bassjim

its all in the theory i think. boring and hard to learn even the basics but if you do every thing will get so much easier. and from there you just get better because you are guessing less and knowing for a fact more. This in turn inspires you to want to know more and how it all fits together. When you put this theory plus, as Blue says, use all these Youtube vids, there is almost nothing thats beyond your reach. no short cuts I'm afraid but it will get your ear working. another thing you could try is...put the radio on a station that plays top 40 type stuff and play along to every thing and dont worry about the mistakes. you get to see there is a lot in common from one song to the other and you may form "patterns" that you start to recognise. a lot of pop stuff uses a minor 6 or major 7 flavour and so you start to hear a common ground. if you stick at this, busking on the job becomes a lot less challenging. is there a short cut? no.

ebs 112 neos. no hype. no bulls*it. great cabs. just works.

was given "I wanna Dance With Somebody" Whitney Housten, in the set for a function gig next week. Once i stopped vomiting and had a go its really fun to play and I actually am looking more forward to playing it than I thought could ever be possible.

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1465901132' post='3071927'] This is just one of those things to deal with when playing bass! No two rooms ever seem to sound the same. If you are rehearsing more than gigging then it is actually good to use different spaces as much as is practical. You can get very accustomed to one place and the sound and feel of your instrument in that room. If the space you then gig in sounds different enough it can leave you feeling all at sea, so experience of playing in different rooms is good. Rehearsing the experience as much as the material, I suppose. Thing is, even during heavy touring with your own soundman and PA you can come across rooms which fox you sonically. Learning how to account for room variations with the tools available is one thing, but only goes so far. Flexibility under changing circumstances- and sometimes damage limitation- are important skills to have about you. [/quote] much better than my own usual ramblings on this subject. This is so exactly and completely right. If you are looking for sonic perfection this can get really depressing for the reasons stated here. Any one can be a brilliant youtube bedroom player without the distractions of a live senario but to be able to do it loud in a band situation, in different venues of all types takes as much practice (for me anyway) on how to eq as it does just playing the bass......sorry rambling

Although there are subtle tweaks to be had: its got to be a jazz bass for the easiest road to the marcus slap thing. both pick ups on full. tone all the way up if playing with a band. half way down to full off for low volume or studio. action on the low side. dont worry about fret buzz for now. I dont know if the following is a deal breaker but it makes a big difference on my bass: watch the pick up heights are giving you as even a sound as poss. E string side needs to be a lot lower than the G string side. It makes the snaps from the G and D strings really pop out. amp: ebs stuff gets you there quickly but that doesnt mean other amps cant, its just that I use em for this purpose exactly and they work well. A tad of compression when its a band situation or lots if on your own as too much compress and you cant hear the pops enough I use a passive jazz with a sadowsky pre amp pedal with a little bass and treble boost. the amp eq changes for every room and sometimes the room is F**king awful so youre pi**ing in the wind if your regular rehearsal room/gig is one of these. In a good room/stage the above combination just excells for this type of stuff oh and new strings always....i get that sound using the cheapest rotosound nickles 45-105 btw. I havnt tried the DRs but the above players all like em so you cant go wrong there either. also sting gauges: light strings below 40-100 are going to sound all Mark Kingy/ Victor Wooteny. Listen to that stuff Marcus did with these two did and you can instanly hear who is using man strings!!!

I think [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]temperature and humidity effects tone a lot.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I also think there is a probably an optimum best temperature and conditions for good bass tone when playing live (room/stage dependant of course). Its definitely in the summer when the suns out, blue skies and somewhere between 23-30 degrees. [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I think in these conditions your hands work better than say when its freezing or warm and muggy which also makes a difference. IMO[/font][/color] If you cant hear or feel any difference then good for you but I certainly feel and hear it.

[quote name='elephantgrey' timestamp='1465815118' post='3071115'] I think I just like making weird noises... [/quote] then fill yer boots !!!

The politics of bands eh?...............So no you dont need any ones permission, and I couldnt agree more with that. I'm suggesting a diplomatic approach as these are good mates. If they feel like they are part of the process rather that find out then its all peace and love. Bands come and go but mates is mates. But.... I think Discreet has a good and very valid point that you can go and check em out before saying anything to anyone..... My reasoning is because the OP really likes his mates he understandably wants above all to remain on good terms should he jump ship.

