3V17C

hmmm, while admittedly some of the SX basses do look quite nice, to me, they still reek of cheapo bass and probably slightly more so than Squier which at least have a vague connection to fender. i have always been a bit of a gear snob though so perhaps that clouds my judgement when i should be judging on playability etc rather than the headstock logo. Still, I personally wouldn't ever go out live with a sub £200 bass. Like so many things though, its to each his own. peace c

well - having been off work for 4 days with proper flu (not [i]man[/i] flu - proper flu! - fever, cold sweats, shakes etc) and having not eaten more than the odd crumb for the same amount of time i was borderline cancelling our gig on Saturday but of course, not wanting to let anyone down, the show must go on etc etc, I dragged myself out of my deathbed, dosed myself up with Lemsip and Red Bull and went for it. Feeling [i]very[/i] ill still, and more than a little annoyed by the drummer having a [b]massive[/b] go at the bewildered guitarist for not bringing the intro tape (we don't normally use an intro tape at this venue!) - i thought sod it, i'll stay out of it and hopefully as is often the case, once i'm up onstage then i'll sweat the evil germs out of me and it'll all be good. Didn't quite go like that though as after a couple of songs it was pretty obvious that things weren't going to improve and with the heat of the lights etc I started to feel much worse, weak and dizzy. Still struggling on I manage to get through both sets despite the fact that by half way thru set two, the music in my delirous brain was sounding like some old creepy fairground music kind of ebbing and flowing and speeding up and slowing down!!! yoinks! really annoying thing though was despite how dodgy i felt i (think) i played pretty much fine but our widdly guitarist was dropping bum notes all over the shop!!!!! grrrrrr!!! he's been warned so many times lately too!!! gig was videoed so i'll wait to watch that before passing judgement but it did annoy the hell out of me at the time!! peace c

[quote name='dlloyd' post='155245' date='Mar 11 2008, 12:51 PM']Now, KP Discos in Ready Salted were the best reconstituted potato snack ever. I haven't seen them for years.[/quote] you should get yourself down to Morrisons - they always have them on offer, buy one get one free (i say you buy one, you get one free!) - six pack - cheese and onion, salt and vinegar AND ready salted! peace c

if i can make it i'll bring the Yamaha Attitude LTD 1 c

hmmm an interesting thread. On the subject of theory versus creativity: one of the guitarists in my band is technically fantastic. He knows all the theory, loads of weird scales/modes etc etc and practices at least four hours a day (even if that means getting up at 5 in the morning to get a couple of hours in before he starts work!) and can play super fast and super clean. Theres no doubt that he knows what hes doing....... BUT he overcooks things sometimes. We play pretty basic old school rock/metal and he'll often be soloing and throw in these weird and 'clever' scales but they'll sound wrong in the context of the song despite being technically correct. He doesn't understand when we tell him that it sounds wrong though because 'technically' what he's playing IS correct. Its one example where perhaps using his ears instead of his theory and listening to whats going on around him would work better. The other guitarist on the other hand comes from a more bluesy kinda background with much less technical know how and his solos are always much more creative. Personally i do like alot of technical stuff but for me, there does have to be equal parts creativity. Many of these solo bass virtuoso albums etc do seem quite sterile in a way. As for practicing 10 hrs a day, I don't think i could go that far. I used to do 3 or 4 hrs practice when i had the time but these days its perhaps 1 or 2 at most. peace c

[quote name='finnbass' post='153294' date='Mar 7 2008, 06:31 PM']And your point is? That's like saying, 'God influenced God!' I'm thinking about putting up prize money however, for anyone who can stand more than 60 seconds of this: [/quote] ouch! if you skip the first half it does settle down into something listenable....... c

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='152037' date='Mar 5 2008, 09:16 PM']We've got the normal Maplin traffic lights but they flash like mad and there's no switch or control to stop them. Anyone know how to set them to be constantly on please?[/quote] varying layers of gaffa tape over the mic can slow them down a bit peace c

yeah not bad, nothing that makes me go 'ooooooh!' apart from how solid he is but some interesting bits from some choice songs played very well. Interesting beard growth throughout! And as well as clearly having far too many basses, he must also have far too much spare time on his hands! how many videos has he got up there!!! yoinks! peace c

just over on [url="http://www.myspace.com/normanwattroy"]Norman's myspace[/url] - seems theres a solo album on the way! Apparently 'Norman will utilize a few of his lesser known chops that made more than a few hits, but for which he never received a writers credit, and turn em into phat new jams'........... could be good, the man's a legend! ....if somewhat sweaty looking!! peace c

PM'd!

