jmstone

I also like that bass tone... I think I can get some similar tones to that from my ABM300 15" combo - it has a "grind" setting that blends in a valve pre- as far as I understand it.. Helps if you combine it with a bass with few harmonics.. My Ibby definitely gets closer than the streamer. James

I've just put some new strings (Elixir Nanoweb .45) on my Warwick Streamer. Everything seemed to be OK except on the E string, E on the 12th fret was sharp. I have moved the saddle to the longest setting for the string, and the open/12th fret are much closer, but 12th fret on E string is still very slightly sharp - the saddle won't move any further though. Any ideas what might be going on? The other strings are all fine, with much more reasonable saddle settings. James

[quote name='Bassassin' post='607512' date='Sep 24 2009, 11:05 AM']Hi James. Looked at the pics again and the saddles are slightly different to my RS924 although the bridge baseplate looks the same. However - I'd be very surprised if the allen key size was different - so I expect it will be a standard metric 1.5mm key. In fact most instruments that aren't US or vintage UK (which both use imperial sizes) will use this size key. If you don't have a set of allen keys you'll be able to get a decent set of various sizes from B&Q or similar place, for a few quid. I recommend the type with a ball-shaped end on the longer part - these can be incredibly useful for reaching awkward screws, such as truss rod adjusters. Hope this helps - Jon.[/quote] Thanks Jon! Extremely helpful! Oh.. by the way, I have noticed that the guitar buzzes quite a lot (varies as I move round the room - so I guess it's a shielding problem?) - do you have any suggestions about fixes? James

So just to update everyone, I left a message on the answerphone for the church, and the pastor has texted me to ask how much I wanted to pay for it.. So now I am the proud owner of a slightly tatty, but perfectly usable Ibanez Roadster ('79) for the princely sum of £120! James

I posted something about my Ibanez Roadster a while back: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=45076&st=0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=45076&st=0[/url] I was borrowing it from the guitarist in my band (who in turn was borrowing it from his Dad's church - the church having upgraded all its instruments and apparently having no need for such a tatty instrument!?)... Anyway, since that time, the guitarist has mysteriously disappeared (he slowly dropped out of coming to rehearsals, making excuses at the last minute - we suspect his girlfriend was unhappy with the band in some way). We now have a new guitarist, but I still have this bass, which I really like, but I'm in a kind of strange situation with it - not having paid for it, it isn't mine, so I feel ambivalent about spending money on it - even buying new strings. I have repeatedly emailed our ex-guitarist, and have now emailed the church on 2 email addresses I found on the web, but have been met with radio silence... So, how do I play this? I'm half thinking it would be easiest to drop it over to the Church so I don't have to worry about it anymore if only they would bother to answer an email.. or maybe I should just treat it as my own (with the exception of selling it!) until (if) they ask for it back?

[quote name='ironside1966' post='574768' date='Aug 19 2009, 09:32 PM']I thought I might post a version of a track I did a few years ago As you can see it is not karaoke You could use a DAT ,minidisk, hard disk or any player that gives good quality signal output, but it must be a secure connection. click side to a small amp then to the headphones for the drummer, the other to the PA The other option is you could use a hard disk multi track recorder or ADAT so you can separate the sounds say piano, strings or brass, lead plus click. If you get some someone to do them for you ask them to send them you as individual tracks and mix them yourself Another option is to buy a work station like the Roland JV 2080 and buy the midi files and use midi live, the plus side is that it is very flexible and you could even program your lights or change FX units but it can be unreliable[/quote] The bleed over of the click track echo (ie out of time) is a bit offputting, but otherwise sounds good (although a bit midi instruments to my ears) and I can see how it might work in a band setting. Do you have a recording of your band playing with this track?

[quote name='Tradfusion' post='574294' date='Aug 19 2009, 03:20 PM']So the majority of you guys think backing tracks are complete sh**e! I have never really gone to hear a band using them to be honest so I suppose that would be a good idea... our little 4 piece is'nt bad as we are, so maybe it is a re-thinking of the set list and that, our vocalist is female and she keeps picking songs that suit her voice and that she fancies herself, alot of them are fairly contemporary ala Beyonce, Sugababes, Rihanna etc so thats where we sound pretty twee with just the 1 guitar, bass and drums.[/quote] I don't know.. if I was going to do any of those kinds of songs, I would have to play them differently from the recording just to retain my sanity. We did a version of "I kissed a girl" for an encore in our (originals) band with just bass/drum/rhythm guitar.. Went down pretty well, and sounded significantly different from the original (with a kind of over the top tribal drums kind of sound). So, in my opinion, you are probably better spending your time working out interesting new takes on these **suppresses any expletives** contemporary songs than trying to add in more sounds.. I would much rather hear a band playing weird versions of current songs than trying to sound exactly like them (but then I'm probably not much like most of your target audience..) Maybe you should try it out anyway and then see what you prefer tho. Maybe even play a gig with and without and see which works best.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='573276' date='Aug 18 2009, 06:04 PM']I have NO IDEA why I am telling you this, but go to [url="http://www.mp3audioeditor.com/"]http://www.mp3audioeditor.com/[/url] and download their basic product. It will do everything you need plus a lot more - very cool piece of software. And may God have mercy on you. [/quote] Presumably you can't use that to remove drums/bass/vocals from a commercial track tho (sounds impossible to me)??

