Silvia Bluejay

I guess you can expect another 15GB or so of footage from tonight's gig... unless Jack (who was lumbered with no fewer than four DVDs to check the other day) takes me to one side before the gig and "has a word"!

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1349379102' post='1825600'] [size=6][b]BASSIDA[/b][/size] [media]http://youtu.be/8vITKFi2W_o[/media] [/quote] Good stuff. I'm still not into slapping, though! Are Prince and the bassist miming there? I couldn't see a lead or evidence of wireless on their guitars.

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1349378338' post='1825584'] You look like a slapper to me. Oh, hang on...erm. xxx [/quote] Heh - appearance can be deceitful...

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1349373092' post='1825477'] "Personally, I'm not into slapping, but many of you are, so enjoy " You've got to be into slapping - IT'S THE LAW! How else can you prove your masculinity? [/quote] Hmmm.... interesting theory - might be that having two X chromosomes is incompatible with slapping. Or at least that's the excuse I'm going to offer for my slap-ineptitude from now on

I do hope the idea of having a BC corner will come to fruition, as that would help massively from the point of view of meeting up, even briefly, with other BCers. Jeff, I don't play in a band - so far I've only been "playing a bit" at home for my own enjoyment. I'm slowly getting round to the idea of taking all this more seriously, though, and perhaps start jamming with others. But it's still a bit up in the air at the moment. Are you in a band?

Got the t-shirt - it fits! Will take a photo when I have a moment and post it as soon as I find an excuse to do so

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1349354176' post='1825158'] Though actually there are isolated bass tracks for half the album on YouTube now! Some very nice people have even mixed them into the original track ad they sound AWESOME! [/quote] Bless 'em - took 'em the best part of 30 years, but they got there in the end

[quote name='jcater' timestamp='1349351393' post='1825077'] Never been to the show. How good is it? What sort of thing goes on? The website does not seem to say much yet jeff [/quote] Indeed, at least at the moment, the 2013 lineup for shows and masterclasses appears to be a lot sparser than this year's. Let's hope for the best. To answer your question, Jeff, in the past few years we have seen a fragmenting of the music fair scene in London. In the 90s and 00s we had a huge, well-attended London Music Show every year, where All The Big Names would exhibit - all of them, Fender, Jackson, Gibson, Roland, Dean, Yamaha, Warwick, Marshall, Peavey, Ibanez, you name it, each had a massive, GAS-inducing stand. And equally big names were invited to perform and/or hold masterclasses. On different occasions I saw Paul Gilbert, all of Maiden, Tony Martin (Black Sabbath), Tony Iommi, Rick and Francis from Quo, Jennifer Batten, James Lomenzo (then of Megadeth) and many more I now forget. Attending their short but sweet performances or classes was included in the ticket price. In the last few years that has been replaced by the London Drums Show, the London Bass Guitar Show, the London Acoustic Guitar Show, the London Electric Guitar Show (now cancelled for this year). In the case of the Bass Show, the awesomeness of the performances and masterclasses and the names of the stars attending are still as big as before, and some of the large manufacturers still have stands there, but several others are notable for their absence. The majority of exhibitors this year were (GAS-inducing) resellers stocking a limited number of basses and pedals etc. from several different makes. There was a busy schedule of shows and masterclasses, plus a big show with a separate entrance fee. It's good for keeping up to date with new equipment coming to the market, new models being showcased by the manufacturers who still have their own stands at the fair, and GASsing all around, as well as seeing performances by our idols or awesome artists we didn't know before. Because of the noise, though, it's not a very good place for actually trying out the sound of whatever you may be interested in, unless the retailer provides a headphone amp. In my opinion, the show is still more than worth the entrance fee. And knowing that I can meet up with BC friends is a big added bonus!

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1349350913' post='1825062'] With the majority of the songs I play very close to the original, especially the Cliff Burton basslines! I usually improvise a tiny bit on mellow sections like the interlude in Master Of Puppets though with a bit of a chorus effect (nothing distasteful though!) Some tracks I feel the bass could offer a little more in locking the drums as guitar together, and grooving, rather than just playing root notes on the 1st and 2nd beats... So I do alter them a bit. Partly to improve the overall sound and feel, partly so that I don't get bored (and that I don't look rubbish/lazy ) [/quote] And if you cover anything off AJFA you have total freedom to create your own basslines, as nobody knows what the original ones sounded like

The book is now with me and will keep me company at the airport, and during my flight out to Italy, tomorrow and back in a few days' time. If I survive it (the book, but hopefully also the flight), I will add my tuppence to Jack's, and then pass the book on as per his request.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1349348977' post='1825004'] This is very odd, quite a first for me, I have caused two people to go out and buy fx pedals having heard and played them at the Bash. Weird! [/quote] I did say you were creating GAS when I posted that photo of you surrounded by your disciples We have tweeted and facebooked your blog, so hopefully more people will notice it.

