Gottastopbuyinggear

I play some triplet stuff, including the Jean Genie intro, with two fingers. Took a little while to get it fluid, but with the usual start-slow-and-build-up approach it wasn't too difficult. I'd suggest practicing by continuously playing up and down a scale (or any pattern of notes) in triplet groups, especially over the transitions between different strings. Also, if you're going for true alternate i-m-i-m-i-m picking, try playing both even and odd numbers of notes (in triplet groups) on each string so you get used to transitioning between strings on both the index and middle fingers. Alternatively for transitioning down the strings (G to D, for example) you might find raking is helpful. One other thing that I found is that playing higher up the fretboard (if it's an option given the song) makes life easier, although that might just be a personal thing. I've been trying to learn Hit Me With Your Rhythym Stick, starting out by playing the main intro bit which is down on the first to fourth frets. When I started to learn the verse, which is played higher up, I found for some reason that it was a lot easier. I'm not up to full speed yet, but I'm getting there with practice. My biggest progress on that was when Basschat was upgraded and so out of action for most of the weekend, which just goes to show I usually spend too much time on the forum and not enough time practicing!

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1510264343' post='3405231'] Learning material for bands has led me to discover a lot of great music that I may not otherwise have heard, so I have ended up with less of a disconnect than when I started! [/quote] This! [quote name='mikel' timestamp='1510308996' post='3405440'] I like the music we play, because I love playing the songs. They have grooves and rhythms I would never have got into If I had stuck to only playing the music I like listening to. [/quote] ...and a bit of this too! When I first started playing bass (a few years ago), I played along to a lot of blues and blues rock stuff because I was familiar with it, and understood it, from playing guitar (I do listen to a lot of other types of music - I'm just crap on guitar!). Since being in bands, even though it's not exactly a hugely diverse range of styles, my listening tastes have diversified, and I've found that it's a bit of a circle - I learn to play something with the band that's a little bit different for me, listen around that and find some more stuff, then learn to play a bit of that, and so on.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1510060564' post='3403607'] I usually get to the venue first to set my rig up, then sit and have a pint while I wait for the drummer to set up. But whats even more annoying than our drummer taking ages to set up, he is always late, the last gig we arranged to be there and set up at 7.30pm for a 9.15pm start, he turned up 8.25pm which left us very little time to do a sound check. [/quote] Our drummer routinely turns up two hours in advance of start time so no problem there. Biggest issue I have with him is the first stomp he'll do on his kick pedal when he's setting up - invariably does it when I'm right next to his kit but with my back turned so don't see it coming, and it scares the hell out of me every time!

It takes "me" about 5 minutes to set up - one speaker on top of the other, amp on top, pedal board (battery powered) on the floor, plug everything in... It then takes me anything up to an hour to set the PA up, because most of the rest of the band "don't understand that technical stuff", so I've volunteered to do it. The PA is spread among the band for storage, so we usually have a mixture of band members arriving late with their designated bits of kit, and one or more of "I've forgotten my mic stand", "Have you got a spare mic cable?", "Have you got a spare mic?", "Has anyone got a mains extension"... To be fair things have got a bit more slick of late, but (bearing in mind that I don't sing) there was a time when I was routinely taking 2 mics and mic stands to every gig just in case! Even though the agreement is that people bring their own mic and instrument cables I still bring enough to cover everyone, and I quite often end up using mine as I get fed up waiting for people to get the knots out of theirs, which they've hastily stuffed into their bags at the end of the last gig rather than coiling up in a nice neat OCD fashion as I would. Which brings me on to the time spent to pack up, which usually extends to the following morning for me, when I get up and re-coil all the cables that my band mates have packed up for me! Ooh, that ended up a bit cathartic! And don't get me started on the lights - I move on to setting them up when the PA's done...

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1509789155' post='3401607'] Way over the top, but then again I see no point in a leather bag. I use a Gator G-PG Bass gig bag for my basses, including my Roscoe Signature and have no concerns re damage. The UK cost appears to be between £ 110 and £ 130 dependent on where you shop. Amazon link for reference: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gator-G-PG-BASS-Pro-Go-Bass-Guitars/dp/B00I6JGOBG [/quote] I can recommend the Gator G-PG bags - I have both this one and the dual. If you’re interested in them then it’s worth keeping an eye on Amazon's prices. The dual bag seems to come down to about £135 when Amazon have it in stock themselves, and I bought the single one linked above a bit earlier in the year for £102, though I’ve not kept an eye on the price since.

