uk_lefty

I think the best people to ask would be Boss themselves. Try via [email protected] or maybe they have a similar support email address.

I have to say, the band I joined just over a year ago had been going for ten years with the singer and drummer. Lead guitarist joined at some point way before me. It was made clear to me that they have a solid set of songs they play for an upcoming gig but that they always look to add and change. They don't do anything from before the year 2000 unless requested for a wedding or private party. You have to come to rehearsals familiar with a song that's been set to learn, it's not a 'start from scratch'. I quite liked having these rules, everyone knows where they are. I also said on joining "you guys have been going ten years and have a great reputation locally, I'll just slot in, I'm not here to take over or force you to play Pearl Jam B sides" and we get on perfectly. I suggest songs regularly but I'm never in a huff if we don't do them. I have a go at playing songs I don't like, tonight I've got to do a One Direction song. It will have some industrial sounding fuzz and octave in the bassline, because I want to and I'll do it in a way that keeps me amused but doesn't ruin the song. That's the way I find works, compromise all over, don't get emotional about your choices. It is annoying when you get one person who won't even have a go at something they don't like even though it fits your set, they're usually the ones who want the band to play their own personal "mix tape" of favourite songs, they don't think about the audience, just themselves.

Wow, got to wrack my brains a bit here for the last 23-24 years... Basses I have: Epiphone JC Sire V9 five string Harley Benton JB-FL MusicMan Stingray Kramer striker fretless five Basses I no longer have: MIJ Fender jazz Mim Fender jazz MIJ Fender PB-70 Brice six string Sire V7 Vintage 5 Tanglewood Nevada (p bass copy, my first ever bass) Warwick Streamer LX Hohner cricket bat Washburn Status Aria SB Elite Warwick Korean fretless Westfield P copy Homemade bitsa PJ Hohner Professional PJ I think that's it.... Quite conservative compared to most on here! Amazed I have no Fender guitars of any kind now. Really want a US Jazz or Precision.

There's always the excitement of everyone chucking in their "I've always wanted to play..." And this is where I think a covers band always, always needs a theme. That way when I'm setting up an 80s band and the guitarist asks if we can all do Hot n Cold by Katy Perry he gets told No by all other members immediately. So if you limit your pool of songs, genre or theme then it's easier to narrow down from every song ever to just a very big number of songs. I'd always then give the singer the deciding vote, as long as they can be sensible about the decision, i.e. it is in their range or sounds good with their voice, not "I don't like it". While I agree life is too short to play loads of songs we don't like there can also be a lot of fun had in getting an audience reaction or making a tasty bassline to amuse yourself, same for everyone else in the band. In my current band we agree three songs to work on for the next rehearsal. Sometimes someone will text on the day, or earlier, to say they haven't had time for song number 3, or they're finding number 1 tricky, etc. That's life. We play them together and if they work we chuck it in for the next gig and see the reaction. If the audience like it, we like it. We have a long list of songs somewhere but everyone is realistic about working through it logically and slowly so we get songs right. We always want to add new songs in when we return to a venue, nothing worse than spending five years playing an identical set with no change.

Hey not sure if it is or not. I sold mine in a flight case and included a print out of the massive manual! I really enjoy some of the sounds on that pedal, and had anyone been able to confirm if the new generation of Boss multis have the same ones I'd probably have replaced my Helix with a new Boss! Love the "42 level" presets and the various EQ and compressor based sounds. It's great for covers band work!

My experience with multi fx is that I never had the patience or time to fully work out the capabilities. Even then I spent more time trying to create the right effect than actually practicing. And you can create awesome effects at home that then don't sound good with the band, and the band don't want you reprogramming your effect for the middle eight of one song all night. Multi fx units really do need you to spend time tweaking them, the presets are generally terrible. Whereas separates are usually plug n play, quick twiddle and you find the setting you like. I had a Boss GT10B which was incredible, but huge, and needed a homemade third party software to edit it. I found the HX Stomp fantastic and easy to edit IF you spent the time on it. It just had way more capability than I needed and wasn't as easy to use as separates. There's obvious drawbacks like I have not got access to any effect imaginable anymore so I can't just try stuff out like I could with the Stomp, but I'm ok with that. To me a good solid bass sound is what I need. I'm not recording except recordings of gigs, and on a gig I just need to know I've got a tight and solid sound, I don't need to go from a 1969 fender bassman through an 8x10 to a Gallien Krueger with compressor through a 1x12... Etc. You can drive yourself mad with all those options, and when did you last see a bassist in a well-known band faff about with amp Sims between songs?

A lad I knew who was a very good bass player and even tried to make a living as a musician for a bit used to play the fretted version. It was very unfashionable because of the brand name but sounded fantastic and had us discussing "why buy a Warwick?"

