louisthebass

23 hours ago, Hambone said:

Hi!

Having recently retired, and probably an advanced beginner, I'm considering doing a year-long full-time bass guitar course in or around London.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

Might be worth investing in one of Joe Hubbard's online courses? I've never had any lessons from him, but he's quite a thorough teacher from what I've seen and heard.

https://www.joehubbardbass.com/

I'm in! 😊

Saw them at the Royal Festival Hall in 1991 supported by Lee Ritenour - one of the great fusion bands. They've been blessed with having a couple of great bassists in Jimmy Haslip & Felix Pastorius.

Last originals band I was in back in the very early 1990's - we had a frontman who was very well connected. We did a 30 minute set at "The Rock Garden" in Covent Garden (April 1991 if memory serves), and he invited Then Jericho's manager and Martin Degville from Sigue Sigue Sputnik to the gig, so it was pressure on. We were hoping to get signed, or least get word out about the band (it was only our 4th gig).

Nothing came of it and the band folded a few weeks later - I took a sabbatical from music due to some family stuff and when I got back into things, it was covers bands from then on. Not bitter about the way things turned out though, and feel like I've learned more about being a musician than I had at that time.

Second outing in a year with a Rock / Pop covers band last night. The band has had constant line up changes and we are on vocalist no. 4 (he had done 2 rehearsals and the gig last night was his entry into the band proper). It was a "90 percenter" so was really happy with that.

Just need to get the diary populated with more dates now 

On 5/1/2018 at 12:17, AntLockyer said:

If it were me I'd leave. Highlighting the reasons above and being open to a 'please don't go' conversation

+1 To the above - sounds like a lot of aggro, and life's too short to do something that isn't working when you've got the wrong people on board.

My Yamaha BB1100S in Tobacco Sunburst - sold it as I was putting the money towards getting married at the time.. 

Now I'm divorced & single again would love to have that bass back, P&J goodness in one package.

On 4/18/2018 at 06:23, The59Sound said:

Got me thinking with the amount of pedals coming out every month - is the idea of using a bass straight into an amp old fashioned or do you feel you can't get a workable tone without pedals?

Do people love the simplicity of plugging straight in and just using the EQ to get a good sound? 

Yep, I do and it works for me. Haven't used a pedal board in years (had to flog it on here because I was skint). 

I remember hiring something out of the shop in the late 1980's - always wondered what happened to the shop? Eric Lindsay Music closed down a few months back, so that's another independent music shop in Surrey that's no more... 

Had a gig like that last November at a Sports Club in Surrey. We promoted the hell out of it on Facebook, promoter tried to do his best and we ended up playing to about 5 people.

It is what it is, but also a lesson learned that you can't make people come out to a gig if they don't want to. A night out in a venue isn't cheap anymore, and people are more interested in other things than coming out and watching live music.

Both my bands have had to cancel rehearsals this week because of the weather. Will be glad to see the back of this poxy snow.....

Welcome to Basschat 

Have been to the shop a few times over the years - my Epifani cabs were purchased from there in 2007 - my experience of the shop has generally been a good one so can't complain. Great shop, and looking forward to the day when I can walk in and buy a new bass from you.

Mono Vertigo & iGig for me - both well made bags, wouldn't swap 'em....

Josh Smith in Godalming next Saturday night 

This one for me:

Difficult one this as I've got so many, but here's a few:

Rock:

Sound Affects - The Jam / Street Fighting Years - Simple Minds / Darkness on the Edge of Town - Springsteen / Quadrophenia - The Who.

Jazz:

Kind of Blue - Miles Davis / Giant Steps - John Coltrane / One of a Kind - Bruford / Where We Come From - Vital Information.

Some Chuck goodness with SD here (1:08 in):

On 10/01/2018 at 21:47, Deedee said:

Cocktail sticks have always worked for me.  Pop them in, snap Off and screw in.  I’ve never found the need to use glue.

Same here - had to do this on one of my basses recently and it worked a treat! @Powertripper raises a good point about the straplock holder washer coming loose every so often, the only downside to Schallers.

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

This....

While there have been some "technically brilliant" drummers come through in the last 20/30 years (Dave Weckl, Keith Carlock, Ash Soan, Gary Husband, Gavin Harrison, etc..) Ringo Starr's playing was always done tastefully, and more importantly with great time and feel. The guys who held down the drum chairs in the bands of the 1960's paved the way..

Given the choice, I'd always go for a Ringo Starr, Al Jackson Jr, Roger Hawkins, Jim Keltner, Benny Benjamin, Levon Helm, Bernard Purdie and Charlie Watts anyday. Don't really see why this thread should be closed as long as people keep it respectful.

First off - can't believe you're over 60 @Bluewine - ageing well there mister! Interesting topic so here goes...

I've been playing for over 30 years - turned 54 in September. Still enjoying playing as much as I did when I first started, probably even more so now.

I'm currently in two bands at the moment, so not really looking. One has just started to establish itself this year, while the other (which has only gigged once in 2017) has had constant line up changes in the 12 months it's been together - the only two "permanent" members have been the drummer and myself. While the South East of England has a plethora of musicians, getting "the right people" can be a nightmare (as has been detailed many times over the years on BC in various threads). However, where that project is concerned, I'm prepared to give it some more time as I believe there is potential for it to turn into a really good band once the right people are in place.

I think if anyone on here is looking to join (or form) a new band this year, it's all about getting together with people who are:

• Good people to be around.
• Good players (not necessarily "brilliant" but capable)
• People who are willing to be part of a team.
• Committed.

Hopefully I've managed to stay on topic...? 

@Lozz196 - thanks for that, will make a note of what you've outlined here and tweak accordingly when I use it next week. It's an ABM600 going through an Ashdown 4 x 10 cab, so hopefully what you've suggested will do the trick - will be an improvement on what I've done so far.. 

47 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

If it`s an ABM I find that the treble control doesn`t do much, but adding on the hi-mid really sharpens up the sound, plus backing off of either of the low-mids to taste.

Ok - so if I back the bass knob off (9pm?), boost the midrange, drop the graphic sliders on the outside either side a bit, leave the treble flat (or back it off) that should do it?

Sounds like you've got these amps nailed so interested to hear more? 

On 31/10/2017 at 13:42, Rich said:

I have never owned an Ashdown amp, but I have never managed to get a sound I even remotely liked out of one.

Same here - use an Ashdown rig at a rehearsal studio with one of my bands and find the "wooly" sound quite off putting. There doesn't seem to be any punch or clarity, although having read some of the comments in this thread, I'll take some of those on board and play around with it a bit more.

I've only used one a couple of times this year doing a wedding fayre where the band I was playing for were doing a few Jazz Standards, but for the other two bands I have to rely on memory for arrangements, mainly because the spaces we played in didn't have enough room for one.

One of the singers uses an iPad attached to a mic stand and just writes key parts of the lyrics in as a prompt. A lot less intrusive for a lot of mainstream pub / club gigs (imo).

I used to be one of those people who were taught to use fretted notes as much as humanly possible, but as the years have progressed have found open strings in bass parts just as agreeable - if it was good enough for Jamerson, it's good enough for me (not that I'm anywhere near his league).