Horrorhiker

Thanks for all the input guys. Got an update as bought a kit off a guy that refurbs decent beginner kits (how he puts it ). 

I tried a few, and a small 'frankenstein' kit spoke to me. Its a Sonor 503 bass and 2 toms, a Mapex venus snare (sounds amazing for a budget one and was what really sold me the kit tbh), a high quality hi hat stand, cant remember the brand, and the entry level Zildjan cymbal set and decent pearl stands. 

20" bass drum which will be better for the brass band, and space taking upping. Pedal seems like good one, it plays really well anyway. 

All set up and tuned, new bass drum skin plus a set of vic firth dampeners thrown in. I paid £250 and was pretty happy with that. 

27 minutes ago, leschirons said:

Drum GAS. It's an addictive mine field 😂

I bought a cheap Pearl Export from a BC member. £125 I seem to remember inc some useable cymbals.

However, a double DW5000, two K  custom crashes, a full set of Remos and a Turkish ride and pair of Turkish hats later.....be very careful my friend, it's worse than basses😂

With the wife in favour of a drum kit at home, It could spell trouble. At least with basses it feels 'forbidden'. 

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

ya welcome

Here's another budget option

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Premier-drum-kit-in-glossy-red-finish-hardly-used-excellent-condition/273134804420?hash=item3f981a5dc4:g:UyIAAOSwI2VavjrL

Yes this is one on my shortlist. Its the fave at the moment. Ive nearly messaged them about it. 

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

As ex drummer myself, you're going to struggle with buying a decent-ish kit AND cymbals for your budget

But  you might get a bargain if you wait.

Found this on the 'bay.  Pearl Export  - very decent for low to midrange kit,  and the cherry on top are the Sabian cymbals

As long no one else bids, it would be a bargain indeed

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEARL-EXPORT-5-PIECE-DRUM-KIT-WITH-SABIAN-CYMBALS/253523168649?hash=item3b07288d89:g:UkAAAOSwiYRaumYp

Brilliant thanks. I'll have a look at that. I was just saying, I'm thinking of upping the budget a little. Quite distressed to find you get gas with drums as well as basses. At least the missus is on board with this one. She plays in the brass band they need a drummer for. She isn't raising her eyebrows everytime I go on ebay for once, which is a result! 

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

Good evening, HH...

Yes, you're right; there's nothing worthwhile in that price range new. As for the three linked, they're all three about equivalent in their performance, and would, all three, get you going with no real issues. I'd suggest, if you have the time and leisure, looking at each, and listening, not to the drums (they need tuning, almost certainly...), but the cymbals. They will determine the difference between 'noise' and 'music', in my view. The prices look very reasonable to me, for complete kits, and if there's nothing broken, will serve well until your needs evolve. Ask further if you feel the need; I'm here most days...

Hope this helps; let us know how you get on. Meanwhile (and while waiting for Drumchat.co.uk to spring into life...)

Have a nice day

Douglas

Brilliant, thank you for that! I'm thinking most about the Premier one but as ever, have started ramping up my budget a bit. I'll have to see if I get a moment of reckless abandon where I just order something. 

Cheers again! Will keep you posted.

3 minutes ago, Angelus said:

Of those kits, I think the Premier kit is most suitable, once set up and tuned it should be good enough for your needs. 

 

Played drums ( 35 years ago ) before I started learning bass and I ended up getting roped into into playing drums one night ( 20 years ago ) at a wedding and thought it would be ok as I didn’t know anyone. Sat down for the first song and there was whole table of people from my home town sitting waving to me. I couldn’t stop my right leg from shaking. 

Yes I know that feeling. For me playing drums isn't like riding a bike. I couldn't find a drummer and recorded a demo a couple of years ago expecting to go in and bang them out in one take, and ended up an embarassing pile of sweaty jelly in no time. 

Thanks for the input. I was thinking the premier one looked best too. Plus it comes with practice pads etc. I'll be needing those!

Hi. 

I've been asked to fill in as a stand in drummer for a couple of things while a permanent fixture is found so I'm looking to get a super cheap drum kit to use for practices only.

I Will be using it for two bands, one is a heavy rock band, and the other is a brass band (talk about chalk and cheese). With the rock band, a 'dustbin lid' type sound would actually fit in ok as it's bluesy, stoner rock type stuff. I've been assured by the brass band leader that anything will be ok for them as it's just for rehearsals (and they are desperate). 

I can play drums ok considering I'm a bass player by trade, but have never bought any drum gear, and really don't know where to start/what to look out for. I'm assuming bass pedal and snare are the two most important factors? 

Can someone give me a couple of recommendations of stuff to look out for second hand up to the value of about £150 please? I'm assuming anything new at this kind of price will be false economy, even for my limited use? I know this isn't much, but I'm on a very tight budget at the moment. 