hardware will be getting 'the treatment' too! - basically i got the bass secondhand ages ago but the guy i got it off must have kept it in his shed or something so the pickups and control plate are already quite rusty/pitted etc which is what gave me the idea to go the whole hog and relic it. peace c

ok - yeah, perhaps not worse, but definitely on a par. i won't go into details here as i didn't experience any of the problems myself so there is a certain amount of hearsay involved. You can PM me if you like though and i'll tell you the couple of stories i've heard... the thing about someone pretending to be your manager and cancelling gigs etc is well out of order though!! peace c

sorry to hear about that. the Railway in Ipswich USED to be a good venue a few years back but unfortunately the current owners do have a bit of a reputation for pulling stunts like this (and worse) - personally we played there once and won't be going back. Was quite funny though when we did play there, because being forwarned about what they were like we went in on the defence and because it was obvious from the outset we wouldn't be taking any cr@p from them they were ok to us. the old landlady now has another pub in Ipswich called the Black Horse which, although small, is a good, friendly venue. peace c

yeah not bad that - i'm in the process of relic-ing a MIM Sunburst Jazz - don't really know why, just thought i'd give it a whirl!! will post some pics up once its done (providing i don't ruin it of course!!) peace c

also check out 'The Decline of Western Civilization Pt2 : The Metal Years' - a feature length documentary about 80's metal bands - very entertaining!!!! peace c

hmmmm - must admit backing vocals (or lack thereof) did cause me to miss out on a very nice gig once a few years ago which is more than a little annoying! in my current band i do a couple of BVs though have to admit I'm a little concerned about my possible new Van Halen tribute project because listening to the songs, theres alot of very good vocal harmonies going on and actually a few twiddly bass parts! i can learn the singing/playing at the same time thing but i can't learn to get a good voice!! backing tracks may be the way forward!!! peace c

what a gent! he had a spare pickguard for a Jazz bass, and let me have it gratis!! (who said theres no such thing as a free lunch!?!) cheers c

[quote name='Russ' post='144432' date='Feb 21 2008, 02:58 PM']Well, I like the new BB. It's quite possible that the polepieces on the pickups have been epoxied over, like the older Attitude models, but you can't really tell from the pictures. I still think Billy's a great player, but I heard him proseletysing about being a Scientologist recently, and that made me lose a lot of respect for him... [/quote] yeah theres a bunch of videos on youtube at the moment with him going on about the scientology stuff, though to be fair, as far as i know, he keeps that totally seperate from his music career and never preachs it or even mentions it at clinics/gigs or anything. peace c

nice colour and a bit quirky... [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Jazz-Bass-Stile-Body-NEU_W0QQitemZ310021340968QQihZ021QQcategoryZ87492QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]Purple Jazz ish body[/url] peace c

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='142872' date='Feb 19 2008, 08:09 AM']I like the chrome red finish. However, I share the concerns about pick-ups and the change to a rosewood (?) fretboard. Note also the lack of fretboard scallops in the upper registers. Looks like another cost-cutting measure. Still, if it sounds good / plays well and is good value, then fine! Besides, I should worry... It's a good instrument, but I'd love to build an Attitude-a-like that would fit my preferences; *Jazz neck width & profile (!) *Neck HB and split "P" as per the Attitude. *A tap-able Twin "J" at the bridge (an idea borrowed from the "PJ"s, Warwick Infinity and Fender Deluxe "P". *Passive electrics. *A slightly longer horn on a basically "P" body (probably Alder) to prevent the Attitude's slight tendency to dive. Don't know about controls or hardware, but it'd be able to approximate the sounds of quite a few instruments, plus give a few unique tones of its own...[/quote] the Attitude 'Special' has pretty much a Jazz neck on it plus the HB and split P... peace c

i fought against playing covers for years but these days thats all i do - its quite good as the band are pretty good and we always go down well despite not playing the 'obvious' songs, but in a way i do feel like i've let myself down a bit as i never wanted to just be the bass player in a covers band. Vaguely looking around for some kind of original project but theres alot of poor quality bands out there and age isn't on my side (a ripe old 38!) Also computers are a godsend for writing/recording your own stuff - the only thing i need is motivation!!! having said all that, theres currently talk of a van halen tribute band starting up locally who want me as the bassist - more covers but hopefully more money too!!! peace c

yeah it is a bit odd, because he's not played a BB for many, many years, since that pink/maple one in the early 80's DLR era(which WAS cool!) - i guess its easier for Yamaha to make these mods to a standard BB and call it a signature rather than get a whole budget Attitude range into production again. still no sign of the Mark III attitude anywhere either?......thought they were meant to be out by now? peace c