lozkerr

+1 for karaoke version. The ability to buy once and download as many mixes as you like for no additional cost is a real bonus. When I'm learning songs I want to sing and play bass on, I download four versions - drum track with count-in, everything except the bass, everything except the vox, and everything except bass and vox. Being able to vary the mix is another really good feature.

I'm not far behind you - I've just blown 500 smackeroonies on individual pedals and power supplies to replace my Boss ME-50B multi-FX unit. The ME-50B's great, and it'll likely stay in my practice rig, but it has so many fiddly options that I ended up never using it live. I'm hoping the individual pedals will be much easier and more intuitive on stage.

Vangelis - Memories of Green. Takes me right back to when I first heard it after buying the See You Later album in 1980. I bought it on impulse, as there was something about the bleak album cover and the disturbing photo on the inner sleeve that resonated with the lonely teenager that was me in 1980. Initially I wondered what the hell I'd wasted my money on, as the first two tracks were distinctly meh. Then Memories of Green started playing and I was utterly blown away. I played it over and over again, lying on my bedroom floor in the dark listening to the rain spattering against the window. It's a melancholy and lonely-sounding piece of music, but it struck a chord with me and I've never fallen out of love with it.

Made a start on this over Christmas. There's a fair bit in it, so it'll take a while to master, but it's a fun piece to work on!

I'd be up for that. I do have to come to London occasionally, so I'll come along if the dates line up.

Just had a play-through with it. Yes, I think that one's pretty much spot-on.

I'm envious. That's a great set list! We do Teenage Kicks and Another Girl but I'd love to add some more of those. Our male singist has suggested Turning Japanese though, so here's hoping!

There's a coincidence! I decided to learn this one over the Christmas break and this video seemed odd when I first saw it. After getting it (mostly) under my fingers though, I think where the groove is going wrong is that in each bar, the first rest is too short and the second one too long - and when they get too long, she's adding extra notes to fill the gap. I'm counting it like this: | 1 & (rest) & 3 & (rest) & | 1 & (rest) & 3 & (rest) & | 1 & (rest) & 3 & (rest) & | and so on. She also seems to be adding extra notes after the straight eighths when it should go back to the groove counted above. Does that sound right, or have I got it wrong too?

Made it!! No guarantees for this year, though...

I found the same thing - it looks like a fault with the site. If you just select the Precision, the five-string I linked to will come up.

I've had my eye on a five-string Precision for a while. I particularly like this one.

Wow, that does look like a handy bit of gear! Not buying until next year though - I don't want to fall at the last fence!

A Boss ME-50B. Nice bit of gear with lots of options, but I'm only using a few of them. I think I can save quite a bit of space by switching to individual pedals that make the noises I actually use.

I'm still in, just. Nearly succumbed to the temptation of a five-string Precision a couple of months back, but managed to resist. Not sure about next year though, as I'm thinking about replacing my multi-FX unit with individual pedals...

Could well be. It might be that the few cabs I've encountered that didn't sound gutless might have had the drivers replaced somewhere along the line. Either way, I won't be queuing up to buy any Hartke gear any time soon!

That is interesting! I don't own any Hartke gear - my own backline is all Eden - but I've had mixed experiences with their gear in rehearsal studios, ranging from a decent tone to sounding utterly gutless, no matter how I twiddled the knobs. I don't know if it's a QC issue or Hartke gear's easier to break than other makes, but I do get a sinking feeling when I see a Hartke amp waiting for me at rehearsal.

I could collect from Carlisle or Berwick and get it to Edinburgh, if that would help.

+1 for this. My original practice amp was a little Eden EC8 combo, and although the speaker output was OK for its size, the headphone output was lousy, even through my ZS10s. I replaced the EC8 with an Eden WTX-264 head, and the difference was amazing - the headphone output was far better. I can also use the head with a 112 or 210 cab in situations where my normal rig would be overkill, so there's the added flexibility. Plus, the head's a lot smaller than the combo, so win-win.

408

Only seven weeks to go, so I think I'm in with a chance. OTOH, said mate sent me some pics of his latest bass - a five-string Jazz. This after endless ribbing about Jaco only needing four strings, so I'm counting that as a solid win!

I'm still technically in, in that I've not bought any contraband items between bass and amp and I've not bought any more basses. But I nearly let my mate persuade me to get a five-string Precision a couple of weeks ago!

When I'm doing transcriptions, I find it often helps to play up one or even two octaves, especially if the bass is buried in the mix. That can often let you hear discordant notes more easily than if you're down near the nut. A looper is a godsend - you can record short phrases and try out notes that sound right until you hit gold. I use a Boss eBand JS10 both for that and normal practice - the ability to loop short phrases and slow things down without altering the pitch is a godsend. Makes it much easier to find the key and work out fills. It's not a cheap piece of gear though, but software packages like Transcribe, Reaper and Audacity can do the same thing. The same might work for jams. If you're up near the dusty end, you'll hear discordant notes easier than you would if you were down near the nut. And at the end of the day, you're only one semitone away from a note that's in the right key!

Late to this party - apologies - but there's me at least 🙂

Well done! It took me a bit longer to realise that I don't need to buy the latest shiny toys - it's a mug's game. My kids are aye on at me to get the latest iPhone, but my elderly Samsung's trundling along just fine. I'll be keeping it for a while yet. Car is thirteen years old, and as I live in a tiny flat, I just don't have the space for unnecessary tat. Writing, a bit of model-making and music are what makes me happy. When I retire in a few years, I'll be glad to leave the rat race behind - let's face it, even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat 😉 I came across this wee animated film a while back and it really struck a chord with me. So much truth in such a short time:

It's a definite step-up, although the main reason for getting it was to get rid of the cable. The Behringer wasn't bad, but there's deffo more clarity with the Shure. The ZS10 earphones seem to have the edge over the Shure ones, oddly enough, and they're much more secure. All in all, I'm very pleased with it.