PatrickJ

On 16/08/2018 at 20:57, SICbass said:

Thanks for that recommendation, excellent. I skipped around a couple of their videos and landed upon this. I shall be playing it every morning before breakfast for the next while.

 

 

Loved this !!

Scott's website has recently been re-designed and is much better now.  The material has been categorised into ability levels and the lessons into themes.  It's much easier to find relevant content which always used to a bug bear of mine.   IMO the course material is excellent if you invest the time to work through it.

I've not found the campus forum to be that useful and the individual lessons that are usually on YouTube can be a bit hit or miss, but overall I'd say it's worth it.  I just wish I had more time to invest.

Apparently Prince wrote the keyboard / synth parts 

Pm'd

My first band was through a friend of my wife's.  I'd been playing for about a year and their bass player was emigrating. My wife put me in contact and I went to audition - turns out I was better than their existing bassist so I got the gig so to speak.

I put my current band together, I knew some guys through work who played guitar and drums and so we started jamming until it became more serious and bandy - we didn't know any singers though so after we'd rehearsed a few times I put an add on Join My Band then run some auditions for the people of responded.  We've landed a pretty good singer but I'm not sure if she's going to stick around.

Thanks again for the information @obi 2 kenobi it was spot on!

I made my way over to Rue Victor Masses and Rue De Douai this afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed walking up to the Moulin Rogue.  I spent a good hour or so ignoring the kids and browsing 2 dedicated bass guitar stores, Bass Center and Bass Maniac, and a dedicated pedal shop - all in one street!  Bass center was really great, an old school music shop with a good range of brands and a friendly and helpful owner.

My favourite store however was GUITARE COLLECTION, Rare and vintage guitars.  A locked door affair, entrance on request only.  Once in and he'd dismissed a  young teenage couple he obviously didn't like the look of the guy in the store was lovely  He spoke fluent English and happily talked me through the basses they had - I fell a little bit in love with a '52 P bass.

If anyone goes to Paris, it's a must for the musician.  When I get back to London I'll have to revisit Denmark street and see how it compares.

I'd always try and buy a physical instrument in store - I can't imagine ordering a bass that I haven't had a chance to hold and play. Neck comfort is of particular importance to me!  This is what I value the most.

I really like Andertons, they are a great example of how to do retail in the digital age!  They are about an hours drive from me but probably the physical shop I am most loyal to, though frustratingly their range of Basses is not particularly good in store (compared to what is available on their online store) but their range of pedals, accessories etc is amazing.

i've bought 3 bass guitars from GuitarGuitar Epsom, they have a much better range than Andertons - the usual Fenders and Ibanzes but also brands such as Mayones, Lakland, Sandberg, Music Man etc.  GG's customer service is also pretty good in-store - I had an issue with a Lakland bass I bought there, I brought it in and despite not being able to recreate the issue they gave it to their tech who found the problem and fixed it - all within about 30 mins on a Saturday afternoin with no charge!

This summer I'd like to get back up to Bass Direct and possibly to the Bass Gallery - I'm also in Paris this week and apparently there's some good music shops here (California Music and Bass Centre seem to be strong recommendations).

On 10/08/2018 at 10:59, Spoonman said:

Love that Nik Huber bass he picks up half way through 😍

https://nikhuber-guitars.com/rietbergen_bass.html

+1 - that's a great looking instrument. 

I quite enjoyed the video.  I'm a pretty big Foo fighters fan and a big admirer of Dave Grohl, how he comes across and everything he has achieved.

I've never been particularly taken with Nate Mendel's bass work with the Foos. Rope is the only song he played on that I think has a decent/creative bass line.   Dave demonstrates here he'd actually do a better job if he was to compose them IMO.

49 minutes ago, discreet said:

This makes no sense. Are you tired for some reason??

Sorry, looks like my phone had made some crazy auto-corrections along with some poor typos on my part - I've edited my original post - hopefully it makes more sense now.

I'm also a member of the 4 kid club, eldest 9 and youngest 1 - I don't get time to practice during the day.

If I even attempt to pick up the bass the kids and the wife get upset.  I have to wait until 9 o'clock, bed times are usually finished and its wood shedding time!!

My two eldest have just started drum lessons - might be an opportunity for some family jamming in the near future !

I've seen a couple of TTE's in the for sale secrion, any thoughts on those?  Harder for me to go try one out as they are discontinued.

I'm looking for a new 500 watt Amp Head to replace my GK MB500, I'm very much considering giving a Markbass a go.   I would love some recommendations from you lot.

The GK has served me very well  and I intend to keep it as a backup head but I've found myself wanting for something new.   Of the five or six cover bands I've seen this year, the bassists have been using Markbass rigs in at least four of them (the four best ones as it happens). I can't recall which models but they all sounded great which is what is drawing me to MB.  My short list of heads are:

- Little Mark III
- Little Mark Tube
- CASA

I'll try and get to Bassdirect or somewhere over the summer to try what I can but I'm keen to hear the thoughts from some BC'ers too.

