JTUK

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1322577690' post='1452968'] Its funny but i dont think i know the chords to any of the 100+ songs we cover. Its just struck me that if someone was to ask what the chord was i could only tell them the bass note. I tend to sit down and play through the tracks by ear or with bass tabs. Ive never actually written any of them down as i dont want to ever rely on charts at gigs. Does that make me a bit odd lol. [/quote] No..not odd, but might put you at a disadvantage if things are sprung on you. I don't want to get into a reading debate but knowing the chords helps you with what runs/fills etc etc you might want to throw in, and if you are going to have the chords, you might as well have the song format written as well...and then if you are going to do that...throw in the written line that you sometimes forget..and then before you know it, you are almost reading the song/gig. Once you can do that...you learn intervals and hear stock patterns...so then you progress to transposing on the fly when a stand-in singer/guest asks do you do this in such and such a key, and then bob is your uncle. When you do that..people know you can wing a gig and you get called for deps so end up playing more and knowing so many people... but if you don't want to go that route..............that's ok..but it is still worthwhile If you can follow charts, then you only need one run through at rehearsal per new song..and you can change/enhance your set within weeks. Also..when you learn it off the CD in one key and the singer is struggling...dropping it a tone or so...enables you not waste a rehearsal. For a bit of fun practise...maybe just play bass chords through any song you have learnt...your ear should soon tell you if you are right or wrong..as it easily sounds fugly

Doesn't sound like you were both suited..so best to part. Put all your energies into getting the other band going well. I always find bands quite competitive, even if they try and say otherwise, so you could invite them to support your band...as long as you don't get blown away..!!! Onward and upward and always make your next band better than the last

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1213705663' post='220568'] I am so afraid of noodling along though because when i do more often than not what i play sounds rubbish. Ah well, i best go start practicing. [/quote] This is what you must work on the most as being able to make the track work with the least amount of run throughs is what makes a bass player worth his salt. The track is easy so make out a chord chart and just ask the drummer what pattern he is going to play and follow his kick all the way through. There is a riff you could follow based around a major scale...once or twice, IIRC, but for a first run through, this is less important.

hmmmm... not sure how much strings can help you out if you find the bass doesn't sustain as much as you want or need. To me, good sustain is the combination of a very well made body/neck combination so the resonance starts there..enhanced by pickups/elecs and decent cleanish strings. The best strings I have used recently were some custom Newtones, and the strings ring for ages on open and fretted notes, They are pretty lively but don't have an ultra bright zing when new..but then they also don't dull very quickly either so the sound is more consistant over a longer period. I play fingerstyle on Sei J5 basses and if your strings can't ring at least 10 secs when plucked quite softly..esp open E and A, then you might need to look further than the strings. As the string, IMO, is just one part of the whole resonating process...you might give yourself the best chance making sure the string is wound on the pegs very cleanly. 3-4 winds around the peg is enough for the lighter strings and maybe 3 max on the thicker string with no winds overlapping.

it all depends how busy you are and how busy you want or have to be. and how understanding people you are involved with when you have to bump a gig...? which you will probably have to do once or twice, either because the money is too good or the gig itself is too good. I have a main band which is the most organised, the dep gigs are fillers after that fact but even then a last minute gig to the main band might cause a problem because I am out for a dep gig.. People say they are cool .....but you will probably have a few trying times along the way, for sure, to test that out.

ha ha ..... Knew that would happen. Some things are just not very useable in lesser hands. Car and golf clubs would be a case in point, IMO. If the average hack tried hitting a bladed 2 or 3 iron which many top pros would use and certainly Woods would do so....they would give up golf pretty damn quick, IMO.. !!! We just don't have the ball striking qualities to make it work well enough often enough.. That is the point of utilities and rescues

