geoham

Cheers guys. I think I’ll drop GHS a note. Never had this before in 25 years of playing though only have a dozen or so string changes on a five string.

I guess so... It otherwise sounds and looks fine, so I'd like to understand how a string can be dodgy like this, and perhaps check in with the manufacturer.

I've got a slightly weird one... I've recently put a set of GHS Bass Boomers on my Lakland 5501. Same gauage as always, but first time using this brand. Anyway - I've had to move the B string saddle all the way back to get the intonation right - a huge adjustment - and it's still note quite right, I feel it needs to go back a little more. The rest of the strings just needed a tiny tweak. to put it in perspective, the B saddle doesn't overlap the E saddle at all. The nut looks fine, the neck releif is exactly where it should be. I'm at a bit of a loss. Any suggestions? George

In Scotland, there's been no music allowed whatsoever since the pubs reopened. They need to keep the sound off if they are showing football too. All live music is specifically banned too. To me, a pub is all about the social aspect. At home I've got better beer (I make my own!), a more comfortable seat and a better view of the TV. But I'd still rather have a few pints with my friends, even better if there is a live band. To sit in a quiet pub with one friend and limited social interaction sounds rather dull. I'll stay at home for now! George

Wow, I thought I needed to thin the heard of five basses, three of which are jazzes! (Two fretted, one with rounds one with flats, plus a fretless)

An online show isn't remotely appealing to me. I love going round and seeing new gear, maybe even trying some of it. Passing familiar faces in the crowd. Really enjoyed Paul Gilbert's masterclass (I was with my guitarist mate) and seeing Scott Devine in person rather than a lesson. I even enjoyed being abandonded mid-sentence by the bloke at the Bass Direct stand who preffered to serve a queue jumper spending less than me... (John Patitucci!) I'll gladly travel from Glasgow and make a weekend break of the physical show, but doubt I'd even bother opening up the laptop for a virtual one. Hopefully it's back next year! George

To give another perspective... I put S-Locks on my Vintera Jazz, and i've no complaints. I like the lack of rattle and that I can fit to the strap tightly without a spanner. I am considering replacing all my regular Schaller strap locks with them.

I've also followed

It's still at the too fast phase for me! Did almost have it in the setlist for my last band, so I was pretty close. But the band then imploded and I've not looked at it since. Certainly a touch of genius in Norman Watt-Roy putting this Jaco-esque line in the song. I can't imagine it any other way, but I'm pretty sure I'd have played something a bit more root focused in his shoes!

Me too! I'm never happy with how I play this, though my bandmates insist it's fine.

For me, it was Hysteria by Muse. I spent a while obsessing with getting the sound right, then practiced it slowly, but could never quite get it right at speed. I kept coming back to it and repeating the process over a period of about five years! My keyboard player recently suggested doing it with the band, and suddenly things just clicked. I assume due to the pressure of playing it along with others. Now I can't wait to get out gigging again! I also think this justifies a purchase of a Status Chris Wolstenholme signature bass.... sure the wife will agree too... George

My school did pretty well - in the mid to late 90's. I had one 25 minutes one to one bass lesson each week, from someone who turned out to be a bit of a local legend - George Lyle. I didn't know this at the time though. I learned a mixture of genres, though he obviously favoured jazz. I eventually learned pieces up to level 5 for my Higher exams. (A bit like a Scottish A-Level) Outside of this, the school had an orchestra - but played more interesting music rather than clasical standards. From rock numbers like Eye of the Tiger and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, to accompanying the choir for a Queen medley. They also put on a musical at the end of each school year, and I'd inevitably be part of the band - being the both capable enough to handle the pieces and enough of a geek to want to! My mates would be on guitar and drums. In return, we'd sometimes be allowed a slot at Christmas shows or similar with our own band, where we'd do something like an Oasis cover. The year after I left and was a Uni student, I got a call from tthe head of the music department, asking if I'd play bass for their summer musical Grease, with about two weeks notice - they original bassist was struggling to get it up to scratch and pulled out. Some of my slightly younger friends were involved, so it was quite fun. My first paid gig. I think I got £50 for a matinee and two evenings. George

Sounds like the clickbait worked!

