Damonjames

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1371768932' post='2118052'] Leave it for a week or two. Absence makes the heart grow fonder! Maybe swap some of your gear around? Truckstop [/quote] Sound advice. Tell you band you need some time out (just say you are going on holidays, it is summer after all). If you come back and still not inspired you may have to think about what you will do. I find sometimes I get a bit that way, a short break and even try playing different songs/styles help keep me motivated. Have you considered going to a jam night? Maybe getting out of your comfort zone and playing with different players might inspire you. If all that fails, google either victor Wooten, stanley clarke, james jamerson, pino Palladino or jaco, that should inspire you to want to pick your bass up!

I do think the £20 fee is putting some off. When I first got blocked trying to sell my mike dirnt bass, I was a little annoyed. But when I worked out eBay insertion fees (even if I doesn't sell) and then seller fees on top, if you are selling anything worth more than a few hundred quid, it starts to be a line ball call which is worth more. Atleast here it will run until you sell or choose to withdraw, you have a target market ready made, generally speaking the ads are accurate unlike eBay (search for a fender bass and you get all sorts of stuff), and I personally find the banter on items brill as you can get some personal reviews/experience. Also the fact that a year is a long time and your equipment needs may change (or get GAS) and you can still list on. The most important thing to remember about the fee was to help with the administration of the site, so ask yourselves what having access to this community is worth to you??? Personally I'd say £20 is a small price to get me out of watching holby city while I sit next to my wife bc'ing on my iPhone!

If you are buying used, I would recommend spending the extra 100 quid or so and get the 1000 watt version. I love mine, you can get the same grit, but you have loads more headroom for a clean tone if that's what you are after. Most certainly NOT a hifi sound though!

Yeah jamiroquai has been a secret indulgence of mine for sometime now too!

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1371632377' post='2116319'] Man. You got funked up. It'll pass. Don't sell yer plectrums. [/quote] Plectrums??? Fingers only here mate! Thanks for the support guys, it's true you never know where your musical journey will take you, now I've stumbles across a whole bunch if stuff from Nile Rodgerd about how he writes, BRILLIANT!

Hey guys I think I need to confess something here, and I'm a little ashamed to admit this. I'm a hard rock and metal fan from back in my early teens, and as such aspired to one day hold down the low end for a massive rock act. But recently I heard daft punk's new track, an all I want to do is chuck it all in and play in a funk band.... Has anyone else experienced similar issues?

Ozzy, iron man by Tony Iommi, it's so easy by Duff Mckagan, scar tissue Anthony keidis, slash, and while its not an autobiography "this is a call" the life and times of Dave Grohl is a good read. Marilyn Manson's book was interesting too!

If you like your p bass, try the nate mendel signature, it is a standard p bass width but has a ridiculously thin profile. It felt great to my hands, which are small, so I know what you are going through. My main bass is a Mexican jazz and it feels quite natural, and there are others that will fit well outside the fender family. If you are in pain there is something wrong, so seek some medical advice on that, and maybe take a break and let things settle down. Have you considered a short scale? How did you get on with the Aria??

Most Definately not to do with my upbringing. There was little musical consistency to my childhood, there were moment of brilliance drowned out by masses of what can only be described as torture. Beatles, beach boys, deep purple, and bob Marley drowned out my the likes of the carpenters 😳 it s a wonder I made it through!!!! I too started on a 6 string and loved it for a time, but it never quite clicked (possibly attributed to to my lack of patience and short attention span) but always liked what flea and cliff burton did. Then when I was about 20, I went on tour with "the Dixie chicks" as a lighting tech, and that's when it changed. I can still remember sitting side of stage at the dimmer racks and watching Jerry Flowers (also played for the ranch and Keith urban for your country boys n girls) absolutely grooving along on bass, and looking f#€@ing cool doing it. I got back off tour and went to to local music shop and bought my first 4 string. Enough said. Occasionally I start to think about what it would be like to be a lead guitarist or a singer, and have people actually take notice of what I do, but deep down I know where I want to be.... Deep in the pocket, locked in with the drummer and making the room shake with the low end!

Thanks for the link Red!!!

Just sitting here watching Marvin Gaye at the 1980 montreaux jazz fest. You just don't see acts like that anymore! Brilliant!!

It sounds to me like you are a little offended, but deep down you know you probably weren't good enough on the day and accept it. Personally I couldn't live with the elephant in the room, if you value your friendship have a chat about it, but make it clear you are ok with it. You never know he may be carry a massive amount of guilt around knowing he dumped his buddy's recordings but doesn't know how to tell you!

