xilddx

[quote name='Sue' post='934185' date='Aug 23 2010, 09:17 PM']Great gig last night at the Jazz Cafe Pete (as ever). You really are an awesome bass player. With regard to the CD, I played it on the way home (all of it - it was a long journey), and the sound quality is superb. It's a must purchase for anyone who has seen you live, or anyone who wants to hear the best homage to Steely Dan you will ever get. Sue[/quote] Do you know, I had a feeling that was you when you turned up at the pub! I was the tw@t in the hat, with my good lady Diane with the short red hair. Sorry we didn't have a chance to say hello. Hello Sue

[quote name='silddx' post='933970' date='Aug 23 2010, 06:03 PM']Aja was brilliant![/quote] "Bovine Noir" was also wonderful

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='934041' date='Aug 23 2010, 07:11 PM']I personally like BGM. This month had two good interviews with my heroes, Stanley and Bootsy, and I like the new Stefan funk feature. Apart from Guitar And Bass mag, which seems to feature less and less bass each time, there's no other mags to buy except Bass Player. Overall, I think the guys do a great job of trying to please everyone.[/quote] They are clearly getting better, and don't do a bad job at all, but the all too frequent typos and typesetting errors are really annoying and they should have that fully sorted by now. Some of the editorial is less than compelling too.

[quote name='BassBus' post='933987' date='Aug 23 2010, 06:21 PM']There was always a time when someone like Nick Beggs was a nobody. While most of them will disappear into the wilderness I'm sure one or two of these nobodys will become somebody some day.[/quote] What do you like about the "nobody" bits? I'm a nobody, you are a nobody, we have a forum of 11,000 nobodies right here, for free. And we very much enjoy engaging and enraging each other. I don't want to see [b]your [/b]bass secrets in a magazine that costs me £3.95 every month. I want to see Scott Thunes' bass secrets, Danny Thompson's bass secrets, Patrick O'Hearn's bass secrets. Not [b]your[/b] bass secrets. I can get them on here for nothing, and also find out what your favourite training shoe brand is, or how many coats of primer you put on your window sills, if I ask politely. We have, this month, some extraordinary bass secrets from some nobodies who are now BGM somebodies .. [i]"The most important thing about a bassline is that it fits the song and provides that solid foundation." "The secret of playing bass well is focus and keeping the beat. Bass is essentially a rhythm instrument as well as the backbone of the melody." "I think the secret of good bass playing is to get a grip of the fundamentals first and stay as tight as possible with your drummer." "The secret of playing bass well is .. other players. Listening. Deftness of touch. Learning to love the long notes but not forgetting the intricacies of the the groove." "The secret of playing bass is being at one with the instrument. Onstage you are not playing the bass - it's playing you. My first bass was a strip of plywood."[/i] Bear in mind these are the most "interesting" parts of [i]"Bassists tell us what they do in a minute or less!"[/i], even more "interesting" than the photographs. Now, do you really want two pages of this in your magazine? Are you educated or entertained by it? If you had a child who was learning to play bass would you be happy for them to read it?

[quote name='Oscar South' post='928758' date='Aug 18 2010, 04:10 PM']I would have guessed that one for the Les Claypool look going on Here's new one of me at Manchester Academy: [/quote] That is one of my favourite bass pics ever! Wickid mate! You should be very proud of that one

[quote name='faceman' post='933928' date='Aug 23 2010, 05:25 PM']Excellent, I'm hopefully going to catch Pete and the gang at The Sage in Gateshead in a few weeks time! After I have moved to London, I also hope to get to a Jazz Cafe gig. I heard a rumour that the epic Aja might have been added to the setlist... Oh, and you guys are right, Pete can really play. His slap work on My Old School still rings true with me![/quote] Aja was brilliant!

[quote name='Mike Brooks' post='933842' date='Aug 23 2010, 04:29 PM']Totally off topic.... Gary, you have no idea what an influence you were on me as a 14 year old taking up bass at school, sat in the audience at a House Music Competition and saying to my dad " that's what I want to do for a living..." ....... and as he constantly reminds me "I need to have a word with him, it's all his fault!" Only joking! Just happy to have caught up with you after the 'wilderness' years. Mike[/quote] Aww, that's nice

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='933633' date='Aug 23 2010, 01:39 PM']Anyone got the brand new one in the last day or so? Mark @ BassDirect, Robbie @ RIM and Bernie @ GB have all told me the review of the TC BG500 amp I won is n there and I went to my usual place to buy a copy to be told they aren't stocking it anymore! Nottingham seems to be BGM void :-([/quote] Ahh, is that you in that messy room with the cables running behind the radiator?