Up until a few years ago, I was of the opinion that nobody was making good new music - that it was mostly manufactured, X Factor type stuff. I still listened to lots of 'new to me' music though - there's probably enough released before I was born (early 80s) to keep me going for a lifetime! There was definitely an element of being too cool for new music. However, I must be mellowing in my old age... I've found plenty of new music that I enjoy. Of particular note are Lake Street Dive and Michael Kiwanuka. I find Later With Jools Holland a good way to discover new music. Plenty on there I don't like too, but that's all part of the discovery process! George

I see Picato are mentioned on that linked thread above. I bought a set of Picato flats from Strings Direct in May. They were described as having blue silk at both ends - however the strings I received had no silk at all. I've actually taken off the bass now and replaced with rounds, given I now unexpectedly have two very similar jazz basses, after the return of one stolen months ago! George

My advice is to try and look at it like (up to) 6 different effects units. For example - my normal process would be start with an empty patch and build a core tone around one of the pre-amp models, or sometimes an amp, cab or compressor - 'always on' stuff. From there I'd add whatever switchable effects I needed. For me, it was normally octave, drive and chorus. Three patches like this would see me through a 2.5 hours set of covers easily enough. I'd normally have one with the typical Sansamp/Ampeg type tone, something a bit more modern, perhaps using the Darkglass pre-amp as a base, then finally something vintage and smooth sounding. My main bugbear was the fact that you could only set the three footswitches to control three adjacent blocks - I found it a bit of pain having to scroll past an always on amp model to turn on the chorus at the end of my chain. But I really never had any reason to complain about the sound. George

The Frank Skinner show is definitely done this way on Absolute. Was doing some painting a few months ago, and had Absolute Radio on as an inoffensive generic station for some background music. Switched to Absolute 70's for a break from Frank's annoying chat... he's there too. Likewise on 90's. To the question at hand... I used to do some work for a community radio station years ago. I was a board member, trainer, keyholder, music loader, IT guy - and an occasional presenter! I'd deal with occasional texts, emails etc between songs (for shout-outs, requests etc), but mostly scroll through the vast library of music and decide what to play next. And yes, long songs or queing up a few songs for an 'interruption free' section was ideal for a toilet break!

Enjoy! I gigged this extensively before I got my Helix and it does a great job.

Most of this has already been said, so I'll just re-enforce the message! As far as playing ability goes, it seems like a draw, so it's down to other factors. Having their own reliable transport would be a huge requirement. I've had to ferry folk around before, and it can be a major pain. Knowing how other commitments may affect the band. Work, other bands, kid etc can all impact someones ability to rehearse, gig and learn material. Do they have an awareness for how their guitar's tone affects the overall sound of the band. A guitarist I know describes his tone as 'big and beefy'. In reality, it's a Les Paul on the neck pickup, through a Marshall with the bass knob up full - making it an interesting exercise for the bass to cut through. Another can't get varying tones to balance live - overwhelming rhythm and barely audible lead in the same song. Yet another insisted on his amp being turned up to ear bleeding volumes on stage - with alternating excuses that it needs to be cranked to sound good, or that he can't hear it well enough through the monitors. And lastly, can you get on with them? If you rub each other up the wrong way, it takes all the fun out of a band. I'm sure many of us have been there... George

I tend to agree - it's not unusual to see a van load of cops attend to a drunken fight outside a bars in Glasgow for example. I had an interesting chat with the two cops who recovered my bass. I made it clear that my complaint to the MSP wasn't directed at them personally, but at their overall process. They were saying they were 'response cops', and spend the bulk of their time attending to calls that come via radio - and that they weren't ideally placed to investigate crimes. Which begs the question - why was it assigned to them in the first place? The getting off with it part annoys the hell out of me too. They've more or less said that nobody will be getting prosecuted for this. They can't prove the person who sold it to Cash Generator stole it themselves, or even knew it was stolen. Even though I provided my local Cash Generator with the description and serial number of the bass at the time of the theft and then they bought it anyway - they've done nothing wrong unless I can prove the person who completed the sale was aware the bass was stolen. Unless the thief owns up or someone actually saw them taking the bass from my car, they won't pursue theft charges. Reset (aka handling stolen goods) requires you to prove they had knowledge that it was stolen. Claiming they bought it from a stranger in a pub would be enough to evade any charges at all. It's really frustrating, but I get their point - what's the point of spending time on it if it's ultimately thrown out by a court? George

I'm sure I read metal band... must be getting old. I've seen MC4, they were double booked with my covers band to play O'Neills in Glasgow last year. They ended up getting the gig, but I went along to see the gig anyway. They're quite good, I had no idea the singer was a politician. George

It's Alex Neil. I suspect he doesn't play in a metal band, but would LOVE to be proven wrong, it'd change my whole perception of him!

WOO HOO! I now have the bass back! It still has the cables and strap that were in the gig bag too. It did take an email from my MSP to help move things along, though I was mostly raising concerns about police funding and restructure making the cops' job difficult. I now also have twins.... (kind of)

The single cop dealing with my case said, entirely unprompted - "We're not going to fingerprint the guitar. It's not like the telly"

I do feel underfunding and understaffing is at the heart of this, though I do feel that ignoring things like this is short sighted. I suspect that others have suffered at the hands on the same criminals - I doubt my car was the first or last they've stolen from. I've no real desire to see some young opportunist thrown in jail and come out worse on the other side, but at the same time simply ignoring crime is only going to encourage it. George