uncle psychosis

Sounds like you need to send them a message along the lines of "Me and the drummer want to rehearse on a regular basis, we'd like you to commit to that, are you able to? If not, we'll have to find someone else who is as committed as we are". A wee kick up the arse is what some people need sometimes.

There are lots of professional, female, double bass players---having small hands is not a show stopper when it comes to learning the bass. I used to find that lots of stretches were just impossible, but then I started going for lessons and my teacher helped me to realise that it was poor left hand technique holding me back, not the size of my hands. It does get easier with practice but it might be worth getting a few lessons to make sure your technique is correct too.

I have a Danelectro U2 56 and its brilliant. I'd post a picture but I can't because I'm at work. The Squier VMs are very good in 6 string version too. There is another brand called Vintage who make some pretty nice stuff too---I'd probably go with them over a cheap Epiphone. Having said that, some Epis are very nice guitars too.

Nice one. Playing with other people is the single best thing a bass player can do to progress in my opinion. The fact that its also fun is a definite bonus

Anyone got a GDI21? Any good? How does it play with other pedals? I want something I can plug into my mixer so I can play with headphones. Preferably something that I can put my other pedals before too. The cheaper the better. I was also looking at the Joyo JF-14, the "american sound". Any ideas how it would perform going straight into a mixer?

[quote name='highwayone' timestamp='1338640541' post='1677507'] Hi, Only been playing bass for 3 months(past 25 years drumming!) and played my first gig last night! Clueless when it comes to effects. What, if any, do people recommend as a staple diet for effects? i've got a Zoom 708 but it's a bit too technical for me and thinking of having separate pedals instead of an all in one. I'm thinking of adding a compression pedal but not sure what else, no need for wah or weird sounding effects as it's pub rock type stuff! Cheers. [/quote] As someone who has spent many an hour and many, many pennies buying effects...don't buy effects just for the sake of it. Its very easy to look round forums such as this and think "ooh, I need to have some effects" but I'd honestly say that its far too easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need stuff when you don't. Are there any specific sounds you're trying to achieve? If not, you probably don't need much more than EQ and maybe a touch of dirt for pub rock.

I don't stand anywhere specific, but since my guitarist is left handed I prefer to be on his left hand side so we don't clash headstocks together on small stages.

[quote name='dakanoosh' timestamp='1340994029' post='1712694'] just tried the floating thumb out on my 5... definitely feels a lot more 'correct' on it... [/quote] Yeah, I think some people find floating thumb easier. It just doesn't feel right to me. Different strokes for different folks I guess!

I've found that this technique is pretty essential on a 5-string. I could never get the hang of floating thumb myself.

[quote name='highwayone' timestamp='1340980618' post='1712400'] The seller told me. I left it in the end because I asked for more pics and all he sent was blown up shots of the same pic on ebay!!!! [/quote] Some people are just muppets when it comes to selling stuff. I've lost track of the number of ads for expensive gear where the only photo is a badly lit low resolution mobile phone camera shot. Even if the seller is genuine it just makes them look dodgy. It can score you some cheap deals though, if you're willing to take a risk...

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1340983237' post='1712444'] The same way Amazon chooses what to recommend. It makes links using technology rather than people so assumes that everyone who buys A and B will like C D and E, even though purchase A was for your Mum and B for your 8 year old daughter. It follows searches other people do and links words rather than tunes so, if you put in jazz, you get Johnny Hates Jazz and so on. Garbage in, garbage out as the old computer nerds used to say. [/quote] You can tell amazon "do not use this product when recommending me stuff".

[quote name='pietruszka' timestamp='1340886251' post='1711017'] I'd personally go for the straight out with it approach, in a non aggressive manner just mention "you were a little sharp there (in places), can you hear your self ok?". As some one said earlier, the singer would be quick to tell the band if they played something wrong. Just tell him, but be relaxed and constructive about then you shouldn't get thrown through the wall. [/quote] ^^^this. Be polite and just point out an issue. Its no wonder bands fall apart when ideas like "tell him to buy him a magic box to make his singing better" are actually taken seriously.

Isn't that a Travis Bean? Don't know about the basses but Travis Bean guitars are brilliant.