One option is just buying the breakables and using the rehearsal spaces shells for the rock band at least, but again, wouldn't know where to start. Also, this would be no good for the brass band.

Part of me thinks 'If I can hit and it it sounds a bit like drums, it'll be ok', but I'm fully aware that some people say that about basses too, and it's not quite that simple. 

Cheers in advance

https://www.gumtree.com/p/drums/peavey-drum-kit-inculdes-drum-stool-cymbals-and-all-iron-wear.-reduced/1291596017  This is 10 mins away? 

https://www.gumtree.com/p/drums/peavey-drum-kit/1292781704 40 mins away

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Premier-drum-kit-in-glossy-red-finish-hardly-used-excellent-condition/273134804420?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649 About an hour away

14 minutes ago, Horrorhiker said:

My approach has always been, neither a borrower or lender be, in music terms at least. Far too many potential arguments and irritations involved in even lending cheap gear. I always make that known right from the start of any musical endevour and then it's easy. Only exception is that people can use my cabs if i'm headlining, though I make that clear that as soon as my stuff is getting abused, the electric goes off and they will be finding someone else's. 

Sounds intolerant maybe, but It's always the people that feel they don't have to be responsible for their own stuff that care the least about other peoples. 

I realise that's not you position exactly, but if you're lending to friends it can be even more awkward. Maybe an unpoplular opinion here, but my vote would be to say "sorry but It's a policy to never lend or borrow anything". 

..I sound so grumpy.

41 minutes ago, Elfrasho said:

Exactly! People seem to get too attached to musical instruments. If he's a pal, then I'm not sure what the issue is! 

If my pal wanted to borrow my lawn mower, or power drill, or even my car.. I would be OK with it, not sure why is different for a bass! Unless,  I suppose, the thing in question is used as my source of income, and an instrument could very well be. But I don't think the op is on that position. 

With those other things, if they came back with a scratch on you'd barely notice, with the exception of the car..I guess with that you have insurance for that. With a bass, if it came back damaged in any way, every time you looked at it, it would remind you of how you mate doesn't care about your stuff (arguably even if it wasn't their fault). It would me anyway. 

18 hours ago, Jonse said:

Some context: 

I play in a rock originals band with my brother (guitar) and two other fellas (drums, singer/guitar.) We are all good friends. 

The drummer has another band which do acoustic/folk originals which he sings and plays acoustic guitar in and the singer plays bass in. (Sorry if that is confusing.) 

We have a practice room that both bands share, however the rock originals band pays the rent for this room and I leave some of my stuff in there. (backup bass, gig rig, pedals.) 

They have a gig coming up where some local bands are doing covers from a Fleetwood Mac album. I initially heard about this event when talking to a promoter in a local bar and put the rock originals band forward to cover a song (they said we weren't suitable so whatever) however I believe my drummer's acoustic band then went on to be accepted for this gig after I mentioned that we should play it with the rock group (okay that's fine, great.) 

Essentially, the drummer and bass player are now asking to borrow a practice amp of mine and my back up bass to play the gig with. Do I tell them they are royally taking the p*ss or do I let them borrow my gear? On a recent gig the bass player used my back up bass without asking (I told him it was okay to use it within the practice room if he wished, to save him lugging his own bass down.) I care very much about the rock originals band and I don't want to cause any bad blood between us. 

Sorry if this essay of a post is confusing but my brain is feeling fried here. 

 

My approach has always been, neither a borrower or lender be, in music terms at least. Far too many potential arguments and irritations involved in even lending cheap gear. I always make that known right from the start of any musical endevour and then it's easy. Only exception is that people can use my cabs if i'm headlining, though I make that clear that as soon as my stuff is getting abused, the electric goes off and they find someone else's. 

Sounds intolerant maybe, but It's always the people that feel they don't have to be responsible for their own stuff that care the least about other peoples. 

I realise that's not you position exactly, but if you're lending to friends it can be even more awkward. Maybe an unpoplular opinion here, but my vote would be to say "sorry but It's a policy to never lend or borrow anything". 

17 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

Sounds like a good reason to take up double thumbing.  

Yes been trying that just lately funny enough, and thumb playing in general. 👍

24 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

Understandable.

It's still annoying if you do both anyway.  I never understood those who have an us and them mentality.

Yeah, and to be fair 99% of the time us=fingers and them=picks

 Bit of a long, self indulgant story but I had an accident when I was 18 which took the end off my right index finger. At the time I played slap, finger and pick depending on the material. The accident forced me to play exclusively with a pick for years, which fortunately I could still do after a bit of recovery time. 

As a result, without trying to brag, the fact that I have been forced to concentrate on one style, and the determination to get over an injury,  my pick technique is very good, to the point where it has been mentioned specifically in a review (in terms of speed and  complexity etc). Having to concentrate on one style has definately made that aspect of my playing better. 

