Alun

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='666410' date='Nov 26 2009, 04:27 PM']Talking of BGM, I have a subscription, but again it's in Smiths and mine hasn't arrived yet. I thought one of the advantages of subscriptions were that you get the mag earlier. Looks a cracking issue, though.[/quote] Same here

Welcome from a few junctions further down the M4 ( Swansea) Cheers Alun

[quote name='peteb' post='664130' date='Nov 24 2009, 06:29 PM']You can’t help but think that a lot of people here do not have a great deal of confidence in their own playing and have a massive chip on their shoulders about others ‘showing off’ – get over it boys………[/quote] Or that they have confidence and don't need to show off EDIT: my typing just gets worse!

I went to an open day a few years back and, to be brutally honest, wasn't impressed by the tutors at all. They could obviously play, but were unable to answer half the questions being asked, and the "rock bass" clinic was embarrasingly bad. If they've got new tutors in, it could be OK but I wasn't fussed at all. Cheers Alun

I did find myself thinking "what gigs do you play???" many times as the next person unleashed their best slap party piece. I must admit some were very good, and certainly possessed slap chops far in excess of my own, but there did seem to be an element of showing off, not trying gear to see what it could do. In defence of Mr Clutterbuck, at least he was there to officially play for Rotosound and did what he does very well. It may not be to everyone's taste but he was getting a lot of attention. The short bloke in the flat cap was also a great player but he did seem to work his way round every single stand doing the same warp speed routine (even jamming with Yolanda and losing the beat more times than I care to mention!) I definitely think headphone amps, and maybe a seperate amp room, are the way forward at events like these but logistically this can be tricky. But then, would as many people be playing if they couldn't be heard by passers by? Hmm.... Cheers Alun EDIT: Due to appalling spelling!

Another great day, thanks to Stevie, Gary, Pris and all involved Here are my random thoughts: Loved most of the performances, Adam Nitti & Nathan East being the highlights for me. I loved Ralf Glauck too, although I don't think a lot of people even noticed he was there. As mentioned above, Randy Hope Taylor was a major disappointment - extremely muddy tone from where I was sitting ( two rows in from of the desk so should have been good) with the drums far too loud. Plus he really didn't seem to know what he was doing. It might have worked if there'd been more Q& A or instruction, but seemed a but directionless. Also found Bernhard Lackner's set a bit disappointing as what I saw was basically playing grooves along to his CD ( although his slapping technique, with his knuckles, was intriguing). The final set by Mike Isaacs seemed a bit of an anticlimax to me too - would have been better on the Boom stage or earlier in the day IMO. It was OK but no different to a hundred other bands playing jazz festivals every year, so seemed odd following Nathan East. Apart from Randy Hope Taylor, I though the sound in the main hall was fantastic all day. Great range of gear on display. Didn't try much ( due to the volume mentioned elsewhere making it impossible to hear an instrument clearly) but did try a gorgeous MTD Kingston ( well, two , but the rear pickup was working on the first one - oops!) and a Dingwall early on before it got too noisy. Still can't believe how comfortable the fanned frets felt on the Dingwall! Enjoyed Yolanda's playing but the positioning outside the main hall wasn't ideal (the guitarist on the next stand randomy joining in seemed a bit odd too, although he was a great player). Might have been worth putting the stands with drums and bass on the middle level where they wouldn't interfere with the two stages too badly. Didn't run into many Basschatters, although did say hi to Mark and met a student from Swansea who had emailed me for lessons but I'd never met Have been to every BassDay so far, and it's great to see how it has grown.Looking forward to next year! Cheers Alun

[quote name='poptart' post='659606' date='Nov 19 2009, 08:24 PM']You got it - I will also have the New Dingwall Combustion basses that arrived today - very cool, I have thread [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=67931"][b]HERE[/b][/url] with the information. See you Sunday :-) Mark[/quote] Cool, they look very interesting. Have yet to try fanned frets so may have to hassle you for a go on one Cheers Alun

You could probably do this with a B2.1u which is even smaller. Set a basic sound, copy it to a few patches and add the extra bits you want. Only downside is that you have to switch through sequentially so if you wanted to go, for example, clean> chorus>clean>overdrive>clean>wah in one song you'd need to have a few clean patches. That's what I do anyway and it works well. You can set the patch levels in advance but you can tweak them live too, either using one of the knobs or the exp. pedal. Cheers Alun

