T-Bay

I must be lucky as two days in I am getting quite a nice tone and have been practicing simple scales which sound quite nice according to the wife. It feels very weird and the number of keys is daunting. I am having to use the garage as it’s VERY loud. Might be getting ahead of myself but looking into how to get that dirty ska tone. Several videos mention ‘tongueing’ but unfortunately do not explain it well and there is no way I am typing ‘tongueing a saxophone into the search bar!

I have a black one, I don’t know how they make them so nice and so cheap.

Just agreed to buy a mates Tenor saxophone, it’s and Elkhart series 100. I have no experience whatsoever, play no woodwind instruments (can get a tune from a harmonica but don’t think that counts). Any tips from our resident sax experts?

I quite like it........

I’ll get my coat.........

15 minutes ago, Japhet said:

When they mimed Maggie May on Top of the Pops, they didn't bother getting the mandolin player to come to the shoot, but instead got John Peel to pretend he was playing the thing.

I believe he was dragged on stage with seconds to go, hence his very embarrassed looks. They also played footy on stage as well I seem to recall.

11 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Violin, I can't bear the sound I make.

I agree 100%, last year we were in Russia and had the chance to see a virtuoso violin player of international reputation. I thought what the hell, you only live once and all that. It was two hours of my life I will never get back. The lady was a superb musician without doubt but it still sounded like the death throws of some poor tortured creature. Never again.

On 01/04/2020 at 22:30, Lozz196 said:

I used Rotos for years, never once had a bad string. However due to their less than impressive life span I did a bit of research and many other Roto-lovers recommended Warwick Red Labels (steel version). They’re very similar in sound, and last at least twice, maybe three times as long. Maybe worth trying their nickel version?

Another vote for Warwick Reds, dirt cheap, sound great, last well, nuff said

13 minutes ago, dudewheresmybass said:

It’s great if all the band members are in the same space 😉

Oddly enough I find that works for each and every gig I have ever been to 😘

One of favourite bands, The Last Internationale, are presently stuck in Portugal due to the Covid outbreak. I was supposed to see them in Birmingham last week and was disappointed to miss them. I spotted that they were doing a live acoustic set on a website called stageit which I have never come across before. I missed the first one but caught them last night. You pay $5 for a ticket (I guess prices are variable, but not looked around much) and when the time comes you get live access to the feed and also a .wav file of it a couple of days later (not sure if all bands do that).

Its a bit strange in that you are sort of expecting to hear applause when the songs finish but other than that I loved it. I know you can watch stuff on YouTube but it’s not the same and this seems a great way to support our favourite bands in these difficult times. It could also be a great way for small bands to promote themselves.

I think it’s very possible to see something as uncool but still like it. I certainly don’t think Phil Collins solo work is ‘cool’ but I find it hummable enough. 

How easy is it to pick up for a complete novice? A mate is selling one and I often fancied a go.

Lost two today following the announcement, one would be during the time I am supposed to self isolate so at least we don’t have to disappoint them.

We are due to play for a 80th birthday in 6 weeks time. Chances of that one going ahead? I won’t be booking the rehearsal room for the week before just yet.

I think of lot of people off of here would pay to see Blue though! I know I would.

I used to work in medical research. I worked in the UK and the Netherlands on lung cancer treatments and semi synthetic antibiotics. Specifically I used to help bioengineer novel proteins. Then took a missive career change and am now workIng with kids with a wide range of disabilities and still do a bit of lab work whilst planning and overseeing trips to various places around the world for a wide range of special needs kids. In addition I help run music groups and clubs for the same group of kids. It’s a nice mix as I still have the science side but also other things to keep my mind busy. 

I have a cheap clip on one, a cheap one on my board and have used a TU3, they all worked ok. The clip on type can be a little more temperamental, but I found that if you just shifted up an octave they were better. The cheap pedal was a tenner off AliExpress and matches the Boss performance wise.

I have never seen one of those before, it looks aftermarket. But ,any basses of that age will have small changes/ additions.

3 minutes ago, mikel said:

I dont even bother. I worked out a long time ago that its the player not instrument. Obviously if there is a fault with the instrument then that is a different matter. Get the verybest out of what you have.

This^^^^^^ I have tried all sorts in the pursuit of perfection, my go to bass is now a Squier with a few sensible upgrades. It owes me a couple of hundred quid max, and would be less than £700 if everything on it was bought brand new. It also means I don’t worry if it gets a ding or two and I am not paranoid about using it at gigs.

I have a small personal monitor that sits on a mic stand (with adaptor). It’s a Mackay copy and for £130ish works brilliantly. It has also been used as an amp for my semi acoustic bass and did that surprisingly well.

That is gorgeous!

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Sidetrack: my regret is that Orange have taken the fear out of Terror and now only do 500W at 4 ohm, heads. 

The 1000w is probably over the top but makes it a lot more flexible, not sure what they have done to the new ones but they seem a bit more ‘tame’ than the originals. Not so much terror as mild nervousness.

Without getting into the technicalities (because people like Bill do it so much better), what I would say is that I continually get comments about my compact and midget setup. Before a gig it’s usually along the lines of ‘where is the rest of it?’ Or ‘is that your rehearsal rig?’ And afterwards it’s ‘kin ell! How is something that small that loud?’. I run them from an Orange terror 1000w head. I don’t think I ever got the dial more than a third of the way around in a gig. I messed about around two thirds when we turned up early for a sound check for a small festival last year and our drummer could hear it a mile away on the access road. I know there is more to good sound than volume, but they also seem to have an amazingly flat response across the range. How do they do it? No idea, but I love them.

Mustang Sally, that should never be covered, nor should the original be played fir that matter.

Weirdly I am the oldest in both the bands I play in, but whilst the others want to play 60s and 70s stuff, I would much rather playing 80s-2000s stuff. Age is a mind thing as much as anything else. I am still firmly a stupid teenager in my brain.