Huge Hands

15 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

I did ask google "Can you fit a dead body into the boot of a Mazda MX-5" but got no answer. L

"....and on BBC News tonight - man is convicted of murder after Police checked his internet search history....."

1 hour ago, Bluewine said:

 

That's a good idea. I could definitely see taping a set list on my Hofner.

 

Daryl

 

If I remember correctly, if you watch the new "Get Back" remaster thing of the Beatles that Peter Jackson did, you can see a set list taped to the side of Paul's Hofner, presumed to be from their Shea Stadium gig?

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

And of course, @Owen will be along in a minute or two to say the equivalent 'If only it were a 5-string....' 🤣

 

Can I say it first?

If only it were a 5 string....

GLWTS!   Stunning!

I own 2 Barefaced 210s but mainly only ever use one.   I spoke to Alex originally as I wanted a big driver cab (my previous rig was a Ashdown MAG 210 combo with MAG 115 extension cab and preferred the 15).   

However, he talked me into the 210s (they were a new model at the time with his talk of extra excursion in the drivers and the way he did his ports.

I was sceptical at first, but I have never experienced any issues with low Bs on any of my guitars at any volumes, and I can get pretty loud (occasionally).  The pair of the cabs set up like a 410 is immense, but I rarely play gigs that warrant the need for a 2nd cab.

Having said that, I have no idea if it would fit in an MX5 boot, but I would hope so.  My brother has a mk1, but it is buried in storage at the mo, so can't try it for you (plus I'm down south and he's near Newcastle).

Hi @broken_strings - maybe you should have listed it as a "heavy relic" - then you might have doubled your asking price 

To be honest, at one point I almost gave in and ripped the Tolex off mine too (see earlier post about peel and my addiction to it).  I was just lucky that I live fairly near BF, so was able to take them back to Alex to get them fixed. 

12 minutes ago, Acebassmusic said:

FYI the 19/20th July is when the Tall Ships are in Aberdeen.

I can see the headline now:

"Shortage of bassists in Aberdeen after they were all press-ganged into working on a galleon....."

This doesn't really help the OP, but for my points:

In the concert band I play in, I have moved from using paper sheet music to an iPad.  It is a game changer, but I have to be very careful with the angle of my stand as it sometimes ends up sitting in a position that is on the varifocal divide between far and short lens, so can get a bit blurry if you look at it from the wrong angle.

In my late 40s, my back is already shot, so although I use pedals, they have to be pre-set before a gig and switched by foot only as I can't bend down far enough to change settings on the fly! 

Saturday night was in a school hall playing bass for the local concert band and it's 25th anniversary concert.

Was good fun but a total sweat box, especially when the band committee insisted we all walked on stage in full uniform - ie shirt, tie, trousers and heavy band blazers. 

Luckily the jackets came straight off when we got on stage.....

I have 2x very early 210s, If memory serves they are serial numbers 9 and 10.   Alex sent me the labels after I got the cabs, and I put them on myself.

Mine had really bad Tolex peel issues around the access panel on the back and had to take them back to Alex twice.   After the second time, I have not had any issues since.

When I was a kid I had my own issues with being a bit addicted to peeling wallpaper in my bedroom.  The old woodchip had started to come away in places, and I would pull on it.   I don't know how I thought my parents would ever not notice the ever-growing patch of bare wall next to my bed, but I just had to keep pulling at it.

I wonder if this is what happened here......   

Didn't Gear4Music hoover up all the GAK stock too?

I know they are probably getting it all at a bargain price but wonder if they will be able to shift it all!

It is also worth noting they did a shoulder strap for the NXT - looked a bit like a big black banana and like it had been made from bits of pram handle. 

I bought one, tried it, it felt a bit weird, so never ended up using it.  I think it is in the loft somewhere.....

I remember about 9 years ago I left my tripod at a gig and it took the venue about 3 weeks to find it so had to buy another whilst I assumed it was lost.  I seem to remember that was about £100 back then.....

I have said this many times before here on BC, but I've always found with my NXT that when I stand next to it and play it, it doesn't sound all that "DB-like" to me.   However, when I've then heard it on a recording from the back of the room, it really does!  If you can get your head around that, it should be fine.... and this comes from a bloke with very little DB technique and has kept the low action it came with.

As for the tripod comments, I've never notice the neck "springing back" but I as I said I have never really had any DB training so probably don't use the arm weight thing.  I do find the instrument can be easily moved around while playing, ie I would often tilt it back slightly on to the back leg and swivel it left to right, giving me that end-pin feel without having to hold it up all night.

I am a big fan of mine!   I just don't get to play it enough these days. 

Have you Googled it?  I was looking into Helixs recently and thought I saw there was a common issue with the crashing during updates, but I don't remember it being said as if it was a terminal problem?

Maybe other users have found a fix for it?

