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When my band Frigorifico was on the go, some of the songs followed a formula but then everything was improvised, so we knew the chords & how long choruses & verses was supposed to be & played about from there. The majority of the songs was written from jamming & then we'd just remember roughly what we did. Good fun.

I always had my action set about mid. After having read countless posts about lower action being faster, easier, whatever else, I decided to lower my action & one thing I have noticed is constant fret click. Doesn't matter how heavy or light I play, fingers, pick, slap or tapping. Every 2-3 notes & CLICK, pain in the bahookie! I haven't found any advantages yet as my playing is just the same & can go up & down scales no quicker. The bass could be a factor in how low an action you can have or maybe my truss rod needs slight adjustment (I do get fret buzz when I try & play the 7th fret on both the E & G strings together, limits my B minors).

Aye, they'll be fine together.

About 60-70% of my stuff starts life as a bassline or a melody that's started as a bass idea. I used to play keys so sometimes I look at the neck more from a keyboard angle rather than a bass/guitar angle. The other 30-40% either starts from a piece of software (like Garageband or Reaper) or sitting playing about on the acoustic guitar (sometimes a bassline from there too).

I've tried a couple of compressors & not found one I'm happy to use. I borrowed the EHX white finger & recorded a few tracks with it, but it was less used as a compressor & more just for a bit of bite. I also tried a Boss Compressor/limiter & all I found it did was raise the noise level of any effects in the chain regardless of settings & takes away from the dynamics. The only time I use any compression is on the final mix if I'm doing the producing.

I prefer things like Selah, Hillsong United & Chris Tomlin. Misty Edwards has some stonking bassists playing for her.

If you take into account the price of inflation on everything else, then Rics, Fenders & many others are less than 1/2 the asking prices back then. An average house would cost at least £150k, an average unskilled job would give you at least £190 a week. Going on your figures for '74 that's 10x more than then, so the Ric should now be £3250, the Fender Jazz £2750, oh, and a MXR Phase 90 £690? We're living in bargain heaven.

A good album of simple basslines that's good fun to play is Electric by the Cult. Pop rock from the 80's. Most of the songs are just straight 8s, but there's some good simple riffs in there too. All U2's albums are nice easy basslines, first 3 albums are the best. Have fun & enjoy yourselfs.

When I joined a little over 2 years ago everyone said there was a shortage of bassists & having less than 3000 members kinda reflected this. Now we have over 10000 members, does that mean work's gonna be tight for us or are we just gonna have to do what guitarists do & double up? Anyway, a warm welcome all you noobies, I was one too once!

There's a good choice of lightweight amps to be had that could very well surprise you MarkBass & Genz Benz are both very good. A 2nd hand MarkBass LM11 can be had for £350 ish, maybe less & is a brilliant little amp.

Basschat. Has just about everything you need to know about bass.

Mr Blob makes a very good point, a small generator putting out @ 2-3 kva isn't the best thing to be running everything off of. Ideally you'd be wanting a 10+ kva silent runner (not cheap to buy, so best to hire). [quote name='LawrenceH' post='878571' date='Jun 27 2010, 01:53 AM']amps like the shuttle with Class D operation and a switch mode power supply[/quote] This. If you was using a valve amp your sound probably wouldn't have cut out but just changed in tone. I doubt it would be good for the amp still.

Funny how this topic's came back to the top page not long after me looking at [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/art.htm"]These[/url] !

I don't use a compressor or limiter, but I would have thought that if you run any effects after your compressor then the limiter would be best placed at the end of the chain to catch any spikes? But then i suppose like any pedals, it's down to what [b]you[/b] like the sound of that counts.

I've got TI Jazz flats on my fretted ibby & love them, I haven't used any other flats tho & it was no hassle going from rounds to flats (infact, it was a joy).

I've been looking at active monitors also & the post is in the misc section (below the effects section) & the thumps was also on my shortlist. The Wharfedale Titan 12s get a good shout but I've decided to go with the db technologies Opera Live 405s.

A whilst back I was in the same situation. Looking for a good rig for £800 ish & no idea what to get. I posted on here & got all sorts of good advice & was stuck between an Ashdown rig (weighed a bit & was a touch too wooly for my ears), the Gallien Kruger RB 700 2x10 combo, the MarkBass 2x10 & the Roland 2x10 & 1x15 ext cab. I tried all but the MB & decided to take a chance & got it sent from the Bass Merchant (whom I can recommend) & I've never regretted it. I've toyed with the idea of adding an extra cab for height, but I actually don't need it for volume. I'd go & try as much stuff as you can tho.

I use the MB 102P & it cuts through in a band situation with plenty to spare. Infact, I can overpower an overpowering guitarist & drummer when needs be & rarely go thru the PA unless it's a largish gig with subs.

Well I've had a look at loads of actives & was about to go for the Titan 12, but then I found the db Opera Live 402 & then discovered the Opera Live 405 is only £5 more at £350 which from what little reviews I can find, appear to be really good. Anyone used them? Thanks for the good advice thus far.

Don't know if it interests you, but there's one of them there Ibby GWB35's on ebay for £380.

Well I tried out that PSK Super Distortion & it does give a super amount of distortion! If you turn the gain just slightly (about half way to 1-10) then you get a nice amount of distortion that makes some nice synthy sounds when used with my mf 101, but I can get much better o/d or distortion sounds with my mf 105b, so it won't be going on my board. I am tempted to mod it tho & change the resistor in the gain section.

I haven't tried the Peterson one but I have the TC one & also Guitar Toolkit (which cost £5.99) & prefer the GT.