jwbassman

Try sitting on plane for 4 hours praying your bass will be in one piece when you get to the gig! I should elaborate... A few years ago I got a gig (job) playing on cruise ship in the Med. Was told by the guy would sorted it all out that if I took my bass (Yamaha TRB5F at the time - 21st Birthday present from my Dad) in a soft gig bag I could take it on the plane as hand luggage and everything would be ok - fat chance! Got to the airport and checked in my suitcase and went to the departure lounge with nothing but the clothes I was standing in and my bass, come to boarding time and I'm confronted by a complete job's worth ""there's no way you can bring that on as hand luggage mate" as I went to get on the plane - what do you do at that point. The air was blue. Thinking quick I removed all none essential items of clothing (luckily it was mid summer and the weather was pretty good, plus we were flying to Cyprus, where it's always hot) and proceeded to pack out the soft case as best I could - slackened of the tension in the neck (I'd read somewhere this was a good idea as the extremes of temperature can do do funny things) and was assured that my bass would be hung in the cargo hold with the kiddies buggies etc and not thrown around in a cage with the rest of the luggage... Then spent the entire 4 hour flight hoping and praying that my bass would be ok and in a playable state once we reached the ship... can honestly say it was the longest 4 hours of my life. To my great relief both me and my bass made it in one piece and were happily reunited at the other end - always use a hard case these days no matter where the gig is I'm somewhat older and hopefully wiser these days - You live and learn...

I've got a set of DR nickel roundwounds on my fretless at the moment (bit of an experiment, just settled in so sounding good), usually use Overwater nickel roundwounds - I found the flats made the whole sound really dull, but I guess it's once again down to personal preference...

My bass, EA combo, and tuner... Extras similar to Gary - spare strings (snapped a couple so always carry a spare set), multi-tool (to change said snapped string), spare battery and cables... Have often thought about taking a spare bass but when I've got the PA in the car too there simply isn't room... In my experience (and I've done a whole load of different gigs over many years), I've always found that if you look after your gear it will look after you, also I'd always be inclined to buy the best you can afford, therefore minimising the risk of something going wrong... that said if something is going to go wrong it will, I guess you'd be really unlucky for something disastrous to go wrong. A towel if I remember - a must in these warmer times

sweet

[quote name='pete.young' post='28511' date='Jul 8 2007, 09:50 AM']The Euphonic Audio iAmp Micro 300 is under 3lbs, has two channels and can be picked up for $600 in the US. Someone on Basschat ordered one from the UK, but I can't remember who it was.[/quote] Hi Pete I've ordered a Micro 300, through Overwater - just waiting for Laurence to give me a call to say it's here, should be in the next couple of weeks... there's more info about it on their website [url="http://www.overwater.co.uk"]www.overwater.co.uk[/url] (although it seems to be down at the moment)...

[quote name='Rayman' post='28394' date='Jul 7 2007, 08:08 PM']Wicked.[/quote] I second that - superb...

For what it's worth I only use a 1x12" in my iAmp200 combo and it handles the low b on my 5 with no problems - and the whole thing is very small so if your after a small footprint check it out... [url="http://www.overwater.co.uk/euphonic_audio_iamp_200_wz.htm"]link[/url]

Keep the fretless - I've played fretless for about 10 years now, can't beat it for the sort of stuff I do... I recently bought a cheap fretted 5 but only as a back up, can't see ever replacing the fretless as my main bass, but good to have the alternative just in case...

Keep my basses in the music room (not really a music room, more the back bedroom with some musical stuff in it - currently just got the two basses, but always on the look out ... My main bass is usually cased up ready for gig action or on the stand for practice (if there are no gigs for any length of time), my other bass doesn't really get gigged but is always on hand for a bit of practice or just for a bit of a noodle - guitarist mate of mine from work has a multi-guitar stand, think it can take about 6 guitars, guess you could get something like this although I'm not sure where from...

Sounds like you'll be having a ball... playing the stuff you love and and with some guys that can play... great stuff, hope it goes well 10K of drum gear, can he throw me a few quid towards my new car?

