bassjim

I hate knowing I can be heard when practising. I have a small 10 watt practice amp that sits on a table next to my Sonus on a shelf for playing along to youtube ect. If you turn it up louder than the sound of the kettle boiling it farts out which in turn helps to stop any over enthusiastic volume. Its also in my kitchen which is the furthest point away from any party walls and other rooms in the house. I can happily play any time of daylight hours and well into the evening with no fear of disturbing anyone in the house or next door. Nothing worse than knowing you are irritating anyone whilst trying to perfect that tune. Some tunes for a covers band can take me all day to really get em nailed to a gig ready standard so it can be hard on others to hear the same old thing going round and round... Its hard for anyone to pluck up the courage to knock on a door and say " look........the bass playing.....ect" as it can come across as being the hitler next door so I think the ask them first if they can hear it policy is best and even if they say "yes but its no bother" accept that it probably is.

Yes. Moved back to heavy on the amp head years ago. For me a massive difference and improvement. Happy to make that whole one extra journey from the pub/venue/rehearsal car park for a better playing experience. Still using neo cabs though as I'm happy enough with these. (EBS).

For me: Flat EQ ( or as flat as possible) works more than boosting. (In most situations at band volume). I kinda knew this anyway but this year has been one for actively deploying this concept and sticking to it. Adding a bit of chorus pedal here and there is a good thing. Learning/ re learning properly how to read music is a good move. Its a new journey with out end but I find I'm now genuinely interested in it rather than because I suppose I ought to. I really don't want to play on a cruise ship. My Fender jazz is better than any new ones I've tried in shops local (ish) to me.

Great comms. Buy with confidence

I have a fender jazz that plays and sounds a lot better than a lot of other off the shelf fenders I've tried recently. Custom shop or otherwise. Mine it would seam is just a good one. If you like the way this one feels and sounds then the last thing to worry about is a tiny grain issue. If its not a pig to play, set up or get the sound you are looking for then keep it. As others have said, the next one might not be as good. On the other hand if it generally feels like some cheap far eastern made rubbish then it probably has been made with the same lack of care in which case the blemish might be the life saving excuse to get another sent out.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1481963794' post='3196540'] I must have listened to this clip a thousand times, and it never gets boring. Firstly because I love funky gospel and secondly there is always a nuance in his playing that I didn't hear before. His bass playing has so many dynamics, you can get and learn so much from it. What I really love just like Pino, there is not one bit of slap bass. Not against it but it shows how amazing bass playing can be without it. it's just off the wall groove playing. And that famous fill at 2.05 minutes. Just a wow peice of bass playing. It's this and Willie Weeks on Donny Hathaways Little Ghetto Boy. What's your favourite.? [media]http://youtu.be/pATcvr3zAhg[/media] [/quote] I liked the dudes playing. I liked his tone and his groove. Its in a big open church which for anyone thats had the displeasure of playing in a big room would know, its hard to get a good sound never mind playing well. That would probably give anyone in the room a lot of echo so depending on where you stand you may hear a bit of delay. All distracting stuff but still hes killing it. Not a church kinda guy myself but still really liked what this guy was doing.

I had this on an old 4ohm version of a HD350. Took the lid off, got at the boards with a soldering iron, went over the solder joints where ever possible and gave it a general clean up. Dont know exactly what that did but it fixed it for a bit.... but then the problem came back. Ended up selling it and got a replacment HD350 2 ohm. (still have and love). To be fair the old 4 ohm job had done the rounds, I was the ump-tinth owner with no real knowledge of what may have happened to it other than a dent in the chassis, so all in all it had served well to many for many years. If you can get some electronic wizz to have a look could be worth a punt but I think some things will eventually give out.

Had my fair end of the sh*tty stick with a band when it came down to who wrote what,how and when. At the time it was so unjust that it became the last straw before I left. However, rules put in place by idiots that went against me in a lot of ways backfired when only the material I'd written by the same definition was eventually chosen to be released and I got ALL royalties. They never saw that coming! Neither did I at the time so there you go. Having said that the total amount that came in didn't exactly pay the mortgage off and the dust has long since settled. At the time I would have happily seen them go under a bus but were all well past all that now some 20 years later. As much as its a right kick in the bollocks now, it all adds to your bow so to speak and you. are a better musician for it. Be classy about it. Just say " yeah ok guys. have fun." Its still your talent not theirs. They fizzle out in time and new things happen. Don't dwell on it too much. You can see when this might happen again in advance but next project you can say "last time this happened which is why every one is going to sign this...." Chin up, rise above it and keep moving.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1481297821' post='3191351'] Electric kit and IEM's. We can rehearse anywhere where un amplified singing is acceptable and none of us ever go home with ringing ears. If guitarist or anyone wants to turn up that's absolutely no issue as he just turns up in his own mix. Also means we never pay for rehearsal space. [/quote] Solution! Probably the most usable and reasonable reason for getting me near IEM . (EBS Freak ) Our drummer would complain about moving the electronic kit about. All you've done is move one problem out of the way and created a new one!