[quote name='BassBus' post='933551' date='Aug 23 2010, 12:49 PM']Tell you what I'm tired with is a lot of the contributions to this thread recently. BGM is a mag that has to cater for a wide range of players and genres. You can't please all of the people all of the time, as someone once said. If you are that unhappy with it do as some have done and go else where and stop whinging. I think they do a pretty good job. I don't read it from cover to cover but I can usually find enough to satisfy me. There have been a lot of complaints about type setting and typos in the mag. Well quite frankly some of the contributers to this thread should check their own posts first before they criticise others. Rant over. [/quote] Another thing, I don't know if you've read the entire thread but there has been a lot of positive and help stuff posted here too, which i might guess the guys at BGM have taken on board. Of course there are niggles, and things they don't get right, but it's because of people like us, their audience, engaging them that allows them to continue to improve. However, constant typos, missing text, inaccurate information, etc. need to be pointed out. I would not accept such errors or poor quality control in a new car, or a toaster, or a pair of new shoes, and neither should you. That said, it seems people are happy to accept such issues in a Fender bass But I play Warwicks.

[quote name='dr1' post='933602' date='Aug 23 2010, 01:18 PM']isn't great to have threads like this. showing respect and friendship to each others. cheers![/quote] Yes, this is the new me

[quote name='Rich' post='933574' date='Aug 23 2010, 01:04 PM']Stanley Clarke's little arsenal on page 28... the three on the front row are without doubt the ugliest instruments I have ever seen in my life. [b]They make Wishbasses look positively desirable.[/b] If I was Stan I'd keep them in a cupboard or something. Having said that, I can't actually make basses myself, so perhaps I shouldn't criticise them... [/quote] Hideous aren't they!

[quote name='BassBus' post='933551' date='Aug 23 2010, 12:49 PM']Tell you what I'm tired with is a lot of the contributions to this thread recently. BGM is a mag that has to cater for a wide range of players and genres. You can't please all of the people all of the time, as someone once said. If you are that unhappy with it do as some have done and go else where and stop whinging. I think they do a pretty good job. I don't read it from cover to cover but I can usually find enough to satisfy me. There have been a lot of complaints about type setting and typos in the mag. Well quite frankly some of the contributers to this thread should check their own posts first before they criticise others. Rant over. [/quote] You don't pay £3.95 to read this thread though do you mate.

[quote name='ezbass' post='933392' date='Aug 23 2010, 10:01 AM']I've got mine and have flicked through it and to be honest there's nothing that makes me go "I must read this now!" but it goes like that sometimes. [b]However, I do wish they'd lose the blog from people doing the year course at whateverit'scallednow institute[/b], the best one was the first one (she wrote some entertaining stuff), since then it's all been pretty repetitious, except for the interview of Paul Turner by the student at the time. Weekend Warriors should come back definitely. I still want to see interviews with Pino and Bruce Thomas too.[/quote] It completely unfair, and I don't really know why it should be, but I hate looking at that kid's face He has nothing interesting to say really either, it's more of an advert. And I hate the format of the short interviews at the front. It's a load of bass players in bands I've never heard of telling me what gear they use, their influences and what they think the "secret" of good bass playing is. Why do I give a sh*t about any of that? "The secret of a good bass is to stick wiv da drums", "The secret of a good bass is to always do what the song needs", "The secret of a good bass is to play simply and don't be a cheeky monkey." What a load of sh*t. I just got the one with Bootsy on the cover. And I'm bored with it already. I thought they were really getting somewhere but it seems to be going downhill again. I haven't seen any acknowledgement and addressal of the missing end of last month's RHT/WB/NM interview either. Standards and content quality are slipping again I think.

