grapevinebass

Never thought I would get the opportunity to see Big Country live - but they are on the road again with a new, and very good, singer. So off I went to Portsmouth last night to see them and carefully watch Tony Butler do his fantastic stuff. Still a great band, with great riffs and stage presence. But the gig was ruined by terrible sound. Even though I had my earplugs, I left before the end - before my ears bled. The great bass runs were lost in a cacophany of bass and snare drums. Even the neat cymbal work was lost in the mix. Did the sound man really not notice that turning everything up to 11 just resulted in mushy sound. The ample PA could not cope with the overload - it was clipped and distorted. The bass guitar was lost, and the mids and treble swamped by trouser flapping bass overload. I reckon about 50% of the gigs I go to have poor sound mix, but some are just ruined by bad sound engineering. So - if you are still with me, reader of this rant... when you strutt your stuff with your band, make sure your sound man keeps the sound under control. Otherwise all your hard work is lost on deafened listeners and your melodies overwhelmed by the mix. If you are going to see Big Country, take good earplugs and keep out of the speaker axis.

Interesting thread so far. General conclusion seems to be that some knowledge of theory helps you as a bass player. Now my son is looking at University courses in music. There are courses where you spend 3 years learning music theory! So perhaps a better question is: 'what elements of the whole music language are most useful to a bass player'. Since I cannot spend 3 years learning music theory, what nuggets of theory are most needed for an average bassist? Even better, are these nuggets collected together in any one book, or website? Is a new thread called for, called 'Helpful Music Theory and Tips'?

Work is taking me to Saudi Arabia for a couple of weeks. My colleagues say there is absolutely nothing to do there, especially as it is Ramadan. I don't want to lug my bass all the way there with all the other stuff I have to take.... So, are there any fellow Basschat members in Jeddah who could lend/hire me a bass (4-string) for a short period. This will stop me going mad with boredom and keep me in practice. Happy to meet up for a drink - tea of course!

I find that having some BlueTac on the plectrum really helps. I don't have to grip it so tightly, doesn't matter when you get sweaty fingers and it's easy to stick it on the bass when you go back to fingers.

OK to add to the Status-Fest... My Series 2 in Cherry laquer finish over ash The graphite has a red tint to compliment the body. Light and well balanced, and just (almost) never goes out of tune

I came across a website - www.turnkey.co.uk - that seems to be linked in some way to Sound Control. It certainly lists what stores are being retained and what are closed. Has lots of stuff for sale at cut prices - but then tells you that you can't buy them over the web while Sound Control is in Administration. Looks like if you are near one of the stores that is still open, you may get the prices quoted on the site.

I don't think this looks so bad - just very plain. Most Warwicks seem to me to resemble the amoebas I had to draw in school biology lessons. Now for basses that have been beaten by an ugly stick, I don't think you can beat an Alembic. They must be very, very good to play.

Hey guys - I really enjoy lusting after many of the bass guitars up for sale, but.. Please include pictures that don't take 5 minutes to download! Anything over 1Gb is just over the top!

Please help me out here. I may be missing something really simple, but I think I am about to delve into arcane areas... My frequency chart tells me that my E-string open vibrates at 41.203Hz and my G-string at 97.999Hz. My amp has a bass EQ, 2 sliders, a Mid EQ, 2 sliders and a Treble EQ. The manual states that the Bass Eq operates around 45Hz, and the first slider at 110Hz. Thats it then - I seem to be off the scale! Even octave G is 196Hz, which does not even reach the range of the second slider (at 340Hz). So what does the second slider and up do for me? Well, I guess it must be working on string harmonics. Can you guys tell me what the key harmonic frequencies are for each string, so I can better experiment with useful EQ settings. Thanks

Tip for readers: Never take a booking for a wedding gig on the same night as the Rugby World Cup Final when England are playing. OK - so we did not know this was likely when we took the booking back in April, so I guess we have some excuse. Were the crowd clapping our playing or Englands? It's hard to give your best when 75% of the audience are trying to watch the rugby on the TV on the wall. Still, it got switched off when the game was over and before we gave up and went to the bar! Lesson - make sure your gig is in a room without a big screen TV, or if it is take the fuse out when no-one is looking!

Interesting one this. Their website did not change from January until last month. They now seem to have some available, but their dealers listed on the website do not have any stock, nor any information. No prices stated, nor anywhere to buy them. I was quite interested in buying a bass from them, having an interest in unusual instruments. I had emailed them for info, and was promised a launch early summer - but nothing was forthcoming. So I gave up, and bought a Lakland from Paul_C. (nice instrument, thanks Paul).