Beer of the Bass

I had one of these for a while. I must say, I never understood the double bass comparisons as it sounds much closer to a fretless bass guitar with flats IMO. It was a fun instrument, but I never really found a role for it that I didn't prefer another bass for.

It's annoying, as I wanted to try the 5-string Fender flatwounds with their tapered B. I just missed the last few sets on eBay!

Most festivals I've been to (playing or as a punter) have had adequate hired backline, although some bands prefer not to use it. Sometimes it's even been quite nice stuff! So I'd second the suggestion of speaking to the guys supplying the PA first.

I like it, but then I'm of the opinion that electric guitars and basses ought to be kitschy looking to some extent. What colour bass is it going on?

I've finished carving the back of the neck. I started by hogging a load of material off with a surform, then when I got closer to the desired profile I used a spokeshave for a slightly smoother cut. A small block plane proved useful too. The transitions at the headstock and heel were shaped partly by carving with a chisel and partly with a rasp, then smoothed with sandpaper wrapped round a large dowel. Now I just have lots of sanding to do before applying the first coat of oil. I've ended up with a somewhat visible glue line between the fingerboard and neck. This is less than ideal, but the joint seems solid and I think it is mostly due to carbon fibre dust darkening the glueing surface of the neck where I had to sand down the top of the rods slightly. If I do this again, I will make sure to route the slots slightly deeper so that the rods sit a hair below the neck surface.

If you leave him negative feedback you may be surprised at how easily some sellers manage to have it removed, even if you follow the rules meticulously.

The singer/guitarist in one of my bands always seems to be struggling with this. She's experimented with different types of capo and had the guitar well set up but it is still an issue. I think it might be exacerbated by her using a 24" Squier Jagmaster with light gauge strings, as it's not a problem when we do acoustic sets. But she likes that guitar and doesn't want to change anything, so we just put up with it as best we can...

I've just realised it looks like a photo-negative version of my eight-string P copy!

If it helps, I frequently wish I hadn't sold my valve 100 watter, even though when I owned it I still took out a tiny class-D amp for most gigs. If you regret parting with one of them a year or two down the line, a modern class-D amp is going to be much easier and cheaper to replace. The Burman does look massive for a 100 watter though! I say keep both if at all possible, or perhaps trade the Burman for a smaller all-in-one valve head...

Ah, that was what the fireworks were! I'm less than a mile from the castle. My dog went nuts, tried to hide in the laundry pile and then ran round the house with a pair of my wife's pants round his neck barking frantically. From the sound of it this may have been more entertaining than the concert...

In one band I used to mess around with a 1950s Grayshaw Audio Oscillator, which is a valve-powered piece of test equipment and looked suitably mad scientist-esque. I would crudely loop this with a digital delay from a Roland multi-effect box and run it all in to an old Watkins Copicat with the feedback turned way up and my thumb on the spindle to modulate the speed. The sound was quite reminiscent of that video. I must find out if any ex-bandmates still have recordings, as my CDRs have died. I've still got the oscillator, but I'm reluctant to use it without refurbishing it as I've since found out about the perils of 60 year old capacitors, ungrounded high-voltage devices and Selenium rectifiers!

If Bertie Bassett played bass, this would be the one!

The height above the board is not the thing to focus on in fret dressing. What you need to determine is whether line described by the tops of the frets is straight. A good way to do this is to find a short straight edge which spans just a few frets, lay it across the tops of the frets (along the length of the neck) and see if it either rocks or has any visible gaps.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1405667106' post='2504092'] we used to lug this mental heavy 2x12 Fender Deville combo - two man lift most the time. Played a gig with a bigger band and helped them unload - it was funny how their Fender blues jr. sounded pretty much the same by the time you had mic'ed it and put it via the PA! [/quote] Yes, I'm finding this when gigging with a small 1x10" 15 watt valve amp. It doesn't sound as big or authoritative in the room as a 2x12" would, but the sound delivered via an SM58 an inch or two away is just fine and that's really what counts at most gigs. And in many smaller unmic'ed gigs it's enough for the room anyway. In an ideal world I'd pull out a Twin Reverb for the larger rooms, but I seem to get by without...

