super al

Mark King for sure, when I found out that he used Rotosound strings I started buying them for my bass.

I can't slap for toffee though!

Love the interior of the case @Sagawa that's not being derogatory towards the bass, I just love that colour.

I've never heard of Ninja basses, my 1st bass (and I still have it for sentimental value!) was a red Marlin Slammer P bass copy.

Kept it nice and clean but then lent it to a mate's dad who just started playing bass again after 20 years. It came back to me a few months later with some mojo - chicken head knobs and some lovely dings! It now resides in the super al museum 😊

Ok, another live recording from the same gig spliced with still shots for a video.

This one is I Feel Good (I Got You) by Mr James Brown.

Again, distortion on the vocals and a few mistakes due to one full rehearsal with band before gig.

This is from a gig at Durrington Working Men's Club from February 23rd '19. Durrington is near Stonehenge for reference.

The gig was to showcase our new horn section and new drummer and we only had one rehearsal as a full band so it has a raw feel to it. This was also the first time I'd played 'Tears of a Clown' live (played a semi tone down in 'c').

Video was shot but the quality was terrible. Our singer, Kurt, recorded this on his laptop.

Feedback welcome

*Made a video of stills to get the mp3 uploaded and playable. Some shots of the band live, some of artists we cover, none of Smokey Robinson!!!* 

*You don't have to watch the video just close your eyes*

2 minutes ago, Silvia Bluejay said:

I'm @Happy Jack's string and general setup tech... 😎

@Happy Jack is a lucky guy, marrying a bassist who can set up his basses too!

I'm not much of a bass geek but I seem to have upped my time spent with my lovely basses. I keep a log (like James T Kirk 😀) of practices, rehearsals and gigs and this year I've gone up from about 13-14 times a month playing to 19-20 times a month.

That can range from the 2hrs at gigs and rehearsals to the 20 mins to an hour home practice.

If I had the discipline I would get up an hour earlier and practice every morning before the kids get up!

I'm usually glum faced and staring at the fretboard so 2 rare shots!

Left is a function band gig in Nov '17 and right is a depping gig before they made me full time (April '18)

I bought a Lakland 55-02 from Andy. Great comms, pics of the bass and packaging before the courier picked up too. Coped very well with communication when UPS decided to make the bass disappear for about 90 minutes, very reassuring when things went awry.

Bass arrived in tip top condition and was as described, buy with confidence!

Thanks Andy.

3 hours ago, ezbass said:

When I was looking for a 5 string some years ago, i spent hours at The Gallery in Camden, playing every 5 string that I could, both cheap and expensive. It was a 55-02 that I left the store with. Great bass, although ultimately I failed to gel with it long term. T’was ever thus.

I hope mine's a keeper!

I'm worried that having played the Ibanez sr1205 for 18 months I'm going to find the neck difficult to get on with. 

1 hour ago, bubinga5 said:

Ahh brill. !! Cheers Al. Cant find it mind. 

Yes, their website is strange. I came across it by googling lakland 55-02 review I think. Under basschat on their site click read more.

Just bought one 2nd hand, looking forward to it's arrival!

I've been doing my research on Lakland 55-02s and came across this review on Lakland's website!

Fair play @bubinga5 a well written review that made it back to the manufacturer.

I very rarely put the radio on for the school run so to catch 'lessons' was amazing.

I often think the songs sound dated when played live but today the tunes were fresh. Credit to them, excellent performance (I loved the cover choice too!).

On 17/05/2019 at 11:46, Nicko said:

Paul Martin is one of those people tht you watch on TV and wonder how he ever got a job presenting.  I hope he's more talented as a musician than he is as a personality.

Funnily enough one of my small claims to fame is spending an evening in a pub near Marlborough with Paul Martin just before he got picked up for Flog It.

He was a friend of a friend and he pretty much talked all night! As we were all muso types, he regailed us with his drumming tales (including Dogs d'amour).

Apparently he ran an antiques shop and a TV bod who happened to enter his shop was so impressed with his chatter he got the TV gig (so I was told thru the Marlborough grapevine!).

Was shocked first time I saw him on telly ("isn't that...bloke from pub!")

Hi Bassman666

Does this beauty come with a case?

43 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

😁

Me got that too!

Got 'introduce yourself' on the strength of 'we care a lot' getting heavy airplay. Still have that tape somewhere, must be worn thin by now!

Saw FNM at reading festival along with living colour, pixies, cramps, etc...happy times back then. Weirdly I liked RHCP more but didn't get to see them until '03.

