uk_lefty

I placed a "wanted" ad but not sure whether the "right" people will see it. I'm interested in trying out a lefty fender aerodyne jazz bass, maybe buying one if it sounds and feels right. I could just buy one from Japan as a gamble but already having four lefty basses in the house I can't justify it unless it's going to be "the one".
If anyone around St Albans/ Luton/ Stevenage/ north Essex has one, whether selling or not, would you be kind enough to let me have a go, supervised of course, and if any of my basses interest you I could bring them along?
Just keen to get a feel for the aerodyne and see whether it would become my first choice gigging bass.
Thank you

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1489067907' post='3254127']


What I meant was, you could be the most ambitious bassist alive but without the drive to practice till you bleed you will never be a top pro. Talent is not enough, you need the will to work harder than the rest. Some of the most well known pro's might not be the most gifted, but If you work at it harder than the rest a bit of talent could be enough.
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True in so many areas away from just music! Sport being an obvious example.

Does this mean there'll be a batch getting knocked out cheap soon....?

It's definitely worth a try. Get a cheap set of flats like fenders own and give it a go. I used to when I was playing with a guitarist who played acoustic only, worked great.

Don't entirely get it. If Jimi was a personal friend or he gave it to me, sure it would be great. But saying to visitors, hey this is Hendrix's amp!! And there's no story behind it other than I was appallingly rich enough to buy it, it's just not so good a story.

Drummer - from black stone cherry
Lead guitar - Mick Mars (motley crue)
Bass - Jeff Ament (pearl jam)
Rhythm guitar - Dave Mustaine
Singer - Axl Rose/ Adam Ant

That would be an incredible party and an incredible jam session.

After reading this thread I put more effort in to my bv at rehearsal last week. I have done lead vocals and played guitar and sung before but that was hit and miss. It's strange because I can belt out a good vocal but singing softly while playing bass seems impossible. The band want me to do more cos the guitarist loves a bit of a sing but he really isn't very good and my bv is stronger and works better with the lead singer. I got advice ages ago to work separately from the band just me and the lead singer, ideally with a vocal coach, to practice bv and harmonies. It's great just having more voices in an amateur band but having quality bv takes you up a few notches, this is what we are aiming for but it's bloody tough!

I don't know why everyone is so down on programmability.

For me it's the time and ease of use and the way the manuals are written. I was eighteen I think when I bought my zoom bfx708 and never understood how to do much to change the order of the different effects, e.g. put the sound of F4 next to A1, or tweak the parameters. I kept that pedal for years and even as a graduate with some very very poor pc programming skills I couldn't work it out. I bought a decent Boss multi effect and had the same issue. I expect now you can hook them up to a pc or iPad and tweak things more easily but I'm just guessing. A good YouTube video on how to reprogramme the pedals would be a godsend and would make me think about going back to the big Boss unit.
I do agree with you, a good and well programmed multi effect would be ideal live for portability and the DI out etc. but I do feel that the multi effects lack a bit of authenticity in sound. Then again if you're playing somewhere that the soundman is just giving you a subterranean and rumbling sound, as you say, who would actually notice?

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1489230678' post='3255307']
I would say then, that if 10 times the power for a 150 watt combo is 1500 watt to hear doubling of perceived volume, then a 300 watt head isnt going to achieve much. And since only another combo head would fit, a 300 watt head is about all i could fit. Of the classic combos by TE, i dont think they got any bigger than that

So, i guess ithings are best left as they are
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Don't know of they're from the same era but my old 300w trace combo could drive out another 200w through an extension speaker making 500 tracewatts. If it wasn't for the horrific weight I'd have kept that rig forever

There are some older squier pj basses in lefty. Then there's Vintage and Revelation for p's, Harley Benton, Staff pj, Court pj, tanglewood used to do basic p's, Westfield, Rondo music and their brands. There are some budget and mid range p's out there in lefty. Still rubbish there isn't an MIM Fender p in lefty but Japan fenders were good value up until the last year or so and they cater for us.

Glad someone asked. I hate having my cable length shortened by using fx loops! Never felt any benefit of them.

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1488465805' post='3249202']
And the next one please


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That looks amazing! I'm itching for something a bit different.

They do occasionally turn up on gumtree. I keep toying with buying one to play upside down and have seen a few come up, the tb with the single humbucker has always appealed to me.

[quote name='nerkoids' timestamp='1489080345' post='3254250']
I've once been the recipient of the notion that if I can't adapt to play right handed like supposed normal people should, that I simply don't have the talent to learn any stringed instrument and should not bother. (I've seen that mentality being used on one of my nieces too. She still can't play that 700 dollar guitar her father bought her on the ridiculous 'advice' of a guitar teacher that wouldn't accept left-handed students).

