NAS

+1 Homer. As they say youth is wasted on the young. Wish I'd tried harder when I was 15 and the brain cells were still fresh. I'm sure several years of chemical abuse shortly thereafter didn't help either. I always wanted to learn some of the extended versions of Grateful Dead songs but I have neither the improvisation skills nor the memory to do it now and at 55 I suspect the time is past. My only offering is to try to break it down into manageable chunks, get those really automatic (endless repetition) and then try to stitch them together. Even an old brain works better in the morning - my mother used to make me do my piano practise between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning (which I really rebelled against in later life) but I suspect that as with many things your elders know best! Very best of luck. Nick S

These have been reliable, quite loud enough for pub band stage work, and save my back - highly recommended. Never need to turn the SWR up beyond about one o'clock.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='46846' date='Aug 17 2007, 01:45 PM']I think graphite neck manufacturers should stop mucking about with unnatural substances and get back to working with real living materials! Whats wrong with a nice bit of wood for a neck, hmm? There's no need to go pouring out all those air pollutants while sucking up oil reserves just for the sake of a fat B string!! There's loads of perfectly good wood sitting in the amazon and congo going to waste. Imagine all the time wasted on making plastic necks and basses so far, which could have been spent making more authentic vintage Fenders for example! For goodness sakes, there's not nearly enough of them on Ebay. If God had meant for us to work with plastics, he would have given us vacuum molding buttocks and xacto blades for fingernails. [/quote] I don't really mind what they're made out of (although I would accept a nod in the direction of watching out for the environment - replenishable woods anyone?) as long as they are a joy to play. Personally I find plastic necks stable, reliable, and playable hence: .

Haven't been on for a while so missed the beginning of this. As already mentioned (thanks Mark and Steve) I have a potential outside venue, but given the state of this summer it might be a bit risky! If there were a period of generally good weather the grounds here could be used. The main costs would be stage, power (generator), lighting, backline, backstage facilities, audience facilities (water, power, food, drink, loos, support, security). Then band fees, unless everyone does a freebee. Then publicity and ticketing. The natural auditorium (part of our park) could probably hold 2 thousand people, but that's a lot of mouths to feed and cars to park. Because we're in the middle of nowhere, facilities for all band and audience needs would have to be laid on (a la Galstonbury), and with a large number of people, security and volume of traffic on local roads would need to be addressed. As for a bass specific event, it sounds more like an event for either bands that feature the bass particularly, or for bands with bass players who are part of the BC community, or both. It would feed one of my fantasies to put on a band event, but it would also require proper management and some finance as I would not be able to sub the whole thing. If for more than one day then camping or B&Bs would be the only sensible solution - again facilities are the issue - we have lots of space! Getting into the full commercial festival game looks a bit too serious and potentially traumatic from my viewpoint at the moment, but a smaller more amateur start would seem possible. What about a one day event (no overnighting issues) with some local service providers for beer tents / burger bars. Stage, power, lights, backline, portaloos etc. all on hire. Volunteers (from the BC community?) for traffic direction and security duties. Bands from the BC community with minimal fees (expenses?). Nominal ticket price from all attendees except performers and duty volunteers. Audience via word through BC community and maybe some local advertising? Could that get anywhere near breaking even? Probably not, but it might be worth some more examination. Just a pebble in the pond, but I'd be interested to hear reactions. Nick S

No worries Mark - it's in the bass bits drawer until next time! NS

Just a quick postscript. Been offline for a bit (eldest daughter's wedding and other family events). Small item found in tidying up - bit of black plastic with popper - text is SEIKO Automatic Guitar Tuner - Buffer. Looks like part of casing / packaging. May be trivial, may be vital! Let me know address details if important enough to send. Generally happy to do this again if people express a demand and come up with suitable dates. Best to all, Nick S

Rob, thanks for posting these - lovely. Hope the last few days haven't been too fraught! NS

Well that makes at least another 4 who might be able to make it next time round. Is there a seasonal preference for next year? Mid June is good for us here, but I know some take early holidays. Would be good if we can get a date in the diary when we can maximise attendance and not clash with too many other bass oriented events that people would like to attend. Nick S

[quote name='phatmonkey' post='19756' date='Jun 18 2007, 05:39 PM']Clear all your caches (it'll be in preferences or whatever) and yeah, turn off your pop up blockers. We installed an update, your browser might have cached the old javascript.[/quote] Many thanks phatmonkey - I think this might have worked!

[quote name='Steve_K' post='19171' date='Jun 17 2007, 03:28 PM']Fine for me, what browser do you use?[/quote] Just Internet Explorer on a Windows XP Pro Laptop. Sometimes wonder if all the checkers and filters interfere. Popup blockers seem to interfere with online functions sometimes.