I work with other DSP based systems and sometimes manufacturers have ways to get the CPU back by using direct to chip recovery software.

That 1993 video is the ultimate lineup for me. 

I got to see them live twice after the 2nd and 3rd albums with Derrick on drums.  Although I thought Derrick was really good, I always wished I had seen them with Nick Van Gelder on drums - I wonder why he left so early on - he seems really spot on in this gig.

I always thought JK was a bit of a pillock, but absolutely loved the Zender era music they produced.  They definitely lost something when he left IMHO.

About 25 years ago I used to sound for cabaret shows at a well known holiday camp.   The venue had a house band (keys, bass, gtr, drums) but a lot of the big shows would be tracked to allow for sound effects, extra instrumentation etc, but mainly chorus backing vox which avoided the need for 10 cast members with variable reverb taps (headset mics) running around the stage and trying to sing while gasping for air when dancing.  I remember a latin show we did where I was told by the director to keep the mics always on for reaction "whooping",  In rehearsal I suddenly heard a load of crashing and banging.  I looked up and realised a cast member had decided to stand and pose with her arm on the percussionist's (MD pretending to be a percussionist) shoulder. Mics off - backing track up!  They usually whooped loud enough that you could hear them through one of the principle cast's mics anyway.

One of the best ones I remember was a Sinatra show where they toured 3 top brass musicians to add to the house band to look the part and also play solos.   The rest of the "big band sound" would be tracked.  It used to work really well, especially as the size and sound of the band (tracked) would grow as the story of his career progressed.

I also remember playing in a crew only band one year for a staff end or year party where the bass player pulled out due to fear with a week to go (I was the drummer).  The guitarist quickly knocked up about 5 songs with bass on track so the gig could still go ahead.

So in summary, I can't really knock backing tracks....

Sad times if so.  I bought a Roland electronic drum kit there about 11 years ago and the sales guy was really helpful and chucked in about £100 of free sticks with it.

I often would buy online from them if competitive on stuff too.

On 26/01/2025 at 10:42, Clarky said:

It was standard on early 60s Jazz basses. See attached pic

Yes, my 1980s Squier JV Jazz, which is a similar vintage to the OP's Fender, and a copy of a 60s bass, is wired the same.   I reckon Leo figured it wouldn't matter with the giant ashtray over the top hiding it.

EDIT - mine is the same size and look as Clarky's original example, not as wide and shiny as the OPs.

For me, being dropped in the deep end and allowed to bumble along listening to the pieces while I learned was the only way it worked.   I had bought some notation books in the past and tried to work it out by myself (I had a head start because I had played trombone in my school brass band reading treble clef) but looking at the books it didn't stick with me either.

Bearing mind you are joining a band where you don't know anyone, I did initially have to suffer the looks of disdain from a few musical snobs in the band, but on the whole most either couldn't tell the difference, or were very supportive.

If you did reconsider having a crack at it, I guess the main thing to look for is to whether you feel the MD and band would be patient enough to have you make mistakes and "learn on the job".  As others have said, these bands often have varying skill levels and may just have been happy to find you, as the reading bit puts a lot of people off.

It will also be down to whether you can keep a lid on your own anxieties and personal feelings of "I'm not good enough" which I got a lot (and still do).  Believe you me, if I get given a new piece with any semiquavers in it, I still shake with dread every time! (Or quaver triplets with rests in them)....

I remember once years ago before I tried to read myself, asking a bass player in a cabaret band how he managed to sight read visiting act's arrangements on gigs, especially the rhythmic patterns and fiddly bits.  He said you begin to recognise common patterns in pieces of music which means you can anticipate it coming better without specifically counting or reading in detail.

I think he is right there - it certainly gets a bit easier the more you do it.   

42 minutes ago, solo4652 said:

Also, to my ears, many of the backing tracks for rock songs really did not sound much like the original rock songs.

This was what I was alluding to in my earlier post.  I didn't know if it was for copyright reasons or arrangers for these bands don't think we can understand written funky lines, but you often get a lot of simplified/no feel basslines for modern stuff.   

With these kinds of groups I found out I inevitably ended up playing a lot of stuff I appreciated but didn't really like - and only got a few that I really looked forward to.  It means I am often well out of my comfort zone with them.   I am a traditional groover not particularly a comfortable widdler, so I don't enjoy any fiddly solo runs that get written for bass or the weird atonal stuff our MD often likes to play.   These parts might sound good on a tuba or properly bowed double bass, but not with my sausage fingers waggling around.

However, it was a great way to learn to read and then keep my reading up to speed, so I stick with it because of that.   I was lucky that when I joined they had an amazing tuba player who I could listen to which helped me understand what I was reading and I could just pretend to play with him at the hard bits!  It was only when he left 8 months later that I was left by myself and got properly dropped in the deep end!      