EBS neo 112 = good enough in a band situation with EBS head (350 or redimar) for very small rooms, rehearsals ect. Add second 112 for larger rooms, louder bands and is also very very good. Portable and loud .But.......there will always be a situation that calls for more as well as less ,so for me.. I have 2 x 210s and 2 x 112s. For new venues like pubs I take a 2x10 plus a 112 and this will usually work. If we get a call back I know what to bring next time. I did try in the old days to do this one cab fits all thing but the reality as many have already said in one way or another...there is no one perfect cab solution cause it varies too much..

Played in a band with a complete asshat for about 3-4 years. In hindsight it was the right thing to do. Gigged about 2-4 times a week every week and got to make a lot of new friends, earned local respect from other bandos which employed me as a dep then and now,travelled abroad to play, met the soon to be new Mrs bassjim, made enough lolly to go out and buy the gear I always wanted to try to the point I'm actually happy with what I use and the list goes on. However I used to get wound up at least once a week and could have happily punched the git, which is out of character for me, so it was at times unpleasant. Thing is every one else thought he was a complete sh*t as well so I had some support there but man could he play...and then some! Ok so the new band may not be as established as that (at the moment) but it sounds like the possibilities are reachable with them whereas the existing lot are social buddies. If they are great mates surley they will understand and if you are upfront about it maybe they will allow you to go and try it out, and if they turn out to be ,for better or worse, asshats, maybe you can jump back in?

What is it you are imagining when thinking of the next new bass/amp/pedal ect? Once said thing is in your hands do you get instantly better? It plays better than what you have now so perhaps it will advance you leaps and bounds? Your current gear sucks? You have a lack of inspiration so maybe this will bring you back? You just like collecting things..like a stamp collection? From the perspective of once owning several high end custom basses I am very cautious these days of all "new things bright and shiny. " None of them did any thing to improve any of the above but I did feel like some sort of mission in life had been accomplished even if it was momentary. That dark yet satisfactory feeling : "there...that belongs to me now...ha! ha! ha!! (thunder and lightning!!!!) ha!! ha! ha ah ha!! ect..... If only we were allowed to take these things home and do as we pleased with them for a good month before parting with the dosh........I wonder, how much of it would you send back?

tell em you are "helping the other band out" till they find a replacement. Carry on as much as you can normally but you can now justify missing the "odd" rehearsal cause you need to get up to speed. As time goes by you just gravitate towards the new band and as they are so busy. No one can blame you..you didnt just leave, it just happened like that.

I have the pre amp pedal and I also once had a Sadowsky Metro. Sadowsky Pedal: I love this .Using it with a passive jazz bass.I never set the volume, bass or treble above 50% when playing at band volumes. Usually start with bass and treble at about 30% and see what I need to add/take away from there. At really low volumes I can get away with more of everything but its all to get the same effect not a difference in tone. Its great for recording as well. Sometimes you cant get that really good deep but clear sound cause the acoustics of the room say no and that just life. Boosting anything when at high volume/band levels results in boom n bust. Terrible sound so I avoid. I think of it like a car that can do 200 mph at full pelt. It will do 70 without even trying and its got enough to go to 100 when required, but doing 70-200 in a 30 zone is not gonna end well. Metro Bass: Same in general as above but... it was more sensitive to the slightest adjustment so I would end up "Twiddling With My Knobs" instead of playing. It wasnt as good a bass as the actual Fender so the pedal gives me best of both worlds. I would like to try the more expensive NYC some day but they will have to be something out of this world to convince me they are a better option rather than a luxury.

I used to run a band. I had rules and they went something like this: Rehearsals= If you commit any of the following crimes you are paying for the rehearsal. Crimes: Havn't learnt the material. Late. Non functioning gear. Talking about your personal problems. Not in a fit state to play or communicate. Gigs: The following crimes would result in your share of the money being shared with the rest of the band: As above. The band did a lot of high paid weddings, functions as well as pub gigs and there was a good list of hopefuls that wanted to join, so I had that back up that if you didnt like it ,....there is the door. I had a good pool deps which also helped to keep every one on it. As a result it was a very very good band. When I stopped running it 4 years after its conception, it fell apart and every one went their separate ways. If I talk to anyone these days from that time they all say the same thing: That was the best band they were ever in.

