steantval

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1333371620' post='1600662'] Currently I can fit the whole band and all the gear in my focus 3 people 1 bass (in hardcase) 1 guitar (in softcase) Bass amp 2 x 210 bass cab 1 x guitar combo rack case Gig bag (cables etc) Bass Stand [/quote] Good, but where's the PA?

Listening to the Ballad of John and Yoko. Learnt it for a gig tomorrow night. Great simple bass line and very effective, nice to play.

[quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1329862814' post='1548885'] I thought they were great. Blur have always had that messy edge to them. My old band played with them at Food Records birthday bash at Islington Powerhaus. I got Alex James so stoned, he fell off the stage. They are messy and shambolic live and that is a good thing in my book. The rest of the Brits was so poor. It's a tragedy that music in the UK that shifts sales is in the state it is in. [/quote] Still messy and shambolic after 21 years together........sums them up.

One of my satelite German channels has live jazz concerts every week and I came across one band last night that really impressed me. Yellowjackets featuring a bass player called Jimmy Haslip. Jimmy is a left handed player who was playing a left handed six string but with the strings strung the opposite way around, thickest one at the bottom - thinnest at the top, this was not a case of playing a right handed bass upside down, it was definitely a left handed bass with the controls on the lower side of the body. Apparently he plays MTD basses live. What a player - very fast runs. Maybe I have had my head in the sand as I have only just come across this guy.

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1325878825' post='1489379'] A hero, and a poet. My first gig ever was a lunchtime Thin Lizzie show in a theatre when I was twelve (with my mum), and I never got over it I met hiom later, when I was a young teenager, and he was such a nice guy. I was at their farewell gig (another daytime job) in the Dublin mansion house just before they left for England. In the middle of the gig he broke a G string, asked the audience if anyone had one spare, and then sent somebody to the shop. What a mover on stage . He calmed down a bit after he went to england, but in the early gigs he was always bringing his left knee up to chin and stalking around the stage, knocking over mike stands. Saw a doco on BBC4 last week (?) and it reminded me that almost no histories of Lizzie seem to remember the huge influence of the wonderful Skid Row and Brush Shields, the main man. Awesome bass player and taught Phil, I think. Anyone remember Skid Row (the original that is) ? 'Black Boys on the Corner?' Just like a Skid Row song. [/quote] I'm sure I have an original Skid Row album stored up in my loft, Mr Gary Moore on guitar, I think he was only about 16 years old around that time.

[quote name='throwoff' timestamp='1323344217' post='1462160'] My Ray is too quiet. and it cant be fixed. Changed batter, pickup height had it checked out and thats just how it is. To be honest I hate it. [/quote] BUY A LOUDER AMP.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1321046508' post='1434961'] Very true! I tune down half a step when i play Metallica - that's what they do themselves. An entire step would not be kind to the B (or A in this case!) string, though - it would vibrate at an uncomfortably low frequency. [/quote] Yeh, and when they play with Lou Reed, they play totally out of tune.

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' post='1272539' date='Jun 17 2011, 11:09 AM']Because once you get past the name, the pretty tops, the price and all the testosterone-fuelled anticipation they are actually fairly ordinary guitars that often sound a bit thin.[/quote] I presume your talking about PRS 6 string guitars here then I have to thoroughly disagree with your comments. Our guitarist has two superb PRS's purchased in the USA and his sound is anything but thin when playing through his Cornell Amp and 4x12 Cab. We have played several large gigs and recorded in studios and the comments from all the sound engineers have been what a great guitar tone/sound he has.

Queen a fabulous band especially in the real early days when they were a proper heavy rock band. I was at the free Hyde Park concert in 1976 that they featured on the documentary - what a great day.

Funny that, me and another bassist were discussing 5 strings tonight and both agreed a bass should have 4 strings, that's what they started with. I think most of the pro bassists I admire all play 4 strings, if it's enough for them it's sure enough for me.

I use my set up in two bands using a Musicman in one band and an EB3 in the Free tribute band. It's versatile enough to give me a nice clear clarity with the Musicman and a real authentic "muddy" Andy Fraser sound for the Free stuff. [attachment=77534:P3210006.JPG]

Good programme. Doesn't Robbo look f*cked up, needs to see a dentist, reminded me of Sean McGoohan of the Pogues.

