uncle psychosis

I read the description and thought "God that sounds awful" but it actually looks really good in the pics! Good job. :-)

[quote name='plumbob' timestamp='1350570967' post='1840677'] Your only 25 !!! How about going with option 1 , do it for as long as you can , learn all you can , make as many contacts as possible from promoters , staff, and other muso's , make as big a network as possible , make notes on all of the above . Then when it gets to much , chuck it in and start your own with the extensive knowledge that you now have !!! Wish I was 25 again , no brainer , cruise ship , women , booze !!! Oh deary me ! [/quote] +1. Thats what I'd do.

Picked up a loopmaster patch bay from Rich yesterday. Really easy to deal with and friendly messages. Cheers!

[quote name='Steve G' timestamp='1350481909' post='1839471'] [sup]Drummers seem to get a lot of sh*t and I'm not certain why (not been around any tbh). I had a go a few times and getting each limb to do something different is really really really hard if not impossible. Want 4 things all hit at once fine, Want that hit once, that twice and that thrice for evrey four bashes of that and it's quite a different story. (ok that would probably sound dreadful but you get the point). [/sup] [sup]So, why the derision?[/sup] [/quote] I'm not derisive about them. Its really bloody hard (and quite physically demanding)---I certainly can't do it. But finding good ones is hard, mainly just because of practical reasons like I mentioned above

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1350480510' post='1839445'] why would you use a drummer who doesn't play from one date to the next..or any other muso for that matter..?? [/quote] Because often the choice is between: 1. A drummer who doesn't practice much and 2. No drummer at all.

The problem is that there just aren't very many drummers. Drums are just about the least practical instruments around so very few people have either the space or the family/neighbours willing enough to indulge them in having a set at home. The consequence is that drums are not a very popular instrument, and then, to make matters worse, a high proportion of drummers literally never touch the drums unless they're at a band practice or a gig. So you've got small numbers of them in the first place, magnified by the fact that a high proportion of that small number just can't/won't practice.

You could do worse than check out the Yamaha TRB range.

My only bass is a 5 string. The only thing the B string ever gets used for is as a thumb rest! I'm going to get another 4-string bass at some point, but I'm in no rush.

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1350257810' post='1836601'] How can someone be such a poor musician with gear that lovely? [/quote] Sadly this is not a phenomenon restricted to drummers. Take a look round the gear listed in signatures on guitar and bass forums (yes, even basschat) and ask yourself what the ratio of touring-pro-class-gear to touring-pro-class-talent is Drummers are hard to find. We had a good one but he's moved down south. Finding a replacement has not been straightforward

I just bought some Status flats on recommendation from some people here. Not tried them out yet though.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1349816324' post='1831024'] The studio is an instrument to be played just like any other. It's all subjective. One mans "groove" is another mans unacceptable timing imperfection. Also what's good enough for a live performance isn't always good enough for when you're going to be hearing it over and over again on a recording. Besides unless you are recording live direct to 2-track everything in the studio is fake to a degree, so quit being so precious and embrace the possibilities. [/quote] +1. Technology isn't the problem. People's use of technology is the problem. Better to have a great vocal track with a bum note that you can fix electronically than a mediocre but pitch-perfect take. Arguing that studio technology leads to decreased musicianship is like arguing that having frets on your bass leads to decreased musicianship. "Real bass players intonate by ear, these new fretted basses are for lazy untalented people..."

[quote]Beach boys? Not relevant anymore, go away. Wish jools would get Rush, Rammstein or Slayer on his show to,liven things up a bit. Or Joe satriani.) [/quote] I love the thought that the Beach Boys aren't relevant but Rush, Slayer, or Satriani would be [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1349209613' post='1823434'] Brian was regarded as the genius but that is mostly self-hype in some ways. [/quote] You're joking, right? [quote]No idea how old he is..or what he has been through, but for live he just about is still there... which is the same as you could say for other big artists of his day..or maybe more so.[/quote] Brian has just celebrated his 70th birthday. Given the fact that he's been deaf in one ear for about 60 years and had numerous drug, health, and mental problems its amazing he can still perform live at all, really. [quote]Maybe he was the writer all along and the main singing was carried out by Love and his brothers. [/quote] The beauty of the beach boys is that they all had very individual voices and they were all used for different things. Brian was never really the main singer, but thats not to say that he was never able to sing. His main talent was definitely for songwriting, arranging, and producing though.

you could do it with two LS-2 pedals. I think.

