Cato

For £500 a gig I'd quite happily join a Vengaboys tribute.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1456944789' post='2993902'] Not in this country it wouldn't. You might get a few barn dances but over here we have Celidh bands with callers. [/quote] I don't know, there have been a few country & western inspired hits in the UK charts in recent months, I'm starting to wonder if it may be the coming 'thing'.

I'd be tempted to join band 4 purely to find out what or who 'psycho-billy' is. I wonder if he's related to my mate Mad Bob.

I'm sure I heard a thrash cover of 'Shake & Vac' in the late 80s/early 90s. I thought it was by someone like Xentrix or maybe Lawn Mower Deth,though it could have been Nuclear Assault, but I did a quick google search and couldn't find anything.

My Zoom B1on has noticeable latency on some patches but not on others, some of the envelope filter patches are pretty much unusable for very fast stuff, whereas other, similar sounding filter patches are fine. Maybe its a it's more of a tracking issue?

I keep thinkng I should give fretless a proper go and these are pretty near the top of my list.

It's not exactly Rock n' Roll rebellion but it doesn't normally bother me. Hearing Eddie Grant's anti apartheid anthem 'Gimme hope Jo'anna' redone as 'Gimme Yop me Mamma' for a yoghurt drink commercial was a bit of a low point though. I'd guess that a lot of the original performers & writers don't have any control over how their music is used & some of them are probably grateful for the additional revenue.

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1456762219' post='2991974'] Anybody know why they stopped making the 60s P? I lusted after the sonic blue with tonerider tone control example mentioned above. [/quote] They've cut the whole CV bass range right back. Speculation is that they were eating into Mex Fender sales. Although it's also possible that they're just making way for other models.

I would guess it happened at the point (early 80s?) when the world realised that if you wanted a Jazz or Precision that was built to the same standard as a classic Fender then you were best off not getting a Fender. Of course Fender have had their act more or less together for a long time now but the damage was already done, people had realised that the original was not necessarily the best.

Really liking Nik West's album at the moment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XqIpzBhcxU , and of course Carole Kaye is one of the most influential bass players, male or female, that there ever will be.

I think she did well in keeping with her own style. It would have been truly horrendous if someone had come on & tried to do a Bowie impersonation.

A while ago I read about a guy who was blasting his intruments with sound and/or vibration to simulate decades of being played. ( cant 't remember where, it might even have been on here). Apparently it realigned the wood molecules to give the instrument that special vintage flavour or some such jiggery pokery. Snake oil anyone?

I didn't watch the Brits last night, but I've been hearing a lot of love for this tribute performance today, it seems to feature most of Bowie's touring band plus Lorde on vocals. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7l3y7LOzLc[/media] Music starts at about 1.09 Edit original video taken down by youtube due to 'copyright issues' music now starts at about 8.50

Despite what I grew up hearing about CBS Fenders the 70s was truly a glorious era for beautiful jazz basses. Lovely example you've got there.

Take him to a couple of big shops and see what he likes. The 'cooler' he thinks his new bass is the more he'll play it.

I once drank two pints ( and I'm not a particularly fast drinker) whilst listening to a band do their version of 'Red House' at a beer festival. That was pretty epic. (in the sense that it seemed to go on for a very long time rather than being notable for anything else).

Three votes is not enough. I could have flipped a coin for two of my choices and happily gone with completely different tracks. Impressive stuff right across the board.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1456216192' post='2986593'] My gf wants me too justify why I must insist on switching my main and only bass several times a year, month or even every week. That I can't justify fully even too myself, especially as my playing level isn't that high. Love the Acg I now have though and can't see me parting with it for some time. [/quote] If you can afford it without forcing your family into penury then that's justification enough. Nice basses make you play better because they inspire you to pick them up & practice more. That's my philosophy anyway.

I used to do it with my old Hartke 3500 , but I've since read that it could potentially damage the amp. The sound only came through one side of the headphones which was annoying, I presume because the speaker output is mono, not stereo. Rereading your post if you don't actually have amp here yet try looking for one with a dedicated phones output. I think a few of the class Ds have them. Further edit. In fact having looked at the ampeg you mentioned it does indeed have a dedicated headphones output. They wouldn't have included it if it was going to damage the amp so you should be golden.

I use Seinnheiser hd201s. Excellent quality for bass practice & listening to music. The cable is quite light & thin & needs to be treated with a bit of care, but you should get around £60 change from your £80 to spend on other goodies. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-Closed-Dynamic-Stereo-headphones-black/dp/B0007XJSQC

[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1456009711' post='2984565'] Best advice I was ever given was "if you can hum it, you can play it". [/quote] I had a similar one along the lines of you can play anything if you slow it down enough, then you can start speeding it back up.

I read recently that while Ibanez don't do custom specs for Joe Public they have a small luthiers & workshop operation in California solely for their endorsees. Maybe its a similar thing with Music Man? Although I doubt this Vamps guy has an endorsement, I can't imagine boy band members shift that many units. ( no disrespect to boy bands).

Watching various tutorials on YouTube I've seen a fair number of people who I would regard as top class players who don't use the 'one finger per fret' technique. Going from the first finger on the first fret to the little finger on the third or even from the third to the fifth seems pretty common & not massively detrimental to their overall ability on the instrument. Maybe getting the person you are teaching to start practising stuff to build strength & dexterity in the little finger, which beginners tend to lack, would be a good way forwards?

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1455614935' post='2980609'] Surely the whole point in getting people talking about you is to pique their curiosity, not to make them all think you're a monumental helmet-flake. [/quote] Unfortunately the world doesn't seem to work like that. Look at Justin Bieber, he spent several years earning a reputation as one of the world's leading bell ends & he's now bigger than he's ever been. In Mr West's case he makes a few controversial or daft statements and he gets the kind of global coverage money literally cannot buy. On a purely commercial level it doesn't seem to matter whether the coverage is positive or negative.The people who are bemused by his ridiculous antics were probably never going to buy his products in the first place. Most of the articles about him mention his fashion business or his various endorsement deals or links to various brands, which rightly or wrongly will ultimately only increase his perceived value to his sponsors.

He's got a new album out & everyone's talking about him. Job done.