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BillyBass

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Posts posted by BillyBass

  1. I currently own three heads:

     

    GK Legacy 800

    Genzler Magellan 350

    TE Elf

     

    I have a GK Fusion S 1200 arriving at the end of September.  

     

    I've only just got the Genzler 350, and this might take the Elf's position as back up.  Hate to give it up though, its a great little head.

    • Like 1
  2. 3 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

    Seems like a good reason to get another one of those lovely Barefaced cabs methinks

    That would be a tidy little rig wouldn't it!  With the top cab getting close to my ears.

    • Like 1
  3. I saw this on eBay and thought I'd put in a cheeky offer, it was accepted and now I'm the proud owner of a Genzler Magellan 350 head.

     

    My first impressions are very positive.  The EQ is quite versatile, there is a semi parametric mids section and a couple of contours: a mid scoop and a bass/low mid bump.  I've been using the second contour at about 1 or 2 o'clock and leaving the EQ flat; sounds quite nice too.

     

    I will predominantly use this as a home practice amp but I might try it out at a gig.  I doubt it will replace my GK Legacy though.

     

    Another plus is that it can take a total impedance of 2.67 ohms, so three 8 ohm cabs would be handled well.

     

    IMG_0790.jpeg

    IMG_0792.jpeg

    • Like 2
  4. 9 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

    Otis Jay Blues Band played an assisted living complex in Bournemouth. All good clean fun, got some people dancing in their seats and/or on their feet.

     

    My Elf and Barefaced One10 kicked it in the outdoors, and I am still enjoying my recently acquired Flea bass. It almost plays itself!IMG_4209.thumb.jpeg.9baa915ab084d8d960889313cdf1c18b.jpeg


     

    That must be about the most unsexy gig anyone could play.  If I was to find myself living in a place like that later on in life I really hope there would be people like you coming around to play.

     

    Top blokes the lot of you.  Well done.

    • Like 8
    • Thanks 1
  5. On 18/07/2023 at 14:49, BassAdder60 said:

    I’ve had many poor “ new” condition products from PMT over the years and vowed to stop using them however I did visit a store and buy my Jazz bass from them. 
    If you see how a typical store is being run it’s no surprise goods cone out not as they should. Part of this is the online returns world we live in and the other is lack of investment in decent paid staff who are trained in customer service etc. 

    Clearly that grubby bass was never inspected before sending out ? Shame on you PMT 

    This is exactly my experience.  I will only ever buy something from PMT if it is unavailable or much more expensive elsewhere, and then, I reckon on a 50-50 chance it will have to be sent back with a complaint.  I will say though, that PMT are always polite, apologetic and helpful whenever I do complain.

    • Like 1
  6. 14 minutes ago, tauzero said:

     

    It was you who said "4 strings: comfort. 5 strings: versatility". As my 5-strings are as comfortable as my 4-strings, and more comfortable than many 4-strings I've played, I wouldn't agree with that. And not everything I said was triggered by what you posted. Like I said, it was a part of the trigger for that post, not the entire reason (otherwise I'd have quoted you). Perhaps you should have read my reply more carefully.

    I read it carefully, and disagreed.  

  7.  

    6 hours ago, tauzero said:

     

    Partly inspired by it but I've seen an awful lot of "I had a 5-string once and couldn't get on with it" posts over the years.

    So you read part of the post, decided it was an 'I had a 5-string once and couldn't get on with it' post and thought you would ridicule it.

     

    Why don't you try reading it again, but this time read it all and give yourself a bit of time to comprehend what was written.  I'll include it below to make it easy for you.

     

    On 16/07/2023 at 08:55, BillyBass said:

    In my previous band the singer had us drop lower than E for quite a few songs, so rather than retuning my E string every other song, I bought a fiver.  I then spent 6 weeks getting used to it and it became the only bass I played.  I really appreciated the versatility the extra string gave.

     

    I then joined a punk band and got to use all my 4 string basses again and I remembered how comfortable they are to play compared to a fiver.

     

    My first band fell apart and since then, the fiver has been gathering dust and more 4 string basses have been added to the collection.

     

    Yesterday, while discussing a few new songs to add to our set, our singer asked us to play one of these new songs in D.  So I dusted off the fiver and learnt the song with that.  I'm of two minds whether to bring my fiver to rehearsals/gigs for just one song but as we are talking about adding a second set of songs the chances are more songs will need D and Eb.

     

    My take on 4 vs 5 is:

     

    4 = comfort

    5 = versatility

     

     

     

    On 16/07/2023 at 11:23, tauzero said:

    It's a good job that all 5-strings are absolutely identical so that if somebody tries a 5-string and doesn't like it because it's not comfortable, they don't have to try any other 5-strings before deciding never to use one again. And if you never play any notes below bottom E then a 5-string is completely pointless anyway.

    Where did I say 5 string basses were not comfortable? or that I don't like them?  Going from my Charvel fiver's 44-45 mm nut width to my Charvel 4's 38mm is an increase in comfort, hence comfortable compared to a fiver, however, I never wrote anything about fivers being uncomfortable.

