Roger2611

I have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic drummers, my biggest regret is the guy I used to play alongside some years back, he had a massive heart attack aged only 32 a couple of years back, it was the day after a gig...he survived, thankfully, they identified exactly why it happened, he is now fully fixed now but has been too scared to go back to the kit as i know he feels the exertion of playing scares him it could happen again....I totally understand but would love to lay down a groove with him again

I failed dismally, i found myself as a level 8 a'hole as there were at least two tracks I had never heard of

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1451891636' post='2944261'] It's gonna end up like Trigger's sweeping brush! [/quote] It's got about as much tone to it!

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1451831219' post='2943756'] For a quality instrument like that, get it resprayed professionally. Stripping to bare wood can be difficult. The tough finishes some makers use resists all chemicals and has to be removed with a blow lamp (I know. I've done it. Takes for ever). [/quote] +1000 Getting a really good finish is very very difficult, I have been doing it for years, I can get adequate results on budget instruments but on a quality bass like yours it has to be a professional job all day long, it's not so much in the painting itself but the preparation is everything, once you have stripped the finish off you bass it will no longer be totally flat as you will have sanded harder in some places than others and without proper preparation aerosol paints will just look awful. You don't need to send it to a guitar specialist to get a great finish, a local car body shop should be able to get you the results you want for a lot less than I have seen quoted by luthiers. As long as you are not looking for a Nitrocellulose finish as I don't know of any car body repairers anywhere that are still allowed to spray Nitro

I think I have been lucky in recent years, the old covers band always played at a sensible volume, I was more likely to be telling the guitarist to turn up a bit! Yodaclub are very good, we are all a bit older so are hopefully a little more sensible, vocal harmonies are a key ingredient of our sound so the singers have to be able to hear themselves through what are, on a lot of occasions, monitors that are not of the same class as our amps, so we have to be controlled on stage. I do have earplugs but don't like them and am glad I don't have to use them, I am frustrated that I did damage my hearing when I was younger playing in an eight piece band and being stuck next to a dirty great ride cymbal night after night....I do have noticeable Tinnitus but seem to be lucky in that I can zone it out 99% of the time but I know the damage is done.....I can sleep next to a phone charger and not hear it whereas Mrs2611 can hear it from her side of the bed!

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1451846828' post='2943989'] Also make sure you are not fretting or plucking too hard. The atmosphere at a gig could have you doing this without realising it. [/quote] Quite likely to be this, I think it unlikely your technique is wrong with both hands so to be getting cramp in both hands when playing would suggest it is a stress thing (I am assuming you don't get cramps during everyday actions?) relax when you play, trust yourself that you know what you are playing...if you are gripping the neck that hard that you are getting cramp you are probably strangling all of the tone and feeling out of what you play.....once relaxed you will feel better, play better and sound better

[quote name='Behlmene' timestamp='1451782644' post='2943459'] My experience has been that if a guitar or bass sounds dead there is little pickup or hardware swapping can do to revive it. The wood is just not resonant and that can't be fixed beyond replacing the body or neck or both. [/quote] It wouldn't be too bad an idea to replace either neck or body if it wasn't a Nitro finished Candy Apple Red bass with matching headstock with original decals as well!

I know we have had many threads on here about songs people love playing, songs that turn people away form covers bands etc I don't think we have had one on songs that were massive hits and really should be covered but are too complex for bands to do...I have a few suggestions. Airport.....The Motors.....lots of keyboards and vocally hugely difficult for your average covers band to handle the harmonies Dancing Queen.....Abba or anything be Abba really....again vocally so hard to get right I am sure there are loads but really I am thinking about big hits that would be well received by your average covers band pub audience that never find their way onto set lists So, what you got for me?

It really is just a case of practice, eventually it will stick, listening to the song over and over will help and after a while you should be able to visualise yourself playing the bassline which is a great way to practice without even having to pick up the bass. To quote the age old saying "amateurs practice until they get it right, professionals practice it until they can't get it wrong" it really is all in the practice

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1451684930' post='2942529'] My brother has one in the dark wood finish, I seem to recall it being quite heavy though [/quote] There were two MC924's talked about in someones collection (possibly a Guitar and Bass mag article) the other year, the "lightweight" fretted one weighed in at 15lbs the fretless was slightly heavier at.....yes 22lbs....you could probably get a piano round your neck that would weigh less! I have always liked the look of the MC bass but you probably can't get one that weighs under 10lbs

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1451657610' post='2942145'] Maybe a fault with the pots or caps? Sounds to me like maybe the pickups are are half volume or half power or something and the controls might be restricting the full range of tone? In my opinion, the effect of the wood that a bass is made of has little to do with the end tone. The strings and electrics have more to do with it. If the strings are new, than maybe the electrics are shagged? [/quote] sadly no, the original 3 pot plate sounded just as lifeless hence why I swapped the pickups and the controls over, so all wiring is new......maybe the problem is actually the cheapy doesn't really sound like a Jazz and I don't actually like the sound of a Jazz...either way round it's out the door, I have far too many basses to hold onto one I don't enjoy playing. Strings wise I have always loved Elite's and have used them exclusively since the Trace Elliot strings disappeared. As ever, cheers for the input chaps

Only 8 for me

I try to rotate gigging my basses as much as possible, I have quite a few and now don't gig that often so yes it is a constant surprise to pick up a bass I haven't played for a few months and remember exactly why I brought it.....which then triggers the guilt trip of having really good gigging basses sitting around not doing what they were intended to do but, I don't want to sell them because, to me, they are the basses I wanted...if that makes sense

"Sounds better than expected", I would hope so for five times the retail price....I would want to sit out front and watch Kylie play it for that money...then it would also look better than expected

I have been watching the Die Hard films over Christmas, they just seen to be a terrorism ideas forum!

