Cathode_Follower

Hah, I watched that whole Thundercat video thinking "that's the silhouette of Kamasi Washington isn't it", waiting for him to play, and he didn't make a single peep! Not heard of this dude before, I like. Don't think anyone's mentioned Esperanza yet. She makes it look effortless, pretty much always smiling, just chillin'. Cool cat.

Sounds like maybe some kind of startup protection circuit in the power supply cutting out once it has verified the working voltages. Sound coming in gradually over a second or two sounds like main filter capacitors charging up, but if I'm correct about the protection circuit, that would mean it was faulty and is now working.. ?? If you're not afraid of opening up your amp, have a look at the power supply (a collection of probably 20 or so biggish components connected closely to the power transformer) and see if anything looks visually dodgy. In particular there might be some electrolytic capacitors that have started to bulge, perhaps (quick google search will show you what these look like). Remember to unplug your amp from the mains first, and avoid touching any solder joints/circuit board traces/component leads in case there is a charge still sitting on a capacitor waiting to give you a nasty shock. At the end of the day, if it still sounds good and works fine once it's on, probably nothing to worry about. You could also try emailing Markbass, I imagine their technical support is pretty good.

Aha, tres witty guys, made me chuckle Marc S, that tape sounds really interesting. Most of the time my fingers are tough enough but occasionally if my amount of playing per day spikes or if I have to have a few days off it throws everything out of whack. I'll have a search for that thread, cheers! Cider is next-level danger. All that sugar, sends me loopy.. Funny you should mention it, I'm meeting another BCer on Sunday to try out his bass at, yep, a cider bar. Think I'll stick to water! I should probably have mentioned in the OP that the most recent incident really shook me up and made me realise how careful I need to be in future. For much of the healing time I was scared I would never be able to play again. It still hurts a bit now after a lot of playing but it's still healing and rebuilding strength (the injury occurred on the 17 Dec last year) so I think it will improve.

Tina Weymouth, good shout! Anyone mentioned John Paul Jones yet? The other three got all the attention but JPJ was the coolest.

Chris Wood has to be up there. Impeccable groove, note choice and placement. When he gets really into it and he starts doing that leggy shuffle sort of dance, the man oozes cool.

Cheers Pete (can I call you Pete? It's so many years since I last frequented message boards..). Yes indeed, hills galore..! I also struggled with the wrist position when I played electric (though not down to injury). My eventual solution was to move the strap pins so the bass hung almost vertically in a more or less upright-bass position. Funny how things go full circle!

Sorry, I've just noticed this is in the wrong board. Rookie error. Could a mod please move to general discussion?

This is my first post on the DB board, so hello there all! I have made an arrival post on the introductions board, for those inquisitive. Anyway. In the past year and a half since I started getting deep into the upright, I've had three hand injuries, and I thought I'd share what I'd learned from them. The first was when I took my bass up a grassy hill in Bristol affectionately named the Mound, for an outdoor jam that occurs on the night of every full moon. On this occasion it was packed, mostly with percussionists, and as a result I played much much harder than usual to try and be heard above the inevitable din. This, compounded by a few sensation-numbing beers, resulted in two huge blisters on the tips of my index and middle fingers. For the next week it was agony to play in this (incorrect) manner, and as such it forced me to adjust my playing style to use the side of my fingers in the correct fashion. Neat eh? The second was an impact-driver ploughing deeply into the pad of my left-hand middle finger during some DIY work. This took roughly three weeks to properly heal and needless to say it was impossible to put even light pressure on it, let alone the concentrated force/area of a metal bass string. But of course, the tips of the fingers are where you should be pressing, not the pads, so once again I was absolutely forced to correct my own bad technique. The most recent, and most serious, was as a result of drunken tree-climbing following a highly successful set at a private function, where the champagne was flowing far too freely. I awoke in the morning with an agonising pain in my left wrist, and was pretty much unable to use my left hand for the next month. Thankfully two days after the initial event, a drunken associate (noticing a theme here?) knocked my bass over, breaking the neck off and conveniently removing any temptation to attempt to play, which is probably what saved me from causing any permanent damage. Also thankfully, I didn't have any gigs in the calendar for a full 6 weeks! Anyway, four weeks in and I had the time and the strength in my left hand to repair to the bass. What I found was that the remaining wrist pains only manifested when I squeezed my hand together, and yet again I found myself altering my technique for the better, being forced improve my use of arm-weight in holding down the strings. Conclusions are, One: If you're going to make a career out of something that relies on your being physically fit, don't play silly buggers. Two: Alcohol increases the likelihood of silly buggers and should be treated with extreme caution. Three: Crisis and opportunity go hand-in-hand (to quote Homer Simpson - "Crisi-tunity!"). Next time something bad happens to you, think about how you can use the situation to your advantage. You might be surprised. Anyone else experienced similar 'beneficial' injuries?

Hello Basschatters, Richard (Rich) Allen, 28. Grew up in a musical family, began as a drummer around 15 years ago, and started teaching myself (in a very passive way, just jamming with friends) electric bass about 10 years ago, using the abstract theory that I'd internalised since childhood. I bought a double bass almost four years ago when I started listening to a lot more jazz and having been inspired by some of the newer generation of double bassists taking a fresh approach to the instrument. Having spent 26 years of my life in a backwater town with a music scene best described as dead, a year and a half ago I moved to Bristol (the one in the UK, not the other one!) and completely switched gears, working as little as possible just to make rent, more or less living out of my music studio, shedding, busking and gigging as much as possible. I now dedicate all my musical energy to studying the double bass (the electric is gathering dust in the corner), improving my technique and trying to develop a more solid understanding of music theory. Looking forward to chatting, learning, sharing knowledge, banter etc etc with fellow bassists! You'll probably find me in the double bass forums. Oh, I'm looking for a new instrument to replace my Chinese beater which is beginning to fall apart, which is what prompted me to finally sign up to BC after lurking for years, so any leads do let me know! My other interests are wood and metal, diy, electronics (tubes tubes tubes baby!), tinkering, general engineery type things, you get the idea. Peace! x