Japhet

We are talking about bass playing aren't we?

I've eventually got through to our drummer that I need some space. Previously, I'd arrive to find a postage stamp sized space for me, and an area the guitarist could do cartwheels in on the other side of the kit. The turning point seemed to be when he accepted that the kick drum wasn't in the middle of the kit and needed to be moved across. Other than that, we all set up and then wait for the singer to look blankly at us whilst holding various cables to be plugged into the PA. He's only been doing it for 8 years.

I suppose it's largely dependent on whether you know that Steel Panther are a spoof/comedy act. I have no idea who they are so, to me, the name for the pedal initially seemed a bit dumb. On finding out who Steel Panther are, it still seems dumb (although I'm not offended).

Zoom MS60B has some decent sounding compressor options on it if you just want to try some different sorts out. You won't get anywhere near a decent compressor for the price you can pick one of these up for. Even the B3N is cheap compared to a half decent compressor.

I'm currently putting together a (cheap) smaller pedal board and have just picked up a Mojomojo for it. Sounds very nice at low volume. Will see what it's like with the gas turned up soon I hope.

I only wanted to learn Copperhead Road so my mandolin journey wasn't a long one. 🙂

They're tuned upside down (G D A E) so a bit wierd to play but you can work stuff out. I just learned the stuff I wanted to play off Youtube where there are some good tutorials. Tiny fretboard is a bit challenging with bass player hands though.

Solo starts around 4.00 in.

In my experience it's incredibly difficult to tick all the boxes required to get a band off the ground. The members have to get on with each other, have the similar musical tastes and levels of commitment, be as competent as required, have enough spare time, sympathetic partners or family, be able to supply decent levels of equipment, be able to travel around with their gear etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on. You then get into the realms of what compromises each is prepared to make and how fairly that can be resolved. It is a complete nightmare. I've even been in the situation where all of the boxes were perfectly ticked apart from the singer, who was a brilliant front man, being a serial substance and alcohol abuser with a gambling addiction too,who quickly sank the entire project.

Heavy Weather - Weather Report.

Ruby Baby is one of my all time favorite tracks to play along to. No chance of ever getting to play it with a band though since it hasn't got a guitar solo!

To address your 'What are they for?' question, Personally I like to run my amp with a clean sound. That means not driving the preamp into breakup or distortion. I then use pedals to create the sound I like which is a bit of distortion when I'm playing rock. The reason for this is that I can keep that same core sound at any volume near enough. I have more than one drive pedal - one to give the core tone and then another one later in the chain to give more grit and a bit more volume for specific songs. I also use a bit of compression (always on) and an octaver and a chorus pedal for a couple of bits in the set. I never really used pedals until I was in a 3 piece blues/rock setup where I found that when the guitarist dropped out of the rythme stuff to play solos, the sound suddenly became too thin and I needed to add something to fatten it up a bit.

Saw the thread title and immediately thought 'Grace - Jeff Buckley' only to find it's the first album mentioned. Another one I bought decades ago and immediately hated was Graceland - Paul Simon. Huge hype but utter bilge to my ears. Might be worth a few bob though since it's on vinyl and only been played twice - once to register my disapproval and once again many years after to confirm it was just as bad as I first thought.

It's all about playing in 2nd position so that you can bend notes by drawing through the harmonica instead of blowing. I think a C harmonica gives you a G blues type sound when you mostly draw through the instrument (but could be wrong about that). Give it a try over a blues in G.

I'd check out the TC Electronic Nether for a cheap octaver. Sounds pretty good to me.

I tried it once but it made me feel dirty and ashamed.

Always seems to be the functions gigs where people seem to think you're a jukebox that can play whatever they ask for (even if you've never heard of the song). The pub punters seem to be a bit more intelligent and understand that you do actually have to learn a song before you can play it.

Sometimes at an opportune moment I'll say 'We've had a request.................but we're going to keep playing'.

I'd go Tecamp if you can find one.

I've only used the Mk1 version Al. I like a clean amp and use pedals to create any drive so that I can get the same sound at any volume. The Beta was used as an 'always on' at the start of the signal chain to give a smattering of break up - think Motown. I really like it in that situation but not so much with flats. To my ears it sounded great with my Stingray but the Precision/flats combination did make it sound a bit too muddy. I'm currently experimenting and have a sound I like from an Ampeg Scrambler (always on) at the front end and a One Control Hookers Green further along to boost the drive tone when needed. No doubt the Beta will be back on the board at some point though. To be honest, I don't think I hear half the stuff other people seem to though.

Used to have a guitarist in the band who was a really good player, great bloke, got us gigs, put his money into PA and stuff but the downside was that he was always TOO EFFING LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!! He'd always say 'It has to be that loud or I can't get my sound' and there was no compromise. Since he's left I don't think the band is better but the overall experience has improved immensely.

I find that the 'best' gigs are the rowdier ones where people have a few and want to dance, sing, jump about etc.. That means that I don't much like taking my best gear out and generally use my perfectly adequate other stuff. Then I find that I don't take the quality stuff to the other gigs because it feels like overkill when there's only a few punters who aren't listening.