Being australian some of the British brands are quite new to me, but others I have known for years. Personally I wouldn't buy British for the sake of it, it has to do what I need it to in terms of sound/playability. The concept of buying from a British company is noble, but I dont think it really reflects on the quality on offer from the bigger boys. I would however if funds allowed by "bespoke" and being here that would mean British. Overwater, matamp, and barefaced all seem to get lots of love on here (I have a matamp cab and love it), and all three will stand behind there product in terms of after sale support (I hear orange are quite good too). I'd fancy the three mentioned above are not hiding their cash offshore either!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1371288211' post='2112093'] So far he's made his Wal, Stingray and Modulus sound like him, so a Squier would be no problem. [/quote] Agreed, but listen to aeroplane off one hot minute, there is no question that is a stingray, which as far as I know was the only track he used it on. The rest of the album was done with the wal. As far as the modulus is concerned, it is a similar style to a 'ray, it would be like trying to say flea would sound worlds apart playing a fender j vs a lakland j. The whole point I was trying to make is the op is correct, it is virtually impossible to sound exactly like your idols, but you can get close by choosing the right equipment. I guess the question really should be clarified and put Into some context. Using flea as the example, I'm pretty sure I could Pick up his exact rig and play one of his songs (ok maybe with some practice in a studio to nail the exact subtleties of the song) and do a pretty close rendition. What I know would be impossible to do is pick up his exact rig, and create an original bass track for a song that could ever be passed off as his.

I have been wondering the same thing about a covers band vs tribute band. My main concern is that you are pretty much expected to be a human jukebox! If you don't sound exact the same, you won't last real long. A covers act you can usually get a little more slack, as people will just enjoy your take on a song instead.

I will stand corrected here, but there is a genuine misunderstanding about the relationship between watts and loudness. A Watt is an electrical unit of energy calculated by multiplying amps ( as in ampere NOT amplifier 😜) by volts ( if memory serves). What it does not take into account is HOW it transfers this electrical energy into mechanical energy eg its efficiency. An extremely efficient rig will sound significantly "louder" than an extremely inefficient rig of the same wattage. Frequency also has a lot to do with perception, higher frequencies are usually perceived as "louder" than a lower frequency of the same dB spl. But I'm getting too technical. I've found if anyone can actually hear a bass player, it's usually perceived as too loud 😀

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1371114918' post='2109895'] Great quote from producer/songwriter Ethan Johns in the current issue of Sound On Sound magazine: "The only way, in my opinion, to get a great bass sound is to have a great-sounding bass player... People hear Danny Thompson's bass sound and they go, 'Can you get me that sound?' And the answer is, 'No, I can't.' It's the way he plays it..." So, more time practicing and less time spent GASsing for me [/quote] I would agree with this mindset, but only in part. While I agree that if you went out and bought a gallien kreuger rb head, some Mesa boogie cabs and a stingray you will not sound just like flea. But I will tell you now you will sound ALOT more like him than you would playing a Washburn through a trace Elliott! I think that while an individuals playing style is as unique as a singing voice, so too the instruments we use to reproduce it have their own characteristics. My advice would be to find someone you like the sound of, and try your best to get the same gear, then see how YOU sound with it. You may find its just right, or it could be god aweful, so then move on to something else. Besides GAS is FUN!!!!

Sweet, thanks for the feedback, I was not really phased by the ep, but i think it is more lyrically let down. The music is pretty tight, I could imagine it being a belting show!

So how was it???

Yeah I do love my matamp 610, sounds awesome, I was just going through a grass is greener phase.... But it is an animal to get around, the extra height of the 810 would make great leverage plus that handle and built in wheels would be pretty dang sweet 😀

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1370588117' post='2102995'] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]we use TO for expressing directions or objectives. usually with the verb ( to go)[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]ex:[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]I go to the beach[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]I go to the park[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]and so on...[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]we can use TOO by two different ways:[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]use TOO to indicate an excessive quantity.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]ex:[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]Too hard [/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]Too big[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]Too small[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]Too simple[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]and we can use TOO instead of ALSO at the end of a sentence.[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]ex:[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]I want to go TOO ( I also want to go)[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3]I want to eat TOO ( I also want to eat[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3] :PSorry, couldnt resist, its one of my pet hates [/size][/font][/color][color=#333333][font=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif][size=3] [/size][/font][/color] [/quote] Thanks for the English lesson 😀It actually has less TO do with my grasp of the English language and more TO do with the keyboard on the iPhone, unfortunately it is prone to typos!