leschirons

Get an even volume across all strings (usually via pickup adjustment and a little twiddle on the EQ.

I seem to remember (from that period in my life) Heard it through the grapevine Living in the past Reflections Classical gas This guy's in love with you

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1423935479' post='2690587'] Well seasoned hardened cynic of gigging in London here. Be prepared to do all the promotion and legwork yourselves, expect your fan base to travel with and then play to just them as the 'promoter' has booked 4 bands from opposite ends of the country, the other bands won't have the courtesy to watch you and then the venue will have a go at you for not being a big enough draw after you've taken a day off work, paid the congestion charge, God knows what for parking, food and drink and you could play your local to the same crowd without the wallet rape and overwhelming sense of your soul evaporating. [/quote] But on the down side...

You'll all laugh but... "Tea for the tillerman" by Cat Stevens. Failing that, "On the boards" by Rory Gallagher.

It must be worth at least attempting to try and play with a 5 string in standard tuning for the two bands. You can always go back to plan B if it doesn't work out for you. Surely, any effort you put into it will be worthwhile with regard to note recognition. Maybe borrow a 5 string to give it a go rather than shell out in case it's not for you.

£80 quids worth of OLP Stingray 5 string for me on 75% of gigs. I have branded stuff at home (Music man, Fender C-Shop, Status etc) but the cheapy does the job, sounds good and plays nicely. That'll do me.

Chord progression wise, Hotel California and We used to know (Jethro Tull, some years before) However, Sam Smith would really be the man to chat to at the moment

Genz Shuttle combo + 12T ext cab. Weighs nothing and shakes the foundations with 600 watts of pure Hi-Fi quality clean or overdriven valve dirt if I need it or 375 watts without the ext cab. Neo 1 x 12s are the future (just like garlic bread)

I don't mind a big stage as long as we can fill it with PA, monitors, enough band members and tons of lights. I've done a couple of biggies (20mtrs +) in a trio and part of me feels obliged to spread us out a little to make it more visually correct but the trade off is that I lose a little contact with the others. So, I think I'm always happiest trying to read the drummers thoughts (and preempt his next push or fill) from 2 ft away.

First saw him in about 1970. What an eye-opener that was. There was no-one around like him. His mood coloured every number and solo he played and he was apparently a real arse to work for according to most of the players in his big band. I was convinced for about 15 years that he could actually play a one-handed roll (and drummers do nowadays) but it was an illusion he'd created. A real innovator and fabulous musician.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1423127449' post='2680990'] Gruss Gott, Phaty. I worked on Vienna for two years so have a working knowledge of both [s]High German and Wienerisch [/s]Ultravox and Midge Ure [/quote] Fixed

TBH, If, as the OP states, the seller is a member on here, I find it quite weird that you're all discussing this in public in the first place.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1423175593' post='2681973'] Ask me how long it took me to nail it!! Ask me!! [/quote] Just out of curiosity (don't know why this occurred to me to ask) how long did it take you to learn it?

[quote name='lonestar' timestamp='1423121484' post='2680908'] It's a mythstery to me. [/quote] Thath's good

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1423168850' post='2681801'] Reassuring to see I'm not the only one who struggled with Rhythm Stick! Proves I'm not awful, I'm just human. I am a novice, so I have to say either Rhythm Stick or 'What's It Gonna Be' by Mr Big. Both very challenging for me, but got there with hard work. [/quote] I gave up on Rhythm stick as I sounded like a four year old falling down the stairs with a bass

Just to humour a guitarist we were playing with ages ago, we all agreed to have a go at Stressfest by Steve Morse. I knew of the track but had never played it. Drummer had never heard of it but we decided to give it a go to teach the guitarist a lesson as we were convinced he was living in dreamland. It took me nearly two months to get somewhere near and the drummer was spitting feathers by the time he'd got anywhere close. Turns out the guitarist really could play it and we got through the whole song a couple of times. We never gigged it but ended up with a little egg - on faces to say the least. I should really try it again now and then and play along to the CD as it's a real work out.