I am also lucky because as I said before, the MD lets me put my own spin on some things.   If that orchestra's arranger is passionate about it being played exactly as he wrote it and won't let you help it be more like the original, then it wouldn't be for me either.   

Good luck with your new band, hope it pans out.

14 hours ago, Jakester said:

Yep, EB in L and DB in R, and with a pan block at the start of the input to hard L or R and assigned to one of the foot switches allows an A/B switch. 
 

It can be a bit temperamental though - I’m sure I’ve set it and saved it so L is the starting input on each patch, but sometimes it will start on R, which is confusing.  
 

It does limit the available blocks and if you’re doing a patch where you’re not intending to use the DB (such as a synth) you have to remember to add a pan block, otherwise you get horrendous feedback from the open DB. Ask me how I know!

Erm....sounds a bit of a fiddly bodge for such a lot of money.   I would also be concerned as I currently use a Tonebone Bassbone to switch and for the EUB I have the input gain switch for piezo levels selected - I imagine this might not support this and I would need a preamp.....

I will keep thinking on it - thanks for the info!

At @Jakester - how are you doing the switching between DB and guitar?   Are you able to use the L and R inputs as two completely different sources?

I don't own a Stomp, but have looked at them before, but couldn't really justify the money.  I have a guitar/EUB setup.   I didn't realise they could do this - if so I might rethink!

6 hours ago, fretmeister said:

 

Surely the bass player in a big band type arrangement is the very definition of a sideman who has to play what is on the sheet?

 

If I thought of something that I thought worked better I always asked the MD so it could be tried at a rehearsal and then either officially changed or not. The last thing the rest of the band needs is for 1 person to improv unexpectedly and have them all second guessing whether they have lost their place in the tune!

I do my best to read and play classical and traditional stuff verbatim, its just the more modern/poppy stuff that he lets me let loose on. 

What I've noticed is that a lot of the conductor scores don't appear to go as far down as the bass parts, or are so big, he's not really looking down there too much, so I get away with more.  

I don't do anything crazy, just a few added root/5th extra bumps to change the feel or some adjoining runs or fills.  He has occasionally come to me and said "this is a bit of a boring arrangement, can you do your thing on it?"

Most of it I try in rehearsal first to see if I get a reaction or not.   If I don't, or it is a good reaction, I'll keep it in. 

I do always listen to Euphonium/Bass Trombone/Bari Sax/Bass Clarinet as best I can to make sure I am not trampling or screwing up someone else's part.  I am quite lucky in one way that they always struggle to get/keep tuba players, so most of the time I'm kind of on my own at the very bottom lot of the time.   Having said that, I do enjoy playing along with a tuba when we do get them as you can split parts/solos/chordy bits and get different feels etc.

 They also have an amazing drummer who will go with me/take me with him and still be able to sight read the various drum parts for all the little percussion hits etc across multiple scores. If he ever left I would have to think long and hard about staying or not.

18 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Some of them are just crap even with the same publisher. The recommended HL version of "Sir Duke" is awful - the main run is barely there at all.

Agreed.  I remember doing a Queen medley (may have been HL arrangement) thinking I'm about to play the classic bassline to Another One Bites The Dust, and I'm resting - it had been given to bari-sax and bass clarinet!

Luckily, our MD, who is really hot on flutes and clarinets playing the exact rhythms "....It's a dotted quaver!!" lets me have a bit more free reign and encourages me to funk things up or make basslines sound more like the original.    

Although that could be because he realises I'll never get it perfectly as written lol!

We did a Michael Jackson medley and he let me add the Billie Jean bassline by ear as again it was on Bari Sax.

To the OP - as others have said, you will be massively out of your comfort zone at times but it is great to get your reading up to speed.  

I play in a concert band (brass, woodwind) and like you, joined as a reading novice 11 years ago.

I found it is the norm for the band to hardly ever play in the original key of a modern piece - I would guestimate the majority of our pieces are usually played in F, Bb and Eb keys (1-3 flats). 

WIth the concert band, if you want to play along, the easiest way is to find a video of another concert band playing the same arrangement.  

I am guessing that your arranger may be trying to be clever and make their own arrangements for an orchestra, which means there likely won't be any other recordings, unless your orchestra has played it elsewhere before and been filmed/posted?

I wonder how that works with copyright?   As far as I understood it, bands like ours have to buy scores and with that comes some performance rights? 

I always I assumed that was why whenever you get a famous group medley (ie Abba, The Beatles. Elton John etc)  you either get one really famous one and a load of less famous songs, or the arrangements are so butchered they don't sound anywhere near the original.   I thought this was because it was too expensive for the publishers to secure the copyright from the original artists....?

I could be very wrong and overthinking it all of course....

Another one to watch out for with these kind of bands/orchestras - if original scores, you may get "tuba" or "basses" parts which can be written an octave lower than bass guitar parts.   Although I know what the notes are - I often struggle if sight reading faster parts and trying to transpose up an octave at the same time!