T-Bay

For what seems a small on paper difference, I find a massive difference between a Jazz and P neck. The Jazz feels spot on and ‘right’ whereas the Precision feel like I am trying to play a cricket bat. 

A splash of mouthwash on a rag also works well as a gentle (and paint friendly) cleaner if you don’t happen to have alcohol wipes.

11 minutes ago, Boodang said:

Buy graph tec Ratio tuners. They have a different ratio for each string to make tuning more accurate. 

They will however cost 10 times more than the bass is worth but at least least you'll be super accurately in tune! 

These ones?-

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/tuning-machines/electric-bass-tuning-machines/graph-tech-bass-ratio-4-in-line-tuner-set-with-y-style-knobs/?&pref_currency=GBP&shipcalc=UK&mtm_source=google&mtm_medium=cpc&mtm_campaign=|+GOO+|+SHOP+|+NBR+|+AllProductsUK&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr-CrzKX3hQMVmJJQBh2G9QPhEAQYBCABEgLKKfD_BwE

They seem reasonably priced. Never come across the idea of different ratio tuners. I dear it may be a bit of a gimmick but the idea intrigues me…….

Best bargain I think was my Squier Jazz, bought unseen as a backup and dropped off by a mate. Turned out to have a Fender replacement neck and £250 of pickups in it. Bought for the grand price of £40 non-working, which turned out to be a broken earth wire and sorted in less than half an hour. Not worth massive money but I have hundreds of hours of pleasure out of it and happy to bounce around like an idiot with it, which I certainly don’t with more expensive basses.

28 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Trust me, you might describe yourself negatively as competent, but you will be surprised at how many people in bands don't reach that level!

So go out and find something, or find a replacement for him

23 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

This is a very good point. In 2020 as I left my last band I would have described myself as fairly competent too, after all doing punk/Oi I never had too much to do. But I then started jamming with some mates doing 70s classic rock and found that I was much more capable than I had previously given myself credit for. I suspect that may well be the same for many of us.

Thanks guys, but I am far from a musical genius! I tend to replace any form of understanding/ talent by hard work so I am ok with what I know but beyond that if it comes to improvisation or different keys I am relegated to root notes and few twiddles here and there to fill in! Perhaps, I should fill the gap with some lessons 😂

4 hours ago, SumOne said:

If you still have all the rest of the band why not continue but with a new singer? 

He is also the lead guitarist and a proper talent so would be hard to replace to be honest. I did chat with the other guitarist but he was happy to just bounce along and doesn’t really fancy the hassle of getting someone new in, sure the drummer is similar (and plays in other bands so this was always a mates sideline anyway). It’s possible I guess but think it's unlikely.

To be honest, the money never bothered me at all, we only did weddings when people who came to see us asked us to, or people who knew us well. It was just the perfectly chilled mix of a few fun gigs here and there but with zero band politics or hassle.

Spoke to our lead guitarist and frontman tonight and it looks like the band is definitely over. Not for the reasons these things usually go belly up but sad all the same. We started off as work colleagues but due to appalling new management, three of us have left and our very talented frontman decided that he would try and go pro in his late 40s. I was a little nervous for him but after a few months of giving it a go he is doing amazingly well. He is averaging 15-20 gigs a month, mostly solo but a few as a duo with another mate of his. I know he will put his life and soul into and couldn’t be happier for him. Sadly our little side venture was very easy when we could practice in work after hours but has become increasingly hard, time consuming, and ultimately  poorly paying, that I have to accept it cannot be anywhere on his list of priorities and I fear we have played our last gig as that band.

This leaves me wondering what to do, I am completely self taught and at best would describe myself ‘competent’ I think. I always worked harder than the others as I felt I was by far the least talented but it was always a laugh as it was four mates messing about. We played pubs, weddings, charity events and loved it. We only played 6-10 times a year which suited us all. Can I be bothered to try and start from scratch with a new band and new people I don’t know? If I do, where would I find such a thing? And one with similar low levels of expectation?

It’s a bit weird as I genuinely could not be happier for my mate but am sad for what it means for our little venture.

4 hours ago, YouMa said:

I currently work in safeguarding myself and also do work for Social Services. You can do anything you want if you have money. Unfortunately this includes abusing children. Jackson was obviously a gay man who had an obsession with young boys. I know people dont want to believe it and i still love Off the wall and Thriller but after looking deeply into the evidence presented in the case i was pretty much convinced. The frightening thing is Pederastry has been going on since the dawn of humanity and people just being disgusted,outraged or trying to set fire to these people and chase them with vigilanties (which hinders prosecution cases more than helps)will just drive them more underground. I myself am starting to think that unfortunately and abhorrent as it is that people might be born like this.As i say shocking but working in the job i do people on the outside just do not realise how prevelant in society it is.

Having worked with victims of abuse for over a quarter of a century I am 100% sure there is something wrong with how the abusers brains are wired. It’s not a change, a choice etc etc. No one wakes up and decides to be a child abuser instead of a ‘normal person’. In the same way that people are heterosexual , homosexual, bi, etc etc, some people are peadophiles. I think the various professionals have been wary of admitting this because they fear it will weaken prosecution cases but we need to shift our thinking to safeguard kids better. These people are sick in the head and just locking them up isn’t going to change that and they end up far more dangerous when they get back out as they know more tricks. We need to invest in better ways of treating this problem and accept that if we can’t then whole life tariffs for seemingly minor offences are the only safe option. The victims suffer a life sentence after all.