I do keep trying to play fingerstyle every now and again, especially with my changing musical taste and wanting to get mellower tones etc. Its hard work but Im finally getting sonewhere just lately I think. 

For me its doubly annoying when you get 'pick snobs', that's for sure. 

Bubba Ho-Tep is not only an amazing film, but also has a superb (if limited) soundtrack. Couple of variations on a main theme and a score, but all done by one guy on a budget in a short time apparently. The main theme really is great imo. 

If you like films that involve a geritaric Elvis and black JFK battling a mummy, it might be your cup of tea. 

Band Agreement

On 3/15/2018 at 09:28, SpondonBassed said:

I'm like that about relicing.

The word itself is abhorrent.  It's too much like re-lice-ing, in other words; putting fresh lice back in.  Premature ageing is regarded as a debilitating condition in humans for goodness sake!

I have to admit that it is used to good effect however where newness detracts from the overall image you want on stage.

Yeah its definitely not cut and dry. While I hate anything that's trying to be something else, tribute bands don't bother me at all. And I'm not entirely sure why.

With relicing, I just don't get it. However I do agree that everything looking brand new can be equally as weird, especially with what would be considered as a 'hard working' band. 

I've seen several cars just lately where the paint job and general aesthetic is that the car is totally rusted and straight out of a scrapyard, the motoring equivalent of a heavy relic bass. I can appreciate the work that goes into that to some extent, but I really do not see the point. My car looks like that anyway and it cost me next to nothing. Do those heavy relic cars get washed? I would feel like a massive hypocrite washing one of those. 

I saw an interview with Billy Gibbons ages ago and I believe I'm right in saying that he had a new guitar relic'd to look the same as an old guitar he wanted to retire. This is one of the few scenarios where i can actually see the point. 

All manner of psychology going on here. It'd be an interesting topic for a dissertation for someone. 

52 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

You might be having a hard time because of that.

Very little in so-called civilised society is actually real.  We live our lives with a thin veneer of civility that barely conceals our embarrassing animal urges.  This is as true in the 21st century as it has always been.

BTW, you needn't search for the Waltons' cover of Sex on Fire, it hasn't been officially released yet.

Not really. I realise its all around but its when its done intentionally and in a contrived way that bothers me. 

38 minutes ago, SpondonBassed said:

 

Which?  The Waltons or Mumford and Sons?

I like the Walton's version of Sex on Fire.

I can't stand anything that's 'faux'. Artificial road wear, shabby chic, Mumford and Sons, Vintage Trouble and overtly vintage fashion (gaudy and expensive 50s dress shops 👎) all fall under the same category for me. No offence to anyone that likes any of those obviously. Each to their own and all that. 

19 minutes ago, gjones said:

I always think vintage trouble are trying just a bit too hard.

 

 

Not half. This is what Mumford and Sons would be like if they watched Sister Act all the time instead of The Waltons. 

8 hours ago, markdavid said:

Hi All

First off apologies if this is in the wrong section, if so then I am sure the moderators will move as applicable , 2nd I am not looking for any medical advice with this topic, I am medicated so that is taken care of 

Have suffered depression for a while , Recently started to feel depressed again and it has crept up on me , as is sometimes the case I don't feel particularly sad I just don't feel much of anything.

Unfortunately this has extended to my bass playing and I cant motivate myself to practice, I just don't feel the enjoyment at the moment and part of me wants to sell all my equipment and just be done with it.

I am not enjoying listening to music all that much either.

I have just in the past couple days got over the flu so I think that has probably had a profound effect on my state of mind.

I am after some pointers to motivate myself back into music , hell it was hard enough to motivate myself to make this post, hoping someone has a good suggestion , thanks

 

 

Sorry to hear this, I too have been there and it isn't a lot of fun. Good advice above. 

It's an individual thing but what works for me if I'm ever feeling depressed is to maybe look at something connected with music, that isn't necessarily relevant to your playing. For example, you could watch a music documentary. There are several good ones on netflix, but I can particularly recommend 'Hired Gun', which is a thing all about session musicians. I always feel like picking a bass up after watching something like that. 

 Though not a long term solution, a bit of retail therapy can also help if done sensibly. Think about something small that you want that is bass related, research it online and order it. Maybe a new strap or something. It'll get the mind busy, and hopefully start enthusing you, even if subconsciously. 

Also try and make sure you're keeping active and doing a bit of walking if possible. It's amazing how many times I've been in an endless funk, really quite bad, and something like a walk/bike ride/swim gets the bad stuff out and something I'm keen on to just pop into my mind out of nowhere. Off the point slightly, but for me personally, camping, or just walking in woods is the best therapy I can think of.  