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' timestamp='1349289407' post='1824391'] BlueJay, I trust you with your socializing skills, but do you think that this year we could organize an official BC get together at the show as the previous 2 years have been a complete shumble (f*ck up) ?? I only met Ped last year and I then learnt that at least 50 BC'ers were there on the day either Sat or Sun. What do you say BJ can you pull this off.... ( no! not this! get your hands off...lol ) I mean the get together [/quote] *grabs GW's jumper and attempts to "pull it off"* I think we can do better than in March 2012. I'm not sure what exactly BC did in 2011, as I was there on my own and wasn't a BC member at the time. My experience this year was that the schedule of masterclasses and shows was so tight that it made it impossible for BC members to meet up properly and exchange more than a few words before having to part ways to attend whatever we were interested in attending. I managed to meet Shelley in person for the first time after arranging a time and place with her by PM and mobile, and bumped into a few other BCers at the masterclasses or while they were manning the stands. This year we may have to face the same situation. Chris (Ped) mentioned the possibility of setting up a BC corner with some merch as a guest of a friendly stand. That would go some way towards providing us with a focal point for meeting up and hanging around until the next show or whatever. I wouldn't expect a full-on BC meetup though, as all of us will have different timetables and priorities. I for one would be happy to sit at the BC corner and give Ped a break when I'm not attending a class, and others might be willing to do the same, making sure that the BC corner is never left empty. Is there anything else we could do to make it easier for BCers to at least meet up and say hi?

Your wish has been the mods' command, Mick

+1 to all those who are laughing in scorn. The bloody cheek in this band... [quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1349267028' post='1823969'] +1 to that. Never seen the point of a 2nd guitarist. [/quote] Wha'??? Erm... Priest? Metallica? Megadeth? Just about any other legendary metal band? And Maiden have even got [b]three[/b] guitarists, FFS...

[quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1349267038' post='1823970'] Try [url="http://blog.basschat.co.uk/setting-up-a-compressor/"]THIS[/url] The linky in Si's post has http// twice somehow [/quote] Oh, I thought it was only on my browser and fixed it here at my end. I should have mentioned it in a post for everybody's benefit - apologies. And thanks!

PM'd

Thank you! I'm so bookmarking that

[quote name='WalMan' timestamp='1349176276' post='1822714'] I just need the rehash of the "[i]Setting Up Compressors for Dummies[/i]" as once again my brain went into melt down [/quote] Not just yours. As soon as I realised at what level Simon's talk was going to be I decided to pass, because I believe you need to walk before you attempt to run. Maybe I'll be better prepared next year. I have a compressor pedal with four (!!) knobs (Digitech Bass Squeeze Dual Band) which i've been messing around with only for a couple of weeks, in an attempt to make my fretless 5 sound slightly more audible and less farty in my headphone amp and 20W practice amp. Even its manual just advises to sit down, tweak all the knobs in turn, and choose the combination that sounds better to your ears. Very little science there, admittedly

May take you up on this just to see how damn bad it is!

Jack, I'd be tempted to ask you to lend that oeuvre to me, out of curiosity... Did the guy have to run the book past a series of lawyers who emasculated it beyond recognition? Does he genuinely have no idea what his audience would be remotely interested in reading? Or indeed, does he have a target audience at all? Questions, questions...

Good. I'll keep an eye out for any more special features then

Saw this retweeted by someone, and retweeted it myself as BC. Personally, I'm not into slapping, but many of you are, so enjoy [url="http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/bp_slapmasters/#/0"]http://www.nxtbook.c...slapmasters/#/0[/url]

Brilliant - thanks. Well done Ad!

Thanks Chris. Speed is fine for the moment. Some servers suffer from memory "leak" - and/or fragmentation - just as badly as our ordinary PCs, and can become slower for no apparent reason. And re-booting is the age-old IT panacea

Yes please, and my trusty camera and I will follow