[quote name='Tradfusion' post='573229' date='Aug 18 2009, 05:34 PM']I understand most people are dead against backing tracks, indeed I'm not too keen on the one man band thing with backing tracks myself, we may not ever go for this when we hear what it sounds like, it might be terrible...as for cheating, well all the musicians in the band will be playing their instruments as normal, so the only thing not being played live will be the keyboards in most songs or maybe some loops, bits of brass etc. I just dont think we have a full enough sound with one guitar player trying to cover all the parts and there are definate and noticable gaps in some tunes. The rockier stuff is obviously easier to get away with with the 3 instruments but not so the more involved fuller sounding tunes... A keyboard player is a luxury we cannot afford for alot of the small pub gigs we do, they just wont pay us... Is there someone out there who can tell me they have worked with this, where they got their MP3 or WAV tracks from, and how it is set up for a live gig? If the answer is a definate NOOOOO then so be it, but I am still curious............. [/quote] Never done it myself, and it's not the sort of thing I would want to do, but it seems to me the easiest way would be to record your keyboard player playing their usual parts (with a click track to keep time) and then to use an ipod or something similar plugged into the board (maybe thru a DI box on stage so you can control it yourselves instead of relying on the engineer). There are also keyboards where you can record whole tracks, which you can trigger with the press of a button.. but IMHO it would look very tacky. But then why not just get rid of the whole band and make it karaoke!!

Go for it! Bassists are relatively rare, so you will probably have people beating down your door regardless of how good you are. I started playing bass in my current band having had 0 months experience (was playing guitar, but we couldn't find a reasonable bassist, so I borrowed a bass from a friend). I was gigging within 3 months of swapping instruments! Make sure you are happy with 1) The people in the band, 2) The kind of music they play. Sure, you might spend an extra few months looking for the right band, but it's better to join one you are happy with than join the first one that comes along and spend months or years regretting it... Oh.. most importantly, make sure you get on with the drummer and that he/she plays in time!! James

I have an old Ibanez Roadster (see [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=45076"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=45076[/url] ), which I have been borrowing for almost a year now.. it's still in my possession and have been trying to buy it, but the original owner seems to have disappeared off the radar... In any case, I've been cleaning it up, and looking to adjust the bridge to get it in a more playable condition (the action is pretty high at the moment). I was wondering if anyone knows what size allen key I should get? James

[quote name='OldGit' post='546822' date='Jul 21 2009, 06:23 PM']Ok leave aside the clothing you still have an attitude clash in your band. If it comes down to a "take me or leave me" battle of egos, you'll loose. This is because she is the front person, the voice and face of the band and you are basically a replaceable element in her backing band. It's a sad thing but it's likely that 80% of the forumites could play your basslines, stick a hoodie on, watch his or her frets and no one would notice that anything had changed. If, however, your singer changes many, many people will notice.[/quote] Fair points if only they were true! (not that I have given enough info for you to guess otherwise) But actually, there isn't really a clash of much in the band - more of a confusion over what everyone wants. The other band members seem to side more with me than with her. I am wondering if its worth rethinking my position and trying to convince them to.. From this thread, I am generally thinking this would be a good idea... And thanks for everyone's input. It's really helpful! I'm still not sure what a good image would be though. And point taken with the fret watching - I've been making an effort to move away from that in my last few rehearsals with pretty good results I hope. Secondly, the band is kind of mine, with at least 50% of the songs from me, as well as finding the other musicians (and her by extension). That being said, I have let the singer take more of a role in leading the band as I like her songs and her image and I think the band works better that way. I agree that anyone could play what I play after spending 5 mins or less listening to the songs, but their songs would be different and then so would the band. Also for some reason our singer thinks I'm good at playing the bass! If only she knew! LOL.. James Edit: I agree with you that if she decides to up and leave, the band as we know it will be no more, but it has not come close to that yet, and I would not let that happen unless things turn so nasty that it's untenable (which I don't really foresee happening). This is more of a preemptive effort to get everyone singing from the same page as it were..

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='542780' date='Jul 16 2009, 11:57 PM']Any band that had records out before 2005 I don't think count. I've probably heard them. I certainly was a big fan of Sonic Youth (and Pixies, and Dinosaur Jr, and Buffalo Tom, and Swervedriver, and Neds, and ...) when I was 16, I'm 35 now, they definitely don't count![/quote] Ah.. a year younger than me! Nonetheless, the new Sonic `youth album is good, whether it qualifies for this list or not...

