Gunsfreddy2003

That is a very good point too - yesterday I played two gigs with two bands using the bass with Elixirs on and no problems at all with my fingers today, check out the link below to see what my fingers looked like after the same two sets with the same bands at a jazz festival in May! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=50014&hl=blisters"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...amp;hl=blisters[/url] So yes agree that the coated strings are definitely easier on your fingers! [quote name='acidbass' post='538558' date='Jul 12 2009, 03:34 PM']+1. I've tried a number of different brands over the years but have always reverted back to Elixirs. The tone is consistent, and they have a smooth, finger-friendly feel that you just don't get with some other brands.[/quote]

Love the fingerboard but not sure about the body!!! [quote name='EBS_freak' post='538418' date='Jul 12 2009, 12:39 PM']Finished yesterday...[/quote]

Last year at MJF Roger Innis was on bass and Darby was drumming and I have to say that it was much better with those guys playing. Although they were good yesterday they just lacked a bit of the funk element. I also thought that stand in drummer was a little poor - I think I could have managed his drum solo! [quote name='chris_b' post='538379' date='Jul 12 2009, 11:45 AM']I guess he's the dep? Roger plays with many people including John O'Leary's band. Darby, PTB's drummer knows John so I guess that's the connection.[/quote]

Does that mean his normal sound through the Mark Bass stuff is not as good then? [quote name='chris_b' post='538357' date='Jul 12 2009, 11:20 AM']If you hear Protect The Beat on one of their pub gigs, like Boaters in Kingston, you'll get to hear WB's sound. At Marlborough you were hearing the DI and the PA, so that was probably just the bass.[/quote]

How would you recommend doing it? Being shot altogether doesn't always work either as we have seen on the link to the crap band photo site! I am interested because in the next few weeks one of my bands has to go through exactly the same thing and I am keen not to make the same mistakes! [quote name='silddx' post='536372' date='Jul 9 2009, 12:43 PM']With complete conviction on my part, I think that is the most manifestly absurd photographic strategy for a group shoot I've ever heard. If you had paid for that I'd be angry on your behalf. [b]EDIT: [/b]Gosh, I'm so SERIOUS aren't I! [/quote]

Just gone through this dilemma myself and finally took the plunge and went for a set of Elixir strings which I bought from Stringbusters and I think they were about £28. Do have to say that they are fantastic I have played three gigs and 4 or 5 rehearsals and they are still lovely and bright sounding. Now I would agree with other comments on this thread that they are not quite a bright as non coated strings when you first put them on the bass but the slight zing that you do get just seems to last forever. I have been really impressed with these strings and will be using them on both basses now and would readily recommend them to all. [quote name='Pete Academy' post='537976' date='Jul 11 2009, 04:50 PM']I know it's all down to the player, but IMO no strings last any longer unless they're coated ones, which are going to be more than twenty quid a set. D'Addario Pro Steels are [i]super[/i] bright, and so appear to last longer. But it depends if you can stand them so bright in first place. See the thread about boiling strings, where meths for cleaning them is a useful tip.[/quote]

Definitely a BT5 bass but not sure that it was a CMD121 (I am not really up on Mark Bass stuff) but I am sure that it had dials on the front of the amp. Either way there was plenty of high end believe me. He did a stunning bass solo - very Stanley Clarkesque and the sound was fantastic. Top player a very nice bloke to boot. [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='538319' date='Jul 12 2009, 10:25 AM']Was Wilson using his BT5 though that CMD121 combo of his? Last time I heard him live, he sounded really scooped, in fact there was virtually no high end at all. Was it like that this time or was the sound better? I've tried the same combination myself live and found it really difficult to hear myself because of the lack of mids.[/quote]

I was at Marlborough Jazz Festival yesterday and watched a band called Protect The Beat who play there every year and their bass player Winston Blissett was using a Ken Smith bass through a little Mark Bass combo. I have to say that the tone he got was awesome - loads of bottom end but with a nice high end sizzle that I thought you could only get with basses like my GB!!! I tried Mark Bass amps at The Bass Centre once and the only thing that I remember about them was that they were very light and looked like a wasp!!! Perhaps it is because Winston is a top session player that he can get a great sound like this but maybe I need to look closer at Ken Smith basses and the Mark Bass stuff. Oh no here comes the GAS!

