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NJE

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Everything posted by NJE

  1. Brown eyed girl, Get Lucky, Valerie and Summer of 69. Mostly due to them being played and murdered by many covers bands (including ones I have played in).
  2. Thank you, I had convinced myself I had seen IEM that you could pull the drivers out and put filters in, but I must have completely imagined it. I had an unpleasant experience after my last gig. I was using basic non custom IEM and pulled one out to hear what was going on. I didn’t realise it but my left ear (with the phones still in) took a hammering and was not good on my drive home. That was almost two weeks ago and the past few days I have noticed a high pitch ringing which I can only assume is tinnitus, which I think must be related. I need to get something to take care of my ears so I think some custom ear plugs will be a good start.
  3. Sorry in advance if this is a dull question, I did read a decent chunk of this thread a while ago and can’t remember if I found the answer. If I went for custom moulded IEM, can the drivers be removed and can they also be used as ear protection? I could do with something for gigs and practice and just wondering where to spend the money.
  4. I see a lot more 5s around locally compared to 10 years ago. I used to get a few second glances, especially amongst the older musicians, but played 5s exclusively for over a decade, most due to the band needing me to transpose a lot of tunes. I bought a 4 string Stingray 7 years ago and that’s been my bass since, it just fits well for everything at the moment.
  5. I would buy that bass, interesting pickup choice and I always loved the look of the 70s telecaster basses but not the pickup by the neck. Come on Fender, or better still Squier! 😄
  6. Yes please to a signature bass based on that!
  7. Sorry if this is derails the topic and is better asked separately, but are any of you short scale fans of the bulkier/tall persuasion? I am around 6ft and on the hefty side and really worried that I would look ridiculous with a short scale.
  8. 3M dual lock is amazing stuff, I have all my pedals attached with it and it’s fantastic. I have only used small strips and that is a good balance of holding tight and being able to get it off without struggling. As mentioned above, if you use it like normal Velcro you will struggle to pull it off.
  9. I was playing a pub local to me and Cerys Mathews, singer with Welsh Indie rockers Catatonia, happened to be in celebrating. They were doing quite well at the time and had a couple of charted songs, and a manager/friend/record company chap came up and asked our guitarist if she could sing with us. There were stories that her group had been partaking in a little Peruvian marching powder in the toilets, so the guitarist told him to do one, much to his shock. I was a bit gutted, could have been a fun story to share on an Internet forum one day if he had said yes.
  10. I have had an M80 for years and I absolutely love it. In fact after years of abuse it is looking a little frayed in areas but structurally it is still solid. Always used it upright to put my bass in and take it out, I don’t think I have ever had the space or thought to lay it out flat. I have all pockets rammed full of cables, tools and bits and bobs and it’s probably the best bit of gear I have ever bought. I dont ever carry it long distances, and tend to just use one strap and the other is tucked in the rear pocket, so I wear it a bit like a golf bag. I can’t comment on comfort after carrying it for a long time, but it’s the best case/bag I have ever come across.
  11. Really enjoyed this, Pino is obviously a quiet guy but you got a real sense for his passion and skill. To walk into the Who gig with a couple of charts and a 24 hours to learn it all without a full band rehearsal is quite amazing. Immediately started googling precisions and flatwounds 😄
  12. I completely agree with you, I have a Harley Benton that plays great because I set it up and put good strings on it, but I mentioned picking the best one as well. Given some of the relatively expensive basses I have played and owned with bad finishing issues, misaligned bridges, bad neck pockets, and shocking fretwork, I still think it would be an interesting idea to review an instrument where someone hasn’t had the opportunity to cherry pick a prime specimen from several identical basses, and in addition, potentially do some additional setting up.
  13. I always thought ‘off the rack’ gear reviews would be good, i.e go to a big shop and try a bass that came from the factory and no one has had opportunity to pick the best one or tweak it before sending to be reviewed. I bought bass magazines for decades and the reviews were always very positive to keep advertisers and sponsors happy I’d guess. I would love for someone to do a review and say it was an absolute mess of an instrument, give it a good slating if it deserved it, and hold the companies accountable for poor QC. As it’s stands we soon hear about crap basses on here or other forums. Look at the slating the budget Sadowsky’s got.
  14. Guitar Guitar have them up on the site. The analog 112 is £929.
  15. I have been fortunate enough to have owned and gigged expensive custom made basses like Overwater, Fenders, Stingrays, Squiers and a Harley Benton Jazz I got for free. With some small amounts of adjustment almost all of them have been great sounding and playing instruments. At no point has a member of the public commented on my basses, how good or bad they sounded, and none of them made a significant difference to the sound of my band. Yes some fitted better with different genres or tunes but none sounded bad. Two basses stand out over the years. First was a Fender American Standard bass that was total horse-poop and should have been picked out and burned before it left the factory, and it cost over 1k new. The second was a Squier Vintage modified Precision V that I got for under £300 new. That bass was sublime, so much fun to play, looked quite striking in white with a tort guard. I gigged that and smiled all night long while I was playing it. Can’t remember why I sold it to be honest but I have looked for another since. Moral of the story from my perspective; most people don’t give a monkeys about your gear, you can get inspiring and fun instruments at any price point, buy what makes you happy if you can afford it. Losing people had taught me life’s too short to not enjoy the fruits of your labour as long as you can take care of yourself and the people around you.