I feel a FNM car playlist coming on 🤘

12 hours ago, stewblack said:

I've had a gig cancelled. I'm regularly in Swindon and always up for a challenge. Pm me 

Thanks Stew, you're a star for volunteering.

The old guitarist is filling in on guitar now and the new guitarist is the old bassist so jobs a good 'un.

Thanks to BCers for their help. Love this forum 😍

6 minutes ago, musicbassman said:

Oh dear - pity you're not a bit closer to Chichester - I'd be right up and ready for that!  But that's a two hour run each way from here.

Best of luck - don't cancel the gig - I'm sure you'll find someone, there's some good people on this forum.

Of course you could try Facebook, maybe the group MUSICIANS AVAILABLE - WANTED - SOUTHERN UK.

Thanks, I know it's a tall order wrapped in a long shot...thought I'd try here as I know the bestest, nicest and most talented bassists frequent BC 😊

Cheers for the tip, will try on FB too!

30 minutes ago, Jakester said:

Would love to but I think I’d need a bit more time, practice and ability! 

 

Good luck with it!

Yeah, took me about 2 months to learn 30ish songs for my 1st depping job with this band (I'm not the quickest learner or a reader!)

I know I'm probably going to get told off, this should be in 'bassists wanted' but time is of the essence!

My band has a gig in Swindon this Saturday (18th) and I can't make it. Deps are proving hard to come by and I've asked everyone I know. 

Would any of you guys local to Swindon be willing to step in? 

We play soul music, Otis, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Jackie Wilson, Sam n Dave.

It's not a big paying gig

There'll be no rehearsal

Most tunes are in original key but occasionally there's a key change

If anyone is up for the challenge I will be forever grateful. PM me if you can make it and put in a good shift for pocket money. The rest of the band don't want to cancel the gig but it's looking likely at the moment

Thanks

Hi Andy, whereabouts in the South West are you?

1 hour ago, stewblack said:

I do try to play Footloose as per the original but only as a challenge to myself and no other reason - even then there's a couple of variations which I gloss over! 

I try to do the fart slides in I Wish but never in the right places. Fart Slides. Band name, I call it. 

I should ask the old bassist if he did farty slides (in I Wish 😊).

Good call on the band name, I was in a covers band called the Lava Trees one time and a drummer mate was in Hoof Hearted.

56 minutes ago, nightsun said:

Footloose was a mountain I had to conquer, just for me

Maybe one day...

Too many other mountains to climb with the new band like 'I want you back' in F and now Earth, Wind & Fire tunes!

Every day's a school day!

I got back into covers again a couple of years ago (so much easier writing your own basslines for originals).

I did agonize over the whole playing it note for note thing but in the end I thought if I'm not doing it right for the level of band I'm in they'll probably tell me! The punters aren't usually there to listen out for the bass player so I'll probably be safe not playing 'Footloose' like Nathan East!

Does anybody play all the farty slide bits in 'I Wish'? I doubt it, play it straight and it sounds just as good (as long as the drummer doesn't speed up throughout the song!).

I'm now playing in a band where the original bassist switched to guitar and he's very good on both instruments. It can be a help, it can be a hindrance (on my part, mentally), I'm not exactly the new boy but I don't feel I've bedded into the band yet. Having said that they're all great. 

Give an infinite number of monkeys bass guitars and still only Flea will play 'dani california' like Flea

At the start of the year I was made permanent bassist in the band I depped for last year. Last rehearsal before the 1st gig the singer gives me a set list.

At the soundcheck for the 1st gig I soon realise that apart from the singer and the horn section (horn section all have tablets with set list and scores!) I'm the guy that has the set list! Guitarist had printed off one from a previous gig and the drummer just didn't bother ("what's next Al?"). These guys are 'old pros' so it doesn't seem to bother them, I'm a bit of set list jobsworth as I always carry A4 paper and jumbo felt tips (sad).

In answer to OP's question, I put my set list on the floor if there's enough room! My eyesight is going so I find myself bending down to pick up my water between songs to find out what's next 😎. May have to work on a new system, larger print, sheets of A3!

If only it was a 5 string...🙁

43 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Thanks to everyone who mentioned the Mars Volta. Decided to buy de-loused last night and am really enjoying it. All round good music, I like the guitar style, the feel of the songs, and of course the bass... Decent album. It's a band I'd never have given much thought to if not for this thread. Thank you all

Quite a strange experience to see them live (they supported rhcp in '03), didn't know about them so 1st time hearing them. They sounded like 2 different bands playing simultaneously at times and there was only 5 of them I think!

Got the album deloused on the strength of that strange performance, nuts!