BigRedX

IMO there's always a good reason why demos and out-takes weren't released at the time, and in most cases it's best that they stay that way. Radio sessions I can make an exception for, but only if they are well-recorded and offer a different perspective on the song to the "official" version. Live versions generally don't fare that well without the accompanying visuals unless they have been subject to the "Thin Lizzy" treatment, however I do have quite a bit of time for good concert footage and in those case I'll forgive less than brilliant sound. Just don't ask me to enjoy the audio with the accompanying video.

I suspect that Steve's Chick's (the man behind Industrial Radio) previous experiences with licensing the technology to Peavey and Wal is the reason why you can only get the technology by buying an Industrial Radio Guitar or Bass.

It's actually worse than that. The very best pitch detection systems require a minimum of one and a half waveform cycles to begin to identify the note. Most take much longer. IMO pitch detection is a dead-end for live performance (it might have a limited use for programming where the latency can be compensated for once the note data has been captured). Signal processing is the way forward because it allows all aspects of stringed instrument playing technique to be utilised.

Everyone's lifestyle choices are different. I have made plenty that I am sure most on here would find unpalatable simply so I could continue prioritise making music. At one point in the 80s someone asked me if the place where I was living was a squat. It wasn't, but I was able to put up with the general shabbiness of the place because, due to its location I could also use part of it as a recording and rehearsal space for my band (with drums) without worrying about noise complaints. I've also worked at places where the only way I could guarantee that I would be available for gigs was to book the whole day off as a holiday weeks in advance. On occasion my band's gig schedule would use up the vast majority of my yearly holiday allowance. These days I am self-employed and I treat my band(s) just like a another client (although ones that pay rather poorly), when it comes to time management. Occasionally I'll have to cancel a practice if I have an important last-minute job with a tight deadline, but gigs always come first, and I organise my work schedule around them.

I would have chalked it up to experience and forgotten about it, but then another Basschatter had exactly the same problem with the same model of Ashdown amp he had bought second hand and came on here raving about the great customer service he had received which IIRC essentially involved Ashdown fixing it for free. In my case when I had owned the amp from new, I got fobbed off, then quoted signifiant amounts of money to just look at the problem, and finally ignored. When I raised the problem with the Ashdown rep on here I got a nasty sarcastic response that didn't make me feel any better inclined towards the company.

Everyone wants different things from their bass amp. For me the amp is simply a way of getting from instrument or line level to speaker level, and the less it affects the sound the better. I've gone the modeller/FRFR (class D) route, and for all but the smallest venues I don't even bother with the FRFR cab as I know the foldback will be more than up to the job. To the OP. I assume that you rig is 100% responsible for what the audience hears.

It's worse than that. They've been bought by Music Tribe (Behringer).

Except when they don't. Myself and a couple of other people on here have been treated pretty badly by Ashdown's customer support. I'll never buy anything from them ever again.

What inside yours? Mine was completely stuffed full of cushion foam, and I never had any feedback problems with it, although I never used it at anything other than home practice volume.

For anyone who hasn't seen one before, this is what a real Tokai Talbo Bass looks like: Nothing like the one on eBay... (Looks like a Warwick knock-off) However there was a wooden bodied version of the Talbo Guitar called the Talbo Woody.

For most standard bass strings, high C is significantly higher tension than low B. As a rule of thumb, the D string is usually the highest tension with the tension decreasing as the strings get higher or lower; however the decrease in tension between each string going down in pitch is greater than that for the high strings (high C will probably be closest in tension to the A string). Depending upon the stiffness of the neck, you might not notice anything, but be prepared to tighten the truss rod very slightly.

I've got my "collection" of about 50 guitars and basses down to just 6: Two Gus G3-5s that I use in one band - main and a spare for gigs. An Eastwood Hooky Bass 6 and a Burns Barracuda (soon the be replaced with another Eastwood) for my other band - again a main and a spare. Two Guitars a Gus G1 and a Fretking Esprit V Custom that I use for writing and should I ever find myself playing guitar in a band again. I also got rid of my fairly large collection of synths, samplers and other high-tech electronic musical instruments apart from the Tenori-on and whatever comes free with Logic.

A bit late but Hurtsfall played on Saturday at The Met in Whitby supporting Krow as part of April's WGW. With there being nothing on at The Pavilion this time, as the promotion company has changed hands and is gearing up for a big event in October, this was probably the most important WGW gig... A couple of photos:

I first discovered "pop music" through daytime Radio 1, and then Top Of The Pops in the early 70s. After that is was by recommendations from friends at school although most of it was Prog which I didn't really like. Once punk and post punk came along I was religiously listening to John Peel.

Playing with new people is one of the things that keeps being in bands interesting for me. While I was a fan of one of the bands I currently play with, I didn't really know them as people before I joined the band, and the other band I play with were all new to me both musically and personally.

Having at one point owned almost 50 guitars and bass plus numerous synths and samplers and other bits of high-tech musical hardware, I am down to one bass plus a (near identical) backup for each of the two bands that I play in. The bands have very different bass requirements - for one I use a 5-string and the other a Bass VI - so just one bass (and a backup) is not a viable option. I've also kept the 2 guitars I had custom made for me in the late 90s, but all the high-tech stuff has gone (replaced by whatever plugin instruments come free with Logic), although I am contemplating getting a small synth for use with one of the bands...

I've never actually played at The Boat Club in Nottingham, although I have seen loads of bands there including YMG, U2, Comsat Angels, Bow Wow Wow and Orange Juice. OtOH I have played on the main stage at Rock City.

I saw Evan Parker at the Huddersfield New Music Festival. As well as his ensemble on-stage there was also a bunch of people with laptops manipulating the sounds for each instrument in real time. I'm sure the playing was technically accomplished, but a troop of chimps could have achieved the same effect. All-in-all it sounded like a poor quality cabaret Voltaire B-Side but went on much, much longer. And the venue was absolutely packed...

Whilst I haven't actually played there myself, I was lucky enough to be in the audience at CBGBs just before it closed for good.

Blondie have a knack for making cover versions their own. Their cover of The Nerves' "Hanging on the Telephone" makes the original sound like a very poor demo.

IME learning covers note for note (for band purposes) is only relevant if your band has exactly the same instrumentation as the recorded version, including all the easily picked out overdubs. Almost everything else will require some adjustment to the arrangement, and that's what sets a good band apart from the others when it comes to covers in that they know how to rearrange the song to play to their strengths and avoid weaknesses. My experience specifically as a bass player is that songs from the 60s up to punk, often have several instruments covering the bass part, and the bass guitar is by no means necessarily the most important one. Quite often I found myself having to come up with something that was a mixture of the bass guitar and the left hand of the organ/piano part(s) in order for the song to still have the same bottom end impact as the recoded version the audience would be familiar with.

And in the last 20 years I can pretty much count the number of places I've played that didn't have an in-house PA on the fingers of one hand, and all of those were "venues" that didn't normally put on live music.

Here's a selection: 1978 Playing my home-made electric balalaika: 1982 Playing bass: 1985 Playing Synth: 1997 Playing bass: 2000 Playing guitar: I don't consider any of the later ones to be "old" enough but if you want I can dig out some Terrortones photos...

You don't really feel the fingerboard (and the strings certainly don't touch it unless you are pressing them down with superhuman strength) on a fretted instrument, so as long as it looks good to me I wouldn't have a problem with it.

This. It's how my band works too. As a general rule you need to work on the arrangements and the instrument sounds for the whole band (not just the bass and keyboards). There are plenty of classic bands with keyboards and no-one has ever said that their arrangements and mixes have the instruments fighting for their own sonic space. Listen and learn.