EliasMooseblaster

The weak points are (usually) at the jack ends. If you buy cables with jacks that can be opened, pop them open when they start playing up and see whether the connections are fraying. They're easy enough to re-solder. That said, I haven't had to solder one myself for a very long time: I agree with others on here that there is a lot to be said for being kind to your cables!

You can go all-valve without breaking your back these days. Depends on the size of the gigs you're playing of course, but if you're in small-ish venues, or have good PA support, there are always options like the Ashdown CTM-30 / Little Bastard / Little Stubby. They go a surprisingly long way with a well-voiced 2x10 or 2x12. Or if you need more power, go hybrid: Orange do the Terror Bass, or you might be able to get a second-hand Mesa/Boogie Carbine - both of these are tube preamps with a transister power stage.

Yeah, I can definitely see the sense in both approaches. I guess if you extend your range upwards then tuning your higher strings to C and F (and Bb?) opens up the instrument's range slightly more than tuning to B and E, plus you're not going to be playing huge chords across all 5/6/7 strings. On the other hand, having the major third in among the fourths might give you more scope for transferring certain guitar chord shapes onto the top strings more easily than if you were working solely in fourths...although I've never tried it myself, so I can't reliably comment!

I'd still argue that it's a member of the guitar family. I feel like the fact that we typically play it monophonically has less to do with its design, and more to do with the dense intervals of a full triad sounding - to put technically - utterly gash at those low frequencies. Try the same on a piano - play a simple major or minor triad of your choosing in a standard guitar's register, then try it an octave down. Open fifths and octaves, by contrast, can be quite acceptable when used judiciously (which is to say, not over the drummer's solo). The consistent fourths tuning likely has more to do with the fact that the rulebook hadn't been written when ERBs were being invented, so people just made up their own rules. It's worth noting that a Bass VI follows standard guitar tuning, and I have heard of some oddballs tuning their six-string basses B-B (however, such revolutionaries may have been taken out back and shot by now). Not to mention the fact that, of any Western musical instrument, members of the guitar family are the most likely to be found in some strange and deviant tuning at any given time and for any given piece: please spare a thought at this moment for Sonic Youth's guitar tech. Where I'm going with this, in my usual clear and concise manner, is that not only am I equally comfortable being referred to as the bass player or the bassist, but that I am also content for observers to group me in with the lead and rhythm guitarists and refer to us, collectively as, the guitarists.

By coincidence, I'd just stuck on Dead Can Dance when I chanced across this thread! I know they have a couple of live albums, but I think I'm right in saying their touring schedule became quite light after the first few albums.

I've only been able to do it once - usually when I've left a band, it's because something's been a bit off, and sure enough, I've bumped into one of them later on to find that the band ran out of steam and eventually folded. But one group kept on going, and found another bassist, and so I was able to go and watch them with their new lineup. We'd parted on good terms (I just didn't have enough time to spare to keep playing with them), so it wasn't awkward - quite the opposite, it was nice to catch up with them all, and the new lineup (and new material) sounded good. And by curious concidence, a few years later, I started a new job and was welcomed into the office on my first day by...their new bass player. Small world...

No, I think that's why they gave me a hard time...!

Yeah, it's not doing anything for me either, and I also love(d) The Who. But they've been a funny one over the last two decades. Every so often there's flickers of hope that Townshend still has it - remember Real Good Looking Boy? And I will admit that I got my hopes up with Endless Wire: sure, it wasn't on par with their '60s and '70s output, but it had its moments. As a lot of critics said at the time, comeback albums usually sound a lot worse. And it beat a lot of the music molesting the charts in 2011(?) into a cocked hat. But then, unfortunately, this comes along and drops into the same bin as Be Lucky. And you wonder how far we are from sinking back into the Kenney Jones era...

Good god, and to think some of my friends used to give me a hard time if they thought I'd unbuttoned my shirt a touch too far down on stage...

