JamesBass

Interesting, I've never added up my practicing schedule really. I do 1 3 hour band practice a week, 5 and a half hours a week playing in college and then anywhere between 2-3 hours everyday throughout the day. I spend at least 1 hour of solo practice doing scales and arpeggios and general theory. I'm 19 by the way and unemployed so I have plenty of time

I guess like most things it's all about preference and style, personally I don't see the need for a ramp with my playing, I tend to move my hand around A LOT during playing, sometimes I'm half way up the finger board, other times I'm over the neck pick up, sometimes just behind the neck pick up, sometimes mid way between neck and bridge pick ups, other times I'm over the bridge pick up and occasionally I'm right up agains't the bridge. I don't mind where I play, it just happens naturally, helps vary things up for me and keeps me on my toes without realising it. I'm not quite sure how other guys feel "uncomfortable" without anything below their fingers? Just sounds odd to me?

Yeah 24, maple/maple sounds good, maybe have a rosewood option though? Shape wise Something interesting and comfortable, somewhere between a P bass and a Rickenbacker 4003, predictable and simple but they are lovely comfortable shapes!

My girlfriend doesn't mind my gear buying and wanting, so long as I keep using them for work and can prove that the bass will be worth a lot of money, still working on my time machine guys and girls, I'll soon have it perfected and will soon have my pension sorted out in the form of future collectible basses, I might let you guys know, for a large fee of course But I digress, my girlfriend has her hobbies/job that takes up a lot of room so we've both agreed when we get our own place we will be having a large house with rooms for the music studio and fabric studio

I'll add through neck to it as well!

Maple/Rosewood with lacquer a la Rickenbackers. Or Maple/Maple, nicely aged and lacquered for me and 20 frets it's all you need. Profile ideally somewhere between a Jazz and a Precision neck. If we are talking necks, are we also talking neck through or bolt on etc?

The only way you are going to find the ideal bass for you is by trying them all out, get together a short list and find a shop local to you that does all those basses and get down there and spend a good few hours trying the all out, play the stuff you are going to be playing on it and find out if it suits you, it might not look the most rocky of basses but if you get the right sound out of it and it feels great then its a no brainer! Do let us all know what you decide on, I'm sure we are all curious to see what suits you!

Personally you can't go wrong with either a Fender Jazz or Fender P bass, typical I know but they are the bread and butter and have tons of pick ups to allow for you to find the right sound, honestly the best way to find a new bass is to just go and have a play. But on the basses you list, I don't mind the Epiphone TBird, it's fairly heavy and not balanced how I like but, you can get some great tones from them! Personally I'm not a great fan of the LTDs never liked their tone. Schecters are great if you find the right one for you. Which brings us back to the whole try for yourself

Yes! ALL the bloody time! I find myself humming and tapping away to the lines in my head and it drives me mental! Always happens when I'm busiest and shouldn't be playing as much! I get on my girlfriends nerves all the time with it! I've got the line to Play That Funky Music stuck today! I HATE that riff!

4 Strings, nice and simple that way, plus we can always add later perhaps!

Who else is up for a BC meet up then?! Awesome, well we should really push this I reckon, get as many of the Local to Portsmouth BC's there!

Well I've just found a new 4004 Cheyenne II on Wunjos website (http://www.wunjoguitars.com/shop/bass-guitars/rickenbacker-4004-cheyenne-ii) and that's going for £2,295. The Cheyenne are fairly rare, so the price is going to be a bit high. And with all things eBay someone is going to see it and think bargain where as someone else will scoff and scroll down the page

I'm up in Purbrook, think a BC Portsmouth meet up would be a great idea, get a few pints in and chat about basses! Sounds like a perfect evening to me