  16. Two summers ago, my then 2 year old daughter became very attached to a pink Uke (and matching pink sunglasses) at a jumble sale at my sons school, I think we paid £1.50 for both. I tuned it up and started figuring out a few basic chords and found myself picking it up all the time but the bloomin thing would not stay in tune. I can get a bit obsessive so I went down the rabbit hole of researching Ukulele’s and just obsessed for ages. The following Christmas I bought a very nice Tenor one and play it a lot. I thought I wouldn’t struggle with my sausage fingers but it’s not too bad. I bought and aNueNue tenor which is really well made and even came with a lovely gig bag. I love it, it’s loads of fun and I am hoping my son or daughter might have enough patience to give it a go at some point.
  17. I have band practice on average every two weeks, a few gigs and apart from that the bass stays away unless I have to make a little effort to learn something new. I have little to interest in playing outside of gigs and band practice. That’s my full of bass and I quite like having some time off. If I pick up anything around the house it’s my acoustic guitar or Ukulele.
  18. I had the same concern when I got married a few years ago as I had never worn rings before. I have no sharp edges on mine, so it tapers nicely into my finger and minimises snagging. I guess like others have said, it depends on technique and how you play. Mine doesn’t get in the way but I have a bit more of a classical guitar technique, thumb in the middle of the neck and some arch to my fingers so it almost never touches the neck and it’s quite narrow so doesn’t hinder my finger movement. maybe stick it on a chain or leather chord around your neck when your playing if it does cause you issues.
  19. Elixirs all the way for me. Never found another coated strings that feels and sounds as good over a longer period. Had my current set on over 2 years and still sound good and no sign of fraying/flaking, but I don’t use a plectrum. The only other strings I really liked were Dunlop super brights, not marketed as a long lasting string and not coated, but they lasted for ages. Also D’Addario NYXL strings were amazing and lasted a really long time compared to other uncoated strings I have used. I love Ernie Ball strings but I kill them after 2 gigs so not worth it for me.
  20. According to my parents I had a fascination with music from a young age and used to listen to my parents tapes and fall asleep next to the hifi. As I got older I had a strong love of music and it resonated with me a lot stronger than other kids my age. When I was about 10 my dad started playing guitar with a friend of his in the kitchen every now and again. Neither me or mum knew that he had been a very talented musician when he was younger and mingled/crossed paths with some incredibly famous musicians (pre fame) who were similar ages to him. He gave it all up for decades and then the jamming turned into him forming a duo with his friend and they started playing gigs. I will come to why this is relevant in a bit… I remember getting Extreme II Pornograffitti on tape and when I was 15 I made a conscious decision that if I ever wanted to make music that had such a huge impact on me like that album and many others did, I needed to learn an instrument before it was too late. I think there were so many guitarists around that I decided bass would be a good idea, so my dad bought me a bass for my birthday, probably excited about me becoming interested in an instrument like him. I picked it up really quickly and also dabbled with acoustic guitar at the same time. Within a year I was playing in my dads band and gigging regularly after recruiting a drummer and sax player. I gigged from 16 - 21 with my dads band and I earned enough to not have to get a regular job while I was at uni. So it was probably a combination of living and being really moved by music when I was very young and then seeing my dad play that tipped the balance and made me play.
  21. I saw a few Instagram posts about these and got very excited until I remembered how much MusicMan basses costs these days. £3199 at GuitarGuitar, which I am sure is fair for a USA made instrument these days and I know the quality will be ace, but I just can’t wrap my head around it. You could get a vintage original stingray for that money, or go and get a late 80’s early 90’s for a lot less, and get a forearm and belly contour thrown in for good measure.
  22. I have probably been gigging less than a lot of seasoned players on here, but it feels like bands are asking for/venues are paying the same as they were when I started gigging 22 years ago! I started out in my dads 5 piece, and we did pub gigs and functions, and were frequently picking £60-£100 a night for pubs and a lot more for weddings and functions. New Year’s Eve was always a decent earner, £200 a head or it wasn’t worth it to us. I struggle to get that now. Pubs don’t pay that much but I guess you have to factor in the cost of beer, number of punters etc, and not everyone turns out for live music like they used to. We get around £55-£65 a head by there are seven of us. Again functions would be more but only equivalent of what I would get 20 years ago. A friend of mine runs a wedding venue and they have bands coming from all over. The bands have been getting 2k for a three piece and one soul band was charging 5k for the night but travelled about 3 hours each way. So some bands are getting good money but not mine 😄.
  23. Sign me up (for a free trial), that looks great, thanks for sharing.
  24. Lack of use and some impending bills means I need to make a bit more of an effort to sell my Proton. It sounds great, I particularly love the down sweep, and I like owning it, but I have barely turned it on since buying it. I have no use for it in my band so it seems a waste to just look at it. This is in the raw metal type casing, and I have done my upmost to keep it clean and stop it oxidising and changing in colour. It has been kept on a pedal board, in a case with silica packets to prevent any moisture getting to anything, but it seems they are impossible to keep mint. It has two very small strips of 3M Dual Lock on the bottom which I am happy to take off before selling. Comes with box and instructions. I am happy to wrap it up and post if collection isn’t possible.
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