Len_derby

I went to see a package tour show of three 'new wave' blues bands a couple of months ago. All three bassists played a 5-er, and all were probably in their twenties. Certainly broke the mould regarding the excepted blues band set-up. But what the hell, it all sounded good to me. Regarding comments by lead singers, I always half-expect them to say twatty things. Thoughtful, reflective people tend not to take on that role.

[quote name='janmaat' post='1338418' date='Aug 13 2011, 08:35 AM']I would actually really like to read something qualified about GAS from a psychologist. Fact is that if we'd all spent half the money we spend on gear on lessons instead we'd surely be going somewhere. It surely has aspects of "Ersatzhandlung" ie. act of compensation. How much time do you spend browsing stuff rather than practising, or even better: playing? My theory is that because making music is somehow addictive, and bass players have the particular difficulty to always need a band to do so, we dive into gear instead. I know quite a lot of musicians too busy playing to develop gas - most professionals that I know have very little gear (mostly due to being broke, moving house all the time and so forth). Could be worth hinting some psychology student towards this board to conduct a study.[/quote] Great post Jan.

Hi Chris, I'm playing too on Sunday night, else I would have come over to the 'evil' side of the Trent to see you. Let me know next time you're local and if it's still of interest I'll bring my LM III head. I'm very happy with the way it sounds through my BareFaced BigOne. The two together make for a very easy to transport rig. All the best for the gig. Look out for those hooligans from West Bridgford.

Welcome to the forum John! Get out there playing live, it's about the most fun you can have with your clothes on. There are lots of people on here who will give you advice on how to join a band or get a new one together. Plus advice on where might be good venues to 'launch' your career in your area. Enjoy, and beware the GAS!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1337216' date='Aug 12 2011, 03:50 AM']for no particular reason, i wanted to post this... astounding musical slap bass.. imo [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emu54xHr4yM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emu54xHr4yM[/url][/quote] Yeah. From the Silver Rain album, great stuff. For me, what makes this great is that good as he is, his technique never overshadows the song. He just lets the tune breath, and the groove dance.

Welcome Jonse, Lets hear it for the Midlands. Whoop Whoop!

Brilliant so far, well done. Reading your postings over the past few days has been better than 'Grand Designs'. We'll all be looking forward to the next instalments.

Maybe I'm missing something here, please excuse me if I am. I've always played my basses in standard tuning (apart from a brief time depping in a metal band where everyone down-tuned a semi-tone). Whatever the key of the song is, I play it on the bass in standard tuning. Obviously, for some keys e.g Eb on a 4 string, the root note isn't going to be very 'low'. But with the appropriate EQ settings and right hand technique I think it sounds OK. As Truckstop says, the key often gets chosen to best suit the vocals (or instrument, like brass or woodwind). So, is it the desire for 'low' notes, perhaps for heavier music, that's driving this?

[quote name='razze06' post='1336112' date='Aug 11 2011, 09:37 AM']Nailed it and got the gig (band is called red2red). In the end I took both the T40 and the aerodyne P, just in case the practice room amp didn't like the peavey. Fantastic thick, deep and powerful tone from the T40 through the room's TE 4x10 combo. Can't emphasize enough how important it was to have got there prepared. Got through the 5 songs from the webpage, plus a couple of improvised dub grooves. Not once did anyone ask me to turn down, quite the opposite [/quote] Congratulations. A good news story. Are they letting you wear the hat?

If you've not got a lot to spend I'd say the Roland Cube 100. There's a review thread for it on BassChat.

Welcome Chu, I like your photos. The one of you with your cab made me smile.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1330827' date='Aug 7 2011, 12:09 PM']Maybe he was just trying to give you a subtle hint towards getting one? [/quote] Yeah, I'd love a genuine Marcus Miller Jazz. If I swoped the Squier VM for one the wife might not notice.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1330825' date='Aug 7 2011, 12:07 PM']Tbh i've thought about shifting all the expensive gear and just using my 3 cheapo Jazzes exclusively, i can get pretty much everything i want out of them and i have [b]serious Promethean/BF Midget GAS![/b][/quote] I reckon my Squier sounds better through my BF BigOne/LMIII than my MIA P Deluxe does through a Behringer2X10/Hartke set up I sometimes use. So, [b]in my experience[/b], you get a better overall sound by moving a greater proportion of your 'spend' over to the amp and cab. So, I think your plan is a good one.

As I've mentioned on another thread, I bought a Squier VM Jazz off Gareth Friend of this parish, to use as back up and my first fumblings in modding. But it's a such a lovely instrument I've been using it more and more. After one gig (luckily it was back in it's gig bag) a bloke said 'I love the sound of those Marcus Miller basses'. I just said 'Yeah, so do I'. To cross-refer to another thread, I think all the postings on this one answer the question why we don't see more boutique gear at gigs.

