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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).

Nice one. I was listening to this song the other day & thinking "I wouldn't mind learning that sometime". I might actually do it now!

I'm considering recovering my combo with some cool looking tolex too as I don't like the fluffy customisation that my cats have done to it.

[quote name='charic' post='980218' date='Oct 7 2010, 09:16 AM']Okie doke, Riddle me this Having got the first rs210 (will be getting the rh450 in the near future) I've found that it is a little wobbly on end. Now I suspect two of these would be even MORE unstable... How do YOU combat this? (eventually ill have 2 x 210 ) GAS GAS GAS[/quote] Heavy duty velcro & only play venues with carpeted floors or carry a Gramma Pad around too.

I'm gonna get a good look at this site later. Thanks for that.

An easy one that goes down well is West Nashville Boogie by Steve Earle. Good opener to warm the band up & get past any nerves & the chords are E (for 1 1/2 bars) G, A. Ice Cream Man by Van Halen is a pretty easy song too (just make guitarist do a solo to his ability tho to save embarrassment). Take Me To The River by Talking Heads (or Al Green if you prefer). Break On Through by The Doors. Shy Boy by Talas, has a nice bass solo for you to learn. Lean On Me by Bill Withers, just for a singalong & the cool wee bass bit during "Just call on me brother, if you need a hand".

So the answer to your question is "yes maybe, but I doubt it".

You'll get a fairly decent recording going straight into the line in on your macbook/imac. I have an interface but often find myself plugging the bass into my pedals & then straight outta them into the imac (mainly due to lazyitis tho). Have a listen to my moogerfooger reviews in the effects reviews section on here to get an idea of sound quality using this & recording on Garageband. Reaper is a better bit of software & is a free download.

Good question, but one I don't believe could actually be answered. I know many manufacturers will make 4 & 8 ohm versions of cabs, but don't know of any that make 2 identical amps that run at the different loads to test your theory. The wattage of the cab doesn't really get taken into account, just as long as it can handle what it's being asked to draw.

Here's a better demo.

Classic. On a serious note, there's many midi drum pads available that can be linked to a cheap/dear sampler.