Steve Browning

Having used my XR18 for a good few gigs now, and having slightly struggled with the Android version of XR Edit, I have switched to Mixing Station. The customisation is a bit bewildering, but the visual is consistent across operating systems and it's more intuitive. I hadn't had any problems with Edit but Mixing Station has the reputation of being more stable also.

To counter the maturity mentioned in the thread referred to. I played bass in a version of the Brian Setzer Orchestra. It was run by the drummer, a supposedly fearsome bloke. His wife seemed pleasant enough. Things were fine, and he accepted an invitation to be the drummer at the after show jam that happened at a Blues Weekend. I had put the band together. The Tuesday night beforehand there is a band meeting called. We turn up at the pub and the drummer turns to me and informs me that I'm a great bloke and brilliant bass player, but he can't play with me anymore. It seems my (then, and now late) wife had said something to upset his. I said that I presumed he was honouring the weekend commitment, to which he said 'no'. More bizarre than bad tempered but the best I can offer this thread.

I fear he won't. It wouldn't be a good thing for him in any case. He has a degenerative condition and has already lasted almost 10 years beyond his initial prognosis. He has a new lady friend and they are enjoying getting out and about. His future is ultimately going to be horrible, so better he enjoys time with her.

Just a bit of an update, and a huge thank you to everyone who commented or reacted. With just one gig in the diary and with a regular venue switching to an agent, we have called time on the band. The singer started off a little defensive (as you would expect) but did see that it was right in the end. He admitted that some gigs completely wipe him out and he has good and bad days more generally. We all wish that it was not so, but to carry on (in front of 'strange' crowds) would expose him to criticism (and possibly even ridicule) and that would be far worse. We will bow out on 7th October. More importantly, we are parting as chums. Thanks again for the support people have given. This is a remarkable place - and this is demonstrated so often here.

If that's Mark, the dishes will be brilliant. He had the exceptional taste to call my playing 'great' when he was at a gig of mine. Won't hear a word said against him. 🙂

Which is how I describe it, it has to be said.

I have a 1972 bass with 68 electrics. Is it a 68 with a replacement body/neck or a 72 with 68 electrics?

I've always been a Precision guy. Had (and have) other basses but a Precision is always my bass of choice. I have two non-Precisions. One I inherited and the other is just for the fun of playing Pino and Tony Levin lines.

I see what you did there. Well played, sir.

Ask any Geoff, I guess.

IME horn players are a mercurial bunch. I played in a band where one didn't arrive for a gig. When contacted, he brazenly stated a more lucrative gig had been offered to him the day before. They all tend to arrive 5 minutes before downbeat and leave 5 minutes after, offering no assistance with the PA into which the mic they proffered upon their arrival was plugged. I haven't played with a single player. I always thought the guy in George Thorogood's band looked really out of place.

I wonder if it's a light colour? As I mentioned earlier, light coloured basses look daft on me.

Similar panic for me. Tartan Heart festival, being broadcast on BBC. Supplied backline. We're rushed to go on stage, so I plug into the supplied Peavey head and it goes through some routine of lights, like a car stereo demo mode. The bass made a sound and I didn't dare touch anything. Couldn't immediately see what any control did.

I have two examples. My very first gig. I set everything up and go to tune my bass, only to realise I had left it at home. Touring in Germany. Nice big stage and superb foh sound man. Soundcheck goes well, but the bass is non existent as we start playing. I can hear the bass from the foh but nothing on stage. Finally, after 3 songs, I found I hadn't thrown the standby switch. Did that and all was well!!

He has sent out two emails saying how good the gig was and how so many people congratulated him at the end. Difficult.

My gig last night was horrible. I play is a Stax-orientated soul band. The singer (a good fried of ours) has Huntingtons, and the band has existed to keep him gigging. There are gigs when things go ok (never more than that) but last night may have been gig that we all knew was on the horizon. I won't go into detail, but it was horribly below par. Desperately sad though it is, I think we've reached the stage where he is unable to deliver a gig that can be classed as acceptable. In truth, we're probably past that point already, but we've kept going through the bond of friendship. The guitarist is a particularly long-standing mate of his. To complicate matters, the rest of us are a band in our own right that is, dare I say it myself, awesome. We are well known locally (where this band gigs) and we cannot allow the one to affect the other. Tough decision (in some ways) but it is simply a case of the negatives have now exceeded the positives - and there was only one positive really.

I have only tested their customer service re a faulty item once, but it was dealt with immediately and without any quibble. Whether true or not, it always feels like you're dealing with a local store, even though they are online. The shop isn't far from me. Must visit the basement (bassment?) again soon.

Two others. Light coloured basses. They look huge on me. I'd love a white precision, a la Pete Farndon etc, but I know it'd look daft on me. Buyers (not sellers) who give no indication of their approach to the seller. It raises a level of expectation if there's no recorded interest, and you find the item sold.

My 65 Jazz. 100% original with the exception of the body rout, the pickups, the electrics, the scratchplate, the tuners. Ok, so the body and neck are the original bits, just not in original condition. 🙂

Good players grade instument I'd say. I have an irrational dislike of light coloured basses (I should list that!!) so wouldn't entertain it (I certainly would the 64, though not my favourite neck profile).

Absolutely the best live guitar sound I've ever heard was a Les Paul through a Marshall 2x12, 18 watt Bluesbreaker-type combo. Apparently they were made for the old catalogue market many years ago (this would have been 40 years ago anyway). Just a volume and tone control. Just a gorgeous rich sound with loads of depth and beautiful sustain.

You'd hate me. My 'redundant' fingers have worn substantial grooves in my basses just above the scratchplate.

Looks like a good deal to me. The changes are minimal overall, and stripping to natural was pretty common back then. My 72 has been stripped and so was my 66, before being refinished back to sunburst. If the changes included pickups, tuners, scratchplate or the like, I'd think differently.