Well done! There's no feeling quite like it is there? Got the bug now?

Don't you find that you end up using some gear that isn't your 'best' but for some reason hits the right spots? I bought a Squier VM Jazz off Gareth Friend last November. My plan was to use it as a back-up and for my first stumblings into modding. But, set-up and a with a set of flats it sounds and plays (to my ears) lovely, so I've ended up using it more and more.

[quote name='Johngh' post='1321374' date='Jul 30 2011, 03:23 PM']I knew it would happen one day. Played last night in Matlock, went down realy well, packed venue, loads of them up and dancing and a really good gig despite one of the punters falling over a monitor at the end of the gig and knocking our female vocalist flying. Then it happened. I saw a bloke watching me very closley all night, so at the end of the gig he strolls over. Punter "I notice you play a 6 string bass" Me "That's right" Punter "But the songs you play only warrant a 4 string" Me "Not really, I use the bottom B string quite a lot" Punter "But what about the 6th string" Me "I use that quite a bit as well on some chord stuff" Punter " I didn't see that" Me " You wern't paying attention then, are you a bass player by any chance" Punter "No, I just like bass, it must be really frustrating for you having to play what you play" Me " Not really, I just play what the song requires, I don't need to play flash (like I could anyway ) Somehow I expected this at the end of the night, you could just tell. There was more, mainly about how I didn't use my second bass all night that was on it's stand, I told him I did use it for 5 song's, he said he must have missed it when he went to the bar for a drink. [/quote] Haha - Where were you? I think we got the same bloke at our recent gig at The Temple Hotel (Matlock Bath). Of course, it could have been a relative. Given the location, that's almost a certainty.

Ouch! He looks totally bemused, as he would! Similar to Pete Townsend and his guitars, will he have to do it every concert now, when the audience start chanting for it? It puts coping with a broken string into perspective.

[quote name='Count Bassy' post='1315845' date='Jul 25 2011, 03:41 PM']I know that some people on here slag off Bill Wyman as a bass player, but I saw him and the Rhythm kings at the Bury St Edmunds AbbeyFest last night and it was a cracking show, and that includes Mr Wyman himself. Not flash, possibly not even adventurous, but (IMHO) exactly what the music needed, which is what makes a good bassist (IMHO again).[/quote] Yep, with you on this one. Like all successful people, the Stones were ruthless when they needed to be. E.g.dumping Brian Jones. Had Wyman not been able to cut the mustard he would have been out. (after they'd nicked his amp) Can you imagine a drummer the calibre of Charlie Watts putting up with a duff bass player?

I don't know about you guys n' gals , but bottles of Grolsch with the rubber washers on have become very difficult to find around my way. Anyway, ALDI supermarkets are selling one litre glass water bottles for £1.49. These have a lid mechanism very similar to the Grolsch, with a white rubber washer that's just the job for keeping a strap in place. That's nearly £3 for a pair of washers, but it's still cheaper than the Dunlop or Schaller route. Plus you'll have a couple of nice glass bottles that can be used for flower arranging. storing moonshine or making Molotov cocktails.

[quote name='alyctes' post='1312266' date='Jul 22 2011, 01:27 AM']Hi folks I'm middle-aged. ................... I hope to be here for a long time.[/quote] Me too Mike. Welcome aboard!

I bought one of those infamous BadAss II bridges off Bill. The deal was a good one, the bridge arrived promptly and very well wrapped up. Perfect communications throughout, and I would recommend Bill as a good man to do business with. The BadAss now lives on my MIJ Jazz.

[quote name='matski' post='1308068' date='Jul 18 2011, 04:38 PM']I was at a gig on Friday night and also found it very hard to distinguish between the instruments that the bass players from the three different bands were using. I certainly wouldn't have known which was which in a 'blind' test. Bear in mind that this was at one of the best venues in the city, with a very good sound system. Bass 1: Alembic Orion 6 string Bass 2: some old 60s Hofner thing (not the typical McCartney violin bass) Bass 3: Warwick Stuart Zender signature (played by Mr Zender himself)[/quote] From the way I read your post I presume this was at the same venue. In which case the common fatctors were probably the soundman and the PA. I wonder if he just dialled-up the bass sound that he liked or thought sounded 'right', irrespective of the bass played. As said above, 'it makes you think'!

[quote name='tommorichards' post='1304997' date='Jul 15 2011, 06:58 PM']I got this in a free meal. But im not really a fan of mars bars. Important stuff: - Approx 100mm x 30mm x 20mm. -weight 58g -Has England official supporter logo on front. -Contains 260kcal (13%GDA) You want it, just PM me with a shipping address. Ill do it free P&P.[/quote] If this is still available are you willing to split it? I'm looking for some gooey toffee for a build project.