Adrenochrome

I bought an almost new HA3500 last year for peanuts and I absoutely love it. The valve pre gives just enough dirt when I dig in to give a very good rock/metal sound that I use for all our set. EQ is very good if you're in an unusual room, and the pre/post EQ options for the DI out are very useful for my band.

Yes, I occasionally use my EB0 for dep gigs, it's a little toy in my hands and takes so little effort to play it makes things a lot easier if I'm reading charts or even following the guitarists hands on songs I don't know. I usually play 34" scale basses.

Sounds like a fantastic opportunity mate

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1359045190' post='1948965'] I had a similar experience at a small festival once, where it turned out the backline was an old Peavey head (never seen one before or since, but it had a knob on it marked 'Fuzz'!) and a home-made 15" cab that had never even got a coat of paint, no grille and as you might imagine a dinged dust cover on the speaker. I expected a flappy, farty, awful noise to come out of it but actually it sounded really nice! [/quote] Did it have parametric EQ rather than sliders? If so it will have been one of the old Peavey Century heads which I thought sounded nice.

Wow, the only basses I've ever bought were around the 200-250 mark and all came with Allen Keys and basic instructions at least, in pristine condition and well set up.

No, I love a full range sound, which includes plenty of bass also, but I want all of it - mids, treble the lot ) If you enjoy what you do then that's great also.

Sorry to hear that. Any chance of playing some keyboard bass with the left hand?

I'd definitely recommend stepping across genres. When I was playing metalcore I'd play along to things like Familiar Feeling by Moloko just to get my fingers moving in a different way.

Don't bother with a lead singer - I'm sure between the 4 of you, you can sing a couple of rock sets. Really.

I'm sure that as a decent bassist you'll find a good band in no time. I'm very lucky to work with 2 gifted musicians (I'm very average myself) and another musician who is not gifted but works hard on his playing and is a great band member.

For the first time in about 15 years, I have no Peavey kit in my backline. I've still got a couple of Peavey basses though. I used a black widow 1x15 for eleventy-three years including ~1000 gigs and rehearsals. Best value for money kit ever based on long term usage?

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1354616697' post='1888000'] Wait until you hit 50 (Like me) Jaco watch out! (I wish) [/quote] 'ave it!

Go to the docs, get it properly diagnosed, and be as healthy and fit as you possibly can. 40 is nothing, I'm ten times the bass player I was at 25.

2 minors a gig is about right. I can do the thing where I slide a semitone up or down very quickly and the duff note barely sounds... I also hit the odd note where it isn't fretted as clearly as it should be. All normal in a long night of playing, IMO.

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1353679096' post='1877323'] The type of finish has a massive impact too. [/quote] Is this[i] really[/i] true for solid bodied electric guitars and basses?

That article was interesting. There were opposing views on whether through-necks emphasise the fundamental or the mids, and disagreement over whether the type of wood makes [i]much[/i] difference, also good to read their general thoughts on building basses.

I can't imagine doing a semi-pro level gig (ie pub/club gig that pays reasonable 'expenses') without a backup bass. I play all the drop-tuned covers with my 4-string, and use the 5 for the Alter Bridge songs that we do (both go to low . I could use either bass for any of the songs in an emergency.

It doesn't have to be like that, even at a semi-pro level. Being honest about how often you can/want to gig and rehearse is key. I'm lucky to be in a band at the moment with three other like-minded musicians. We all have kids (or step-kids) so we only rehearse when we need to (about 3 times a month) and only do as many gigs as we can manage (3-4 a month). The fact that we've stop playing a lot of 'trendy' pubs helps keep the number of gigs manageable.

[quote name='anthomp' timestamp='1353091420' post='1871633'] You have the choice of staying in your bedroom doing your best "Portraits of Tracy" and "victors" or you go out and become entertainers. if it's the latter ,do just that. [/quote] I disagree with this. If you're careful, you can play songs that you love and still fill venues, whether it be by playing original tunes, slightly less obvious covers, or the more obvious covers if you're playing those songs for the love of the music (ie [i]not [/i]just because you think that you should to appeal to the masses).

[quote name='Bobo_Grimmer' timestamp='1353086161' post='1871551'] It's is starting to sound silly to me now that i'm worrying about what other bass players will think of me.... [/quote] It's a discussion forum and you're discussing, nowt wrong with that.

Unless absolutely unavoidable, I wouldn't have any gear at all that wasn't comfortable to use, or I was worried about punters knocking into or whatever. I have downsized to a loud 4x10 on wheels and hybrid head. All my gear works well but isn't irreplacable by any means.

If you like this song and can do it justice, then play it. However don't play only because you think you should and are scared to try something that just might entertain the punters as well as being enjoyable for the band.

Life's too short - bin the band and move on. If you choose to do that in a nice way with notice etc is up to you.

As before, cool, calm and collected. Punters regularly pick me out as the bass player with no prior information..

As required. If I have 2 long gigs (2 hours+ playing), and a long rehearsal then I probably won't play at home. I have a full week between other types of playing, or have songs to learn then I definitely will. I certainly don't overdo it! If I go see my mum & dad I might well play one of my dad's guitars for half an hour as well - just depends.