What always amazes me is that there are no bad basses out there. At least, there aren't any for sale. People only ever sell great instruments that they'd love to keep but can't afford to. No-one ever has a bad bass that they just don't like...

The musicradar forum is good and whilst there is not *quite* the same community spirit that there is over here on the whole people there are nice (and trustworthy).

If you really want a killswitch then wire it to ground like flyfisher suggests. If it were me, though, I'd probably wire it so that I could leave my bass plugged in and not drain the battery by just breaking the circuit with the switch.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1348826400' post='1818705'] While I agree about his then genius (I have loved Pet Sounds throughout my life) his inspiration was listening to the Beatles. [/quote] And The Beatles' inspiration was Brian Wilson They spurred each other on: "It was [i]Pet Sounds[/i] that blew me out of the water. I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life ... I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album ... I love the orchestra, the arrangements ... it may be going overboard to say it's the classic of the century ... but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways ... I've often played [i]Pet Sounds[/i] and cried. I played it to John [Lennon] so much that it would be difficult for him to escape the influence ... it was the record of the time. The thing that really made me sit up and take notice was the bass lines ... and also, putting melodies in the bass line. That I think was probably the big influence that set me thinking when we recorded [i]Pepper[/i], it set me off on a period I had then for a couple of years of nearly always writing quite melodic bass lines." ---Paul McCartney The Beatles were great. But Brian Wilson was better* *in my opinion

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1348737514' post='1817450'] I'm not defending Love in any way but it isn't quite that simple. Love already had a touring BB band without Brian, Jardine and David Marks. These three members were added in for a reunion tour which has now finished. The intention was always that the stripped down (profitable) version of the band would then do some more shows later and this band doesn't include those members, it's just business. As I said I'm not defending Love and it is always upsetting seeing the founder and main talent in a band lose control over it but then I get quite uncomfortable watching Brian anyway in his current state of health. [/quote] Mike Love pretending that *he* is the Beach Boys and freezing out the rest of them---particularly Brian, without whom they would be nothing---is a ridiculous state of affairs. Frankly I find his claims that his "touring" band are more profitable rather laughable. I'd never consider going to see them in that format, they're little more than a tribute act (and I'd probably rather see a tribute act that didn't include Love, ironically). Add Brian, Jardine, and Marks and I might actually be tempted to go. I think many Beach Boys fans would feel the same way, and the people who don't care about the band politics who just think "ooh, the beach boys" aren't going to care either way. Given that Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds and SMiLE tours sold loads of tickets at upwards of £40 a head in the UK, there's obviously still enough people interested in the real deal...

Vintage make some really nice basses. I've had two---a J and a MM type---and they were both really good. I'm gassing for a precision myself just now, I would happily get another Vintage but I think deep down I really want something a bit fancier, I intend it to last me a very long time...

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1348785086' post='1818361'] I've found that this sort of hum (the sort that stops when you touch the strings) diminishes greatly or disappears completely when the control and pickup cavities are shielded with copper foil. Presumably this is because the pickups and wiring are being shielded from my big antenna of a body. [/quote] yeah, I had a telecaster that did it, but it stopped once I got some copper slug tape and shielded the pickup cavity and the electronics. You can also get copper paint, which would be my preferred solution but costs more and is more hassle. There is a website which has quite a lot of info about this kind of thing on it: [url="http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php"]http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/menu.php[/url] The site is a bit dated and hard to navigate, but its got a lot of good info about shielding/wiring/dangers of electric shock that are relevant to guitarists and bassists.

Yes, humans can be a path to ground but as a general rule we make pretty poor earth connections. Especially when wearing shoes. Synthetic fibres in our clothes and carpets don't help much either.

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348765708' post='1817951'] Oh, so if I ground myself (maybe a cable to a copper pin sunk in the ground) the hum would stop? I'm not going to go to the faff mind, but I'm really pleased to know what's actually going on. Mind you, I *could* be tempted to experiment with a tin foil pointy hat thing - I've seen them on films so they probably work? [/quote] As a quick test to yourself you could try waving your arms around or putting them near a CRT monitor or strip light whilst *not* touching the strings. You should hear the hum change as you do it.

A lot of people get this the wrong way round. The noise stops when you touch the strings because the bass is grounding you, not because you are grounding the bass. The human body is like a big antenna, so by being in close proximity to the electronics of your bass you induce a lot of noise. When you touch the strings you ground yourself and the noise disappears. Humans aren't normally grounded- that's why you occasionally get static shocks and have to wear those ESD bracelets when working on delicate electronics. You can reduce the noise by shielding the pickups and control cavity.