The LMIII has a lot of glowing reviews in another MB thread, however, I always somewhat regretted not going for the MB Fusion with the Tube pre-amp and I wonder if I'd feel the same here by passing on the LM Tube. 

I really dig the vintage looks of the CASA, it kind of fits with the rig Aesthetics I'd like to achieve but it is the most expensive of the three and from what I've read is a MM BH-500 in disguise despite being pitched as the Michael League signature model.  I don't know of the BH-500 was a good amp or not.

Cab wise I'm primarily using a Barefaced Super Compact.  Basses are active an PJ and a 5 string active J.   The bands I play with are primarily rock covers band, although outside of those I'm developing a love for funk and would like to pursue that more.

Let me know your thoughts!!

Anyone own, or tried one of these?  I'm interested to hear opinions.

Just the 2 for me.

1. A Mayones Jabba 5 (In a Black/Grey sunburst)

2. A Fender Deluxe PJ (in traditional sunburst)

I'm very much a hobbyist, with just a handful of gigs notched up so the two basses has been perfectly adequate for me.   Each bass is dedicated to a specific band, the 5 string J bass for a classic rock / pop covers  band and the 4 string PJ for the heavier alternative rock band.   The singist for the latter wants to get more serious about gigging, if that happens I think I'll pick up a Fender Nate Mendel P sig or a Lakland Skyline 44-64 custom as a back up / alternate tuning bass for the Deluxe.

My aim is to only own basses I will actively use / have a reason to own for so i've maintained  a one in / one out policy and fortunately don't really have GAS for any more basses right now,.  Amp heads however, this is where I think I'm going to be in trouble!!

An Ibanez GSR 180 I bought on eBay for £60.  I was learning guitar at the time, had been for a few years.  I wanted the bass to record some backing tracks - trouble was I discovered I much preferred playing the bass to the guitar and so made the switch.  

I moved it on fairly quickly and purchased a Blacktop Jazz bass ( with the dual P pickups) which I also sold fairly soon afterwards.  I spent a year or so buying and selling a few basses, Lakland, Warwick, MTD none of which I have anymore.  I regret selling the Lakland the most.

I recently discovered Analog Son

8 hours ago, obi 2 kenobi said:

Aye, there are loads. Lived there for 10+ years and go back once a month.

Go to rue victor massé in the 9th. There are many side streets and parallel streets off that street with music shops.

Rue victor massé is one long street of specialist music shops, at least 2 bass guitar dedicated ones, others dedicated for pedals, left hand only, vintage, acoustic, and even pointy headstocks. Lots of small stores.

Much better than London (where I live now) imo

Thanks for this - looking forward to getting there and checking it out.

I'm in France for a month over the summer, finishing with a week in Paris. 

Anyone have any recommendations for music stores in Paris worth checking out?

I used one of these with my old Corvette 5.  It was very comfortable!

Levy's Leathers 3 1/2 Neoprene Padded Guitar Strap - Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000XPO2R4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4MWxBb1B782E4

Online music retailers who do not deliver on their commitments.  If you say next day delivery, deliver it on the next day!

I ordered a env. filter from Mickelburgh musical instruments, not used them before - won't again!  Website clearly stated purchases over £100 and ordered before 2pm will be delivered next day.  Obviously nothing arrives, I call the shop Wednesday was told they had been too busy to send it out but parcel was collected by MyHermes that morning.  Call the courier, told they don't do next day delivery and it will be up to 5 days to get it to me.  All in all could take over a week to reach me.   No apologies, no call backs as promised - highly irratating!

I'm really enjoying the latest album by Dorothy

I recently picked up a TC Spectracomp.  

It's relatively cheap when compared to most and the TonePrint functionality makes it easy to try different compression settings without having to understand all the technical detail.  Of course as your knowledge grows you can deviate from the TonePrint and create your own patches.

12 hours ago, tthiggins said:

Well I'm sure it's been shared before but possibly the stankiest stone cold hot funk masterpiece of all time is this 

 

Love this; I've enjoyed all of the Sly & Family Stone songs I've seen recommended thus far.

16 minutes ago, chris_b said:

There are 2 Funk threads on BC containing just about everything you need to know.

Can you share the link for the thread?  It didn't come up when I previously searched the forum for funk content.  Thanks

I've been getting a little board of late with the classic and alternative rock covers I've been playing over the past few years.

I've been enjoying more funk influenced music in recent weeks but it's a genre I know very little about.

Could I get some recommendations on some classic and modern funk songs ?  I would love to start learning some over the summer.

Also any particular recommendations on gear and setups for funk playing would be appreciated!

Thanks