EliasMooseblaster

I have to hand it to you all, I enjoyed it this time around. WoT, you're quite right, the band actually sounds like a power trio again, the punch has come back to their sound by this stage. I can only presume the original problem was the result of my trying to listen to Rush's entire back catalogue over the course of a few days while at work. I enjoyed the entire run from Permanent Waves through Grace Under Pressure, but then it started to slump for me with Power Windows. I don't think I managed to finish Hold Your Fire or Roll the Bones, so I suspect my ears and brain were a little tired by the time I got to Counterparts. Opinion duly reassessed. I might continue the experiment tomorrow and give Test For Echo a shot.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1383838153' post='2269822'] On balance, he should probably have put the 810 under it instead ... [/quote] /thread

Counterparts is one of those albums I've wanted to like for a while now - I've really tried - because I love [i]Animate.[/i] I just don't seem to have been able to get into the other tracks. Seeing you all speak so highly of it on this thread, I feel I should give it another attempt.

[quote name='Chris Sharman' timestamp='1383580632' post='2266136'] Does this sound to my learned Basschat friends as a good way to get back into it or do any of you have horror stories of such things going BADLY wrong? [/quote] We've done this three times now, and it has yet to go badly. (The last one was let down by a small audience, but it's probably our own fault for sandwiching it between Hallowe'en and November 5th!) You're basically using a formula that is regularly abused by promoters (especially in London), but the difference is, you can choose the venue and the other bands, as opposed to cynically taking money off your friends/punters for an evening in some crap bar with three other bands who are awful but had lots of facebook likes. Cutting out these middlemen can sometimes make for a much better night. The other thing which you can differently from said promoters is to make an effort to promote the gig - bung some posters up around town, get it listed on local events websites and so forth. Best of luck with it!

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1383579032' post='2266101'] My entry. Apologies for length and shoddiness. [url="https://soundcloud.com/robotrobotrobotmusic/some-kind-of-ghost-wedding-i"]https://soundcloud.c...ghost-wedding-i[/url] [/quote] That's really quite nice that. I think it deserves a couple of extra points for the title!

[quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1383419208' post='2264352'] A little something like this....... [media]http://youtu.be/HAQ95Vln4I4[/media] [/quote] I had the exact same first thought when I saw the thread title! [quote name='E sharp' timestamp='1383426802' post='2264460'] I've seen this loads of times now , and it still makes me laugh . [/quote] I don't think it will ever cease to be funny.

Your girlfriend is wise and sage. Do not pass up this fantastic opportunity.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1383518480' post='2265483'] That's the spirit. [/quote] Pun intentional...?

Our third attempt at running our own gig night - this time, down at the Star, in Guildford. Unfortunately a bit of a poor turn-out. For a pub which is apparently heaving most Saturday nights, I think we got caught out by being in between Hallowe'en and 5th November. On the plus side, the crowd that was there seemed to enjoy it, and all the bands were excellent...well, of course they were - if we were running our own night, we were going to book bands we liked the sound of! I'd heartily recommend giving a listen to Stitch ( http://stitchband.com/ ), Monkey Militia ( http://monkeymilitia.co.uk/ ) and Thom Bowden ( http://thombowden.com/ ).

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1383485795' post='2264890'] What P pickup would give a tonal range from Jamerson woodiness to Entwistle attack and almost distortion? [/quote] If you're after that late '60s Entwistle sound (when he was mostly playing Precisions), probably a Fender Original - I recently bought a 62 'RI pickup from this series from The Bass Doc, which I'm hoping will get me a bit closer to the [i]Live at Leeds [/i]sounds. I'd hazard a guess Jamerson and Entwistle would both have been playing '60s Precisions, so the main difference is where they set their tone controls and how often they changed their strings!

...has been postponed until further notice. Just in case this leaves any BC types at a loose end in or near Guildford tomorrow night (Sat 2/11), Cherry White will be taking over the back of the Star Inn, with support from three great local bands: Thom Bowden, Monkey Militia and Stitch. Full details on the facebook event deelie: https://www.facebook.com/events/1420942581450482 Doors at 8pm; £7 entry or see the FB link for advance tickets. Student entry 2-for-1 with valid student ID. Cherry White: http://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/ Stitch: http://stitchband.bandcamp.com/ Monkey Militia: http://monkeymilitia.co.uk Thom Bowden: http://thombowden.com

Congratulations, Zen - a well-deserved win, if a very close one!

And..."minty," apparently. Good to know they brushed its teeth before selling.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1383064425' post='2259747'] I voted for Elias, because he bought my Thunderbird [/quote] And a lovely Thunderbird it is too! (Hope that beautiful Coronado's getting settled in nicely!)