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1423065136' post='2680233'] That's no way to talk about Robert Fripp. [/quote] I heard he's getting his Mrs in to do the "Ride Sally ride" bits in the big finish song

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1423086087' post='2680663'] Did you strip the neck yourself or get it done professionally? [/quote] I did it myself. I removed the neck of course, and then masked off the "V" shape at the heel (neck to body joint) end. I also then masked off the back of the head-stock, in line with the fret board nut. This way, you keep the serial info intact and have the option to repaint if you want to sell. Ignore the white area in this pic, it's my iPhone flash, not a mark on the wood. Took the paint off with 100 grade sand-paper, (about an hour including the reshaping) then moved down to 200 grade, then finished off with 000 grade wire wool. The finish is like glass. Then gave it 2 coats of Danish oil, leaving about 2 hours at room temp between each coat. Finally, a 3rd coat 24 hours later. It just feels like natural wood with no discernable coating, but it is there and it will protect it.

If you can find an old Status Energy 4 (I assume you play a 4 string) with the square edges (not the Artiste) mine weighed in at 7lb 2oz and you usually pick them up for under £400 The attached pic is a 5er but just to show the body type.

[quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1423067453' post='2680289'] Yep, not sure about the painted neck yet. Will get some sweaty gigs under my belt and then decide what to do. Might stick a brillo pad in the shopping next week just in case! And the scratchy issue is now addressed it seems. [/quote] Like yours, I have an early one ( 2003) Couldn't get on with the paint on mine so took it back to the wood and sealed it with Danish oil. Quite a nice piece of timber in fact despite them supposedly having cheaper cuts of wood to keep the cost down. It now feels great (to me anyway) I also took the opportunity to whip about .5mm (that's point five) off the back of the neck. It's now the perfect profile for me, sounds and plays great and if it does get stolen or broken, it's not cost me €2,000

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1422800550' post='2676857'] (and we never mention the war of 1815, although it brought 50 years of peace in Europe, it upsets the French). [/quote] (and also allowed Sweden to win the Eurovision song contest)

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1423051994' post='2679964'] Some "superstars" do have the time and enjoy mixing with us mere mortals, without being looking for adulation. I've only met one such person, a guitarist, several times... he was a joy to be with, he had experienced so much and was still interested in exploring new gear and he'd share his experiences as he was recording his latest album... This is a guy who has played with several top tier world famous bands. Humble, funny, knowledgeable, helpful... He even gave me some backing tracks for me to play with (essentially his tracks without his lead guitar) when I told him how much I enjoyed playing along to the songs at home. There are some people like that, he wasn't really learning much from me, that's for sure! But "superstars" can also be just... well, human. Some are nicer than others, just like with the rest of us. [/quote] I'm sure there are a few who would take the time to get involved. My point wasn't that they're not nice generous people, but that in general, they probably have other stuff to do and that whatever they could offer by way of knowledge, could probably be passed on via an interview rather than being bombarded with posts on a forum. Re the original post, which referred to learning from them, anything other than knowledge is basically just personal experience and is, whilst possibly very interesting, subjective.

[quote name='tinyd' timestamp='1423040854' post='2679784'] I agree. My guess is that many pros would say something like "get the best bass you can afford and then practice a lot" whereas many posts here are in search of the perfect sound. This is not very scientific, I know, but the fact that the "Bass Guitars" and "Amps and Cabs" forums here have 21,000 topics whereas "Theory and Technique" has 2,000 does indicate that most people come to this site to discuss gear. [/quote] +1, and I think it's because the vast majority are able to contribute at some level to a discussion about pickups, a lightweight rig or a sunburst finish as opposed to a discussion about modes and pitch axis theory. Gear subjects can include many more people as all members have some sort of gear but not everyone plays in a band or wants to learn theory or record etc. You don't even have to play to contribute. Re the OP, I'm not sure there's anything to be learnt from pro musicians that couldn't be imparted in an interview. In my mind, there are two types of pro anyway. There's the superstar household name (obviously many are top of their musical game but there are some who don't even know which strings they use or how to tune a bass) and the pro working studio / gigging type. Neither is likely to have time to contribute but if they do, the first short burst of "you're talking crap" will put an end to it. The superstar has better things to do and the working pro session / depping / gigging player sees no advantage in imparting all his hard won knowledge about "how" and "who" to the possible future competition.