peted

I've played two gigs in one day with one band in my youth, but that was just 30 minute sets in the afternoon and evening. My greatest feat of endurance had to be a work Christmas Party last year which had me playing for 3 hours (3 x 1 hour sets) through one evening with my covers band of the time. Though I was paid hansomely for it! I did a dep mini-tour which had a couple of instances of me playing 3 evenings in a row. I had a similar deja-vu experience to OldGit. After a while I had trouble distiguishing which venue was which, but that could have been the alcohol and sleep deprivation

[quote name='jakesbass' post='255122' date='Aug 5 2008, 10:02 AM']The Moral You're never more than 1/4 mile away from a bass [/quote] I've lent my bass to other bassists in need (as long as i've got current insurance!) and I've had two occasions where I've had to borrow a bass. I think the quote above is quite true.

I generally only take a single bass to a gig. I have a big ex-army ammo box full of spare perishables (strings, leads, drum sticks, allen keys, Leatherman tool, ear plugs, strap, gaffa tape, plectrums (I don't use), tuner, batteries). In fact I got quite a reputation in my old band for always having a spare 'anything' in my kit somewhere. I did take 2 basses along to the first few gigs I played with my Precision after it had the 2nd pickup and new pre-amp installed. That was just precautionary and has turned out to be entirely unnecessary. I have made a guitar strap out of gaffa tape for a guitarist before. It turned out really well and I believe he still uses it for a backup

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='254153' date='Aug 4 2008, 09:46 AM']I've never seen one that doesn't have the bridge earthed (and hence the strings).[/quote] I did originally type 'all basses should have an earth wire going through the body to the bridge', then I considered that I have only really pulled apart one bass and considered that this might be a sweeping generalisation based on my limited experience. Thank you for clearing this up for me

If that explaination doesn't make things clearer, i'll get my camera out this evening and try to explain in pictures.

I believe the manual is a slightly awkward translation from the German. Basses such as the Infinity have the tailpiece in a recess and I believe that if you lower the whole bridge too far then the strings can sit on the edge of the bridge itself. Vibration of the string on the edge of the bridge *could* cause a weakness in the string if you are really unlucky. I've lowered the bridge on my Thumb BO as far as it will go and the strings are not resting on any edge/corner of the bridge surround (I believe this is what they refer to as 'body' in the manual).

The fact that it goes away when you touch the strings does point to a grounding issue. Time to check the soldering joints on the electrics. I've also seen some basses which have a wire inside the body going from the bridge to to control cavity for grounding, make sure that this is still attached.

At this rate Antique will be the standard colour for Corvette $$s. Looks amazing by the way, glad to see you've got the Warwick bug

I absolutely love my Warwick Thumb BO and it was a bass which I spent a long time saving up for. I think it looks really distinctive when worn 'properly' quite high up and practically horizontal. In fact, I've taken to wearing my other basses in a similar fashion. I've got reasonably long arms so the long stretch to the 1st fret isn't really an issue, wearing it mostly over my rib cage. I've played it a few times in my covers band (2x 45 minute sets) and, although I did start to feel the weight a little in the 2nd set, it was certainly bearable for that great tone.

[quote name='7string' post='243169' date='Jul 19 2008, 01:30 AM']Here's the latest pics from Alan at ACG of the slotted fingerboard.[/quote] The figuring of the wood looks magnificent. You've certainly got a looker of a fretboard already!

Wow! That's a real eye-catching looker. Nice job.

He's obviously building these instruments for himself and not his customers. That is a real shame as the thread sounded interesting and very different to the normal builds you get on here.

I had a set of Black Beauties on my Warwick. I had the bass down-tuned at the time and they were the best strings I've ever used for tension. The strings felt almost as taute as my regular string brand at concert pitch. They did last a long time, but again, I look after my strings so they last a long time anyway. They were the best strings i've ever tried, but the expense was too much for the gain. If they were comparable to the price of my Warwick Red Labels then I wouldn't turn back.

I think it's just your choice of distraction really. Whether that be musical notation, blindfold, or the latest swim-suit calendar - anything which gets your eyes off of the fretboard will make you a more engaging player with the audience.

[quote name='Clive Thorne' post='245348' date='Jul 22 2008, 01:33 PM']On the other hand I used PMT in Northampton to get my lad his electic drum kit and I was very impressed with their service (and the price was OK too).[/quote] I have had great customer service in PMT in the past. Many moons ago (10+ years), when I lived in Southend, I went into the PMT there a lot and the service was great. The staff knew me from playing in local bands and they were very helpful and the gear was reasonably priced. I bought my Ibanez from PMT in Romford a couple of years ago and again had great service from that store (the member of staff who served me was actually transferred for the day from the Southend store). I think my gripe was mainly with the Manager which I dealt with this time. I'm sure he has the right mind-set for maximising profit and keeping his business in the black, but he shouldn't be allowed near customers.