Yeah, I think it's one of those funny, neither one-nor-t'other configurations - a bit like how the P-90 sounds like a humbucker but is actually an overwound single-coil, I think the split-coil P is humbucking but has an output level closer to a single-coil. I'm actually not sure whether standard Js are HB or SC! They certainly sound more like singles, but I could be entirely wrong, especially as they do typically have two poles...

Technically, I think it's correct to say that the P pickup is a humbucking configuration; an individual J pickup is not.

Another vote for Option C - getting in with some good bands in other towns and cities is the best way to spread awareness of your existence. And you can return the favour by hosting them in your own home town with a variant on Option A. Option B depends far too much on how diligent and understanding the promoter/venue is, as some might get the hump with you if you haven't packed the place to the rafters, irrespective of the fact that you're not in the least bit local.

My personal favourite is From Beale Street to Oblivion. I'm sure I've heard Electric Worry on Planet Rock on the occasions I've had the station forced on me, and that was one of the main singles from that album. (But then I've only heard about three of those twelve albums, so I may not be the best source of advice!)

As someone else who has also gigged a Little Bastard: it can be done, especially with a good cab. If you're happy with a tone that's quite midrange-forward, and a bit dirty, you'll be fine in a small venue. (But if you were after super-tight, super-clean, scooped-mid funk tones then I'd question why you'd bought a small valve head in the first place!)

Is it cheating if the strings are double-course? Have a (very different) 8:

Dare I say it's symptomatic of modern rock music being chock-full of lousy rhythm guitarists? I've heard too many records where it's just a solid wall of chords under the singer, as if they've all developed a sort of musical agoraphobia. Of course it all falls apart live: if they've two guitars, the guy taking a solo can't be heard over the endless, pummeling power chords; if they've one guitar, all the momentum disappears because the thin, widdly solo they overdubbed in the studio leaves a massive hole where once was a wall of chords. @fretmeister is entirely right above: playing in a 3-piece is wonderfully liberating. Listen to Cream, Hendrix, Mountain, even groups like The Who which were basically a trio-plus-singer. Make sure your bass sound fills enough space - make the low mids your territory, season with high-mids and treble to taste. If your guitarist does want to replicate certain solos, can any of them be played an octave lower?

I have ticked the first option, because my solo project is currently my main focus, and everyone involved agrees that I am excellent. Thinking back to my other band, I must humbly concede that title to our guitarist. I'd previously thought of myself as a particularly patient and dependable person, but I could learn a thing or two from him.

It's hardly news to state that eBay is full of small workshops and unknown manufacturers flogging their own electronic devices and guitar bits (and for once, I'm not talking about any of the more infamous...erm...converters and refurbishers on there). The existence of Sonicake, therefore, didn't surprise me - they seem to offering their own takes on various effects pedals. But what seemed unusual to me was a number of Valetone and Hotone pedals available in their shop. The prices seemed to be quite a bit lower, and the designs on the cases seemed to be different, so I assume Sonicake is making their own clones. However they've got the original companies' logos printed on them...are some pedal manufacturers licensing their gear to other manufacturers? (And the real question for which I've gathered you all here today: ultimately, should I have any reservations about taking a punt on one of their Hotone B Station pedals?)

What kind of a name is "4003" for a cat?

Yeah, inserting the DC jack just kills the pedal. Works fine if I disconnect and just run from the battery, but I don't even get an audio signal through it with the DC connected.

Ah, yes - nothing gives you the sudden feeling that you're just going to be a nuisance to people in the pub than the staff looking around the place saying "oh yes...erm...you can set up...uhhh...over there!"

I guess the key question is what a "regular" P bass sounds like to you - do you feel like it needs more "thump" or more "clank" (or even..-whispers- more "heft")? Are there any particular Precision players whose tones you'd like to get closer to? I can speak very highly of the Fender CS'62, and the Seymour Duncan SPB-2, but then I like the bright, clear honk that they provide, which can also be tamed with a little roll of the tone control, if your bandmates are looking a little scared.