I’m no expert, having only played the LaBella 760's and D'addario Chromes, but I’m not sure that I’d jump straight on the La Bellas if you want a middy tone - they’re pretty deep and thuddy. I think the Chromes might be more to your liking, but it’d be interesting to see what others say.

If you’re also DIY inclined in the electronics area then try the fdeck HPF pre. I built one from this layout: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/hpf-technology-hpf-pre-2.html

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1509657012' post='3400701'] Hmmmm, difficult one, I had one in 2011 and it was great, 3 hour rehearsals, hour long gigs, day long recording sessions no problems. Moved it on. Fast forward a couple of years, bought another, didn`t make it through the first rehearsal before a burning smell and smoke made guest appearances. If you get a good one they`re great, but it rather put me off of them. Not heard of any issues re the 800 version though, so may be a safer bet. [/quote] Do you happen to know the year of manufacture of the one that failed? I recall reading that the issues were resolved some years ago. I have one from 2015 and it’s been fine.

We bought the Soundcraft UI12, which gives 8 mic pre's and 4 aux mixes (configuring the headphone out as two of them) and it's been great. Having read that they were plagued by dodgy WiFi I also bought an external router and connected that to the mixer using Ethernet, on the basis that if WiFi via the router failed I could fall back to the mixer's hotspot. Via the external router it’s failed every time I’ve tried it, but it’s been rock solid via the mixer's built in hotspot. To be fair I keep the iPad near the mixer most of the time, so if I was using it in a slightly larger venue than we play (pubs) it might have difficulty, but for what we need and the way we use it it’s been perfect.

Saw them at the Genting Arena last night. Great show, but sadly I heard precious little of Trujillo as the bass sound was just one massive kick drum induced mush. I honestly could only hear individual notes when he played a solo, and even then there was very little definition. Now I have to admit that it’s been a fair time since I’ve been to an arena show, and this is the first since I’ve seen the light and started playing (and taking notice of) bass rather than guitar myself, but I’d expected the sound to be better. Guitars and vocals were great, but overpowered by the bass mush. I heard other people around me commenting on the same after the support had finished. Is this typical of arena shows, and just a fact of life given the acoustic constraints? My 16 year old son loved it - his first big gig. He was a bit shocked when I told him I’d first seen them 31 years ago!

I’ve used a Northwest Guitars p bass neck in a parts build, but I also used one of their bodies. The reason I mention that is that the heel width is 63mm, which i think is pretty narrow compared to most, and certainly narrower than both my MIM P and J basses. It’s a slightly more chunky neck than my 2015 MIM P, but overall a very similar C profile. In terms of quality it seems fine. Truss rod works okay, frets could do with a polish but are pretty level, and I set up with the action as low as both my other basses - to the Fender standard spec of just under 2.5mm and 2mm at the 17th fret on the E and G respectively.

I had this with Schallers too - there's quite a lot of surface contact between the two parts so I assume any slight twist when the bass is on the strap can start to loosen the screw. I've switched to Dunlop ones now and had no problems with them.

Not sure about 1mm. I bought one of these recently - 2.5mm so possibly a bit thick, but it was a nice piece: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GUITAR-HEADSTOCK-VENEER-EUROPEAN-MAPLE/182756857967 Rothko and Frost also sell 2mm headstock veneer.

Not particularly cheap but there's a load of backing tracks on karaokeversion.co.uk where you can choose which instrument is left out. £1.50 a track as I recall, and most of them come with versions with and without vocals, and isolated bass too. Some of them are a bit obviously midi instruments, but in the main the ones I've bought have been pretty good. I'm sure I've come across other, free, backing tracks for bass, but obviously there's a lot less than for guitarists. Also pretty expensive but there used to be the band in a box software, which you can use to create your own backing tracks. I had a version about ten years ago, and even then it had some reasonable "real" instrument sounds as well as the midi based stuff. Not sure if it's still available, though, or how much it is. Edit: just checked, still going and starts at $129. Various different versions with additional content up to a whopping $600 odd.

My gig last night was... double booked, and we were the ones that didn't play. Allegedly the landlady tried to message us but didn't get a response - unlikely as nobody had any calls or texts, and no messages through Facebook either. Drummer turned up first and couldn't understand why there were two blokes giving him such strange looks as he dragged his stands bag through the door, until he looked round to see the other band's kit there. To cap it all we've now had to cancel our gig tonight as the keys player is ill - he was already looking a bit rough last night, but I'd thought that was just the disappointment of driving for an hour only to have to turn straight round and go home. The Bell in Pontypool if anyone in South Wales is looking for a gig - I've posted about it over on the Gigs forum.

