Silvia Bluejay

Ah but Jack, you usually have yours truly to help with the carrying of stuff...

It's less than two weeks away!! And I'm tweeting it like mad!! Come join us!

Damn, if we were having a decent spring this would have been the perfect excuse for a quick Edinburgh break. As things stand, I'm being made jealous - and tempted to book a flight - by my Florence connections who are basking in hot sunny weather. The festival sounds awesome all the same, so if any of you Basschatters are in Scotland, make a point of popping down there. And take photos All the best to those of you who are exhibiting or performing.

LOL feel free - how could the chronic complainers have their say about the LBGS if nobody slapped? They'd have to complain about their favourite retailer not being there, or the volume of the performances being too loud, or God forbid, they'd end up actually [b]enjoying [/b]the show too much otherwise. Thunderbird, AFAIK there are no age restrictions at the LBGS, so if your son is prepared to put up with the inevitable noise, I'm sure he'll be welcome. You could get him a pair of decent earplugs, to be on the safe side. I hope Basschat will ask me to represent again next year

Bump! Tweeted.

Thank you guys! Good stuff. Love the other videos you have on you channel too, but it's a pity Stu Hamm's masterclasses aren't there, probably because they're a few years old. Keep up the good work - I'll see you in the comedy/music room at the George some time, if you happen to organise something there

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1368725571' post='2080788'] We can blame the internet. These days it's much easier to find out information on our idols / celebrities. Growing up in a small town in the 80s magazines like Kerrang and Sounds really did offer a window into another world. These days it's all pretty much out there so interviewing is harder to get a scoop. [/quote] This. And also, possibly, the fact that our attention span is much shorter now that we are used to taking in so much information at the same time from so many different sources, and in-depth articles are probably - sigh - wasted on us

Haha, I still have a stack of Kerrang! and Raw magazines from the late 80s-early 90s, and they bring back all kinds of great memories, musical and otherwise. There are some articles in them that puzzle me now, because they are pervaded with a sexist attitude which should have been in the dustbin of history even by then - but we're talking about heavy metal, after all... I don't think I could ever eBay those mags. With the mag came awesome, large posters too - and I've grown old with those bands, most of whom are only a little older than me

Can't make that I'm afraid, but I'm sure it'll be equally awesome!

[quote name='iiipopes' timestamp='1368487655' post='2077765'] I'm not going to suggest a brand. I'm going to give some criteria to consider: 1) laminate neck for stability and elimination of resonances and dead notes 2) lightweight tuners, like Hipshot, Schaller or Gotoh to further reduce neck dive 3) longer upper horn to balance the bass better 4) 2 (B&E) + 3 (ADG) tuner arrangement to give more room for the B string so it doesn't bind around the tuner post or the nut 5) the "neck" pickup in the same relative location as the D-G segment of a P-bass pickup so there is the proper balance between fundamental and overtones 6) good, clean electronics, because "thump" does not equal fundamental and "growl" does not equal the clarity needed on the B string The bottom line (pun intended) is that a 5-string is its own instrument. It is not just a 4-string modified; worse, most 4-strings modified sound, feel, and play badly. [/quote] Best advice so far.

I'm totally looking forward to the day

Thank you soo much Dan. I can't help being irritated by things like that, especially now that the BBC test has called me a Grammar Guru

I'm going to promote the Reviews section on Twitter from now on. [b]BUT [/b]- Dan, would you mind correcting the rogue apostrophe in the subforum's name? "Basschatters' Reviews", please, not "Basschatter's Reviews" - there are many of us, not only one End of pedantic post! Edit: the above doesn't mean the error was your "fault", obviously. Thanks for your hard work

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1368485731' post='2077745'] So, Sylvia fancy tackling the Bottesini? ( ...just need to apply a bit 'Italian humour' - I think you may be a natural at that !! ) [/quote] LOL quite possibly, whatever that may be! Alternatively I need to make us feel the "Italian funny" as opposed to the "comedy funny". Not sure there's much difference between the two, though, at least outside music! [All of the above were descriptions of the most suitable style for playing one of tonight's pieces of music.] It was indeed a great night.

I'm back from the masterclass. It was lovely to meet Peter and Floyd! At first I didn't know what to expect from the evening, especially as I realised it would be comprised of three performances by students in the presence of Matt and not a performance cum talk of his. But after a few minutes I was soo into it that I have now decided that I want to try bowing on my uprights just out of curiosity. It was awesome to see how students who were already excellent performers were attentively listened to by Matt, and then had their performances deconstructed almost note by note and an incredible amount of constructive criticism thrown at them, from their bowing style with regards to the piece of music in question to the expression they put to their playing, to the degree of piano and forte to apply, and much, much more. After watching it all until the very end I feel very much like the beginner I am, but I'm massively inspired. Such a pity we weren't allowed to record or take photos at all. Thank you again Peter for posting this topic in the first place.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1368430672' post='2076836'] we were all intrigued by MacDaddy's new concept for a smoking jacket. [/quote] As in literally, you mean...?

You BC rep plans to be slightly early and to walk around in a seemingly aimless fashion, but in fact I'll be trying to spot you guys - say hi if you see me before I do

YAY! I think I'll wear my BC lanyard and walk around a little before going to the room where the class is held, in case other BCers should happen to be there and like to meet up. And I'll see you there, Peter

Quick slideshow of last night's gig: [url="http://www.flickr.com//photos/bluejay_my_photos/sets/72157633479772426/show/"]http://www.flickr.com//photos/bluejay_my_photos/sets/72157633479772426/show/[/url]

I'm definitely hopeful to make it there in time tomorrow, bar unexpected problems, so I'll keep you guys posted and also take a few photos, if allowed.

In my experience, you should avoid the Vox headphone amp for bass like the plague. I remember even starting a thread about how disappointed I was with it. I've moved to an [sfx] unit now, which I use when I'm not playing with another killer contraption (a Rolls Personal Monitor Station) kindly provided by Happy Jack for me to test, and which so far I've intentionally never found the opportunity to return to him [Although we're going off-topic with the latter, as it certainly can't be described as "cheap" or even "cheap-looking".]

Thanks for highlighting this! I'm now trying to reorganise my schedule and attend the masterclass. Anyone else around?

@Bass_Driver, in order to avoid totally derailing this thread, I think we should simply agree to differ on this incidental topic. This long-running thread with a collection of different opinions could be an interesting read. [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/73234-tonewoods/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/73234-tonewoods/[/url]

And a fab rocking night was had by all at the Royal Victoria! Photos to follow tomorrow

Well, in that case all my basses and also my practice amp deserve a mention! Most of the higher-end instruments being sold or traded on this site are individually more expensive than the whole of my bass-related possessions - yet I'm perfectly happy with what I'm getting out of my gear. That obviously does [b]not[/b] reduce my GAS even by a tiny bit, but that's another story!