lownote

My brief experience of trying to flog our band is that round here anyway there are venues that want either a/music to get pissed by b/familiar covers c/innovative orgiinal music for music lovers. In many cases there is no crossover. Trying to flog the wrong sort of music to a venue won't work. Right sort of music, right venue - success easy peasy. The second point, having evidence of your goodness is really important especially if there is no word of mouth yet. Have good stuff on soundcloud, videos on YouTube. And put a little effort into getting a decent video or recording done. See if there's a local amateur music scene videographer and feed him/her beer to get a half way decent result. I have seen the most God awful dark fuzzy videos with kakka audio, and think 'do you care so little about your product'? The third point is find out if there are any local agents or music scouts. All my local music pubs use agents. Get to know the agent, or find out where they go to recruit, and put yourself in their line of sight.

cheers, ta

Hi I'd appreciate thoughts from any amp tech or knowledgeable Markbass owner. I have a Markbass Little Mark 2 head. Bought it secondhand at about 9 years old. From the off when I switched it on it took a few seconds to 'warm up' and feed sound from the bass to driver. This would happen with a swell of sound coming in over half a second or so after a second or two of waiting. Now it's taken to being silent on switch on and then suddenly delivering sound - with no swelling of sound - after about 3 seconds. What I need to know is, is this regular behaviour and nothing to worry about, or is the next step a bang and no sound at all. Yes it Know it's best to ask a tech to have a look, just wondered if anyone had thoughts before doing that - I live a long way from the nearest tech.

I bought a 12/ 210, agonised over the conversion and bought (but didn't fit) the kit - too many people said try it as it is and only go to the faff of changing if its vital. Well, I'm keeping up with drums, lead, PA and organ and we're getting comments about our volume outside a commercial sound insulated studio and my volume knob is at 9.30 (MB LM2). So I add my voice to those who say don't bother. Plus Alex has told me by email that it's not that easy a job, in his words while not difficult technically it's a pain in the neck.

[quote name='Marty Forrer' timestamp='1485375099' post='3223516'] Someone mentioned trying to keep up with the young cats that are killing it. Why? Do you want to be a bass superstar? To be a regular gigging bassplayer does not require you to "kill it" .... it requires you to play with taste, tone and time. When I was younger I went through the usual phase of learning Jaco, Rocco Prestia, etc. Then I realised I never used all those chops in a live situation. So I refocused onto guys like my inspiration, Lee Sklar. I found the less I played, the more work I got. In fact I stole a weekly jazz residency off a guy who was "killing it" because the rest of the band (keys, sax, trumpet, drums) wanted someone who laid down the chord outlines and kept the bottom end happening. These were guys at the top of their game, but they wanted a BASSplayer, not a bass soloist. [/quote] This should be etched into the entrance portal of every bass school. IMHO

No offence taken for one moment.

I didn't say special. Just useful. For instance Mark does a specific lesson on walking a blues shuffle. Scott doesn't. There are other instances. I'm not for a moment saying there are sites more comprehensive than SBL, just that there are other competent learning resources around which may tick your boxes better at your particular stage and level.

D'accord. And don't feel simple is too simple. Some of the toppest bassists just do really simple really well. And a good many band leaders don't want their bassists shredding. Dave Swift, Jools Holland's bassist, tells a story of how he got a bit carried away with a fill and Holland was on his case in a trice (whatever a trice is).

I agree with you entirely, and admit guilt, octoplus. In my case an inability to play talented bass, as against reasonably well informed bass, has led me to an interest in the equipment. It's a good deal more fun, and easier, to get to know about the workings, fondle the woods, have a stab at luthery and enjoy the thrill of the chase on eBay than practise scales. I suffered just the same in a string of past obsessions: golf, clay pigeon shooting, photography, astronomy..... zzzzzzzzzz. That's part of why after 6 years I left Scott's playpen.

And of course a 25,000$ Anthony Jackson doesn't even have knobs of any sort, let alone EQ - the pickup goes straight to the amp. Can't quite see the issue you hint at, No.8. IMHO nowadays you can get a great sounding, well finished bass for £350 (Sire v7). If you want fittings that feel like oiled chocolate and superb wood then upgrade the electronics in a Hohner B Bass VI, secondhand for £250. If you want Name plus well crafted bit and bobs then add a grand or two. If you want to make people think you've won the lottery then buy a Fodera Empreor II with poplar burl top wood (my personal dream machine) and add another 6k to that. But as Scott says, if you can't play a set-up Squier you're not likely to sound better on a Fodera. So the whole idea of cheap, mid range and boutique has little relevance to the noise you personally make, and not a huge amount to the bass in your bedroom. If I stuck a Fodera butterfly logo on the headstock of my last Hohner VI I would be astonished if anyone who didn't know the Fodera range of shapes and types would question its place in a rack of Foderas, despite a 40-fold price difference.

Wooly mammoth tusk nut? Damascus steel bridge? Wow, there can only be so many guitar playing hedge fund managers in the world...