[quote name='lowdown' post='1136413' date='Feb 21 2011, 10:21 PM'] Not sure this should be posted in 'General Bassists Discussions' Or...erm....Basses for sale. Is this man a legend? or something else? Garry[/quote] Captain Hook could probably do a better job than this guy

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1136421' date='Feb 21 2011, 10:28 PM']I'd say he has quite a bit a bit of stuff in his back-catalogue that's better than this [/quote] I have some stuff in my BACK PASSAGE that's better than this

IMO definitely something else...............certainly not a bass player. Aweful playing, terrible sound. Sorry, never have rated this guy.

I have played several gigs over the years for free, mainly for some sort of charity event. The other times are where we have supported bigger bands and needed the extra exposure. Normally though it's no money no gig, the fee I do receive goes back into my gear and also keeps my motorcycle on the road.

[quote name='Roland Rock' post='1081593' date='Jan 7 2011, 10:28 PM']I'm playing in a tribute band at the moment and at first I was trying really hard to get the basslines spot on as per the original recorded version. Then you hear a live album version and it can be completely different! Now I tend to play with the original sprit/style but add my own flourishes/simplifications where I deem appropriate. I think it has a lot to do with the other musicians in the band; e.g. the drummer may play with a slightly different feel to the original version, so you play something that's more in keeping with what's happening in the moment.[/quote] I play in a Tribute band and a pub/clubs covers band. In the Tribute I play all the bass lines as they are and usually worked out from live versions of the songs, IMO if you play in a good tribute band then all the players should be doing their parts correctly. In the pub covers I manage to get away with playing any old sh*t.

[size=4]Ready for Love - Bad Company.[/size]

Elton John's, Your Song is a classic IMO, it's from the 70's and takes me back to my first job, motorcycles and a generally great time of growing up. This Ellie Goulding version is not good - what's the point? - why cover it? Ellie sounds a lot like this new breed of female vocalists that sound breathy and voices like 4 year olds. Kylie Minogue - 40 year old woman with a 4 year olds voice. Duffy - sounds like she's on helium. Proper voices like Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hind, Christine McVie, Alison Moyet, Dusty Springfield etc, take a lot of beating.

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='1012788' date='Nov 5 2010, 12:10 AM']Bring back The Whistle Test!!!![/quote] The Whistle Test was very much like Later in that most of the shows had a mixture of very goods acts and some real sh*te ones.

[size=4]Not as long as my kn*b ...................Ho Ho [/size]

[quote name='4-string-thing' date='Oct 30 2010, 09:07 PM' post='1006758'] This is a bit of a sore point for me too. One of the guitarists spends sunday afternoons learning stuff with another guitarist friend but quite often they'll learn stuff that we (our band) don't even play! Quite annoying as he could be using that time to learn songs we need to get sorted. He's also very hung up on learning things note for note, which I feel shows no creativity or originality. The other guitarist doesn't seem to practice at home much, he expects the first guitarist to learn both parts, then show him how to play one of them. The singer has to have lyric sheets on stage (not very professional, is it?) even though he's been singing these songs for at least 2 years. One last moan about rehearsals, we rent a room for 2 hours a week. The guitarist and singer almost always turn up about 10 minutes late, take 20 minutes to set up/gossip etc. Then after 45 minutes go outside for a 10 minute smoke which means we actually play for between 70 and 90 minutes a week. [size=4]I would not waste my time and effort playing with these tossers.[/size]

[quote name='JMT3781' post='941267' date='Aug 31 2010, 07:26 PM']Never had a problem as a markbass user or retailer with any that we have sold[/quote] +1 touch wood.

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='933572' date='Aug 23 2010, 01:03 PM']All the festivals that i've played have had backline supplied,just need bass,lead,tuner.Is there any way that you can find out who's supplying the P.A ?[/quote] I have played many festivals and all the bands including ours have brought along our own backline amps and full drum kit, its always a mad rush to get the gear on and off stage between bands and don't expect a sound check, that's usually sorted while you are playing your first song of the set. Certainly, our guitarist, drummer and myself would not want to play through/on other equipment, it's our gear that gives us [u]our[/u] sound, we have invested some serious money into our gear, so why play through something that may sound inferior. It's good fun, enjoy it.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='931236' date='Aug 20 2010, 06:50 PM']I think there are a lot of bands doing more interesting things than them, but they are definitely very good at singing songs about how rich they are, and that's a topic that a lot of popular musicians shy away from. Maybe we should be talking about rich people and how many cars they've got, maybe it's important. Or maybe they're twats and their band is sh*t.[/quote] Nothing wrong with being rich (if you have earned it) and having lots of cars, especially American muscle cars.