muso

CURVED AIR will be performing in LONDON at the UNDER THE BRIDGE club (CHELSEA FOOTBALL GROUND) on FRIDAY 4th SEPTEMBER - They will be play all of the old hits plus songs from the new album NORTH STAR. PLUS the entire evening will be rounded off with the whole of the AIR CONDITIONING album being performed (WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE!) Special guests for this event include original members DARRYL WAY & FRANCIS MONKMAN who will be joining the band on stage. Details/Tickets can be found at the CURVED AIR WEBSITE: www.curvedair.com THIS IS A ONE OFF EVENT NEVER TO BE REPEATED!

Check out CURVED AIR on tour this Autumn with new album "NORTH STAR" (Cherry Red records) - Headlining the SUMMERS END Festival in Chepstow, Monmouthshire on Sunday 28th Sept - For all gig /venue details go to www.curvedair.com or check out the band on Facebook Have a progtastic time...

Tai Chi is also very effective to loosen up joints/muscles/tension etc - I do it every day as well as keeping an eye on my diet - no coffee(effects the joints with crystaline deposits) & no alcohol; as little sugar as possible;no energy drinks (diuretic and overload of sugar) lots of fresh veg and lots and lots of water; coconut water is also excellent for rehydration, especially when touring. I use a wide leather strap (3" width) that has a lining of dense (1/4") foam attached to it by gaffa tape- it works really well. Many years ago I had a bass made with a very small headstock and mini lightweight alloy tuners (no elephant ears for me), as well as an extremely light body made from poplar - a long top horn on the body will also allow the bass to balance better - take a look at the old (cheap) Peavey millenium BXP - I use one for teaching and it's very light and balances superbly. I also have a "bass brace" which came from Canada where the bass is attached by a strap peg on the back of the body to a belt of velcro so the bass "hangs" on the belt so no strap needed - found it a bit weird so when I use it I also have a strap to stop the bass tipping forward. I don't think they are made anymore as it didn't really catch on...

Modes are really useful as its really just displacing the starting point of a scale - I use them regularly when playing jazz....

Curved Air are currently recording a new studio album - to be released in November and will be touring the UK in October/November 2013. Please check out www.curvedair.com for venue details/ticket prices

Yes Kirby probably did name the band after the tune - He played with us on stage in Frome in 2010 - I recall he was on "Purple speed Queen" and "Easy" though these performances weren't used on Live Atmosphere. Eddie Jobson also played with us in 2009 for a one off gig in Kent.

I think you mean Sonja Kristina - yes she still fronts the band - we are on tour in the UK April 2013 so check the website - we amy be nearer than you think, and theres a new live album out at the mo - I think this is posted to the wrong forum.. should be in the gig one I think oops.

Yes - I've been in the band since 2008...

Curved Air will be performing at the Rock n Blues Festival Skegness on Saturday 26th January 2013 - check website for details [url="http://www.curvedair.com"]www.curvedair.com[/url]

Bassist with pro touring experience - UK, Europe & Japan - available for gigs, recording, touring, some b/vox, 4 & 5 string, fretless, electric upright, pro attitude, all styles covered. good CV. Based in westcountry but have transport. - Note - am booked for tour in April 2013 already.

Hope this thread does get to other users of Markbass - I mean the gear sounds great and is highly portable but apparently this switchmode technology was developed by Gallien Kruger in the late 80's which made bass gear extremely light but reliability was not good. I did see on one electronics website/blog comment that the "lifespan of this type of technology is unknown..."

Yes they've previously been sent video/sound footage of the failure - finally Markbass directed the reparier to freeze the unit (!!) and they managed to recreate the fault...hooray!!!! apparently the fault lay with the resistors in the preamp - this is not on Markbass's list of known faults (it is now!) so be warned - if you own any markbass heads/combos and start getting problems with start up volume you know what it is now....

Ha ha this is fun - if my brain can go back 30 odd years heres my list -ish: Angelica tele-bass copy 3/4 size Hohner P-bass copy Westone Thunder 1A Tokai Jazz (electric Blue) Westone Thunder 111 fretless Peavey T40 Manson Kestrel custom (only one ever made with Tiger Oak and yew - weighed a ton!!!) Shergold Modulator (brown glow) + fretless neck so I could change 'em around - amended this to a half fretted neck which was fun to play) Vester P-bass copy Yamaha RBX250 fretless Status shark Manson kestrel fretless Manson Custom bass (current one still in use) Ibanez SRG800 fretless Pedulla Rapture fretless Manson custom fretless Ibanex SGR305DX(?) 5 string Ashbory bass Hohner B2A 5 string Vintage 5 string...err...thing --- poss stingray copy ??? Dean pace bass EUB Peavey millenium BXP x 2 - for teaching with - great basses Another vintage copy of something.... Peavey millenium BXP 5 string Fender traditional mexican Jazz Squier Vintage modified Jazz fretless Might have forgotten some but I can't think of anything else - I didn't play them all at the same time tho.....

Hello - just joined this site from the Westcountry - very useful - I use Manson custom bass/ markbass (Hmmm!!) & Ashdown heads/ Ashdown ABM cabs. Freelance player/teacher but currently doing bass & bv's in prog band Curved Air

Thanks for the info - I have emailed Markbass direct and they have asked for a full detailed description of the fault as it is not on the list of known faults ( according to the UK distributor, who have also emailed them for advice).

L O guys - any tech heads able to help with this ???? Have owned a Markbass SA450 (digital switching transformer) bass head for a couple of years - now out of warranty - has been suffering from little or no volume when switched on from "cold" and has taken up to 10 minutes to get to the level set by the input/output gains.Once the volume has got to the right level it runs fine...seems to behave like an old valve radio, needing time to warm up!!! The head has had two power modules fitted in the last year - 1st was to rectify loss of volume (which didnt cure it), 2nd was when the power module blew up. An EQ pot was replaced as "faulty" as well. All work done by Markbass UK official repairer - They've been very helpful but have been unable to trace any fault with the unit regarding the loss of volume. The fault goes where the head goes - using any other head with same bass/leads/cab has no problem.....have used all 6 of my basses to test and the fault is always when the SA450 is used. any thoughts would be useful as I've spent alot of £££...Ta