My band, Fortunate Sons, has had to pull out of a gig at The Bell in Pontypool this evening as our keyboard player is ill, so they're looking for a replacement. If you google it the place comes up as permanently closed, but check Facebook and you'll see they're still running and in fact have us advertised. They've advertised us as Fortunate Souls mind you. Good grief, this sounds like a wind up, but it isn't! We play 60s and 70s rhythm and blues and soul, but I'm sure the pub would be interested in any general covers bands. If you're up for it and contact the pub then please give us a mention as we've told them we'll do what we can to get a replacement band. Turning out to be a bit of a crap weekend as we had another gig booked last night, and turned up to find another band already setting up - we'd been double booked and the landlady "couldn't get hold of us" - very unlikely since we have three people monitoring our Facebook page, and nobody had any messages...

Unless I've missed a post from my quick flick through then the oldest debut so far was at 24. I can double that, but I'm sure someone else can probably beat me... [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Location/Venue: The Plough Inn, Aberaman. 24th September 2016[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Your age: 49 [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Your bass: Fender MIM Precision[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Your amp: Ampeg PF500 with PF115HE[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The set list (some of it): Up Around The Bend as an opener, various Stones, CCR/Fogerty numbers, Tobacco Road, Keep Your Hands To Yourself, and a few more.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Anything else that might be funny/interesting/embarrassing: [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]First gig for me, and for the band. The event was the 2016 Cwmaman music festival, which is spread across a few pub and similar venues in the area. We stepped in to replace the band scheduled to be on last on the Saturday night, hence we now claim that our first ever gig was headlining a music festival. [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Cwmaman is where the Stereophonics come from, so we got the inevitable "Play something we know. Don't you know where you are? Stereophonics!". We play barely anything more recent than 60's/70's, so that wasn't happening.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The "load in" had been difficult, negotiating a fairly well packed room with some fairly well lubricated punters, not all of whom were taking very well to being bumped by the various amps and cabs being carried in and out. By the time we finished the room was no less busy (which is good!) and almost certainly even better lubricated, so the landlord suggested we leave the opposite way we came in - down the steps to the cellar, weaving around the barrels and everything else down there, and back up the other set of steps.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]All in all it was good fun, but it's fair to say it's not a venue we're desperate to go back to. [/font][/color]

I taught myself to do this without too much difficulty, despite it seeming quite alien at first - I'd bet a few 10 minute sessions over the course of a week will give you the muscle memory to do it. Follow the usual approach of starting out very slow and deliberate to get it right, and then speed up gradually to a normal playing speed. In theory you only need to rest on the string two below the one you're playing if you're following through your pluck into the string below, if you see what I mean... I think they call this a rest stroke as opposed to a free stroke? Whether there's a "correct" way of doing it I don't know, but I taught myself to be able to walk my thumb to the string below the one I'm playing, as well as sticking to the one two strings below, and I sometimes find that helps with consistency.

I'm currently a ceramic artist on the Isle of Wight, which is a vast improvement on the last time I looked, when I was a murder victim in Seattle...

EZ Drummer is great - very easy to use and good search functions to find suitable patterns for your songs, but I also think you should look at Logic - you get an awful lot for your money.

I'm still relatively new to this game - long time "bedroom" guitar player, but played bass for a few years and just into my second year of pub gigging (only a dozen under my belt so far). In my experience, for pub gigs you'll not need any more than a reasonable 1x15, and by reasonable I guess mean something with a few hundred watts and a fairly efficient speaker. That doesn't stop me gigging with a stack of two 1x12's, mind you, but need and want are two different things!

For blues and rock you could do worse that the Ampeg PF350 or PF500 and one of the matching cabs. They're pretty reasonably priced second hand, the PF500 especially as it's still tainted by all the talk of failures, but that only affected the early ones so if you get a 2015 or later it'll be fine. I have a PF500 and it's been fine. I find it really easy to get a good tone.

Mine is a self help mantra

[quote name='Les' timestamp='1505220596' post='3370309'] If your subs have a crossover I would imagine you could use the link form the tops which is a signal through out into your power amp then send that to your subs. Our subs (powered) take what they need from a full range signal and just ignore the rest. That would save sacrificing one of your aux sends [/quote] That would work okay for the Yamaha DBR12's that we have, as they have a high pass filter which can be set to 120Hz so they won't try to reproduce the bass. But not all tops will have that option, and even if they do then the crossover frequencies might not be particularly well matched.