Happy Jack

Not my ad, but I loved it anyway. https://www.gumtree.com/p/vocalist-wanted/oddball-singer-and-bass-player-wanted-/1259657935

Or not, as the case may be.

Nah. All you need is to learn to drum. A bloke in a pub told me that so it must be true.

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1501945401' post='3348399'] Or, putting the shoe on the other foot, if more bands protected their investments, their hard work then venues would understand that this should be normal process and common place. They are happy to take details for tax and accounting purposes and insist on PAT testing and insurance, but bands are expected to accept that they don't have a leg to stand on when the venue changes their mind? Yer avin a giraffe mate I mean, everyone moans about another venue closing but maybe what is needed is a more resilient and trustworthy model to work with. Bands are services to the venue and services need paying for. But ya know, if bands are happy for pubs to laugh them out the door, then it's no wonder that these problems (OP) exist. [/quote] Fair enough, Dood, but an obvious question for you - how many pub gigs a year do you (personally) go out and find & negotiate? I do this a lot, but I'm always happy to learn.

[quote name='mark76' timestamp='1501927437' post='3348255'] Hair bobble thugs sound like people I want to avoid. [/quote] +1 I've started using these because I'm having to use a pick a lot more for the stuff I'm playing in one particular band, and my palm-muting technique is just terrible. First time I brought one to rehearsal, the drummer asked me at the end why I was using a capo. I use the ridiculously expensive ones because I know they work. Si, are the Claire's Bobbins ones really as effective?

Still puzzled at the number of people who say we should all join the MU and start insisting on signed contracts before we play. I can only imagine that you guys play in more rarified levels of venue where you wouldn't get laughed out of the pub if you tried that line when fishing for gigs. I'm now also playing in a band on the club circuit and that's different, for sure, but pubs? Yer avin a giraffe mate.

Name & shame?

Can't help but feel that strapping that on at the Dog & Duck would be making a statement.

A quick spray of switch cleaner should sort that ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Very-rare-bass-guitar-1960s-Made-by-Otwin-/322628471051?hash=item4b1e27c90b:g:M-sAAOSwJGlZgNEK

And the sudden power draw was ...?

[quote name='Hellzero' timestamp='1501712158' post='3346887'] It's a Musikraft copy of a Fender V : it's written in the description. Here is the link to Musikraft who is making necks and bodies for quite a long time now : [url="https://www.musikraft.com"]https://www.musikraft.com[/url] Hope this helps. [/quote] It does, but are Musikraft licensed by Fender to put a Fender decal on the headstock, I wonder?

Now there's a title you didn't expect to read. Kanye cancelled a string of concerts last year after displaying "strained, confused and erratic" behaviour at his concert in Sacramento. He then spent a week in a psychiatric hospital. Lloyds are refusing to cough up on the cancellation costs, on the grounds that the star's excessive use of marijuana had led to this behaviour. And where do I get this from? The BBC? The NME? Another 3-letter acronym? Nope. The Financial Times, Companies & Markets section.

Rather than pick [i][b]sizes[/b][/i], I find it's pick [i][b]hardness [/b][/i]that makes the biggest difference. I always use picks made of Delrin and I have two types - similar but different. Switching from the orange (thicker) to the red (thinner) has a surprising amount of impact on my sound and my playing style.

But the multi-pocket bag approach (bin there, dun that) is not the complete answer. Unless the pockets are all made of transparent material, you'll then need to memorize which pocket contains your main instrument cable, which has the patch leads, which has the kettle leads, etc.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1501707972' post='3346855'] Someone with a little more knowledge will come along im sure, but a compressor seems like a good choice. It will level out everything. Other than that, just use your ears and your hands. Those are your best effects imo. [/quote] This ^. Left to my own devices, I sound louder with a pick but that's partly because I have so much more attack and I'm therefore more audible. Whether or not I'm actually "louder" is debatable. I've just joined a new band where I have to switch from fingerstyle to pick and back again repeatedly within each set. For the first time in years, I'm running through an always-on compressor pedal, which I'm using as much as a Limiter as a Compressor.

[quote name='JoeEvans' timestamp='1498332694' post='3323938'] Anyway, here's Slam sounding great playing arco in one of the best jazz/dance sequences ever - I love this so much! [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mb2tN-aa2s"]https://www.youtube....h?v=9Mb2tN-aa2s[/url] [/quote] Late to this thread, but good to see Hellzapoppin again after all these years. Getting back on topic, though, and it's hard to ignore how the bass simply vanishes from the mix as soon as the rest of the band gets going ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Bass-V-1-Start-Price-/122627315876?hash=item1c8d2858a4:g:ts8AAOSwS8xZfeEt So is it supposed to be a Fender? Or did he have it built as a custom copy of a Fender? And why has he made such a pig's ear of the dot markers on the neck?

But what a shame about that enormous dink in the front.

Forget it Mick, it's nowhere near heavy enough. Modify your amplifier search to include the word "forklift" and this will stop happening.

But screwed into what? Seeing as it's definitely a hollow body, maybe he used really REALLY short screws.

Never - it's hopeless in that guise. Played as a fretless bass, it's bulky but very practical.

So with crushing inevitability, we ran tight on time at the gig and the song that got dropped from the set was ... Fever. Ach well. Just to give you an idea of how nice that TB10 sounds - even when it's me playing the bloody thing - here's another song. http://youtu.be/c5PLOBKzvsI