IainS

I think if I were looking for a new band I’d ask what type of music they played, some example songs, and take it from there. Hanging out with a bunch of people twenty years younger or twenty years older can be pretty fun as long as you’re all on the same page musically. 

Amazing! Two and a half hours, too! That is a long time to fly by the seat of your pants. I hope it does lead to a change in a jazzier direction for you. 

This thread has made me realise that I don’t actually play any of our songs exactly like the original. I get close on a few occasions but on the whole I make it up as I go along and then if I like what I’ve played and nobody complains I try to remember it next time. That’s worked for me for the last 30 years. Our guitarist is the complete opposite to the point where he nails not only the song note for note but also the guitar and amp sound. He makes up for my shortcomings. It seems to work. 

They’re huge fun. I could watch their videos on YouTube for hours, and probably have. I thought of them a moment ago when reading the thread about covers bands’ most popular songs, wishing that more covers bands (mine included) were as talented and creative as PMJ. 

I think it’s what Christmas is all about, isn’t it? Buying basses. Christbass, I think they’re changing it to from now on. Roll on next Christbass. 

56 minutes ago, miles'tone said:

Yes he played on most of the Amputechture album. 

You seen this? Flea, John and Omar from The Mars Volta giving it some. 

 

Flea's stamina here is quite astonishing considering how hard he plays!

I hadn’t seen it, but glad I have now. That is giving it some and then some. 

Mmm...sweaty flatwound bracelet...

Got a bit of a thing for Balkan Beat Box and Gogol Bordello lately, in fairly equal measures. They get me dancing round my kitchen like nothing else. 

I played BSSM to death and then did the same with their earlier albums. Some of the first songs I ever learnt (badly) were off those albums. Didn’t John Frusciante play with Mars Volta for a while? 

We tried Mariah once. Our singer struggled. We haven’t played it since. Just Slade from us from now on. 

Where The Streets Have No Name tends to kick our gigs off with a plodding rumble. Not the most exciting way to start a gig but I feel fairly settled in afterwards. 

On 03/06/2018 at 13:12, Al Krow said:

 

 

 

 

 

How could I forget and how come no else has mentioned the amazingly talented (and often under-rated) Queen's John Deacon and Duran Duran's John Taylor?!

I'm changing my name to John. 

We've been doing it for a while to aid our aging singer in his singing of the higher pitched songs, which seems to be most of what we play. The only problem I had was a loss of tension in the strings, losing that zing that some have spoken of. Thicker gauge strings sorted that out though. 

On 2/5/2018 at 11:54, D'Addario UK said:

No problem at all, be good to hear your feedback in this thread as to whether they work for you

 

Adam.

They work a treat! I've given it a few days to get used to the extra tension - and there is a little more tension than I'm used to, even at my previous standard tuning, but I don't mind that at all. Thanks all, and to @verb for the strings!

6 hours ago, Bilbo said:

Soundchecks are for wimps....

Absolutely. It's much more fun to just start with everything turned up full and then wait to see if anybody asks you to turn anything down a bit. 

12 minutes ago, verb said:

I was hoping they would arrive today, I sent them 1st class yesterday.

Ah, you're a gent. I'm sure they'll get here tomorrow. I'll let you know. 

3 hours ago, D'Addario UK said:

Ah perfect, the logic in my post works pretty close for the current gauge you are used to as well.  You'd just need to adjust slightly. So you'd find the least noticeable difference by using something like 50 - 70 - 90 - 110.
That's a weird gauge so you would be relying on buying single strings unless you compromise quite a bit and go with a set of EXL230 (55 - 75 - 90 - 110).

And your welcome man that's why I'm here. Nobody really says 'Oh wow, I feel like these strings have 5lb less tension in them.' The system is just there to put numbers / maths to what we feel when we down tune etc, which makes it easier to find an appropriate gauge. Generally on a bass, most players won't be too concerned with around 2lb of tension either way, but once it gets to 5lbs, it becomes noticeably different.
You'll love the strings even more once you have tried them!

Adam.

I'm pleased you've recommended the EXL230 set as that's exactly what Verb has offered to send me to try out. If I get on with them I'll grab myself a shiny new set. 

Thanks again Adam. I've learned something this week!

I picked up The Legend Lives On many years ago. I didn't know anything about him at all and have no idea why I bought it. I remember the quizzical looks from friends whenever it went on the CD player. I don't think I understood it either, but it remained one of my favourite CDs for years. 

We had to get a dep once when I broke a finger. He learned every song in one rehearsal, didn't hit a bum note on the night and left me feeling quite inadequate, and possibly redundant. But my band said that they never wanted to play with him again. He was technically brilliant but the band wanted someone 'solid', and that was me. I can live with solid being my outstanding quality as a bass player. 

22 minutes ago, funky8884 said:

I know how you feel , I have just lost my rehearsal space and my gear has been kicked out into the basement.

I saw that. I hope it's not too cold or damp in that basement. 

Ours is just a budget issue and my wife is the sensible one. 

7 minutes ago, funky8884 said:

A 5 String Bass could be employed 

I thought of that but there was much frowning in my house when I suggested I might need another bass. So 4 strings it will have to be. For now. 

Adam, that is about as comprehensive an answer as I could have hoped for. D'Addario strings have just become my new favourites. And I haven't even tried them yet. 

I've currently got 45-65-85-105 strings on and, as you say, the loss of tension when tuning down is noticeable, although I couldn't have told you that it was about a 5lb loss. 

I'll have another go on the tension guide and see if I can make more sense of it now. 

And Dood, thanks for the link to the D'Addario string tension guide. I've never considered looking at the tension of strings in measurable terms, just high or low tension. I feel like I have been educated.

52 minutes ago, LewisK1975 said:

They will go floppy if the strings have been tuned to standard pitch for all of their 'life' and then tuned down.

Could that be contributing to your problems?

If so, might be worth trying buying your normal strings and tune them to E flat from new.  Might require a little bit of Truss rod adjustment too.

As others have said, going up a gauge will also help.

That's a good point. The strings do spend half their life at standard pitch while I'm learning songs from the original, then tuned down to play with the band.

I'm going to try out a set of used 55-110s and see how I get on with them, then if I like them I'll get a new set and leave them tuned down from day one.

Thank you all. A few good suggestions there and it seems D'Addario might be a good place to start. 

And Verb, that's an incredibly kind offer that I think I'll take you up on. I'll PM you.