I told them where to stick that notion. They retorted with some nonsense about all other types of instruments are right-handed for a reason and that I should stop complaining. Some of them even bring religion into it, imagine that.
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Violins are all right handed so that the bows all go the same way in an orchestra and you don't have someone's eye out. But different with guitars, me and my guitarist have learned to stop clashing headstocks... Can't believe a teacher wouldn't accept lefties, obviously can't get their head round saying plucking hand and fretting hand instead of left and right. What a tool.
How does religion come in to it? I know that the Latin word for left is sinister and the word got appropriated for shady goings on later down the line, vaguely implying that lefties are sinister but even two thousand years ago they weren't bringing religion in to it (as far as I know!) And they used to worship little clay models of farm animals.

I bought a cab from them a month or so back and got some "loyalty points". Anybody know what, if anything, you can do with these? I gave up looking around on their site for info.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1489052512' post='3253947']
I don't know why, but I just cannot listen to Ed at all, not any of it. Something really grates me about it. I've got no problem with pop music, but I just don't like his songs at all. I must have poor taste as everyone else seems to praise him.
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I don't quite get it either. Can't listen to a whole album and find even the hit singles lacking, but just my view. At least he seems to be a credible musician though and not a rags to riches talent show "journey" idiot.

Now a 2. I'd love to have the infinite time requirement for 3 but really playing bass is my hobby that loses me money, and I rarely get time to practice having a baby in the house now. I am good enough for my band but want to be better as a bassist and musician, but I don't get the time to hone my bass chops so I focus on other areas such as being a better part of the band in helping songs flow and move.

[quote name='Stamford' timestamp='1488102515' post='3245760']
I'm looking for my first effects pedal. Not looking to spend big so was looking at the VOX SL1B 1B Amplifier Multi Effect Bass Stomplab Pedal. Anyone have experience of one of these?
My new band is playing Time is Running Out by Muse and Royal Blood's Figure it Out so need the pedal for these songs.
Thanks
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I had the vox multi effect a while back and returned it to the shop. I personally found it completely unusable and it is tiny!!! This is my personal view but I do think you'd find better value with a zoom or even a second hand zoom. Try before you buy if spending in something new or buy from somewhere with a good returns policy.

I'm no gear wh0re but I've had a few pedals. Zoom 708 and a few versions of the 506/7 and briefly a Boss multi effect.
In my modest covers band I've been using separates for the quality of sound and because I'm too lazy to learn how to programme a multi effect properly. however I don't have a big budget for pedals and it's easy to waste time and money buying something that either doesn't do the job I want or is for a song that gets dropped quickly.
I'm now looking at adding my zoom 506 to my board to cover sounds I don't have on my board: chorus, octave, auto wah. Where the multi comes in to its own is the combination of effects which I can't do with separates as an on/off. So the zoom 708 had a JacoP sound which was great for my fretless, a distorted wah, there's a flange with echo on my 506 which is good for slap, etc.
The disadvantage for me however, is there are a lot of completely unusable sounds on the multi pedals too, which need to be either programmed out or worked on a lot. I also find a lot of the sounds are artificial in my view and not great in a band setting, again it needs time tweaking which I've never put in. It's my loss if I don't take the time to do that, but then again I don't know if I'll ever reach what I want.

I sometimes alter the rhythm of what I'm playing because I can't keep it going while trying to do a bv. I'm trying to iron this out but it's tough with some rhythms.

Has anyone got one of these yet? Seems a good price new for a useable chorus

Wish I could have gone just to see Dave Ellefson and ask him to sign the cover notes of my Youthanasia cassette, but I have an exam this morning that I've done not enough work for

Run to You by Bryan Adams. Our core audience is forty year old women btw.

One of the best ways to alter your tone without buying a new bass is changing the strings but it's such a minefield! I hated Ernie Ball acoustic guitar strings so stayed away from them for years, now my fretless has had eb flats for ten years and now eb round cobalts, and my jazz got restrung with eb round slinkies and a set up last May and it's still going strong now. Must add the jazz is my "second" bass after my p so that might help extend the life. It's a bummer though when you pay good money for strings and you end up not liking them... Had that experience with DR strings but just think the Warwick I had at the time was the wrong bass for those strings.

I had the zoom bfx708 for many years, now just the old 506 for home practice. However, I haven't used my fretless a lot recently with the band so took it out with my zoom instead of my full pedal board. I'd say you need to watch out for volume jumps between patches, but if like me you just can't get your head around editing the damn thing just keep the amp flat-ish, worked a treat for me at rehearsal. Then again I was playing through an amp that I'll never like so I don't mess about with it.