I wouldn't call myself a "session player" as I don't do it that often, but I've come across both scenarios. A few years back I played on a dance track - played the ostinato for 4 minutes and at the end the producer flicked through, found a bar where every note was mechanically dead on, and copy and pasted it across the whole track

I think must have been when I went to see Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings are a few years ago and there was no mention of a support act. Sitting there waiting for to start and out walks Colin Hodgkinson who proceeded to play a really mindblowing set Alun

Must admit I like all of it The only one that consistently trips me up is Gaucho - the chords change in very odd places! Cheers Alun

Had forgotten how great that track was, must revisit the album I interviewed Jeff a few years ago for the now sadly defunct Basstech UK site. Will be adding it to my own site once I get round to re-organising it! Cheers Alun

The Marleaux sounds absolutely gorgeous - I do love those basses The Wooten piece is great, although the tempo does seem to move round a little in places ( still way better than I could play it though!). Really enjoyed Donna Lee, very nice solo Cheers Alun

AndyTravis - totally off topic but your signature is onw of the truest thins I've read in years - here here! On topic, I've only ever wandered around bought at the Manchester store and they've been fine (although it was a few years back). Don't think I'll risk online though by the sounds of it!

[quote name='ped' post='623523' date='Oct 11 2009, 09:54 PM']People heard ped's in town![/quote] Ah, knew it must be something

Ticket bought and hotel booked Out of interest, is there something (else) major on that weekend in Manchester? Tried 7 or 8 hotels before I found one which had rooms on the Saturday. Cheers Alun

Simon's fantastic, have done a few gigs with him down here. Hope they go well cheers alun

Flange

[quote name='BassBod' post='610326' date='Sep 27 2009, 08:55 PM']Oh yes, always the foyer for me...must remember to look for the rift while I'm there.[/quote] I'm opposite there in the evening at Pizza Express. Quite a nice gig in a background sort of way

Thanks folks! Stevie - sorry for the delay in responding. Getting used to reading in positions is really no different to learning to play around the first few frets - just a matter of having good knowledge of the neck. The easist way I know is to make sure you know where all the C major notes and then shift them up or down by a fret if you need a sharp or flat. The advice already given on position shifting is perfect The other bit of advice I'd give is to use a bass that you've played a lot as your muscle memory will have a good idea of where the notes and positions are on that neck. Also, practice shifting without looking at the neck - I'll sometimes do it while reading or watching TV to get my hands used to doing it without my eyes helping out Cheers Alun

Hi all. Just thought I'd share a blog I've written on sight reading tips. It doesn't cover reading music notation as such, more how to deal with situations where you turn up for a gig and a small tree's worth of charts is placed in front of you. Hope it's of use [url="http://bassbook.blogspot.com/2009/09/secret-guide-to-sight-reading-bits-they.html"]Sight Reading Blog[/url] Cheers Alun

All being well, I should be able to get to this one I'm more than likely going to be on my way to a regular gig in Cardiff Bay ( assuming we haven't been fired by then!) so will have... Cort Curbow 6 string Markbass Little Mark II and Traveller 210 Should be able to fit my Ashbory and some pedals in too. Cheers Alun

Time for a cheeky bump as the gigs start tomorrow

[quote name='Stewart' post='590318' date='Sep 5 2009, 01:10 AM']There is no shortage of great VST stuff - here's a source of some goodies - mostly freeware. In particular, check out Antti's ASynth and Taurus.[/quote] That Taurus one is good Have been sat here pretending I'm in Rush for the last 5 minutes

Hi folks. As much as I love the tone of my Cort Curbow, I never use the "slap switch" so am toying with the idea of converting it to a passive switch should the battery die mid gig. I've located a wiring diagram [url="http://www.cortguitars.com/download.asp?path=/DataBank/support/schematics/2006/CURBOW4_4FL_52.pdf&filename=Curbow5.pdf"]HERE[/url] but am stuck on a couple of points.... - I though the Bartolini Mk1 was a passive pickup but there appears to be a wire going to the battery from it. Any ideas on how I could test this short of rewiring the pickup direct to the jack socket ( ie bypassing the preamp) and taking the battery out? - any thoughts on how to wire up the toggle ( and what to do with the wires currently going to it)? Any help greatly appreciated. I'm happy enough with soldering but not sure where to start on this one Cheers Alun