Here's some pics bernmeister sent to me: [attachment=793:beerdragon_rig_1.jpg] [attachment=792:beerdragon_1.jpg] [attachment=794:bham2_1.jpg] [attachment=795:mhuk_bass_1.jpg] [attachment=796:Nick_on_bbass_1.jpg] [attachment=797:nicks_rig_1.jpg] [attachment=798:pjb_rig_1.jpg] [attachment=799:skywalker_1.jpg] [attachment=800:squbass_1.jpg] Thanks for these Bernie. Rob - many thanks for posting your pics. I'd be very happy to see any of the others you took as I'm sure your standards of what is acceptable are far too high! Thanks to all for a great day.

Over the last two days I've experienced some strange behaviour when making posts. Attempts to insert url links and pictures seemed to in effect delete all subsequent text, and today just putting in carriage returns seemed to insert double line returns and ignore the following text in preview. Is this a site issue or is my browser doing something strange?

Sorry this is all in one block of text, but the editor seems to be behaving wierdly and omitting text after paragraph marks. Don't know if this is down to the site or my browser settings. I regard it as a bit of a challenge to try to at least understand what the original artist was doing (even if I end up not being able to execute it) and I do try initially to do it all via ear, partly to try to train my poor cloth ears and partly to try to learn new tricks and approaches. I have had to "resort" to tabs on numerous occasions when the ears have failed me, but if I regarded that as cheating I'd get far too depressed! I tend to use an MP3 player through my Boss ME-50B with headphones otherwise the family would be driven to distraction by the hundreds of repetitions it sometimes takes me to get something. I'm also trying to learn the parts by heart for performing. By adjusting the EQ on the iPod to Bass Boost I can usually pick up most of the bass line and I'm also beginning to be able to hear whereabouts on the fretboard the playing is done which helps with good positions and shapes and the more advanced techniques of slides and harmonics. Mark you, this is just "pop" music - I'd be really at sea with Jaco and co. Even with pop music I find some real challenges. Trying to hear what Bill Wyman does on many Stones tracks, both early and late, I find really difficult. The bass parts seem to be set really low in the mix and he uses a very bottom heavy sound. Paul McCartney likes to throw in some really complex little twiddles just to throw off the beginner - the basic riff in "I Saw Her Standing There" is more complex than it first sounds with quick alternations between D and A string, and the little descant figure in the third verse of "Taxman" took me ages to sort out. So I'm working at a very basic level. The '60s and '70s West Coast boogie bands set some good challenges because although everyone was a bit stoned out they were actually very good musicians. Trying to get the parts on some Janis Joplin numbers - "Piece Of My Heart" and "Ball And Chain" from Cheap Thrills (Peter Albin bass), "Try - Just A Little Bit Harder" from Kosmic Blues and "Move Over" from Pearl (Brad Campbell bass) were stretching, especially as the feel is much more of an improvised part than repeated riffs. There aren't too many tabs of these looser style arrangements either. So no failure in resorting to tabs in my view, but very good for ear training to try to get it from listening in the first instance. I do agree with warwickhunt that it is more musical not to be slavish about playing an exact part as on the recording (after all the best artists seem to vary their playing for live work and we tend to criticise bands who just reproduce their recordings live as being "sterile") and half the excitement of really good live work is that tightrope walk when the band take a tune to the edge and don't quite fall off. My idols, The Grateful Dead, readily admitted that they frequently suffered "train crashes" when they were all busy trying to improvise in different directions, but if they hadn't taken the risk they would never have made some of their most exciting and satisfying music. I suppose I enjoy their live playing as much for its failures as for its triumphs. Given all this, my playing is at such a basic level that I usually learn something new by making the effort to try to learn what the original artist did exactly, and then often simplifying or modifying what I play in order to be able to play live with some confidence. From an audience viewpoint the confidence of the people on stage is in my view half the battle. If you do make a "mistake", do it like you mean it and half the audience won't notice, the other half may think you're stretching the envelope in a creative way! Anyway, enough blah! Hope some of this helps.

This one!