I once was on the james whale show, a long time ago before the internet. I was told that the louder you are in the room the less you get heard on the box cause they have to turn you down to compensate. dont know if this is the real reason or not but its what someone told me at that studio

[quote name='DaytonaRik' timestamp='1464863972' post='3063220'] Yup! If I can invest in a cable trunk then why can't our guitarists? And why leave their laundry bag full of spare cables in plain sight? And don't even get me started on mindless noodling in between sets, playing the intro of the next song while I'm talking to the crowd etc. [/quote] all the f**king time !!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes. its normal though. singers are the worst. usual lacking one or all of the following: transport, monitor, mic, mic lead. if asked if they could invest some of their earnings in any of the above you get looked at like you've just killed one of their children. so many folks regardless of instrument get into the whole band thing for the wrong reasons in the first place. ie; now that you've pointed out my faults my answer is I'm only doing it for a bit of a laugh/ not really a professional so I'm allowed to not practice so it doesnt matter that im pissing every one else off or ......have a distorted view of them selves. ie: I'm great so i dont need to bother learning material well, making an effort to look right, checking my equipment works ok prior to a gig rather than at the gig, its kinda more a rock thing if I just swan in here and you know..just go with the flow man. due to the overall lack of readily available all round cool people as well as being a musician types out there, we all end up putting up with this on a regular basis cause we have no choice. Unless we have a major diva and quit which means no giggy wiggy till the idiot is replaced with another one. I cant remember ever ever being in a "semi pro" regular gigging band where there isnt at least the one " ...sigh..." (holds head on hand) if only they could be replaced.....

here we go.... generally speaking as there are lots of variables.. mines got vol ,bal, tone. playing with fingers, no pick. if using back PU then plucking over back PU most of the time but still will move hand towards the neck for variations. Both pu on full then plucking between pups and over front pu. 9 times out of ten: If its a recording studio (which is usually mates pro tools set up in a spare room) bass straight into desk : tone off. always start here then pickup to taste. add more tone if required.most of the time tone all the way off works here. I usually start with the back pick up and go from here. live recording if going through EBS DI on the head. tone up high or all the way on plus pickups to taste. (my live sound dictates whats going on so most likely the tones up full in this case) on a live pub gig with no PA support: tone up full. it adds the right amount of presence when all the other idiots are making a noise. playing a tune like "feak out" or any other kind of bernard edwards,70-80s dance floor type of classics : back pick up. tone up full. If this works here it will work across the board. Marcus millery approach : same with the tone but both pickups on full. because I gig usually every weekend in a funk soul covers band I get to experiment a fair bit. I will try using both pick ups on full for some tunes that I would normally only use a back pick up and vis versa to see what happens. If i dont like it I dont do it next time and sometimes it works so I think I'll do that next time but next time it doesn't. If its a rock covers band then mostly its both pick ups plus tone all the way up. Most of its the bleedin obvious: back pu= clear and loud. More articulate and in ya face. Both pu on full = darker,deeper, rounder,good for slap. In a live situation, depending on volume of the band,where I am standing/sitting in relation to my amp and the rest of the bands amps drums ect, will dictate how much use I can actually get out of the tone control. Loud= not much real use other than up full. Quite = oh so thats what that does. Amp eq according to the room but not any thing really out there like bass boost on 11 and treble off. reasonably flat if poss.

Sorry should have mentioned: 45-105 Nickel.

My personal brief experience with these. Based on me,my bass (fender jazz) and how I got on with them all be it briefly. I was given a set of these to try. The bloke from Jamiriqou and a few other celebs are singing their praises so I gave them a whirl. Considering the greatness of the players that use them and how much they say these are fantastic I had great expectations. I'm sure all these great pros cant be wrong. You can see em doing their thing on youtube ect and they are indeed loving em. I already have a low action so when I put these on, well..low tension? Yes I know it says so on the pack but they were so low tension they were practically falling off the fretboard. As it was prior to a gig I didnt have time or the inclination to do a complete action,intonation and neck adjustment so put my usual rotosound cheap as you like nickels back on. (they work for me!) The Dunlops are so low tension that at first i wondered if they had put the wrong gauge in there. Without making any adjustments I would describe the feel of these as "floppy", "rubbery" and "elastically". Try detuning your bass down a step to get an idea. They sounded completely different as well.(possibly in a good way though, Not sure as they didnt stay on the bass long enough to find out). Probably best for me to test these properly another time and not just prior to a gig but I would say if like me you already have a low action and straight as you can neck watch out cause these will need more attention. When I try something new like this I need to be wowed over rather than yes ok ,but only on the basis I do this that and the other first. At £25.00 a set this is not the cheapest of experiments so thought Id share my personal experience. This is in no way a "dont use these because", its just how I got on with them..