These guys came on after us at a gig recently: [url="http://www.myspace.com/thewildmercurysound"]http://www.myspace.com/thewildmercurysound[/url] And although they are all very young, I was very impressed with their overall sound - very tight - and the bassist had an ultra-cool tone from his jazz out of my Ashdown ABM combo... (irritatingly much better than my own sound ever is! ). The basslines were very imaginative, punchy and varied. Don't really come out that well in the myspace recordings tho. Guess as they are unsigned they don't count tho! James Edit: I also like The Rifles - she got standards is great!, Sonic Youth (if they count as modern), The Young Knives ....

[quote name='Toddy' post='541341' date='Jul 15 2009, 02:49 PM']Course image is important... (nothing worse than a good photo of you with a dartboard in the background)[/quote] ... like this you mean? [attachment=28968:brs1.jpg] James

[quote name='OldGit' post='541102' date='Jul 15 2009, 11:04 AM']No ... you need to listen to one (or the ones are giving you the answer on here)[/quote] I am listening! And thanks for taking the time to answer me - the advice is definitely being taken on board - believe me. [quote]Ok Here we go: standard image consultant's questions: What constitutes success for your band? More gigs and bigger audiences? Nicer venues? Playing support for big names? Selling 20 Cd's at your gigs? Your mates telling you it was great? Sober total strangers telling you your showwas great and they want to join your mailing list, Myspace, twitter and come to every gig and bring all their mates? Total strangers asking you to play their party/company christmas do/stage at Womad? All of the above?[/quote] Yep.. all of that would be fantastic! I think our main aim at present is to try to build up a fan-base that is not entirely composed of friends, relatives and work colleagues! [quote]What do the bands you look up to look like on stage or in their publicity shots and videos?[/quote] Well, that's a difficult one - I guess the bands I like have a slightly different style from this band I'm in. For example: The Pixies [url="http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.19.04/gifs/concert-0421-pixies.jpg"]http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05...0421-pixies.jpg[/url] Sonic Youth [url="http://www.highergroundmusic.com/u/shows/3/sonicyouth1.jpg"]http://www.highergroundmusic.com/u/shows/3/sonicyouth1.jpg[/url] My Bloody Valentine [url="http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/assets_c/2009/03/My%20Bloody%20Valentine-thumb-320x320.jpg"]http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/asse...umb-320x320.jpg[/url] But this band is decidedly not like that - and I like the band I'm in - I like the music - but I really have no clue what we should look like.... Maybe something like: [url="http://thedrummersguide.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/blondie.jpg"]http://thedrummersguide.files.wordpress.co.../06/blondie.jpg[/url] ??? James

[quote name='OldGit' post='541090' date='Jul 15 2009, 10:54 AM']Call an "Image" meeting. Totally switch from this negative attitude to a positive one and go with whatever she comes up with. This is such a small thing in the overall scheme of things that it really isn't worth getting in a huff about it and spoiling your enjoyment and the band's enjoyment. Oh if we are talking image, you and the male guitarist need to start looking at the crowd or the exit signs and stop watching your frets. That will vastly improve your audience's enjoyment of the gig. If you look like you are having fun they will too.[/quote] Good points. Thanks The looking at the crowd part is going to be a toughie! Any advice on how to do that? Looking at individual people? Smiling at everyone?? Do you have suggestions on bands I could watch to try to emulate? We actually have a new guitarist now, who I think should be a lot more theatrical than our last one, so that just leaves me... James

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='541080' date='Jul 15 2009, 10:47 AM']I was trying to think of a witty reply but I'll just leave you with this thought. This girl's quite a reasonable singer I believe but she knows a thing or three about image... [/quote] Yes. but what do the rest of her band wear? Are they all coordinating? I may be wrong, but I doubt it... (!) Oh I'm so in the dark here.. perhaps I need to speak to am image consultant!

[quote name='mike257' post='541064' date='Jul 15 2009, 10:30 AM']Joking aside, the impression I get is that in these troubled times, record companies are looking for that much of a minimal risk investment, that they want the full package before they wave any cash at anybody - that means image, music and everything with it. If you look the business, that probably goes a long way towards getting your music listened to in the first place. Sure, it's nothing without the substance behind it, but if you're ambitious with the band, you'd be mad to completely ignore it. Sad but true.[/quote] For sure, but another thing is I am really not interested in playing with the band as a full-time job.. so the record deal was more of a tongue-in-cheek comment. I guess the question I am interested in is how much more enjoyable is it to watch a band who have an "image".. Seems like a lot of work, and when I go to see a band I pay about zero interest to what they are wearing, apart to laugh at their ridiculous hairstyles (if they have them). James