9 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

There have been no posts removed or hidden from this thread if that is what you are saying.

My sincere apologies, I could not see the other thread and as the wording and title were identical I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I have edited my post above, 

9 hours ago, BreadBin said:

There are two threads...

Thankyou, As above, I didn’t see the other and the exact same wording threw me completely. 
 

I got it wrong on this and apologise to the mod team for thinking they had removed a post.

.

Do his victims really need reminding over and over? Just let these people fester in a dark room somewhere and give them no attention. I worked with the victims of abuse for many years and even the mention of the name can reignite trauma. And the TV companies are doing it purely for profit. 

On 09/03/2024 at 16:04, FinnDave said:

Thanks, Dave, it's been hard to accept that my playing days are over, but in some ways it is a relief - no more load-ins & load outs, no more driving home late at night - I keep telling myself that and avoid telling myself it also means no more awesome jams with good friends. The arthritis is also affecting my ability to use the clutch & front brake on my bike, so that might have to go as well. 

 

On the bike front, there are a range of options my make life easier. Conversions to all rear brake pedal for example. I know I am teaching Granny to suck eggs but different bikes have very different feels on the levers. My MTS has a very light clutch but the 750ss is like cracking Brazil nuts. At the extreme there are electric bikes with no clutch and massive regen braking making them almost roll on, roll off. I spent many years off bikes due to arthritis but have now found meds that work incredibly well. More than happy to have a chat if it would help. Good luck.

Saw the Hives (again) last night and they were superb as always. Boy do they know how to work a crowd, proper show. The new album is the best in ages and great to see them headlining again. They were supported by Bad Nerves, a punk band from Essex according to their blurb. Proper high energy band and I will be checking out their stuff later today as sounded good last night.

Gormless Ezra and shotgun, Mustang Sally. The world would be better place without them.

I had a four string for a while and it was great, could not fault it. Only sold it as had far too many other basses and it didn’t do anything unique for me. Would not hesitate to get another if I needed a cheap, reliable, well made bass.

I have a Sire Larry Carlton LP type 6 string. The quality is superb for the money and it plays very nicely indeed. 

1 hour ago, TimR said:

 

Yet the gigs are sold out. 

 

Even Geddy Lee was sold out at £100 a ticket for just talking. 

 

West End show tickets are in excess of £150 a seat.

 

It's time poor people who are making decisions based on a huge variety of things to do. And then there are just people with no money as their energy, rental, and mortgage costs are high.

 

I only have 52 weekends a year, a lot of them last year I was working, I'd get home and sleep if I wasn't gigging.

 

Music pubs and venues are closing and people are complaining about noise. Venue owners are complaining about electricity and rates costs. 

 

There's no one thing to blame. 

Most of the gigs I go to aren’t sold out by any stretch, a couple were cancelled last year due to poor sales which is tragic.

No one I know is saying it’s the only factor but only someone detached from reality could assume cost of tickets doesn’t affect the ticket sales.

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

I don't think I've ever paid as much as £50+ to go and see a gig

Nor me before the last 18 months, but its becoming the norm very rapidly for Birmingham and Nottingham to find most well known bands knocking on for that. I have tickets for Filter, Hives, Idles this year, none I would consider big bands but all around the £40 mark. Paid over £40 for SLF at the Academy last year compared to twenty something a couple of years ago. Even some tribute bands want £15+ around here. There are still plenty of free ‘covers band’ gigs which is great.

I think the increasing ticket prices are as much to blame. Four gigs booked for the first quarter of this year at a total cost of well over £200, only one is what I what I would call a big band (Smashing Pumpkins), not many gigs below £30 now. I would happily go every week at £15-20 but when it’s £50+ you have to decide if it’s a band you really want to see.

Backup stays in the bag, I used to have it in a different tuning for a few songs we did but swapping is a pain so now just retune quickly while out singer introduces the song.

4 minutes ago, ambient said:

 

No, that's over the other side of the city centre. There's loads of work going on around Digbeth, it's for the tramway though.

Ah, my mistake, I thought the Digbeth stuff was HS2 as well. The tramway work is crazy, they have closed loads of roads and coned off huge areas but work on a 50m stretch at a time. I know a couple of businesses in the old custard factory that area struggling because of it.

Isn’t that area part of the HS2 nonsense? Loads of work going on around there. The academy has survived so far at least……

Weirdly I find it’s often just a different bass line writer (if that’s the correct term). I can happily play complex stuff from one band but struggle with seemingly simpler stuff from another. Some bass lines/ sequences just seem to fit my way of playing better than others.

An absolute Bell end that I had the misfortune to work for was in a band called the Grateful Dads (I am sure there are more than one band who have come up with that ‘witty’ name). The only thing I was grateful for was that I only suffered listening to them once. That was once too many.

1 hour ago, Chewie said:

Thanks T-Bay,

 

Yeah, my quote was for £75 fully insured for a £500 bass. 

 

Matey thinks it should be half that.

 

He is having a laugh, £75 sounds very reasonable as long as it covers what you need it to. The bass I picked up was a lot more expensive but I couldn’t get a quote even close to £100, from memory I think about £130 was the cheapest.