Ok so many people will think this is some bass technique perhaps or that this belongs in the Off Topic section. BUT, in the past few weeks I've seen a number of members who have ailments that limit their playing ability, with a few giving up playing totally due to pain. When perhaps there may be one last chance to lessen the effects of the ailment and carry on playing? Is anyone out there familiar with the Alexander Technique? Do any of our members use this technique? The Alexander Technique is a form of self-relaxation and self healing. It uses the body and mind to relieve some ailments and help improve your well being.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1360679867' post='1974471'] I'm no expert in music formats, but I reckon a lot of stuff is produced specifically for mp3 now, which is considerably dumbed down from previous formats. Maybe this has something to do with it. [/quote] We have a winner! I dunno how many of us look at the files we record, not the wave patterns in Logic but the individual files in the folder where you've saved your song, it's these files that then, form together to make the MP3 track we download and unfortunately sound carries A LOT of energy and information so that has to be compressed to buggery, many guitars have so much compression and bass added to them these days that when someone is playing a solo you don't quite get that trebly effect anymore. Music is dying in the digital age, well good music and good clarity is, but we are partly to blame when we listen to music through tiny laptop speakers that have no real definition

When writing songs with my band I leave my bass lines right till last, once everything else has been sorted that way I can work out the most effect lines and put them in the most effective places where there is normally space otherwise it sounds messy to me.

Jeans, don't have to be washed they are designed to take the wear of up to a few weeks non-washing! Keep your gear close to you, as often as possible! That stuff is your life! Also get receipts for EVERYTHING, that way you can claim it all back if you put it through a business account, you are working but you are having fun!

The Epi just lacks tone, has some of the most horrific neck dive which harms your technique and just is a horrible feeling bass, to me anyway. Never been one for Yamaha's and as such I've only read reviews and played them for a total of about 1 hour in the whole time I've been playing bass which is nearing 10 years now, I should check them out more maybe... Now the Squier is the one I'd go for every single time, it's a classic design, ergonomically it's sound, the neck is a nice thicker piece of wood but if my Squier neck is to go by, I had the affinity series the neck won't be the thickest, plus the sound you can get from a P bass and its versatility is just unrivalled. But I'd recommend going to your nearest bass shop and try all basses in your price range, that way YOU get the feel for what YOU like and find comfortable cause that is what is important

Been browsing for a new amp lately and somehow until yesterday forgot about Hiwatt, anyone know if they are still any good or even still going? Can't find much locally in shops and there are virtually no new Hiwatt bass head videos on YouTube, I know poor researching skills but I'm lazy Anyone own one or played through one? Are they worth looking out for?

Good to see so many of us are writing! It gives a completely different sense of music and how you understand it when you write, well that's what I think. When I wrote my first song I used to always focus on what I liked and tried to write like that, for instance I wrote a song that has and never will get used as I've forgotten all the chords and progressions and only have awful lyrics left! That was in my very early teenage years, may have been 12/13 in fact as the song was meant for my very first band! Now older and wiser, I hope, my song writing is much different and more impulsive rather than a structured form like I used to try and force myself to do! I wrote a song I took down to my band and we worked on it and played through it and that was that, a typical Rock song, took it in to the guys at college and it turned in to a soul song with a female vocalist as a sort of rehashed cover, both sound phenomenal and both changed from the original. Last night when I started the thread I has just finished what is a good song but boy does it display my insecurities and fears within the lyrics! Quite scary and worrisome to read back but I must have needed to get them off my chest!

So how many of us on here actively write songs? I'm guessing a fair few will and most will write riffs and progressions but, who writes full blown songs, lyrics 'n' all? This evening I've had a bout of creative juices and have felt all artistic so, I have written a song, not sure how good it actually is yet, will come back to it tomorrow but, I certainly enjoyed writing it and think it's got a good little message and works with the feel of my previous writings for my band. Anyone else had the creative bug lately?

The Who - My Generation Iron Maiden - Edward The Great

Garageband works, or if you have the cash to spare Logic is always brilliant to have as most other people use it. What I use is a simple USB 4 track recorder/interface with DI inputs and jack sockets, then rig up and record, I use both mic and DI, if people are interested in a decent mic for not much money check out Superlux. The mic I've linked is exactly the same as a Sennheiser but with a different housing, sounds great! http://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_pra_628_mkii.htm

You won't be disappointed! Simply wonderful basses

Worst bass I've owned for tone is my Traben, it just doesn't suit me, might be someone else's ideal bass, its got a bucket load and more in terms of bass and not that much treble or mid, wasn't right for me! Worst in terms of quality is my Squire P-Bass though that is being upgraded. Worst bass I've ever had the misfortune of playing is a EB-0/3 played both hated both, they are closely followed by all Ibanez basses, they feel vile in my hands sound alright but the feel is the worst!