Norris

We normally play a semitone down - purely to reduce the strain on the singer. All well and good until we got a saxophonist up with us last night to play Us and Them. The guitarist decided he needed an open D string, so brought that one string back into concert pitch ... then eventually tuned the whole guitar back up to concert. Then we played that song with me in dropped tuning, until I eventually tuned up too because it was quicker than retuning the guitar.

Careful use of marker pen...

Try out something like the Boss ME-50B, which is fairly cheap. It has various effects to play with, has a built in tuner, and a pedal that can be used for volume - handy as a 'mute switch' between spots. The Boss GT-6B is a little more sophisticated (and more expensive), but is a bit easier to tweak settings, doesn't need separate bank switches and also has built in amp/cab emulation. Separate pedals may offer slightly better quality effects, but a multi-effect box is an inexpensive way to start 'dabbling' with effects - and all of them come with built in tuners. [color="#808080"]I'm still debating whether I want to sell the ME-50B that I no longer use, but might offer it up for trade for some entry-level home recording stuff in the near future...[/color]

Try twiddling the knobs a bit and plucking nearer the neck - it's not quite so "one trick pony" as you might think. It still sounds best with all the knobs at 11 though! If you're thinking of fitting Schaller strap locks, you'll need to do something about the hole at the bridge end. Gibson use a much thicker screw at the bottom of the bass than the one behind the neck. The screws that come with the Schaller set don't grip in the hole very well, and the original screw won't fit through the straplock. I sorted mine the other day, plugging the old hole with a large matchstick & decent wood glue.

Being in a trio, I either play the riff, or you don't get to hear it during the guitar solo

The tone control (or whatever) is just called 'Mix'. Whether it's a pan, or controls the "Ultra Shrill Treble" I don't know. There's a lot of information about fitting it, but not too much about controlling it or what it does.

A mate just emailed me this link. A bit of... erm... slap bass. Warning: Contains scenes of a chap with serious identity issues [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_X7mMU6Gb0"]YouTube link[/url]

A few years ago somebody gave me this kit. They had it sitting on a shelf for several years before that. It's for converting a Jazz ("Jazz bass, lookalike or clone" says the documentation ) to active and dates to 1987. Fitting the kit involves routing out a battery compartment behind the scratchplate and has a cover that fits to the scratchplate. I'm not the greatest fan of active, and I'm certainly not going to take a router to one of mine to try it out. The kit seems to be complete, all packages still unopened, all instructions and templates present. It takes a single 9V battery and contains active/passive switch, switched output socket and battery warning LED. For your amusement, some marketing blurb verbatim from the manual: [quote]CD-J ACTIVATOR The heart of this professional system. Power up your JAZZ BASS with a truly silent Treble and Bass control. Super Thick Bass and Ultra Shrill Treble at your finger tips. The controls are NON-INTERACTIVE giving wide tonal combinations. Output suits usual amplifiers and pedal effects as well as studio DIRECT INJECTION. The ACTIVATOR will even power headphones for tuning in the dressing room![/quote] So, is it any good? (And, shamelessly) Is it likely to be worth anything? Behold pictures: [attachment=65673:004.JPG][attachment=65674:002.JPG][attachment=65675:001.JPG]

Part-exchanged a Rickenbacker 4001 for an Aria SB-1000 & had to make up quite a bit of cash, 'cos you couldn't sell a Ricki back then. Never did like the Aria and after several years threw it in the loft to fester... ... it's now being restored, partly out of guilt, partly because they are fetching reasonable money now. I still probably spent more on AA batteries over the years than the bass cost me!

Every fule no it takes 30 years for the mojo to grow

Painted bass? Wood bass? Painted bass? Wood bass? ... sunburst!

[quote name='flyfisher' post='1008895' date='Nov 1 2010, 07:21 PM']In the end I fixed it for him. It took less than half an hour but he now regards me as some sort of technical genius. [/quote] ... and he'll be asking you to fix stuff every 10 minutes now

[quote]What to do when you find yourself a little 'bored' with Fenders?[/quote] Buy a thunderbird

I've never taken a spare bass. Spare strings, always! It only takes a minute or two to change a string, and it's entertaining trying to finish those last two songs on the remaining ones Do you take a spare amp? There's a lot more gubbins to go wrong in one of those. (Oh no, here comes the paranoia... )

Apparently MU are good for insurance ... [url="http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk"]http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk[/url]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='986670' date='Oct 13 2010, 10:16 AM']It's human nature to fear anything we can't understand, so I'd say "Kill it with fire"[/quote] That made me laugh

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='974082' date='Oct 1 2010, 02:38 PM']Maybe they've been playing covers for so long that they've forgotten what it's like to play music for fun instead of for money.[/quote] So playing covers isn't fun? I'd better give up now then - I certainly don't make any money out if it. Anybody want to buy 4 bass guitars? Seriously, it really doesn't matter a sh*t whether you wrote the song or not, you can still enjoy playing it. Some of us just enjoy being there. Some of us seem to have their heads way too far up their own a***. <Norris has left the building>

It depends what you're after. If you're serious about having a career in music, you would probably want to go for an originals or a tribute band. If, like me, you work for a living and just play music for fun & beer money, a covers band is a lot easy to get regular *local* work. I don't really want to be travelling all over the country several nights a week. I did a lot more playing in my youth, but it just hurts too much getting up for the day job now-a-days, when you've not got in until 2, 3 or 4 am. There are a lot of very serious and committed bass players on this forum. I'm one of the more casual ones

Sultans of Swing gets the band nicely warmed up to 'cut some licks' for the rest of the night. After that, it's fairly random picks from the list or requests. We try to save a few decent ones for the end of the last set/encore.

[quote name='simon1964' post='957456' date='Sep 15 2010, 05:39 PM']Funnily enough, I came across this link the other day, which might help: [url="http://jimshine.com/claydots/clay_dots_and_other_fender_inlay.htm"]http://jimshine.com/claydots/clay_dots_and...ender_inlay.htm[/url][/quote] Nice article

This seems to have turned into a 'which songs do you hate playing' list ... in which case I'll add Losing My Religion (I hate that song with a passion). Mustang Sally is so darned popular with punters. I've never met a musician (or drummer) yet that liked playing it

[quote name='bigjohn' post='949458' date='Sep 8 2010, 02:21 PM']I do think there's a distinction though between improvising (trying to do something different with I piece I know) and improvising (trying to do something that fits a piece I don't) - they're two different skills.[/quote] A.K.A. 'twiddling' and 'winging it' Over the last 25 years or so my band has made a feature of occasional improv. Ever tried playing a 12-bar as a bosa nova? Status Quo tracks as a bolero? Any completely inappropriate syncopation? The important thing is to play most of the set tight. Then, it is much more obvious when you're [s]larking about[/s] improvising, and the audience has no trouble 'getting it'.

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='938255' date='Aug 27 2010, 04:56 PM']I used to only have one bass.... then I signed up to basschat.[/quote] +1 I only have 4 at the moment, the new Thunderbird having pushed the Jazz down into 2nd place