There are some compromises to be had on volume. You can only go so low and some rooms just sound sh*t no matter what the volume. If you have a brass section standing a few feet away because there isn't any where else for them to stand its a given but I think the main point the OP is getting at is stupid and unnecessary volumes. Playing badly at number 11, making a racket, in a small room is for 16 year old type pubescent teenagers needing to let off steam. If any ones still doing it after that they are probably a guitarist. Its normally the first signs of inexperience on and off the pitch so to speak.......and not just the gigging type of pitch either. Think Jay off of the Inbetweeners. Thats my secrect nick name for the gitard in my regular band.

[quote name='Monkey Steve' timestamp='1481190627' post='3190326'] +1 to this - I have spent far too much of my life explaining to moron guitarists how physics works and that the reason they cannot hear their guitar is not because their amp is too quiet but because they have set up too close to the speaker which is pointing at their ankles and the rest of us can all hear it just fine. Guitarist reluctantly moves five feet further away from his amp, concedes that he can hear his guitar now...next week sets up in the old spot and stands six inches away from his speaker... [/quote] They really are a bunch of c+++s aren't they! Gitard in my lot goes one further and not content with pointing the offending sound at anyone bar him self ....sits!!!! on top of his amp and gets the hump when told to turn down. We get "but it sounds fine to me " with a confused look on his face. Will do this at gigs too. Yes I do want to get rid........ Having said that the overall volume of the band is, to be fair, more than reasonable. You can hear every thing just fine and its not ear splitting. Drummer uses hot rods and or Fat Snare. Turning down the drummer using basic tech goes a long way. Mind you I have had to throw a few tantrums to get it there.

[quote name='HengistPod' timestamp='1481026134' post='3189033'] We agree a fee of £75 each wherever we play. Perhaps pubs up here are a bit more willing to pay that because we're much more rural and bands have to drive further to get there. Leaving home at 6-7pm, getting home at anywhere between 2-4am, that's between £7.50 - £10 an hour for your evening's work. To say nothing of gear expenses. We don't have a gig that's local to all of us - so if a venue won't cough, we don't go. None of us are desperate for the cash, and we've found that venues that haggle over 50 quid usually come complete with a bad attitude and/or bad punters. [/quote] fair enough you dont play for less than £75.00 each . Do you gig a lot as a result? If yes did the pubs all say " why yes. £75.00 each. No prob" without seeing you first or did it lead up to that? Are you more than a three piece? If you gig less due to the lack of decent lolly do you end up doing one gig every other month? I'm only asking these questions in order to put into perspective what the pub is paying per band member vrs size of band. "Tracy an her amazing backing tracks" plus 4 lights on a stand ( thats sound to light by the way!) might get £150-170.00 all to her self so for her its no big deal to get home 4 am. Probably more often is back by midnight. ( I know cause Tracy only lives a few doors down from me. Going to her wedding next week! No she doesnt want a band....) Past bands I've been in have "worked their way up" to it (decent lolly) but from the OPs point of view is £210.00 between three a fair whack for a typical pub? I think its ok. It also gives the OP the upper hand on any bands needing to feed 5 or so players.

If only I could sing. I'd lose half my current band in an instant and go out as a three piece. £210.00 for a pub would earn me more than a share of £250.00 between 5. Because there are 5 of us we are restricted to a min of £250.00. Pubs love it when someone rocks up with a mic and backing tapes but only wants £150.00. I've had the pleasure of being in bands that demand more and get it due to good fan base and in some of the pubs my current band I play in, we can get as much as £400.00 due to right location,right music, right crowd ect but this is not the norm. I saw a band in my local boozer few weeks ago that played all the remedial pub rock/indie stuff. Personally bored me shitless but ....pub payed £200.00 = pub happy. Punters of about 25-30 in numbers got pissed and joined in= happy punters. Band had happy crowd plus a few quid each. Not pro minded musos but just chaps with guitars having a laugh = happy band. I can see it now...."hello pub landlord, what you need is half the punters, pay more and try out my pro standard function band that no one round here knows from Adam and see how it goes..." You only have 2 other people to contend with so if you are happy with the results musically speaking....its not too bad.

