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In each of my bands, we usually write our own parts after one of us has turned up with the original idea. Most of our songs start with either me bringing a bassline, melody & basic chord structure or the singer (guitarist/banjoist) bringing lyrics, melody & chord structure & then each of us writing our own parts for the song & all contributing to the flow (structure). On rare occasions another band member does something like this! Sometimes it's started from a jam where one of us starts a wee riff or idea & then it grows & on rare occasions one of us brings an entire song & then it gets stripped down & chopped & shuffled until we're all happy with it (& then play it differently at every gig).

Sweat Pea by Manfred Mann! Hold music to the insurance underwriters & it's pants!!!!

You should reword the title to "After some pinions". I've heard those Peavey cabs are a bit wieghty! Sorry, I'm bored at work so looking to make folk laugh with my silly comments.

+1 for getting Reaper. I use it more than any other audio software I have. Oh, & you can get better than some Bellender usb interface from Maplins for @ the same money. Infact, for not a lot more you could get a USB mixer (such as Alesis)

Markbass do a gig bag too that holds 2 basses and has several pockets... [url="http://www.bassmerchant.com/item_detail.php?product_id=1012#"]http://www.bassmerchant.com/item_detail.php?product_id=1012#[/url] But at £349 it is a bit on the pricey side!

[quote name='lojo' post='987713' date='Oct 14 2010, 09:13 AM']Ha, Ive been playing bass at some contemporary christian services (aimed at people half my age ) and im the only one who cant read the notes, only the chords So yes, I get to make my own fills and licks, strangely though I am starting to see pattens and anticipate things from the music I do still feel like a lemon though, wish id learn to read[/quote] Going by the age of you in your pic, that's a mighty young congregation! You're never too young/old to learn to read music & the basics aren't as hard as you might think (they're quite easy actually).

I'd go with Mr Hunt's suggestion. 2 2x10s vertically offer a better dispersion & easier to carry than any of the other options.

or just the one 8 ohm if you wish.

You wont be able to use both cabs at once as your amp runs a min lead of 4 ohm & the 2x15 is a 4 ohm cab (tho you could rewire it to 8 ohm). 2 8 ohm cabs run at 4 ohm.

Both bands all originals but with the odd cover or two thrown into the set & rewritten to how it would be had we written it (bar the lyrics of course). I'd like to join a covers band but don't have any time to commit to another band.

I can understand where you're coming from with reading treble & bass clef. Why did they have to move it a stave? Is that a C or an E? Also if you started learning on keys then your mind reads score like a keyboard instead of a fretboard (when I look at a fretboard I see black & White notes). My trouble starts with that 8via nonsense! How many lines up???

Ah, I see what you mean now. Hope my post didn't come across as cheeky, silly or pointless as it was not meant to. I just didn't fully understand your question. From what I've read in other posts on here, most of the good luithers (such as those mentioned above) should be a good point of call. Sorry I cant be of better assistance & good luck in your quest.

I learned to read music when I was a kid with one of my best friends, it makes it easier when there's 2 of you learning each other (the days of Every Good Boy Deserves Fun & FACE). In an originals band, I never use my reading skills but the theory side is always used.

Isn't it going to be subject to who's taste it is still? One man's good is another's dire.

Like is said, practice makes it easier. My method varies. Most of the time I start with my bass in hand as I'll often play something similar to the vocals or it'll be riff based. I set a simple structure (such as intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus) & work on it from there, adding bits as the song starts to take shape. A good example is this: I started off with a melodic bass line, & let my singer hear it. He said "I've got some lyrics that I haven't managed to write a song for as I can't get them to fit, let's try them". He sings, they fit. I then amended things to accommodate a chorus & then it started to grow legs. It got a key change for an instrumental break & that completed it nicely to be Intro, Verse, Short Break, Verse, Chorus, Instrumental Break, Verse, Chorus x2, Outro. took about 6 months to write from start to finish (most songs are much quicker) & we called it Little Disappointments (you can hear the original bit of bassline on one of my reviews in effects reviews if you're interested). Another song I started with trying to get a sine like sound out of my bass & came up with a 3 chord verse (C, E & A), then made a wee melody on the guitar which ended up being the vocal line & replaced the bass with guitar & it's now played with just 2 guitars & a flute. It's called Johnny & Sid & started of as a rock song about punk but we now cover it as a folk song. Other methods I use are either starting with guitar for a chord structure or riff or using music software & working on the mac.

Anytime I've mic'd up the mic has been set about 6-12" from the middle of the cab. In this day & age I just DI straight out the amp as the engineer can use a modeller if it's needed.

And you didn't take pictures to let us mere mortals see? Shockaroonie!!!

I used to always get Ernie Balls, then I went thru a phase of getting the DR String Peacock Blues but found them way too zingy & the G snapped rather early for my liking. I then decided to go with flats & went for the TI Jazz 344 flats & love them for their sound & the smoothness of playing & whish I would have found them in the 80s!

I use Reaper on my mac & it's very good indeedy. My singer uses Ableton Live & says it's brilliant too & I used to use Cubase all the time when I was running winows, but these cost more than Reaper & don't offer that much more. Have a look at Edirol & M Audio (among many) for audio interfaces. These allow you to plug instruments, mics &/or mixers into them & connect to your laptop by firewire or usb.

[quote name='Duarte' post='984000' date='Oct 11 2010, 01:47 AM']And 'pharmaceuticals'[/quote] Anadin?

I'd sell all the "Big Rig" & the Tecamp cab & just get the one rig sorted for all situations. That way you practice with the same sound as you play live with.

Does it still say "SVT" on it?

I've only had 2 basses & still got both of them. First one was a Vox Standard which I bought in late '83 for £145 as I got sick of playing basslines on my guitar & the second is my Ibanez SR1000 which I purchased @ May '90 for £699. I've been happy with both of them, tho the Vox hasn't been played much since I got the Ibby & is now in bits & being defretted (by myself ). I was looking at 5 stringers & tried a Rockbass Corvette in Reverb, Glasgow & was shocked at the poor build quality.

There's nothing wrong with plugging your bass directly (with or without pedals) into the mic/line input on the iMac, I do it all the time. OK it won't give you great studio quality results, but for laying down ideas it does the job with decent results. I do have a USB mixer to hand that I haven't plugged into the iMac yet, but shall try it next week sometime & compare (I'll post two clips, one thru the mixer & one thru the mic/line input).