£250.00-£350.00 south east. there are venues that give it all this we only pay £180.00 ect. we just refuse to play there if thats the case. are the pubs practically empty on the IOW? is that the reason they wont pay more?

yes.....from personal experience....the various reasons could be as follows: You practice on dead strings. New strings on the gig = slight tension change = have to pluck a nats cock harder but this is all it takes to make em sore. You get a bit of buzz so you raise the action just a bit which = tension change = as above. You are really nervous so you end up as above. The amature idiots you play with have decided to collectivley and individually turn up so...as above. And then there is...... Its cold, your fingers are cold and its at the beginning of a gig so you, with out noticing, change the attack with your plucking hand. Its really hot, so you are sweating, your hands are wet and you are in effect getting a rope burn effect which is making the finger tips soft, its the 4-5th gig on the trot, which in turn is going to be a major problem ala Flea from the Chillies " has any one got some super glue?" You changed the tension on the neck to suit your plucking hand but now its a tad too low on your fretting hand so now your left hand fingers are getting grief. You think because you "like completely totally nailed it" last gig there is no need to pick up your bass from this point till the next time and so the tips have gone a bit soft. Pre gig substance abuse. Practicing something difficult for 8 hours a day every day till you get it right a week later. Maybe its just me but if you are also guilty of any of the above it might help explain.

Like a couple of others here I use the home insurance. I use co-op. The gear is covered in and out the house plus I get a few months in europe which has come in handy last few years. You have to say "professional use" or they wont cover it fully. You can say what its worth so with my head and cabs I value them at what I need to get second hand stuff should the worse happen. They wont cover me for the medical expenses following a complete mental breakdown should the axe get stolen but I will at least be able to go straight out and get another.......

G.I.M.L gig induced memory loss

did this thing with an old band for a laugh. we had plenty of gigs playing mainley covers but still had a set of origionals. We won the local event and got a TC Electronic combo out of it. We thought that was funny because we basicly spent all day getting pissed. We had a good local following though and they all came to watch our pissed up performance. You knew where we had been around the venue at various points of the day because of a trail of empty fosters cans. We entered the next round in the same spirit and won that. Then we entered the next round to compete at the finals at the 02 in London. We won that. We took three packed coaches of fans to the 02 and as usual spent the day drinking and f***ing about. One of the finals judges was Bes from the Happy Mondays and some DJ I have never heard of before in my life so you can already tell this is a money making scheme and nothing else. I'm not saying we were the best band on the day because there were some bands that were really good. Excelent in fact. When it came to the results it was a joke. We didnt deserve to win by any means as there were bands that had something better to offer. Id like to say we were, despite our not taking it seriously, still a high quality band with excellent players so it came as a shock when probably the worst band there won the runners up award, and the third place and second place no where on the scale of "yes this is really good stuff" not even origional so you couldnt even give em that. The actual winners did diserve it as they were good but had already won some other competition and it was kinda a given they were going to win. In fact all that were there on the day said the judges had decided on the winners and the rest were plucked out of a hat cause it kinda didnt reall matter. By the time the winners were anounced Bes and whoever the others were, are by now comfortably pissed or out of it or both. So...........off we went back to obscurity in our three coaches with our supporters telling us it was a sham. We at least deserved 2 or 3 place ( In their opinion) as even the other bands were bigging us up. Bes and Co went off with their pay check/ back hander ect. The organisers went off with their profit from all thye tickets sold and entry fees ect. and the winners went off to spend a whole 2 days in a "proffesional" studio with a "producer" plus some other load of usless stuff. One act won some kind of playing overseas touring thing so its just as well they consisted of a guitarist that sang. So thats one great expensive outlay then. Not. To sum up.... I'm sure there are some competitions worth doing but even the most well organised are clearly only there to make a massive profit at your collective expense. Do it for the laugh and good times but dont do it seriously because it doesnt for a minute take you seriously. If you do it/have done it, and it all comes good or you possibly gained something you wouldnt have got with out it then fill your boots but for the most part approach with caution..... The TC Electronic bass combo got traded in for some monitors at the local music store and I can honestly say to people that amongst all the other musical endeavours I have encounterd I have "played at the 02 and have the pictures to proove it" . Not one bit of the whole process made me any money nor will do at any point in my life but I do have happy memories of swanning around with a can of larger in my hand whilst looking vaugley important.....