Fabulous pics guys - gives a great feel of the event - and those two Yamahas!. Got to get the dog (Maisie) trained up for next year. NS

Wow Pete, that's delivery - no time to download all now - off to station to collect swmbo - will savour later this evening - many thanks, NS

Nice one beerdragon (nice seven actually) and yes - would be good to do a repeat. NS

Well phew - 6 hours of bass mayhem later and the house is still here! Thank you to: . Gazm for kicking this all off again and for the thunderous rig and Ric. The Warwick fretless got a lot of, surprisingly good, playing too. . Bernmeister for re-educating us about Squiers. Nice SWR stack. . skywalker for letting me fiddle (!?) with his bass and bringing Robert - ace photographer - hope to get some up on display soon. . Bloodaxe for a vintage set of Arias which acquired a new set of battle scars! Loved the little Epi cab too. Hope Mark and Mike enjoyed themselves. . ngombe and Mikey D for bringing the elegant Phil Jones suitcase and extension, that outrageous 7 string, and providing some of the most musical moments of the afternoon. . mhuk for the genuine P bass for comparison purposes and the surprisingly versatile Bach. . beerdragon - I hope Gareth and you had enough opportunity given time limitations to check things out - thanks for making it all this way. Hope I've remembered everyone and got the handles right! Everyone brought much more kit than mentioned above and I hope the pictures will recapture the moment better than my memory. Apologies to those who expressed interest and couldn't make it. The general consensus seemed to be that it was a worthwhile exercise and that it might be nice to do again sometime. So I'll be scanning the calendar to see if we can do a repeat performance - if there are others who'd like to join us next time then watch this space. Best to all, Nick S

Forecast is dry in the morning but showers in the afternoon tomorrow. Not too much flooding locally so should be OK. Not sure about all routes coming in though. NS

[quote name='Mikey D' post='18266' date='Jun 15 2007, 01:42 PM']I just had a thought...I didn't even consider effects units!! I have a Hughes and Kettner Rotosphere, a Pigtronix Envelope Phaser (EP-1) and an electro-harmonix Bass microsynth I can bring if anyone is interested in any of them!?[/quote] I've got a Digitech Jamman, a Boss ME-50B, a SansAmp Bass DI, a Tech21 Bass Compactor, and an Aphex 204 Aural Exciter. Small stuff but something to play with. Nick S

Hi guys, been down in London doing some family stuff so a bit off-line. Apologies for hiatus of info. Glad several of you are still able to come. Still assuming this is all going ahead. As previously noted I've got the SWR + Epifani stack, the Ashdown 210-300 combo, and SWR Workingman 12 and a Mackie P.A. (SRM450s plus Sub) with three passive DI boxes and a SansAmp Bass DI, so that should provide some basic noise making for those just bringing basses. It would be great of any/all could bring cameras so we can have some kind of record of the event and maybe even post a few here. Any refreshments brought (whether alco or not) most welcome. My other half is having to stay down in London so the house fare will be a bit primitive I'm afraid (baguettes, cheese, pate, maybe some salad). I'm assuming all who need have directions. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Nick S

[quote name='mhuk' post='15771' date='Jun 11 2007, 05:42 PM']If anyone needs a lift from Worcester (WR1), or en-route from Worcester to Cleobury Mortimer, I've got space in my car (estate).[/quote] Mark, Have you seem that the Ashdown Superfly 500 is going for £199 at the moment: [url="http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pages/mod_1.12/pages/mod_1.12.1/pages/mod_1.12.1.1/pages/index.php?sku=1.1.2.3.2-1-15694"]http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pages/...1.2.3.2-1-15694[/url] ? Nick S

The only things I've bid for recently on EBay are Fenn traps and a Gibson style pickup switch! I decided at an early age that I would stay away from gambling or become an addict and loser - and luckily I managed to stay away. I have to say I have much the same attitude to EBay. It seems to be full of people operating various scams, especially on the more expensive items like basses. I'm not smart enough to join in!

[quote name='presoulnation' post='9914' date='May 31 2007, 02:54 PM']Don't spose anyone has anything like this of Sei?[/quote] Just found this thread, as bit late! Watching BBC2 late night education TV recently (the schedule says it was on between 02:00 and 04:00 on 27 May 2007) I saw a series of programmes about making things which must be part of a schools design and technology course. The series is called "Techno - Making It" for 11-14 year olds. The items were quite short, about 20 minutes. The first was about go-carts and the second was about bass guitars, the item was called "The Bass". And lo, who should be featured but Martin Petersen and Chris McIntyre making a SeiBass for a young female bass player (Yolanda?). Must have been some time ago because they both look like teenagers (to me) and I know Chris left The Gallery 3 or so years ago. Sadly I've failed to find any more details on the BBC website, but it's out there somewhere! Nick S

[quote name='Machines' post='14033' date='Jun 8 2007, 09:50 AM']Won't be able to make this i'm afraid - have fun though chaps.[/quote] Really sorry to hear that Matt - I hope the day turns out well and people enjoy themselves - if so there might be a repeat sometime. Hope all goes well with you. Nick S