Hmm...I've no experience with Schertler amps, but this seems to make sense from my experience with a Marshall AVT50 acoustic combo. It sounds like you're the kind of player that prefers their sound clear and clean - would that be fair to say? Acoustic amps are probably ideal for that, as they're designed to cope with a wide range of instruments - guitars, voices, violins, etc - without distorting (believe me, I've tried to overdrive one!). Bass amps are designed to cope with the bass-and-low-mid-heavy input of a bass guitar, and pumping out a lot of those frequencies through their speaker. Yes, your bass cab is very likely colouring the sound. Obviously no speaker gives a truly flat response - I think the closest you'll get to that is a studio monitor. The acoustic amp will be biased towards certain frequencies, though your sub unit is probably compensating for that. If you like that sound, I say go with it! (I don't know whether you're likely to damage any part of the setup though...but if it's set up for acoustic basses, you should be alright.)

Because it's limited edition, obviously! Seriously, though, I've no idea. I'm sure I've seen [i]bona fide [/i]US Gibsons going for less than that on ebay. Unless a Hipshot tuner costs £500 these days?

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1382628607' post='2254677'] Where can I find such a shop? IME it's a myth, the vast majority of shops stick stock straight from the box to the wall, frequently with terrible playability, and you'll only get a setup if you negotiate it as part of the deal when purchasing. [/quote] This is a good point...I often forget how good I have it in the capital! I've now bought four instruments from the various shops on Denmark Street, and generally they've been in excellent condition, and the good service I described above. I know what you mean, though: I have been down to one of the huge shops down in Surrey, and I did find that most of the cheaper basses were all set up badly. Don't know whether they'd paid more attention to the expensive ones, or if they'd just been shipped like that. But then if they're the only notable guitar shop for maybe 30 miles, they obviously don't feel they have to worry too much. (On the other hand, I found their customer service very accommodating.)

[quote name='Leen2112' timestamp='1382627580' post='2254648'] I'd like to think I support small business but sometimes you have to ask what the benefits of paying more for the same bass online. My last purchase was from Guitar Guitar which matched any internet price so that was good. [b]Also I'd rather see and play what I was getting before I pay for it.[/b] [/quote] That's the key difference, I'd argue. Sure, it's going to be the same [i]model [/i]online, but is it going to play the same way? A shop that takes good care of its stock will make sure the guitars are well set-up before people are allowed near them, and most of the shops I've bought from have promised that if the instrument needs adjustment within the first year, I can bring it back and they'll do it for free. Admittedly, I've never ordered a guitar online, but unless they have a similarly good policy you could end up paying back the saving you made on getting the thing setup. That, and how often do you actually pay the cost price for the instrument in the shop? They're invariably poised to haggle if you look like you might give in and buy; even if I haven't got the price down they've always thrown cables, straps, better cases, etc at me to "sweeten the deal."

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1382605917' post='2254176'] keeps my knob in tune... oh, is that not normal? [/quote] Just seems a bit much when you've only got one string to tune...

Until recently, one of them would have been a Gibson Thunderbird, but OH LOOK I'VE JUST BOUGHT ONE. That leaves a US Fender Precision on the list - have to say, I was quite taken with the 2011 and 2012 ones I tried not long ago. Kind of tempted by a Ric as well, but I've never actually played one! I do quite like the look, and Roger Glover and Lemmy have demonstrated that they can be made to sound good. But if money were no object, I expect I'd have time to shop around. And of course, if money were no object, I'd like to [i]try[/i] an Alembic...never been a fan of active basses generally, but some of those videos of John Entwistle's isolated bass have got me reconsidering.

[quote name='72deluxe' timestamp='1382520730' post='2253044'] I have put an MP3 on Google Drive for anyone to view as my feeble entry: [url="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2dUQpSGutXEdjZ3NFFiQTJWcDA/edit?usp=sharing"]https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharing[/url] [/quote] Not feeble at all, sir - I rather enjoyed that!

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1382460103' post='2252436'] Dead strings and scooping mids can have a big effect on this. Up the mids on your amp til the sound is clanky to start off with. [/quote] Another vote for Lozz's suggestion - you may be fighting against the amp's EQ. Put that all back to 12 o'clock and see if there's much difference. If it still sounds woolly, try taking some of the low freqency out of the amp EQ. Then have a good sweep. Can't speak for Genz Benz, but I did find this with Ashdown amps - they put out so much bass that you have to cut it quite a bit to make out any of the other frequencies. Once you make that cut, the tone control suddenly comes to life!

I feel quite influential now! (Must get round to putting up some photos from last week's gig....)

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1382013600' post='2246665'] [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/cc.jpg.html"][/url] [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/FacialHair.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] Are these "Before" and "After" shots?

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1381853529' post='2244580'] Question 1 - How should we name that subforum? Anybody have any suggestions? Question 2 - Would it be better to have two subforums under Gigs (one for the listings and one for the bands' media), or should we simply go for a Media subforum and leave the listings "loose", as they are now? [/quote] Well, if no one else is clamouring to answer... Q1: we could always name it after this thread. "Live photos and videos" seems pretty short and to-the-point! Q2: I would have thought it would be better to have the one subforum for live media - if you take all the listings out of the main Gigs forum there might not be much left!