Hope you can find something that helps, but don't worry. You will feel like playing naturally when the time is right anyway. As you will know from past experience, it DOES pass even if it might seem like it won't at the time. 

Best of luck, keep us posted. 

6 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

Do it!

I buy and sell as part of my job, so negotiating discounts is 'in the blood'. I don't try it on for small items, but for larger purchases I always do - because I know that every sales team has a margin they're allowed to work with.

Sometimes you get told that the price shown is their best offer and that's fine. But like I said, most of the time I get a discount and for me, even £50 or so makes it worthwhile. And on rare occasions, that figure has been around £200. In fact, the more expensive the item the more likely you are to receive a discount in my experience. Which makes perfect sense, because retailers are always keen to shift the big ticket items and get their own money back.

As my dear mum would say, "If you don't ask, you don't get"  

Definately. Its very easy to just stick it in the basket, but this seems like a good way of getting a relationship going which gives you the best of both worlds in terms of online vs shop, then. 

I like to be loyal to people with good service anyway, and as you say, £50 is not to be sniffed at. It's basically a free pedal or a couple of sets of strings after all. 

4 minutes ago, lownote12 said:

I wandered into Norwich PMT a while back to blag a box for a bass I was flogging. Figuring that even asking nicely wouldn't cut the mustard for a very crumbly 63 year old who looks disturbingly like Compo, I thought I'd better buy something before asking. A charming young man, helpful, knowledgeable and chatty but never patronising or irritating, introduced me to their two secondhand bass cabs.  Deciding I didn't really want a Fender combo, we switched focus to an MB 121 Traveler in great nick for £280 label. He went to endless trouble to set me up with a  head I liked and left me alone in a booth to noodle as long as I needed.  He was so nice I could see no alternative to buying the bloody thing (but TBF it was starting to make sense to me - God I love MB tone).  Once I'd got my wallet out said lad was willing to haggle but wasn't a push over, and happily agreed to work several suitable guitars boxes into the deal (what I originally went in for, if you recall).  Then when he learned I was parked 400 yards down the road he carried (yes he did) my new cab all the way to my car. I almost put him in the boot too and took him home to introduce him to my daughter. Then I remembered I didn't have one.      

I had a good experience in there too. Had just the right balance of being attentive but not overbearing. 

The only thing I would like to see is the setting up of at least some of the stuff they do. I went to buy an electro acoustic g***ar once and you needed a step ladder to get from the strings to the fretboard on nearly all of them. 

24 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

That’s always vital… and this is the thing, you can get that from online retailers too. Or at least I do.

For anything more expensive than cables and flimflam, I always place orders by sending an email rather than just plopping things in the ‘shopping cart’ and proceeding to PayPal. By doing so I get to build up a rapport with a member of staff, who I then contact directly next time I want to buy something from them. I always ask questions about the product to check that it meets my requirements; and I always ask for a discount due to repeat business, which I nearly always get, sometimes very generously (averaging probably 10-15%).

Exactly the same principles as dealing with someone face-to-face. The only difference is I don’t walk out the door with the goods, I have to wait for them to be delivered.

Works for me anyway  

I'm trying this 👍

31 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. It’s a great album, but don’t forget a lot of the material was co-written by Mark Plati who is also quite handy on the bass; both stringed and electronic. We currently do three songs from that album; Little Wonder, Dead Man Walking and I’m Afraid of Americans, but I’ve always wanted to do The Last Thing You Should Do. Outside is also a great album, but didn’t go down well at the time.

Brilliant, its great that you do those songs. I always fancy doing The Letter but have never been able to convince a band to do it. 

I dismissed Outside a bit when I heard it years ago I must admit. I shall definately revisit that asap. 

Was just listening to this album today and thought I'd put something on here as it's an integral part of my Bass playing influences. I can see it's been mentioned before, but you usually get a discussion about how it's divisive so I thought I'd put my two penneth in. 

When the album came out, I was a pure 'metaller'. If it wasn't 'eavy', I didn't like it. I was a teenager then, and had already been playing bass for a year or so in a rap-metal band (I know). I bought Earthling 'blind', having a fleeting admiration of Bowie, mainly due my older sister buying the Dancing in the Street single years earlier. (I know). 

The thing that struck me about the album right away was the bass playing of Gail Ann Dorsey. I appreciated the magnificent tone, and the concise, accurate yet still impressively written basslines, even though I didn't realise at the time this is what I was hearing, if you get me. 

The songs are amazing and yes, the album probably did sound dated for a while, but in my opinion, it has been long enough for the 90s drum and bass elements to now sound 'vintage' to younger ears and would be well worth a listen. It's easy to see why it's not everyone's cup of tea but It's the album that got me to listen to bass players, appreciate not over playing, and get the importance of a good balance between instruments/vocals, not to mention getting me to explore Bowie further, which obviously opened a pot of gold.