MrDaveTheBass

I'm calling the RSPA!

Personally, I find one of the advantages of an active bass with EQ controls is that it allows you to tweak the EQ between songs (or even mid-song) without having to turn around and fiddle with your amp. I generally set the amp flat and adjust EQ on the bass. That said, I sometimes have to set the EQ on the amp so suit the room (e.g. cut lows to avoid 'boom'). However, one of my favourite strategies is to set everything flat and use my right-hand position/picking technique to change the tone (picking close to the neck for a round bassy tone, or closer to the bridge for a brittle trebly tone).

You decided to let the drummer go then?

That's a great idea - it gives you licence to sound like 'you'.

Buy 4 of these and put them underneath your cab's feet. £6. https://www.amazon.co.uk/6030-Sports-Ice-Hockey-Puck-Black/dp/B01ERRJR4Q/ref=sr_1_2/257-8636340-0319504?ie=UTF8&qid=1526297260&sr=8-2&keywords=ice+hockey+pucks&dpID=418690QQ2SL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

You've just described my cover band's set list! When the whole pub is singing along with you, somehow even the worst drunk anthem doesn't seem too bad. The one song, however that I left a function band for was 'Build Me Up Bloody Buttercup' - for some reason I just couldn't face ever playing it again.

Unless you're a pro, there's no point in being in a band unless you're enjoying yourself. Best of luck getting the band that you deserve - there's a fantastic band out there waiting for you - you just have to find it.

This is worth a listen - "Martin Simpson and Richard Hawley visit master luthier Roger Bucknall, who reveals the extraordinarily painstaking and creative labour of love involved in making an acoustic guitar." https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b0pw02

Yeah, I've met them too!

Definitely go second hand - it's a buyer's market for cabs especially, and there are some great bargains to be had if you're able to travel in person and pick them up. I would also go for the separate head/cab approach - that way you can upgrade more easily as and when funds allow. I would recommend Genz Benz Focus cabs as cheap but good, and still fairly lightweight. Markbass LM3s are solid, reliable and powerful, and I like their transparent sound, but if you like any grit or dirt in your sound, you'll need a separate overdrive pedal too.

I was once in a similar situation - I was playing with a drummer who I disliked both musically and personally, and no matter how hard I tried, we never seemed to gel, on or off stage. Meanwhile, the narcissistic control-freak singer/guitarist sang badly and his guitar playing was only average at best. However, I liked the material that we were playing, and rather than face the bandless void, I spent over a year trying to make things work, whilst steadily enjoying myself less and less and becoming more and more frustrated and depressed. In the end, a particularly unpleasant racist story from the drummer prompted me to walk out, and it was the best thing that I ever did in that band. Unsurprisingly, I got a lot of abuse for leaving, but a couple of months later I found myself playing in two great bands with lovely, talented bandmates, and right now I'm loving my musical endeavours. Life is too short. If you're not having fun, walk. Remember too that it's possible to improve your bandmate's musically, but completely impossible to fix their personalities.

I see what you did there!

Unless they do something stupid, like set everything to 11, I don't have a problem with people adjusting my EQ settings when they borrow my rig. After all, that's what they're for - to make whatever instrument/player/style sound the best that it can. When borrowing an amp on stage, it can be useful to take a photo of the owner's EQ settings so you can easily set them back to how they were when you've finished your set.

https://reverb.com/news/3-times-electric-guitar-makers-tried-to-ditch-wood

I bought a 2m Speakon-to-Speakon speaker cable from Rockwire this week and I'm extremely impressed. It feels like you could tie up a battleship with this monster - and it arrived the day after I'd ordered it. http://www.rock-wire.co.uk/

Maybe they've got a veneerial disease...

Great song! I hadn't heard it until we played it in my 'originals' band - at least 90% of the audience think we wrote it!

The first thing I'd try is to take the jack socket out of the bass and plug a cable into it. The solution may be as simple as bending the jack socket slightly so that it grips the end of the plug properly. (I once let a player with an Epi T-bird play through my amp at an open mic. When he used my (Planet Waves) lead, there was no output, even though the lead was fine with my bass. He was only able to get a signal using his lead. The only reason that we could think of was that the input jack on the Thunderbird wasn't a standard length, and I've heard that Planet Waves jack plugs can be slightly longer than standard too.)

I think that we're all missing the point discussing Gene's views on pick vs fingers. After all, Gene isn't a professional bass player - he's an (extremely successful) merchandise salesman. I'm not sure how many takers he's going to get for the 'Home Experience Package', where he personally delivers a load of old demos and out-takes to you for $50,000. Personally, I'd be be more likely to pay $50 grand just to get him to flip off out of my house!

Are you in a Welsh Traffic tribute band?

Hi Clive! If there's a problem when playng the open string, is the nut-slot for the E-string too deep?

Is it better to jam on a Cream song, or cream on a Jam song?

I like the idea of the 'Drag' control. - I'd love to be able to adjust the flamboyance of my stage costume mid song.

"Froggy went a courtin', he did ride mmm hmm"