[quote name='OldGit' post='244867' date='Jul 21 2008, 10:06 PM']Ha ha great idea, fingerboard watching is so overrated I play in the dark a lot (with my side marker lights off) to practice things so I can look at the audience rather than my fretboard ... That's the point, really ...[/quote] +1. I often practice in the dark to work on the muscle memory in my fingers so I'm not staring at the fretboard. Now I tend to find that I stare at the set-list! What I tend to do is pick out a door, sign, or beer pump at the back of the room and smile at that most of the night. About 6 months ago I played a pub venue which had a little stage and a TV pointing into it (there was normally a pool table on the stage). I realised mid-set that I'd been watching the TV for about 20 minutes/5 songs and hadn't made any effort to engage the audience. I'm terrible, me!

I've got a Warwick baseball cap which I bought from the Bass Centre, but you can get all sorts of Warwick appareil direct from their website [url="http://www.warwick.de"]http://www.warwick.de[/url] I've got a buddy who works in a music shop and they get free T-shirts off of the distributors when they are trying to pimp their gear.

I sometimes practice over the preset drum beats in my Zoom drum machine when the metronome starts to grate. Can get a bit repetative after a while, but there are hundreds of different beats from different music styles which can be fun. So, I'd recommend having a look at dedicated drum machines on the market.

I boiled a couple of sets of strings a few years ago. I did notice that it removed a lot of crud from the strings and when they went back on they were fresh and zingy again. The zing only lasted a couple of days at most though and then they were back to their old, dead, flat, selves. I find that preventative measures, such as wiping your strings over with a dry towel after a practice or performance, will greatly extend the life of your strings. I currently change my strings just 3 or 4 times a year. I can't imagine how much it must cost you guys that change them every week!

I've just moved back to Southend after spending about 9 years in Norwich. As I grew up here I spent loads of time in PMT and bought a couple of basses, my first amp, and loads of strings in my time. The customer service used to be superb. I guess now that Honky Tonks music has closed they don't have any direct local competition. I won't be doing business with the Manager of that store again, I've dealt with the Sales Staff and they've been much better, but they don't seem to be authorised to sell cardboard boxes from their rubbish themselves Regarding the now closed Honky Tonks: Every knew that you only went in there to buy your first instrument if you knew nothing. After that you bought everything else from PMT

I'm selling a bass in the Classifieds section and I've found a buyer. Thought maybe that I could be a *little* cheeky and see if my only local music store has a spare cardboard box that I can pinch to ship it in. Phoned them this morning and the Manager said that they would only sell me one of the boxes they use for their online shipping for £10. I thought this was a bit steep, but then considered that it might be a pretty awesome box with all the proper packaging and everything. So I turn up at the store and they are trying to sell me an oversized, used, Taylor acoustic box with insufficient packaging for £10. The Manager wouldn't budge on the price, I offered to buy a full-price set of bass strings and put £3 on top, but no sale. The member of staff said that they normally have more boxes but they'd just taken them down the tip that week. I asked if they were just going to send them to the tip, why I can't buy the box off of them for £3? The Manager said that he has to pay for the box to be shipped to him, so I should have to pay too if I want to sell my bass. I know it is a little cheeky in that the theory is that I'm competition to them by trying to sell my bass, but my NVQ3 in Customer Service is screaming that if he gives me the cardboard box to sell my bass, I might actually spend the proceeds in his shop one day. Rant over. Please move on.

[quote name='obbm' post='242483' date='Jul 18 2008, 10:41 AM']It this yet another facet of the British Nanny State. We have been running bashes for several years without any rules or etiquette and without problems. Why do we have to start now? Most BCers are responsible and considerate people.[/quote] OK, i've deleted the wiki page. It was just that this would be my first Bass Bash and I wanted to make sure I didn't make a pratt of myself by doing something silly

I've got a Line6 Lowdown Studio and love it for practice. I've used it many times in a rehearsal room with a well behaved drummer (not a heavy hitting metaller!) and it was perfectly fine. I've used it at a larger pub gig with full PA assistance and I found it great there too. My guitarist wasn't too keen though as he couldn't hear enough bass on the other side of the stage, but the DI sounded great out front. I've played a small pub gig with it where we only used our vocal PA and I don't think I'll do that again as it didn't really move enough air to project from the backline into the audience. Hope that helps your decision making. P.S. - I've also used it as a pre-amp plugged into the house bass rig for my metal bands and it sounds great too. The Studio has a pre-amp line-out on the back as well as a DI which is perfect for plugging into the Effect In or Poweramp In of a bigger backline amplifier.