[quote name='lowhand_mike' post='24527' date='Jun 28 2007, 04:43 PM']i know what you mean, when i used to have the ray i played back over the pickup, but now with my ibanez i play over the neck pickup but do move around more on this bass because of the range of tones i can get, with the ray it was really used just as the ray sound.[/quote] I've been told a few times that the bass sounds like 'me'... in other words I'm pretty convinced that no matter which bass I'm using it will sound like me playing, so in agreement that the music come from you not the instrument (tool) that you're using... Also agree with lowhand_mike that depending upon where you play you can get a wide range of sounds - I love playing over the fingerboard on my fretless and it growls... beautifully - but when I need to drive drop back over the pickups and really dig in, must admit I tend to use the back pick most of the time, just find it gives that sound I've grown used to, I think there's something in that to... when you use a sound for a while you do get use to it and subsequently try and make any new gear, be it bass, amp or effect sound like the sound you're use to... it late and I'm rambling, apologies....

[quote name='bleedproof' post='23196' date='Jun 25 2007, 08:19 PM']Hey bud Good to hear they're on the way (finally) I'll bring both of them down for you to stick some fingerprints on Stu[/quote] Cool - looking forward to it...

Hi mate Good to see some pictures of the finished article - looking cool - really like the fretted one too... Hopefully get up to see you soon, had an email from Laurence he reckons another 3 weeks on the Micro 300's... guess I'll be popping up then

I can probably sort the jazz quintet for the afternoon slot with enough notice...

Hi Jo and welcome I'm working on my bass collection at the moment too, but it's not going too well - need to buy a new car, mines done too many miles and doesn't have enough room for the PA and my bass gear so I'm after something bigger ...

Been od'ing on the Randy Waldman Trio just lately - 'Wigged Out' - that's with your main man John Patitucci on bass and the awesome Vinnie Colaiuta on drums plus a whole host of horn players as well - although I'm looking out for the album that features Brian Bromberg in the bass chair - I think it's called 'timing is everything' - has anyone got it?

looking awesome - you must be chuffed

Hi Chris and welcome...

Forgot to add - been with them for a number of years now, must be at least 5

Hi Mike Yes I have EA rig (iAmp 200 combo, if that constitutes a 'rig')... I don't know how long ago it was you saw the band but we're sounding really good these days, a marked improvement over the last couple of years, might be worth coming for another listen if you're free tomorrow... John

no worries - I've been playing ages (over 15 years) and still not very good at playing by ear. Most of my gigs are reading (big band, show work etc) so I guess I just don't do enough practice 'without' the music to make a marked improvement... just remember to enjoy it... BTW, SRV is awesome, guitarist mate of mine can't get enough of him

I'm very much a reading player - although I'm always trying to improve my aural skills, so if you need to reference the tab in order to progress I don't see a problem with doing this... it's not cheating, it's using you initiative The more you listen and play the better your ear will get, but don't go beating yourself up about it in the mean time - playing should be enjoyable and getting stuck on one part of a song for hours is not my idea of enjoyment

Playing tomorrow (17th) at the Beaufort Hotel (A59, near Ormskirk) - the latest date in our residency there... Special Father's Day gig, should be a good one, 'Birdland' is in the programme so another work out for your's truly not mention the usual drive and energy required to get these guys swinging! If any of you guys are in the area, come and say hello, it'd be great to meet you John

+1 on the Overwater strap - plus the strap locks (essential IMHO). Very comfy and distributes the weight well (I have a dodgy shoulder and back, probably partly from playing bass combined with a sports injury, so anything that helps spread the stress is a good thing A dodgy strap casued some damage to my first bass (Yamaha RBF800A) still makes me sad thinking about it - the floor was very hard, enough said...

+1 on the Alesis I do a fair bit of 'home studio' recording and recently upgraded my kit from a hi-fi package to something a bit more suitable. I was using some Denon speakers with a Sony amp, which I though sounded pretty good... until I went for the passive M1's matched to an Alesis RA300 - and for the [url="http://www.decks.co.uk/products/pa_packages/alesis/ra150_m1"]total package cost of £235[/url] you'll struggle to do much better IMHO... There is a marked difference in the clarity and balance of the sound, glad I made the change but only wish I'd done it sooner, need to go back and remix quite a few tracks now, although I'm looking forward to it with my new setup