TheRev

The Skimmitys supported the Wurzels at the Electric Palace in Bridport on Saturday night. Played to around 400 people and went down really well - I think we'll have a full house for our next Bridport pub gig!. The Wurzels were on great form too, especially considering the drummer's 79 years old. I hope I'll still be gigging when I'm 79....

Loads.... We were once described as 'that band that play obscure pop songs' 'Lilac Wine' (Nina Simone/Jeff Buckley) is the singists' indulgence, 'Shipbuilding' (Robert Wyatt/Elvis Costello) is mine, both can vbe very hit and miss with the audience. Last night we were working on a jazzed up, D'nB influenced version of Leonard Cohens' 'First we take Manhattan' The original could be described as 'menacing', our version sounded downright disturbing. I can see our usual punters cowering in fear if we trot this one out live.

I do four or five solos with my soul/jazz trio - sometimes more if the singist forgets the first line of the next verse. I'm not precious about the whole bass solo thing, but I prefer to have set solo that I know works rather than being dropped in it a bar before everyone drops out. In those situations I just try to embellish the groove in some way. Sometimes it even works.

The Velvets have a really nice 25kg/55lb tension on all four strings but without any floppyness and really good articulation on the E. All four string are practically the same diameter, which means a very thick G string. Some people find this ofputting, but I've grown to quite like it. I know it's more about feel than the numbers, but I've enjoyed my Velvet Garbos so much that I'd like to use a set that match as closely as possible - but without the £250 price tag! Hmm. I think I'll go with what I know on this occasion and buy a set of Velvet Blues and keep an eye out for a secondhand set of Silvers or Honeys for comparison later on.

Cheers - I won't be far from that part of town!

Morning! I'm going to replace the bit of fencing wire that has been masquerading as a tailpiece cable on my bass. I'm in London this weekend so can anyone recommend any shops in central London that stock tailpiece cables? The only one shop I know is Footes but they don't list cables on their website. Ta Dave

it's 41 1/4 inches.

Hi Daf, I don't suppose you have access to any specific information regarding the tension of the silver slaps? My new bass came with TI superflexibles which are a pig for pizz (though lovely under the bow) and I suspect are too high a tension for a 50s bass as it sounds a bit choked. I'm leaning towards a set of Velvet blues for it (I already have Velvet Garbos on my Eminence and realy love the feel and sound) but if the super silvers are close in tension (25kg/55lbs) than I'll be tempted to give them a try. Cheers Dave

I often feel exactly the same. I go to a gig, watch someone 15 years younger pull off an effortless gig with some amazing playing and making me feel like a bit of a faker, despite playing 2-3 gigs a week and having more dep offers than I could ever fit into the 52 weeks in a year. Then I remember just how far I've come in my 20+ years of playing, how the busiest bassists are the guys who keep it simple and get the job done, how I'm playing much more and much better and in more diverse styles that I ever have before. If that doesn't work, I try to remember how may people have come up to me at the end of a gig to compliment the band, my playing, or both. The chances are that the player who impessed me would be impressed by my gigs - you know your stuff better than anyone so you see the minor flaws in your playing whereas an audience member (bassist or regular normal person) just sees the song. It's good to be humbled occasionally and it's good to be able to recognise and work on the weaker points of your playing but don't beat yourself up about it. I bet if he guy you watched came to one of your gigs, he'd be impressed by your playing. It's all relative.

Out of interest, how do the Silver slaps sound on your Framus? Can you get any growl out of them?

Those aren't grooves - it's where the paint has worn away & showing the rosewood (I think) underneath,

Here we go - a 50s blonde! [IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/RevDave/DSCN2086.jpg[/IMG] The neck has snapped off at some point in the past but the repair is solid. There's also some serious playing wear on the neck, resulting in an almost 'V' profile. I might have the neck reshaped if it bugs me. The bridge looks a bit lopsided but it doesn't affect the playability. Again, a new bridge may be on the cards. All in all I'm pretty happy. I've been looking for a decent old ply bass for a while - a real old slapper!

[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/RevDave/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIA_IMAG0336.jpg[/IMG] Crappy phone pic...

Just picked up a 1950s ply with lots of mojo ..... off to a gig soon so will post pictures ASAP. Happy day!

Dorset Basschatters! Come down to the King Charles in Poole on Friday and help raise loads of cash for the Gunstone trust. Music by the Skimmity Hitchers and The Wishbones, Scrumpy by Dennings and Nobby's homebrew. Be scared...

You've got to admire the attitude of the dude with the white jazz, taking to the stage in his PJs - well laid back!

The las two images look like they might be solid wood - the grain on the top lines up with the vertical lines on the ege of the f-hole.

