Doctor J

Very sad. An amazing lady.

To play Devil’s advocate for a moment, what might be overlooked is the effect of stage volume on the instrument itself. I’m no fan of Mr. Bonamassa so can’t say it applies to him for sure, but I know in any guitarist role I’ve had the manipulation and use of feedback has been a part of the music on stage. I’m sure there is some sort of Hendrix influence in there, so perhaps he too struggled to find feedback sweet-spots on a quiet stage and found himself crushed by silent disappointment? I’m not aware of any IEMs for the guitar itself, though it could be that research continues as we speak.

Ouch 😂

Just keep playing and you'll get used to it quickly enough. It's all about muscle memory. That shouldn't be a chore in this case. That thing is a beast. Congratulations.

Everything that I want Isn’t everything that you’ve got. Auslander by Living Colour

That was one of his lesser crimes, incredibly enough.

I hover between a few basses but the answer is counted in years. Edit -> I don't use a plectrum, which does cut through the coating quite quickly.

The sound guy usually gets snotty when you head over to their desk to dial in your sound, though 😃

Not for me. I like zing, I hate a dull thud, so the money spent on one set of Elixirs definitely pays for itself over the lifespan of the string. I would go through multiple sets of standard strings in that time. They're brilliant.

As is "One Way or Another" by Blondie

Elixir own the patent for wrapping the whole string after it has been wound. All other manufacturers coat the outermost wrap before it gets wound onto the string. In my experience, the Elixirs work and the others (I've tried D'Addario and Warwick, won't be squandering any money on this kind of string anymore) are pointlessly expensive with no discernible benefit.

The 2010 Co-Habitation Act accounted for mine. That pre-set EQ made it seem like a one-trick pony at first but it was one hell of a trick and capable of so much more once you spent a bit of time with them. Good luck with your search.

No, but I also had an EB which I had to sell and wish I hadn’t. They are great basses.

Masters of Reality - Kill The King "And in many degrees of heat The fire looked at the meat And if I cook you the least you can do Is lay there and be sweet"

They tried to kill my BB1100S, but they needed to try harder. Yamahas are made from the hard stuff. Only the active/passive switch needed to be changed.

It largely depends on what it is you're trying to cut through. There is no default "cuts-through" EQ setting. If the other components of your band push the same frequencies do you, then you're all fighting over the same sonic space and it sounds like mush. You've got to work with the other instruments, give each other room. Generally, definition will come from mids and high frequencies so, unless the other instruments are thin and trebly sounding, you won't hear yourself if your tone is all low end. You've got to have mids in there. Don't set your bass tone in isolation. What sounds good on its own frequently sounds crap in the context of other instruments.

At least there’s no neck dive.

That is tasty. Wee, but tasty.

At domestic gigs, me neither but, when you’re completely out of your comfort zone, things can change and you can surprise yourself 🙂

I quite enjoy going to gigs solo. I still usually head up the front so it’s not as if I’d be spending the night chatting either way. At a gig, I want to really enjoy the music and performance up close and personal. Heading abroad for gigs is great fun too. Last year I combined a five-day run of gigs - Reef / Voivod / Lygo /Killing Joke / Therapy? with a nice break in Hamburg. Explore the city during the day, head to the gig at night. It’s paradise. You tend to get talking to people doing these things and it’s great to meet new people from different cultures. When I head to Frankfurt for Triumph of Death / Yob / The Obsessed jaunt in a couple of weeks, a mate of mine who lives in Colchester is going to meet me over there which should be great craic Three days, three cities, three gigs, but I would have headed over solo if no-one else had volunteered to come along. Tom Warrior playing Hellhammer? It would be rude to miss that 😁

Rough McKagan

I’m off to Frankfurt in a couple of weeks to see Tom G. Warrior play the hits of Hellhammer, then to Wiesbaden the next day for Yob and rounding it off with The Obsessed in Mannheim the day after that. Much doom will be doomed.

It’s over? Morrissey knew this ages ago.

Get a longer strap and have the bass not just below waistcoat level, but below fly level. All the young people say it’s totally, like, rad!

Dave’s humour is as dry as some of the fretboards which wind up on his bench. He’s definitely worth watching for anybody looking to get to grips with setups.