No really they are... What's bottom end? Squier? Sire? What's top end, Fodera? Price wise that's a range between say 300 Trumps and 25000 Trumps. You won't get a custom Fodera for much less than 8000. Whereas a top end Zon is around 4-5000 and a bespoke Overwater can be had for less than 3000. When's that not midrange? lol

If you're a Hairy Porter fan you won't need to look far when looking for a ghost

Well it's hard but not too bad. For some unknown reason I can still get into the campus despite having left SBL two months ago. So I am haunting the corridors just to upset people - even changed my users name to match my new shade-like status! Incidentally, in my post above I did say 'most' of the Campus members were exquisitely avoidable... you aren't 'most', just to be clear. Plus my troll-talk probably says far more about me than those I malign

Hehe, lowfrequencykiwi i do believe. how are you?

I have been with SBL since it started six years ago, pretty much. Scott trickles out short lessons, a live show on Facebook and tasters from courses for nothing - or a sign up and no more, but all the serious stuff is behind the Academy wall. IMHO you won't find a more comprehensive learning resource on the planet than the Academy and for the money it is crazy value. Hours of expert video learning on every aspect of bass from beginner to grown-up, plus guest seminars and lessons from a growing faculty of other bass gods - even Gary Willis now! - plus you can send Scott a video of your stuff for him to evaluate. By comparison I have paid close to £100 for three hours of personal tutition from local tutors who taught me sweet fanny adams, frankly. But there are downsides to SBL:[list=1] [*]I have found a lot of equally useful material for free on other sites like Talking Bass.net. [*]Scott has taught himself to be a thoroughly professional and charismatic presenter but at times he tries too hard to appeal to all ages and his attempts to dress, act and talk like an American 18 year old (when's he's actually nearly 40) do grate after a while. [*]The forum community (or Campus as its called) can be very helpful, especially for beginners. However, it's very earnest, a bit twee and heavily regulated by 'campus managers'. Not everyone's cup of tea. [*]SBL is increasingly commercial. Scott has already made his first million and is clearly determined to make more and it won't be long before the marketing gets too much in your face. [*]Don't expect to be spoon-fed. This is like uni, not school. To some extent you have to figure out for yourself what you need to learn, find the stuff and then organise your learning. Some would say that's an upside not a downside, unless you need spoonfeeding. [/list] So, in a nutshell, my advice is if you're new to bass and seriously want to make a go of it, think of SBL as an online university of quality yet cheaper than any real uni by a factor of 100. But if you've already got your stuff together it's not worth joining, just watch out for his freebies in case anything comes up. And if he's trailing a must-have course you can't miss, do the 14 day free trial and take copious notes over a wet weekend. Edited to be less rude to people.

You may be lucky with Gumtree and Join my Band etc I wasn't . The few responses I had were from people you'd run a mile from if it was a dating agency. If you like music which lends itself to jams and open mics, like blues and jazz, go, get yourself known and offers will come. They can't not really. The other thing that worked for me was going to see bands and looking out for those with a sound and vibe I liked. Then if they had a bassist I'd offer myself as a potential dep (taking care not to upset the incumbent), or if they didn't have a bassist, then ask for a try out. They may be looking for someone just like you!

Now heard from Alex, which pretty much deals with the issue: "When people ask me about it on the phone I usually say something like 'it isn't complicated but it is a time consuming pain in the neck because you have to take the grill off, the speakers out, gaskets stick, etc etc'. "The instructions do cover how to remove speakers without denting anything, how to feed the wire through the insulation without tearing it out, etc etc. In future I'll ask that instructions are sent before anyone buys a kit thinking it's going to be an effortless process." Shame I didn't get any, but I've now had a fulsome apology from Bareafced. And a belated copy of the instructions. Geez, it's probably 'easy' if you're an electrician or plumbing engineer at Sizewell B, but for a muppet like me... no way. People, be at peace with your impedance and meddle not in the affairs of wizards or cabs, for they are subtle and quick to anger. I've sent the kit back.

Nope, it's a whole new loom. Otherwise life would indeed have been easy if it was just a question of swapping in a new back panel.

Thanks beely, and all who've shared my problem.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1485013184' post='3220419'] Alex says swapping the loom is a simple job on the website. What you were describing doesn't sound so simple to me. Are there no instructions with the replacement loom? I'd call Alex and find out how to do this. [/quote] I was promised instructions, which didn't happen. It's not hard, but you do need to take the whole cab apart to replace the loom on both drivers and the back panel. If it was a knackered old cab I'd just rip it apart, no worries. But when its new and you're trying to keep it that way comes the problem, especially when it's likely the journey is non-mission critical.

Thanks for all the help guys. Being bored out of my tiny today I tried swapping the looms but gave up. Not because its technically difficult but you have to disembowel the cab to do the swap, and on a brand new cab things stick to things, and split when you try and seperate them. Plus when you do get the drivers out the loom lurks behind a stapled pile of nylon floss which I suspect will never be the same again if I tear it from its staples. It was starting to feel and look like a bodge and not a new cab anymore and I stopped before doing too much harm. So, curiosity assuaged, I shall, as everyone suggests, use it as a 12 ohm cab until we get invited to play Wembley - which can't be long now - or it otherwise runs out of puff. Cheers, assist-folk.