Pete's band Nearly Dan played the Jazz Café in Camden (for you folks in Norfolk, Camden is in London ) and the place was pretty rammed. About 250 pre-booked tickets apparently. Anyway, mrs silddx and I met Pete and the band in a nearby pub for a drinkie or two. I've not met Pete before but we gave each other a great big hug, and I now have bruised ribs. He's a splendid fellow as are the rest of the band, we all had a great chat and a laugh before we repaired to the JC for the gig. These guys are obviously very popular, the crowd loved this gig and it seemed like quite a few of them always see the band when they play at the JC which is twice every year apparently - and we will definitely be going again. They did a great selection of Steely Dan numbers over the next two or so hours. The musicianship was excellent, truly thrilling in many places. The brass section were great, I heard the best sax solo I've ever seen from a live band last night, the guy was like Hendrix on the sax, incredible tone and delivery. The guitar playing was gorgeous, the three and four part vocal harmonies lush, and what a rhythm section! The drummer did a fantastic job of navigating all those drum parts by LA's top session players, and he did it with great style and panache. Aside from the "frontman"'s guitar and vocal (he's got a great voice), he had a great rapport with the audience and he's a really funny bloke. This is not the sort of band that is content to ape the source of their act, they actually have a personality of their own, and the evening was all the more enjoyable for it. And now to our Basschat brother, Pete. Man, this guy can PLAY! Frow what I see of Pete on BC, I kind of forget he is a bassist aswell He had a great tone coming through the house Markbass rig, couldn't see what the bass was as I was on the wrong side, but it was a rich and growly 5er. I don't think he was using much compression either because the way he was riding the dynamics was really clever and sensitive. Tight as f*** with the drums too. There are some very tricky bass lines going on and Pete was smooth as silk with all of them. It was a great night, even mrs silddx really enjoyed it, and she don't dig on the 'Dan at all, can't stand them. She enjoyed the evening because of the performance, which says everything about this band in one sentence. They are way beyond a tribute act, you do not see them and pretend you are watching Steely Dan, it's much more than that, and I think that's why they are so successful and get people coming back time and again. Pete, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you, man! See you again in January

Any other BCers going tonight?

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='930236' date='Aug 19 2010, 08:05 PM']The main hall of the Natural History Museum next to the dinosaur skeleton. Worst acoustic ever![/quote] I did the V&A with Doreen's band, mass reverb, very odd.

Chesterfield

Try the Stratosphere on ebay, they are excellent, I've used them a number of times. They have quite a few to choose from, but here is one [url="http://cgi.ebay.com/2010-Fender-Standard-JAZZ-BASS-NECK-TUNERS-/360285296579?pt=Guitar_Accessories"]http://cgi.ebay.com/2010-Fender-Standard-J...tar_Accessories[/url]

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='928854' date='Aug 18 2010, 05:52 PM']It'll probably be OK, fish it out and string it up and give the neck time to settle itself before doing anything drastic like taking the frets out.[/quote] Let's hope so. Depends on a few things, materials, length of time, conditions, but stressing the neck in one direction without a counterforce could put it at risk of warping.

See you there mate! Anyone else going?

Same here. Thick, wide supple leather strap with Warwick Security Locks. I would never use a strap made with webbing or plastic parts.

[url="http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/kitpaint.html"]http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/kitpaint.html[/url]

Blue Oyster Cult - Some Enchanted Evening

I'm going to be using pre-catalysed nitrocellulose aerosol from Tonetech Luthier Supplies [url="http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/Lacquers-and-Paint/View-all-products.html?TreeId=1"]http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.uk/L...s.html?TreeId=1[/url] Give them a call, they are incredibly helpful and will tell you exactly what to do and what to use, drying times, etc. I'll grain-fill my mahogany body, give it a coat of clear nitrocellulose as a sanding sealer, sand back with 400 then 600 grade wet & dry (used dry). Tack rag it to remove any dust. Then it gets a couple or three of coats of white nitrocellulose. leave to dry for ten hours. Tack rag it to remove any dust, then a few coats of clear nitrocellulose. Leave it for 7 days to harden (it's pre-cat so it dries much more quickly than normal nitrocellulose). Then it gets sanded back carefully using 400 then 600 grade wet & dry (used wet with a dash of Fairy liquid as a cutting agent). Leave for two days to fully harden off. Then final wet sanding with 1000 grade wet & dry (used wet with a dash of Fairy liquid as a cutting agent). Then a polish with something like T-Cut. Hope that helps mate.

Oh dear, this is very sad. We had just become facebook friends too. OG is one of the stars of BC, extremely knowledgable and shared it all freely. A really kind and funny man. Awful news.