Up to recently my theory was reasonably good and I could "pick out" notes on bass clef and slowly go from there. As Ive been playing some time now I can work most things out using youtube ect when learning new cover tunes or just want to know for the hell of it. I decided that I was musically "illiterate" because I have to do things like this so I made the move to stop and learn from the basics. So despite being able to play something like Donna Lee ( Jaco) reasonably well, I went out and got with Stuart Claytons' Reading for beginners. Within a short space of time I now always go straight to the notation when ever possible as its a lot faster to work anything out. You still have to practice a piece/ bassline to get it as perfect as you want it, but the whole process of what note comes next is now a breeze. Probably cut my learning a new tune by 3/4 . But.......because I already had all my basic theory already in the bag the whole process is faster than starting to read and learn the basics. So for me the answer to whats the point in learning theory?, and this is just one of the reasons = without this knowledge you are holding yourself back. The rewards for learning far out way not learning. Yes its hard at first but if you really make the effort it gets so much easier as you go along. If sitting at home slapping away in the key of E min or whatever for days on end makes you happy then great. But to truly expand....

I think I've read somewhere a bolt on has more natural compression ? More punch or something? Whatever it is ....there is more of it than a through neck and thats why players like me (bolt on neck ) prefer them.

[quote name='djc63' timestamp='1480542398' post='3185341'] Done two gigs so far with it and to be honest on both occasions I was unaware of anything coming out of it unless I lent right into it, but to be fair, both very small stages so standing right up close to my amp so no problem hearing it. Does sound really good up close to the earbox though,detailed and crystal clear which was useful at some points. Having said all that, my overall sound did seem better than usual, clearer and more defined so maybe there is something in it. It just wasn't how I expected it to work I suppose. Next weeks gig is a pub we've done half a dozen times and I've struggled every time with my sound there so that will be a good test. [/quote] The pub test you are going to do is probably the most useful. A real common bass nightmare situation that the IEM fans already have a solution for. £500.00 for the decent IEMs that do the job or just under £200.00 for the Earbox.....

In a rehearsal room somewhere on the south coast.....there are two great big "Bill and Teds excellent adventure" Marshall rigs. In addition there is an Ashdown MAG 2 x 10 combo. I always take my own small rig to rehearsals so the Ashdown is free. Although its not as good as an actual proper guitar amp , its a lot better than the Marshalls so the gitard uses the Ashdown as a prefrence, when he cant be bothered to bring his own light as a feather gitard amp. Thats at a low but ballsy enough volume for 2-3 hours and no probs so I think a strat at home through the current rig will be fine till you decide weather to invest in a "proper" amp.

Do you mean like a white binding with the fret dots in the usual position? I have this on my jazz. Makes seeing the dots on a dark stage easier. Never thought it would be a problem for anyone and never thought about it like this. Each to his own and all that. Hope you get used to it

Is it possible that the pay off for a thin and fast bolt on neck is it will move more? Maybe.... If its nothing to do with the relief vrs/plus string height could it be a faulty string?.

Yes . If you really want to do it you can learn it. You practice it because you want to be able to do it because it pleases you. You are inspired by someone else doing it so you would like to do it = can do. . Set your bass up correctly. If you can, get the action nice and low as its by far easier to slap. You can decide later down the line what you do and don't like about action. You might find there are things that you can do really well and these are things you make up rather than lines that you try and copy. Id concentrate on that first till it starts to become second nature. After a while it drops into place. Reasons for and against are another topic.

Sold Alex two EBS pedals (multi comp and oct). Great comms. Paid straight away no problems. Deal with confidence.

I'm interested but will like to hear more reviews before buying.

There is an excellent EBS 112 Neo in the for sale section.. I use one of these my self!!

.I used to have three basses sat at home. I found I was only really using one of them on a constant regular basis so the others sat there collecting dust. Got rid and dont miss them at all. Every now and then I think there is that odd song where maybe the 5 string would work really well but unless I was in a more professional situation where you need all the tools for every eventuality, I find I get by on just the one good 4 string Jazz. Having said that I am getting a custom Jazz built as a back up / treat myself / what if the other one goes wrong ,then what / you only live once / insert justifiable excuse here / its about time I got a good second bass / yes I do deserve it / maybe i will like even more than this one ect ect And the madness continues......