Looking for advice on envelope filters... I've had a few in the past, DOD FX25B (very good), EHX DR Q (not good), EHX Micro Q Tron (very good), Digitech bass synth wah (not good), all the options on the HX Stomp... I no longer have any of those pedals. What I am looking for is an envelope filter where I can really slow down the attack and release to give a nice swell to a note. This is for combining with a subtle fuzz (Darkglass Duality, which is amazing for it's sheer range of sounds), and maybe chorus and Boss OC-2 to emulate some synth tones. I'm not looking for the Bootsy style super squelch, just something flexible that will work well with other pedals. Budget is an issue, I'm happy to go second hand but want to stay under £100 if possible. I'm not averse to going for a pedal I've had before and liked. Grateful for any advice, thank you!

Steady!

Apologies if this has been asked before but... I've got an ABM600 head. It's awesome. Is there some kind of protective case people are using the store and transport these? I'm just carrying it naked at the moment and don't want to scuff the tolex or worse still knacker the dials or sliders. I am considering a Roqsolid order for cab covers and could get the head a cover too but wondering about other options. Thanks!

They've done it again... Fender have done the Player Plus range in left handed. PJ basses in three colours from what I've seen so far. They're on Thomann at £999.

Truly a fantastic bass. Loving mine with some good quality flatwounds on it. It just has one of those sounds to it that fits in almost every situation. I like bringing mine out if I have two gigs in consecutive nights so I'm not needing to check setups on my main bass with very little time to do so. Also, being lightweight it's great for those gigs where you're maybe not feeling 100% but can't let anyone down.

Sorry didn't see the thread you made on this but I'd recommend Gig.Ink they have made something similar for me to hide some butchering I did around a pickup route. I've also had custom guards off them etc, top notch.

Fretless 80s Wal lefty on bass direct. For £6k. To be fair, it looks fantastic.

In all seriousness, don't. I used to manage the call centre contract for a well known retailer. If you emailed the CEO your complaint went into a fast track. If you expressed yourself politely it was dealt with specially, if you just send profanity it gets binned. I expect most call centre type operations work to similar processes.

Gigged it last night. Not at all dissatisfied! I could have EQ'd better really and the style of music isn't entirely suited for fretless but I played the whole gig with it anyways. Very comfortable bass with a consistent sound. Towards the end of the gig I was maybe missing my US Stingray a little for some of the finer detail and finishing around the neck but that's only after two hours of solid playing. Really this bass is more a toy for me at home but will happily take it out to gigs or use it as a main bass in other contexts.

Decent gig despite some reticence beforehand... Playing a town centre pub, it's been in the diary for a while... We see an ad by the pub on Monday advertising a Great Gatsby themed party. I'd love to play in a swing jazz style band, but I don't. We do early 2000's covers. We were a bit nervous about what to expect but it turned out to be a great night. The party was off in the corner and people in fancy dress occasionally came forward for a dance but the usual Saturday night crowd were well up for some loud music. Somehow there was even a conga, or a "train" as the youth were calling it, a first for me, shame I wasn't wireless.

Never had a problem with the Sire I used to have and the one I have now. Shielding tape is incredibly cheap on Amazon and a very easy job to do, definitely worth giving a go. I know some people say any kind of DIY job is easy to assert some kind of alpha male thing, like "fitting a bathroom is easy, it's just Lego", but shielding a bass really is just putting some sticky tape in nearly then screwing it back together, even I can do it and I can't put up a shelf straight.

This is the answer I needed! Thank you. Weirdly my six year old is learning piano and I'm learning to read the clefs by helping her learn piano! If she sticks at it I will be recommending to learn theory when she's older. In the meantime I'll find some time to get hold of some resources. Like you, I always think of theory as like grammar. Having tired to learn foreign languages you just can't learn vocabulary because the grammar is what stitches it all together and makes it flow and make sense.

That's the thing, you've got to be damn good to do that! Loved them for twenty or so years since someone played me them doing Immigrant Song. Same guy first played me Frank Zappa too.

Just what I was thinking. If you're not a reggae band, or Dread Zep, you should not attempt reggae. My band plays Blinding Lights "straight" probably every gig. Is an ok song that most punters recognise but I don't think it's the one they're humming in the taxi home. You can play around with the baseline a lot though, so it's ok from a bassist point of view.

Just been watching Scott Devine's interview with Marcus Miller. Marcus talks about how Jaco's Donna Lee sounded like random notes until he played the piano chords over it and then understood how Jaco was using harmony. Marcus goes on to say how important it is to understand harmony. I read something similar in reading a biography of Jaco. My theory knowledge is very basic. Could anyone please point me to where I could get started in learning about harmony within this context? Thank you!