     

    I am also aware of more than one reason for playing a fiver and certainly didn't write there was only one reason in the post.  I pointed out I find 5 string basses more versatile that 4s.

     

    I do get on with fivers and I love my Charvel 5 string.  I play in a punk band and I generally play a 4 string P or PJ bass.  I missed the Charvel 5er and playing one new song (from a different genre) with a low D was an excuse to get it out again.  

     

    You  misread my post.  Or rather, you read part of it and thought you understood the rest. 

  8. 11 hours ago, tauzero said:

    It's a good job that all 5-strings are absolutely identical so that if somebody tries a 5-string and doesn't like it because it's not comfortable, they don't have to try any other 5-strings before deciding never to use one again. And if you never play any notes below bottom E then a 5-string is completely pointless anyway.

    Was this a comment on my post 7 posts above it?

  9. 7 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

    If I was you I'd probably stick the 4 string, but install a D-tuner (or whatever they are called) tuning mechanism on it.

     

    Will be quicker and more practical than both tuning down the 4 string manually or switching to a 5 string, in fact as simple as just flipping a lever (and flipping it once again to get back to E tuning).

     

    If I had one or two gigging 4 strings then it would be worth considering.  I have 8, and though some are more likely to be gigged than others, all are liable to be picked on the day.  I'm not buying 8 bloody D tuners!

  10. In my previous band the singer had us drop lower than E for quite a few songs, so rather than retuning my E string every other song, I bought a fiver.  I then spent 6 weeks getting used to it and it became the only bass I played.  I really appreciated the versatility the extra string gave.

     

    I then joined a punk band and got to use all my 4 string basses again and I remembered how comfortable they are to play compared to a fiver.

     

    My first band fell apart and since then, the fiver has been gathering dust and more 4 string basses have been added to the collection.

     

    Yesterday, while discussing a few new songs to add to our set, our singer asked us to play one of these new songs in D.  So I dusted off the fiver and learnt the song with that.  I'm of two minds whether to bring my fiver to rehearsals/gigs for just one song but as we are talking about adding a second set of songs the chances are more songs will need D and Eb.

     

    My take on 4 vs 5 is:

     

    4 = comfort

    5 = versatility

    • Like 2
  11. I was overlooked for a band, I believe, mainly due to the fact that I wasn't into the sort of music they played.  I was up for it and I found that the songs I had to learn for the audition I really enjoyed playing.  

     

    I really like playing good music with good bass lines.  By 'good music', I do not mean music that I necessary like.  Certainly, as @BigRedX pointed out above, I get pretty sick of stuff I play myself as I'll be rehearsing the same old song over and over again until its dropped from our set.

     

    I'm lucky in that I'm in a band that covers stuff I like and we are broadening our genre to be more attractive to Landlords, playing stuff from different genres I also like.

     

    I would definitely join the metal band.

    • Like 1
  12. 7 hours ago, overdriver said:

    I assure you that in Germany, they’re VERY sensitive to stuff like that. 
     

    unless they’re not. And there are those who are willfully not.  If you follow. 

    I am aware Germans can be very anti racist, and yes, I have heard of the AFD.  I was suggesting that maybe Germans don't care about the Confederate flag so much.  Not having visited Germany in almost 40 years, I have no idea how the Confederate flag would be considered; a symbol of Southern States culture/music...or a representation of an institution that approved of slavery.

  13. 9 hours ago, Burns-bass said:


    Don’t think people protesting against slavery are woke my friend. 

    This is the first paragraph from the Wikipedia entry on 'Woke'

     

    Woke is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination".[1][2] Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sexism. Woke has also been used as shorthand for some ideas of the American Left involving identity politics and social justice, such as white privilege and slavery reparations for African Americans.[3][4][5]

     

     

    • Like 1
  14. 40 odd years ago, when I was a punk, Rockabillies in London would all have a confederate flag patch on their jackets.  I doubt if many of them knew what it symbolised, it was a cool thing that Rockabillies wore.  I wouldn't be surprised if the original owner was in a Rockabilly band, or maybe southern rock.

     

    Fast forward 40 years and the flag is definitely not flavour of the month in America and as American wokeism has spread here, people are generally more aware of the slavery connotations of the flag.

     

    The OP lives in Germany though, maybe people there don't care about this so much.

    • Like 1
  15. I have several customers that are professional musicians/singers/conductors/composers.  The only reasonably wealthy one is a singer that does appear on the telly a bit but her husband is/was a doctor so hers is not their only income.  When I say 'wealthy' I mean nice big house in Muswell Hill, North London.

     

    The pit players I know from orchestras in London all seem to have comfortable, though not spectacular lives, that includes a relatively well known conductor, married to a soprano that has a few CDs out.

     

    One of my customers is a multi instrumentalist that does a lot of work in big hotels in London, mainly on the piano, jazz standards, taking requests from American tourists.  He gets his work via an agent and he gets by ok.

     

    All of them were brought up with music, taking exams as kids etc.  Music was their career path from school.

     

    I love playing the bass, especially as my band has started gigging but I am under no illusions about it being anything more than a hobby.  

    • Like 2
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