Have a look at the inside edge of the f-holes. If you see horizontal lines it's probably a laminate, if you can't see any lines, or the lines are vertical, then it's probably a solid top. Probably... The back has a bit of flame, which suggests maple but it could be a veneer over ply or it could be solid maple - hard to tell from the photos. If you really need to know you could take it to a proper luthier for inspection. Either way, it's a lovely bass. I take it this is the one you're selling? I'm very tempted to take it off your hands, but Manchester is a bit too far to go try out a bass.

Mrs Rev is exceptionally tolerant of my musical habits - 2 bands, regular rehearsals, whole weekends spent gigging in other parts of the country and of course, the multiple basses in the living room (though I'm much, much neater around the house than she is....). Occasionally she gets a bit bored/lonely if I'm away for a whole weekend, but I make sure to use the gig money to treat her to dinner or a shopping spree and any gig free weekends are 'hers'. She's even suggested she'll buy me a new double bass for my 40th next April, but I don't think I can let her spend that much money on me. And I can't wait that long. We were having a conversation about this very subject on the way back from a gig last weekend and we realised that the band wouldn't be as busy or successful wothout the levels of WAG support that we enjoy. Two members have very young children, two work part time jobs to have enough time to run the band and the guitarist's other half is our manager/photographer/driver. Having been in plenty of bands where gigs/rehearsals/going for a p*ss have to be cleared with member's other halves, you soon realise just how important that support is.

About 6 years ago, the lead guitarist of the indie/rock covers band I was in uppd sticks and moved to London, leaving the singer/rhythm guitarist to fill the gap. It was the best thing that ever happened to that band. Everythign got smoother & tighter, we made the covers our own rather that playing 'off the record', we spent rehearsals actually playign songhs rather than listening to the guitarist fecking about with his latest pedal that he didn't need. So, here's my pointers - apologies if they've been covered before. 1) Concentrate on making the songs sound good to you - not just direct covers of the original recording. If a solo or lick makes the weight drop out of the track, can you drop the solo? Will anyone really notice? Can you change the bass of drums to give the track a different feel so the second guitar isn't missed? Can you do brum & bass versions of rock songs? Ska/punk versions of pop songs? 2) Try not to rely on effects to 'fill out' - thay can give things a different flavour but won't create something that isn't there. Having said that, I found an Aphex bass exciter to be very useful in a rock trio. 3) Activley listed to your band's EQ and change it if you have to. If you sound thin, it's probably because you've all set your EQ to give the second gutarist sonic space. Go back to square one, set everything flat and start playing. A bit more mids on the bass and a bit more bass on the guitar may be all that's needed to make the track feel right again. Your drummer could also retune his toms to fit in better with the new sound. 4) Don't be afraid of space. Dynamics are everything. 5) Learn new songs! Experiment! Remember that a good band defines the music they play, not the other way around. Have fun!

[quote name='TPJ' timestamp='1319211244' post='1411420'] What's that then? Do you just put your cab face down? [/quote] Pretty much. It's a BFM Omni 10.5 with circular rubber door stops on each front corner. If I'm playing somewhere where I can get it up around head height & firing forward, that's what I'll do, but for most occasions it goes face down on the stage, preferably tucked against the wall to get the most out of the enhanced bass. It isn't always the most articulate sound but I can go pretty loud before the feedback kicks in.

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1319205571' post='1411310'] No feedback probs with a hybrid here. I have heard it said that an older hybrid can be better than new in terms of resistance to damage, cracking etc though. [/quote] In an ideal world I'd buy a nice secondhand bass that's been around a bit and proved it's worth, but as they're few and far between, I'll probably have to buy new [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1319205655' post='1411314'] Good ply vs bad hybrid. Ya gets what you gets. Drop a Marshall cab on either and ther will be tears! A good preamp (Fishman PRo Platinum) will stop feedback problems. [/quote] My live rig is pretty good as far as feedback is concerned (Plat pro-LMII-downward firing 1x10) but sometimes onstage volume can be high. Having said that, I'll be using my Eminence on the tiny stage gigs and leaving the biggun for the festival stages where I won't be right on top of the guitarist's twin reverb.

I'm going to buy a cheapish DB (up to £900) which will be used for acoustic and amped gigs as well as at home. Ideally I'd like a solid top hybrid bass rather than a full laminate, but do solid tops have the same issues with feedback when amplified as fully carved basses do? Also - how robust are hybrid basses? I will be gigging this bass and it will be travelling in the back of a van and being humped in and out of venues, so stability & durability is a definite requirement. My current bass is an Eminence EUB, which is effectively a small bodied ply - the live sound is great but feedback can be a problem, so I don't want to get a solid top bass only to find that it's unusable live. My current top chioce is the Thomann 22, which I believe is a Hora - I've heard one of these live and the sound is very nice, but I'm worried that the solid top makes it too fragile to survive the cider sheds/ropey pubs/crazy crowds that it's going to be exposed to. All thoughts welcome.... Dave