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I feel for the OP - I had to learn this in a hurry after joining my current band, and it is our usual opener... so kind of had to be passable! I recall looking at various attempts to transcribe it and being thoroughly confused... However, on closer inspection, the chord sequence is actually quite simple, and I did work out the main sections one by one using a combination of tabs, YouTube vids and isolated bass tracks. I’ve since refined my version over the last couple of years and can manage a convincing (enough) version all of my very own that no one has ever complained about – so Biglump, it can be done – and I am in no way making out I'm the reincarnation of the Ox! FWIW - my thoughts on getting this learned would be…[list=1] [*]The signature (opening, whatever) bass part that comes up a few times through the song you can completely get away with keeping simple, but once you are comfortable with the whole song there are countless ways to vamp it up with octaves and passing notes – just make sure you are solid with the timing (and the audience sees you make dramatic moves right up and down the neck with all the flair and panache you can muster by playing the octaves on the same string as the root)… It is what John would have wanted! [*]The verses you can base around a very simple riff of your choosing – just keep it moving so it sounds like you are working your butt off. Not too many repeated notes in the phrasing - there are loads of ideas on tab sites and YT. I’ve tried to include one below that is straight out of the top google result for the tab. To this day I often still use this as the 'seed' riff for exploring the verse. [*]The high register descending riff in the chorus is worth getting right. The guys in my band were overjoyed that they could hear that for the first time ever from a bass player (and they had been through a few before finding just the right kind of idiot for their brand of rock). [*]The bridge and solo sections (in my version) are really quite basic - you are potentially doing a lot throughout the rest of the track, so let the guitar have its moment and concentrate on supporting the groove - and don't feel guilty about it. It also makes learning that section quick and easy... embellish it later at your leisure if you want. [*]As mentioned above by JTUK, there is no one right way of doing this unless you are trying to make a carbon copy of the album cut. Of course your timing etc. matters - as with the bass on most any song - but IMO this is one piece better served with the right attitude than with sterile precision. Once you have the basics down you can have fun with this, and I hope you do! [/list] Verse riff: [font=courier new,courier,monospace]|G|------2---|---------------|-------2---|-------0-----0/12--| |D|----------|-0-1-2-0-------|-----------|-0-1-2----0--------| |A|-0--0---0-|---------3-0---|-0--0----0-|-------------------| |E|----------|-------------3-|-----------|-------------------|[/font] Obviously everyone will probably pile in now with why this is all wrong – but whatever – advice is free, but your mileage may vary. I hope you get this track down to YOUR satisfaction. Edit: font for tab...

Bought a DHA pedal from Guy - he was spot on with his description, and kept in touch throughout. Wouldn't hesitate to deal with him again.

Just to +1 the point from MoonBaseAlpha re. all the current going through the one cable - I'm sure I read somewhere in a (fairly old) manufacturers handbook that using two cables was superior for the reasons given, but also because it puts less heat stress on all the components in the link between power amp and speakers i.e. not just the external cables and jacks. My take is that if it doesn't cause you a problem, then using two cables seems worth it, but you shouldn't feel guilty if you don't...

So, I never did get to try this at the weekend... a story I'm sure most people here are familiar with... we're booked to play in a marquee, and we've been told we've got a 9x3 area - great, we can fit into that. We get there, and someone has decided that we need a stage - fine, except the stage is about 6x2. Problem, we don't fit onto that. So after pairing down the gear to the absolute minimum, most of my rig goes back in the van, and because of the extra height of the stage I spend the whole gig praying that my one amp doesn't burn the place down, given it is only the empty pint glass on top keeping the fabric of the roof off of the heatsink. Just to round off our evening we even had a comedy radio mic clash with the DJ - I've never seen our soundman move so fast... Fortunately we can all laugh about stuff like that - we've had worse happen, and we got to spend Saturday night playing music, which got me out of marshalling the sleepover my kids were having (sorry hun) On the upside, everything is now in my garage, as opposed to spread through storage spaces, so I'll testing the patience of my neighbours sometime very soon while I check for ground loops... and I'll post back the result. Thanks again all for the comments and advice!

Thanks for the further advice - the first chance I'm going to get to try this out will be tomorrow, in a marquee of all places. I can only hope we fair better than the last time we played under canvas... I don't think my amps have ground lift switches, but assuming level ground I'm leaning (!) towards one having the stack, which should benefit from the common grounds and less chance of phasing issues. I'll let you know how I get on.