I love it when a band manages to shoehorn something really out-there into an otherwise accessible three minute pop song, whether it comes from a guitar or any other sound source. It's like putting a dollop of some sort of really pungent pickle on an otherwise ordinary meal! Some of the songs posted are excellent examples of that.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1405592006' post='2503305'] Now THAT is a PROPER racket!! [/quote] Yeah, the only problem is that instead of thinking "make it stop", I just break out in a massive grin and want to listen to it again!

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1405591631' post='2503298'] I wonder if such a thing is really possible? Do all those old Gary Glitter fans still enjoy his music? It hasn't changed has it? Do people still view Rolf Harris's paintings in the same way they used to? They haven't changed have they? [/quote] Are these really comparable examples? Morrissey is a bit of an attention seeker and comes up with some questionable opinions in interviews. Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris committed horrible crimes against children. One of those things I can easily turn a blind eye to when regarding their work, the other not so much...

I like that Byrds example, though it's very much of its era. I think it was meant to be as wigged-out as that, and why not? I think my favourite not-really-a-guitar-solo happens at about 2 minutes into this live Bo Diddley song. It's kind of awful but great at the same time. Also, he must have been stupidly loud as he's standing in front of two Fender Showman stacks and you can hear the speakers farting out on the low end! [url="http://youtu.be/nFpv1LKrA9s"]http://youtu.be/nFpv1LKrA9s[/url]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1405540217' post='2502921'] [size=4]Is that because a guitar can be a full-range solo instrument in its own right and the bass is (generally) regarded as a team instrument?[/size] [/quote] I think that's got to be a part of it. A few years ago I was playing bass in a band who were auditioning guitarists. A surprising number of them couldn't play a simple off-beat rhythm part focussed on beats 2 and 4 without playing something on the 1. I reckon this is because that type of part only makes sense in context, and just doesn't work solo. Keyboard players with too much going on in the bass are a related phenomenon. I started playing guitar in a band a couple of years ago after a decade and a bit of playing bass in bands, and I think about this stuff a lot! I try and lock with the drums (though usually with the snare and hats while the bass locks with the kick drum) and I keep my sound fairly lean in the lows as that's where the bassist lives.

I'm going to use Tru-Oil (musicman style), for a fairly minimal but still finished feel.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1405419866' post='2501693'] Is the top of his finger included in the sale?? [/quote] I hope that [i]is[/i] his finger! What if it's some weird exhibitionist practice, like the people who photograph shiny objects with their own naked reflection and list them on eBay?

I've been starting to shape the back of the neck. The intention is to shape it at the nut end and heel end, then join those up. I think I've got the profile at the nut end close to where I want it, though there's still some smoothing to do.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1405331994' post='2500782'] That's true, but you can get them - long-run Speakon cables are used for PA. [/quote] Yeah, but they're bulky and awkward to route around the stage, being thicker and stiffer than instrument cable. A quality 6m Speakon cable is probably getting on for the size and weight of a small head like a GK MB or similar. So although you could stick the amp on the pedalboard, I think I'd still rather put it on top of the cab.

Would we really want to be running long speaker cables about the stage? Decent speaker cable is a bit heftier than an instrument cable.

I know what you mean about the description, but OTOH they are still going to great lengths to be as transparent as possible about the performance specs of the cab, which is perhaps more useful information from a players point of view. And hey, you can have fun guessing what's going on with the ports when someone on here buys one and takes photos! I'd be very curious to hear what these new cabs sound like, though I'm avoiding succumbing to GAS partly by already having nice sounding cabs to suit the variety of gigs I do, and partly by having very little disposable income...