Anyone know what New Moon's policy re: being left in the car but being visible is? Some policies will only cover you for theft from a vehicle if the item was out of sight (ie in the boot). Sadly, most bass gear is far too big to hide out of the way!

Never tried one myself. For a cheap EQ/DI box I use a Hartke Bass Attack. About £40 to £50 second hand. You might also like to check out the Behringer BDI21 which is a copy of the Sansamp BDDI. Lots of people round here rave about them.

Dinosaur Jr you say? Muff. Muff. Muff. Or at least a muff clone.

I quite often think people ask stupid money for second hand pedals, but if buyers weren't daft enough to pay the stupid prices... One thing that does annoy me is people trying to sell second hand stuff for 90% of the new price because the item is "as new, only used a few times". No, its not new, its second hand and doesn't come with any kind of warranty or distance selling regs or any of the other benefits that you get from buying a truly new item from the shop. If you've bought a new pedal and don't like it then return it under the DSRs, don't bother trying to sell it at a stupid price!

So how do people feel about the second hand market? If you buy a second hand cd you get some music, the artist makes nothing, and someone who isn't the artist makes some money on the sale. The more I think about it, the more that I think buying second hand cds is a bit morally dubious too.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1340102563' post='1699003'] All I can say is that from the comments I've seen here, some of you must have to put up with some real sorry excuses for "musicians". Never in the 35+ years that I've been playing in bands have I come across any of these small-minded prejudices form my various fellow band members. Occasionally, I hear stuff from people in other bands, and then I'm thankful that I'm in the band that I'm in and not in a band with them. Remember these idiots only exist outside of their bedrooms because other musicians put up with them. [/quote] A big, fat, +1 to that. Anyone who thinks there is a "right" way to play bass is an idiot. Anyway, *real* bass players use bows ;-)

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' timestamp='1340202925' post='1700965'] I agree - you no longer need to rely on the big record companies to get yourself noticed and you no longer need to be constantly chasing that lucrative record deal and be at the mercy of some jumped up A&R man. The internet really has been a revolution in terms of taking back power and giving it to the bands (where it belongs). [/quote] Yes, but its a double edged sword. Its easier to D-I-Y because of the medium but it also makes things harder in many ways. [quote] Anyone remember being ripped off £15 or £16 for a CD when they first came out in the 90s? [/quote] CD sales are dropping. However, I'd wager that for a long time cd sales were artificially high because people bought cd copies of things they already owned to replace their old vinyl/casettes (I know I did). I probably buy just as many "new" cds as I ever did, but I'm buying less cds overall because I've managed to catch up on all the "old" stuff that I didn't have on cd yet.

The "full time musicians have more time to spend on getting good" argument is a weird one. There must be thousands of bands out there who've released one or two brilliant records at the start of their career when they were nobodies and working part time in McDonalds and then when they hit the big time they just get worse, not better. Paul McCartney was brilliant, forty years ago. He's also loaded, so he doesn't have to worry about money. Has he got any better since 1970? Some musicians get better when they are able to spend 100% of their time on their music. Other musicians just burn out and run out of things to say.

[quote name='BigRedX']No but there's a difference between getting a single track from a band (in amongst a load of others) on a mix tape from a mate and downloading their entire recorded output because you're too cheap to pay for it.[/quote] [quote name='silddx' timestamp='1340192385' post='1700659'] This is the real issue. [/quote] Correct me if I'm wrong, but earlier in the thread you said that piracy was a black and white issue and that anyone who stole as much as a single song was a thief and a c**t. Now you're saying that stealing a song is alright, so long as its just to put on a mixtape for your mate. Seems like you agree with me after all. Some piracy is bad. Some piracy is ok. Hooray, everyone wins.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1340187545' post='1700542'] Blimey. What's all this 9 pages about then? [/quote] f*** knows [quote]Yes, it is not theft, stealing, nicking, half inching. It is COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. [/quote] Why didn't you say so the first time then? Then we could have got onto discussing fun stuff like what colour socks you should wear for a deep Reggae tone! Speaking of which, I'm off to give some Dr Alimantado a blast. Laters