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.

9 hours ago, CJPJ said:

I’ve spent more money on gear this January that I think I’ve spent in the last two years in total. There’s always next year …..

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!

6 hours ago, stewblack said:

When is the gig ? Let's all go.

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

35 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

This one feels, and sounds, and looks, right.  And it seems to match what @lozkerr said.

https://youtu.be/6OmEmT9_fwE

 

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

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

Some pretty good ones, and some unexpected 

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...

40 minutes ago, Bolo said:

This made me look at the manufacturer's websites instead of the shops.

At Fender the only five string basses were jazzes, and ugly colours at that, so pass. (Those showed up when selecting 5 String Basses in the menu. Apparently there are more on the site. This reliability says enough on why to never get anything fender)

Maybe the ibanez SRMS805 (pictured) then.

 

Still I'd rather choose from either Mayones or Maruszczyk!

 

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.

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Maybe worth thinking about a Zoom B1-4, and save yourself a LOT of money? They're amazing value! Think I saw one in the FS recently. And then get a few dedicated pedals for the fx you use a lot to combine with it. 

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!

3 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Which multi are you using? Just asking for a friend...

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.

56 minutes ago, neepheid said:

Ooft, 2 weeks to go, possibly the most dangerous two weeks of the whole year.  I'm still in.

 

Who's still in, and who's feeling twitchy?

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...

4 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

Strange that. I have never played through a Hartke but have never heard one that sounded like it had any guts either. I have always thought it might be the alloy drivers which seem to suit slap. Maybe maybe not?

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!

3 hours ago, joel406 said:

In that case. 

 

Hartke.

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. 

On 15/12/2022 at 11:35, Lozz196 said:

I`m sure we can manage a 2023 relay - I`m J8 on M1 (20 miles north of London) I could get it up to the start of the M6 as part of it.

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

On 03/12/2022 at 12:29, mcnach said:

I rarely like the sound of the headphone out on combos unless hey're modellers. Often they're like an afterthought with very little in terms of sound quality, even if through the built-in speaker it sounds ok.

+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

34 minutes ago, neepheid said:

A dangerous flirtation with failure (only within the context of this thread, of course!)

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!

On 23/10/2022 at 12:46, Smanth said:

Other in my band just seem to be able to pluck stuff out of the air, but I fail to recognise it and thus my "input" is rubbish.

 

How to "ear train"!?!?

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!

On 12/10/2022 at 15:23, Smanth said:

What is missing!

Who here is a female  bassist!!

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

28 minutes ago, Tim2291 said:

From what you have said above, you are a successful person, you have found the things that make you happy.

 

I'm nowhere near retirement (35 plus years away) but have thankfully already realised this! The world is full of shiny new things that are well advertised to make people think they "need" them. The more money people earn, the more they spend on pointless things that don't fill the emptiness in their lives and holidays to mini England resorts so they can post photos on a beach! Success is measured financially rather than on happiness and contentment. Nobody says "she's doing well, look how happy she is!"

 

I know plenty of "successful" business people who are being sustained by cocktails of antidepressants and all sorts of other drugs. For some people, a bit more money would be incredible and would increase their quality of life unimaginably. The difference between supporting a family on £15 K and £30 K for example would be extreme. But the same person then moving from £30K to £45K isn't going to have the same impact, yes it would help them retire earlier in theory, but in reality it's likely that they would take on greater overheads and end up retiring at the same point anyway!

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:

21 hours ago, Al Krow said:

How are you finding it? Decent quality step up from the Behringer in terms of sound quality?

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.