Ha ha! Marlborough is full of them! Tell him to stop by The Bear Hotel at 12 noon and The Fire Station at 9pm. Pure 70's jazz/funk the first gig and acid jazz/latin funk fusion the latter one! [quote name='BurritoBass' post='537625' date='Jul 10 2009, 11:55 PM']I grew up there! Not personally as I'm working but I expect my Dad will be wandering around passing his expert comment on whatever acts he stumbles across (ex pro Jazz drummer and current Jazz bore!)[/quote]

I am playing at MJF with two bands this weekend and wondered if anyone from the forum was going to be there? Let me know? Mark

I just use a clean duster and find that it takes most of the marks off the bass quite nicely. [quote name='jcater' post='534396' date='Jul 7 2009, 09:02 AM']Ok 2 gigs done with the rumour & it was a delight. Still got a bit of getting used to it to do but that's half the fun. What do you guys use to clean / polish them up after gigs? It's so stunning i feel i should put more effort in to keeping it looking that way. Any suggestions - within reason - gratefully received. Jeff[/quote]

Love to help out but my wife keeps tumble drying mine so that they only fit a small child afterwards! I have had two and soon to be onto my third. T Shirts that is! [quote name='phsycoandy' post='534056' date='Jul 6 2009, 07:02 PM']I'd still like a GB fat boy T Shirt btw ...........someone?[/quote]

Great idea! Count me in. Live just outside of Cheltenham and gigging quite a lot in Bristol over the next two months. Would be interested to see how the Barefaced compares to my Epifani. Cheers Mark [quote name='alexclaber' post='530410' date='Jul 2 2009, 11:35 AM']Whilst we get some more cabs built I thought I'd let y'all know that from this next batch I'm intending to send a cab off around those basschatters in the UK who want to try one but don't fancy splashing out right now. So like Wayne's 5-string thread the plan is for each person to pay the shipping to the next person, but as stickers won't stick to the textured finish I'd like marks out of ten and a signature on the back from everyone who tries it, a review up on the thread, plus a photo of them using it in anger (preferably at a gig). Shipping alone is about £10 without insurance, packaging will be provided though may need revitalising as it gets more and more battered. Join the list here! Alex[/quote]

The SA guitarist, Martin Kent or Ace as he was more recently known is from my home town of Cheltenham and I remember when he was just a local muso like the rest of us and had a very dodgy band called The Screaming Amoeba's!! However he was then and still is now a very laid back and likeable bloke. Also the only guy from here in a long time who actually managed to "make it" in the music business. Everyday Hurts is my fave track - I love the bass intro and not sure what effect he uses on it but it sounds great. Good luck to him and the rest of SA. [quote name='ednaplate' post='491043' date='May 18 2009, 12:27 AM']This is great news. I first saw SA back in 1997 while on holiday in Arizona where they were supporting Henry Rollins. There must have been no more than 25-30 watching their set. Anyway when they finished me, my girlfriend and our American friends introduced ourselves to the drummer. The ice breaker was that my gf's brother had interviewed Mark Richardson for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph two weeks previously and they got on really well. He invited us for drinks with the rest of the band and stayed with them for the rest of the evening. Skin was lovely, totally the opposite of her manic stage persona and came back from the bar with beers plus free CDs for us. Missed all of the Rollins set. Can't wait for the tour.[/quote]

Very A-Team!! Now is Bernie more Hannibal or Face?? [quote name='EBS_freak' post='532476' date='Jul 4 2009, 03:28 PM']As promised, here's the GB van. Bling. [/quote]

But there is no gain knob on the Brown Dog! [quote name='Higgie' post='512712' date='Jun 13 2009, 11:53 AM']Sorry, I forgot the levels were controlled for Clean and Fuzz. You just have to work with all 3 knobs (clean level/fuzz level/gain) to get the amount of Fuzz and volume you want. Ie Turn the blends up to account for more gain, and keep the gain lower than you would want to keep the volume down - Does that make sense?[/quote]

Sadly not quite that easy! If you look at the sound examples in the following link you can see from the illustrations that the level knobs just affect how much fuzz you hear in the sound and not the overall output volume. [url="http://www.chunksystems.com/a00f2.htm"]http://www.chunksystems.com/a00f2.htm[/url] [quote name='Finbar' post='512474' date='Jun 12 2009, 09:45 PM']Surely if you just lower the dirty level and the clean level both, the overall volume will go down?[/quote]

There is a dirty level and clean level knobs but no output level knob. [quote name='Higgie' post='512359' date='Jun 12 2009, 06:34 PM']There's an output level knob on the Brown Dog...Should be all you need.[/quote]

It certainly is a lot of grief for 2 pedals but the sound out of them is exactly what I want! Does make the EBS offerings and TBF most other pedals seem a lot more straight forward. I have just searched for a volume box on the Bay and it does not bring up anything similar - can you give me some more info? Mark [quote name='EBS_freak' post='511984' date='Jun 12 2009, 11:46 AM']Play with the mids more. I found that that had a huge influence when I had my Chunk pedals. Get a volume box off ebay. They are normally sold as things that you put in the effects loops of specifically Fender Hotrod amps. That's because Matts knows his sh1t and makes pedals that work. Man, this seems a hell of a lot of heartache for two pedals...[/quote]