Ok, tried everything, I dismantled the bass completely yesterday, a couple of slightly loose bridge screws,a couple of slightly loose tuner screws and the nut was not glued in so was loose...all rectified, re-assembled the bass and no difference, still dead as a Dodo! The strings are new Elites and you can hear that they are fresh....I know it is not down to strings as the bass has always lacked sparkle irrespective of strings. Gig wise last time I gigged it we had one of our regular bass chat contributors in the audience he is not a fan of Jazzes or Precision's and he said afterwards that the Precision sounded far better / stronger than the Jazz. I have decided I am going to strip the Fralin's out and the stack knob controls, put the Fralin's in the cheapy sell on the stack knob plate and stick the bass out on Ebay (I won't put it out on here as I don't want to sell, what I consider to be, a poor bass on Basschat) shame really as it is a beautiful looking bass in CAR with matching headstock but it does go to prove "beauty is more than skin deep"

Happy new year my friends! Do we think it is possible for a bass to just be dead? something in the wood just sucking any life out of the tone, I have an early eighties Tokai Jazz that I brought off here some years back, it had been messed about with before I brought it having had the pickups swapped for Fender ones and the tuners swapped again for Fender items.....I was never impressed with the sound of it and it has sat in its case for a couple of years rarely being used....so last year I swapped the pick ups out for a set of overwound Lindy Fralin's and a Fender Stack Knob control plate.....the difference.....nowt, nothing, not a sausage, it is still as dead sounding as ever. Over Christmas I have been working on a cheap Andy McClusky Jazz bass project which consists of a cheap basswood body, generic pick ups, mini pot wiring and a cheap bridge and tuners, I have now finished it and plugged it in and instantly liked the sound....a tighter more compressed almost Precision type tone off the neck pickup (I don't bother with bridge pick ups on Jazzes) I A/B ed the two basses, same amp, same volume etc both basses with new Elites fitted and the cheapy project sounds so much more alive than the Tokai and much more like I think a Jazz should sound, so I am left with the conclusion that the wood used for the Tokai is dead and just saps all the tone out of the bass and irrespective of the parts added it is not going to improve the tone if the wood is dead What do we reckon?

I wonder if it is just a case of coming back to a bass that you are not 100% taken with the sound of....I have a Jazz that just will not sound good irrespective of strings / pick ups, wiring etc....I have changed the lot and it still sounds dead, I have just A/B tested it with a dirt cheap project I have put together over Christmas and the flipping project sounds loads better for some reason!

I would guess the Chain is probably the most instantly recognisable bass part, yes for its F1 links and yes some people may not even recognise it as a bass guitar part but if I said to my mum an example of bass guitar is Good Times / Another One Bites the Dust I would get a "meh" if I said the Formula 1 intro music she would know it immediately...I also think Stand By Me is a good call in the same vein. One for me would possibly be Beats International / The Clash, Dub Be Good To Me / Guns Of Brixton another iconic short riff

I was always saddened that punters and landlords didn't share my obvious great taste in music and no matter how much I liked the song or even how well we played it, it never got a good reaction.....any Foo Fighters song springs to mind for some unknown reason! Yet landlords and punters really like things like Sex On Fire, Mr Brightside, Chelsea Dagger and One Way or Another...especially when introduced as a [s]Wine[/s] One Direction cover song! I know as musicians we can be really protective of what we play and how we perceive ourselves as a band when in reality we are there to entertain punters keeping them drinking and hence paying money to the establishment. If the punters like One Direction and you can deliver it to a decent standard then you probably have a bright future as a covers band.....I considered it a form of prostitution, playing covers kept me gig sharp, with good gear so when the original band goes out I was at the top of my game Much as I disliked playing some songs, if they are well received then they are good for the band

survive the year!

Sad day for music today, another influential musician of my time gone RIP sir

I saw him back in 1986? when he joined Hawkwind on stage at Reading Festival to play Silver Machine, I remember having a tear in my eye that night, but that might have been down to the amount of plastic bottles being burnt on the various camp fires littering the arena. A proper legend, RIP sir

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HOT-ROD-RAT-ROD-CUSTOM-CAR-/181974651414?hash=item2a5e88d216:g:gQIAAOSw1S9WgRWl Seldom am I stumped for words but on this occasion........

Weird, I wonder if he did something with the listing that stopped it appearing on a UK only search, I check Ebay everyday and hadn't seen this one, it does look a real bargain, I am thankful I already have too many Precision's and a Jazz build in progress otherwise the bank account would be getting another beating as we speak!