peted

I sent one of my basses from Norwich to Sheffield for a bit of Shuker-isation through Royal Mail by sending it from my local Post Office. Arrived with no problems. That was sent in a well taped-up hardcase.

Having got it very much the wrong way round myself, I think you would be better off concentrating on getting a better amp. I've got a £1000 Warwick bass, which is lush, but I struggled for a long time without enough money to get a good rig which meant that my gorgeous bass was pretty much just for show. It would have been far more practical for me to get an expensive rig and make do with a budget guitar (modern budget guitars are actually rather good these days). The second poll talks about 'top of the range' amplifiers. I don't think I'll ever warrant the purchase of one of those, I'd much rather have a good value amplifier and a cracking bass, which is where I'm at right now

[quote name='blamelouis' post='239018' date='Jul 14 2008, 11:23 AM']And you play a thumb bass ! [/quote] Hey! I find it has quite a nice finger-style tone. It's doesn't have to be a slap monster

[quote name='SJA' post='238966' date='Jul 14 2008, 10:16 AM']see Veblen goods- [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good[/url][/quote] I'd never heard of that term before, thank you. Perfectly describes the Warwick marketting strategy Also works for Apple and the IPod and Macs (there being better and cheaper products out there, but people still insist on paying more for Apple stuff).

I am familiar with the technique for slap, but seem to lack the associated rhythms for it. When I try to slap I just feel very silly. I'll stick to my finger-style for practice/gigs and leave the slap for getting the attention of the nearest sales assistant in the music stores

I'll play some gigs for cost of fuel/drinks because my playing is a hobby. My main income is my day job. Why is that wrong? If you're main source of income is from playing music, then you've got that time 9-5 Monday to Friday when I'm doing my regular job to: * Promote your act so you've got a bigger following and more likely to get booked than me * Practice so you are a better musician than me * Augment your gigging income by offering lessons, or working in recording studios etc. You can't blame me for de-valuing music. The entry-bar is actually quite low to be a musician. It's fun work, so you can't really expect to be paid very much for it - especially if you only do the fun bits like playing gigs.

I love my Line 6 Studio as a practice amp, but if you've got the time and resource to knock up an Omni 10.5 then that will probably serve you better.

That is a very tasty bass indeed. Is it a colour oil finish? Looks like it has a tint, a very nice one at that. Congratulations.

This weekend I have so nearly completed the cab. I've put some more screws into the baffle as-per recommendation from thinman. I've wired it all up - Did an initial test of the wiring with my Hartke amp and started to panic - the sound was only coming out of the piezos! Aaaaaargh! I've found from Bill's plans, he tells you exactly how to wire the piezos, and exactly how to wire the speakers, but does not actually show how to wire the piezos and speakers to each other. Just a sentence along the line of "take a wire from the piezos to the woofer". Turned out that I had mistakenly wired the drivers/woofers in series with the piezos. After scouring www.billfitzmaurice.com I read a thread which seemed to imply that the piezo's were in fact supposed to go in parallel with the drivers/woofer. Gave it a whirl and all is now fine. Phew! I've stuffed the cavities with old pillows and am about to put that cool egg-crate style foam around the interior. I bought a nice Neutrik 2-pole Speak-On connector to go on the back. I now realise that it won't fit the 4-pole plug that i've got on the cable going from my Hartke. So for the test I had to hard-wire the cable to the speakers. I have a 4-pole Speak-On connector on order from Maplins now. Expense, expense, expense...

My idea of a great bass tone changes practically every minute of the day. I'm very happy that my gear gives me a good tone, but i'll always appreciate the great tones that it doesn't If you know what I mean...

I probably only buy about 3 bass-related magazines a year. I prefer the UK Bass Guitar Magazine because the RRP prices are in Pounds Sterling I get my fill of gear chat and interactions with great players from the people on basschat.co.uk

A bass playing friend of mine had one of those clip on tuners and he *didn't* rate it much. Said that he had to tune his E string at the 12th fret because of poor tracking at low frequencies. It might not be as cool as a rack tuner/clip-on/stomp-box, but I LOVE my Korg CA30 which has served me for more years than I can remember. If it broke, i'd go straight out and buy another. The tracking and frequency range is so good I've used it to set the intonation on all my basses. Highly recommended and cheap as chips!

Prepare guide tracks to a click before you hit the studio - that will save you most of a day. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. When you're not recording yourself make sure that you rest your ears as they'll soon get tired during mixing. If possible, don't record and mix on the same day - it is always best to approach mixing with fresh ears. Be prepared to have every part of your bass performance laid bare. Recording is a very unforgiving experience. Recording separately can be very sterile and every part of your playing good or bad (especially bad) will be heard by everyone in the control room. Make sure that you've changed your strings recently and played them in before hitting the studio. Make sure that the intonation on your bass is correct. Once you've spent a couple of days crammed into a recording studio with your band mates you won't want to see them for at least a couple of weeks. This is normal. Oh yeah... Enjoy yourself :0)

My Omni10 is getting very close to competion, so is likely to make it to the Bash. I just hope it sounds as good as I hope it will.

It sounds like you're getting frustrated because you're putting a lot in and not getting much out of it. I don't think a radical move is really necessary here. How about a slight retreat from your current efforts and take another approach? Instead of auditioning, why not just get your face known around the scene and become an 'interested gig goer'. Check out some bands and get talking to the musicians. Think of it like auditioning without playing your bass. If you feel comfortable with them then mention that you play bass and are looking for a band. Don't put any pressure on them or yourself to get the gig. Let the gig come to you.

[quote name='thinman' post='234625' date='Jul 7 2008, 11:44 PM']Pete, I've built one of these and I'd recommend doubling the number of screws holding the baffle board in place. I assume you've got some weather strip in there too as air leaks around the baffle are apparently a common problem. If necessary make a couple of cutouts in the back brace so you get some screws inside there too. I also found that after a few weeks it's worth opening the box up again and tightening them all again.[/quote] Thanks thinman, I'll put some more screws in the baffle this weekend. I have put weather strip around the baffle and have had air leaks at the front of my mind through-out this build. The whole thing feels like it's built like a brick sh*t-house, but I'm sure a few hours of low frequencies will shake some bits loose

I've played a couple of festivals and they've been my favourite gigs. Got to play at one 'Prior Park Festival' about 12 years ago in one of my first bands and that was great fun. A couple of years ago I played a few stand-in dates for a mate's band called Insaniac and I got to play the Eastern Haze Festival in East Anglia. Just as much fun as I had 12 years ago. I'd do another festival date in a heartbeat. I think they are just about the best gigs you can play.

Did LOADS today due to the great weather. Best bit had to be the 6 layers of tuff-paint with light sanding between each. [attachment=10456:SNC10394.JPG] [attachment=10457:SNC10395.JPG] [attachment=10458:SNC10397.JPG]

wow! That is Gooooorgeous already! Congratulations.

[quote name='Merton' post='232073' date='Jul 3 2008, 03:37 PM']Parking should be fine - 220 spaces Distacne between car park and rooms? No idea, sorry. It's on 3 floors so don't know where hte function rooms are but for accessibility the MUST have lifts if necessary![/quote] Thanks. I'll give the hotel a call tonight to see if I can get answers for the last two questions, if the answers don't appear here first... P.S. silverfoxnik: Please can you add the room names to the original post on the front page? Clandon Suite 1 & 2. Thanks

Gah! this thread has me GAS-ing for in-ear monitoring now. I can't imagine anything better than carrying around your 'rig' inside your bass case and having the clarity of earphones. And I'm in the final throes of building an Omni10 for live sound. Damn you all!