="http://www.contrabass.com/pages/frequency.html"]Contrabass.com frequency chart[/url][/quote] The listing for Bb tuba is incorrect, the normal range is written down to F0. A pedal 'C' would be Bb - 1 which is readliy achieveable, even by comparatively crap tuba players like me. I can just about get an Eb bass down to Bb - 1 and I only need a hit of pure Oxygen to recover :-) Some of the proper tuba players who post on here can probably get much lower pedals than that.

The cooling fan is presumably there for a reason. Maybe in conjunction with a thermostat, rather than just disconnecting it. But what temperature would you want the fan to cut back in? Tricky. My Burman puts out a shitload of heat, and that doesn't have a cooling fan at all. Boy does the speaker lead get hot.

Bought an LMII from Chris. Really smooth transaction, quick responses, excellent communication and the head arrived really quickly, well packaged and in excellent condition. Recommended.

Nik bought my Aria Pro II RSB fretless. The whole transaction was as smooth as clockwork. It was a great pleasure to meet up with Nik and his son Jim, and I'm really happy that my old axe has gone to a home where it will be cherished. Absolute top bloke and a true gent.

[quote name='rmorris' post='210845' date='Jun 1 2008, 11:23 PM']I used to have a VS Bassamp Head and also a small sealed BASS BABY 15" Speaker Cab.[/quote] I've still got one of the Bass Baby 15" extension cabs. 100W 4Ohm. I think it was supposed to be an extension cab for the 60W 15" bass baby combo. Used mine with a Yamaha guitar amp for years and it was OK for low-volume barn-dance type stuff. Still got it if anyone is feeling nostalgic and wants to make me an offer!