That hadn't occured to me - although it will hopefully not be too much to put up with. Thanks for the post, I feel like I've learned a few things today! I now just need to decide whether the split the rigs either side of the drum kit, for sound dispersion (but really to annoy our guitarist) or just build a mega-stack for the ego-trip...

Thanks LD, that just gives me the confidence to try it - starting with everything turned down of course! I appreciate the quick reply - it's getting help like this that make this forum so good

Hi all - I have a question that I'm hoping someone can help me with... I am [i]fairly [/i]sure I know the answer, but I'd rather ask the question than create the magic smoke through ignorance I have a pair of Trace Elliot Mk V AH150 heads (long story) that I want to use together, each connected to a 4 ohm cabinet. On the front of each are three promisingly named 1/4 inch sockets - 'signal out low level', 'line out high level' and 'line in preamp link'. It looks exactly like this - [url="http://i.imgur.com/7ScAiiJ.jpg"]http://i.imgur.com/7ScAiiJ.jpg[/url] So, is it safe to connect the line out of one head to the line in of the other, and will that slave the power section of one to the preamp of the other? I've trawled the interweb, but can't find a straightforward answer. The ideal scenario for me is - I plug my instrument into one head and get the sound I want there, then I connect the line out of that one to the preamp link of the other, and I get the same sound, with an independent volume control, from that i.e. the preamp section and graphic equaliser etc. of the second head is completely bypassed. I hope that all makes sense? Any advice very welcome. Thanks, Paul

Bought a spares or repair Bassfex from Jon this week - nice guy who went out of his way so that we could briefly meet while he was out and about with work. Thanks very much!

I was waiting for someone to say yes (and hand it over) before apologising for not having any money until next week, and then lighting it anyway...

P bass - check TE rig - check Covers band - check Disreputable motor - check (even used to have an XR3 ) Hails from - Essex... and I'm 3 days late to this thread. Guess I'm in. Can I buy a ciggie off anyone?

+1 to that - this looks interesting, but not much info around that I can find.

Another +1 for Ampmaker from me. I built an SE-5a a couple of years ago and it was a really well thought out kit, plus it sounds better than it has any right to given my level of skill with a soldering iron. I was only thinking recently that if Barry did bass amp kit I'd definitely be looking to buy it. Doing the build did lead me to a lot of reading and research about the science (or black art) of valve amp design, which I also got a lot out of. Whatever way you choose to go, you do get a lot of satisfaction from playing though something you built yourself. Just make sure (twice at least) that you have got everything right before pluggint it on to the mains for the first time - like people have already mentioned there are dangerous amounts of electricity involved.

It's nothing to do with improving tone, but I became a more useful bass player when I started boosting the height of my cab (by using the keyboard combo as a handy amp-stand) during rehearsal... I could hear what noise I was actually making, not what I thought/hoped I was making.

I have used a music stand for the first two gigs with the band I've joined... but I'm working double time to learn the material thoroughly enough so that I don't have to in future. Keys player gets away with it, but when there are only three of you standing up I don't really want to be the one rooted to the spot, staring at the dots while the other two leap about... I couldn't have done those early events without the help given the time between joining and first gig, but that was our choice to get to work before I was 100%. I know we'll come across better when I ditch the stand, but I understand why some people like them. Few things get the pulse racing like that moment when you realise you have no idea what to play...

My 'greatest hits' include forgetting to turn the volume on the bass up when I've silenced it, spending two frantic minutes (that felt like ten) before a gig failing to notice that I'd turned the mains power for my rack off at the wall, and running over my own mic stand after we'd done the post-gig gear distribution from van back into our own cars. I'd put it down in the dark, not missed it when surveying the contents of the boot, and then didn't miss it again as I reversed straight over it... still, no one died, although the stand has never been the same again.

Cool! Like it Looking forward to listening to it at home through speakers rather than 'phones. If this is your first recording effort then good job - everyone resisted the temptation to overplay for the tape (which was what happened when my first band got their first shot at studio/recording time many moons ago, to no benfit of the songs) and the production is plenty good enough for a demo imo. Hope to hear more from Goon and the Kings soon!