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1322491539' post='1451431'] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]My suggestion is Neo and either 2 210's or 2 112's. [/font][/color][/size] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]I have both and while I love the 10's I usually take the 12's. The 12's have slightly less punch but I trade off the small preference I have for the 10's for the lighter 12's.[/font][/color][/size] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial] [/font][/color][/size] [/quote] I have these configs in Ceramics. The 210's just highlight what is missing with the 12's from my POV. The 12" are deep and low but the 10" are way more focused..by quite some margin. If space is a premium then that is the only time the 12's will get taken out. I was sold on the 12's until the 10's put them well and truly in their place. I might trade/sell the 12's and replace with a 2x112 with harder attack..and therefore would trade the perceived bottom end extention. Single cabs are easier to handle so modular works for me...and with 2x210 I get all the benfits of a great 410, IMO...with less of a carry.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1322487983' post='1451352'] ............ Just to throw another in, are these hugely expensive basses much better in the woodworking or the playing? [/quote] I'd say both if the luthier is any good. The woods alone might carry a premium..the handwork, for sure, will...as will the paint job, if applicable. If you go to bare wood...you'll need a decent looking piece, maybe a trlple AAA facing, and then about a month or so preparing the wood for its final finish. The neck might be finished by hand etc etc .. This is where the man hours can go...esp if done mainly by hand..and that depends on your builders way of doing things. Whether that is worth say £1500-2000 extra is for the buyer to determine. But if you can't see this type of thing as of any value, then you either have gone to the wrong builder or the process is lost on you. Up to you.

You need to good with a diary and one band will inists they are 1st priority. If both bands know where they stand and are happy to share...with the potential screw-ups that might bring, then it can work out. I always say that anyone any good will be in demand so it is unreasonable to expect one guy to be exclusive, but you need to keep on top of this as you'll likely get a few upsets along the way This is different than a total dep situation where every plays that game, it is where there is only one or two guys in an established unit where the problems may come...and despite trying to understand and being forewarn... you'll hit a few double booking type situations and that will upset someone... Of course, it depends how busy you think both will be...

The is a decent looking Mag combo for about £250 in a shop in Ashford, Kent, IIRC...probably less than a hrs drive from you in decent traffic

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1322432291' post='1450897'] Not IME no [/quote] Agree.

Mustang. or a take on a Mustang.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1322428046' post='1450827'] This was a one off for me JT as it was the same price as brand new, normally I'd say nothing unless I genuinely like it Could just be a noob trying his luck? [/quote] Yes.... agree, difficult call.

I make a point of not commenting on kit in the FS thread....apart from nice looker, pretty bass, or suchlike.. I am quite happy to make points about all sort of kit in other threads though... At least that is the plan...

I got some from Thomann...decent price and they do the job well. The lighting bar seems decent..the stand and footswitch is the fallible part... but for the price, you'd want it this way round, IMO. They will light up a stage around 5m sq..possibly. DMX controllable, LEDs... which run low power but are pretty bright and NOT hot. so all good for what I use them for. You can slave them up as well via XLR. I wouldn't use them on a pro stage, but that is a another thing. You'd then hire in. The thing about the footswitches and presets is that they take some work on them to make them useful... Once you have done this..you'll want to run them DMX from a decent control vehicle. I am now looking round for a a decent but relatively simple PC/laptop lighting app.

[size=5][sub]I have no doubt what my next bass will be and it will cost me quite a bit.[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]Since it will take a year to build..!! I have plenty of time to save up the final total [/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]but then I'll have 3 excellent..IMO..basses...and that is more than enough for what I do. [/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]I can't see the point of owning many more than you can't or wont or don't play...so I'd pay £2000 plus for one great bass rather than 10 less great basses.[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]Even then....3 basses will be an indulgence and will probably spell the end of one of them.[/sub][/size] [size=5][sub]Just need to decide to pull that trigger...!![/sub][/size]

Pops Popwell..altho I think he also added a J pickup near the bridge... not that you'd hear that in too many recordings, IMO. Chuck Rainey always favour a P-bass config, IIRC...in the early days.

Not sure...but I do know who KA was winding pickups for at that time as they included just about everybody..esp from the U.S as he was breaking that market. Not long after that..he moved over there, IIRC... Not sure how big a name Overwater was back then but have no doubt they could have used his pickups as a specified supplier.

The Cheap Trick guy always used an 8 string Hamer, IIRC. The MM was very clanky for me.... and I always dialed down that boost to get away from the traditional sound that so many get. I guess I never had an amp with it that really allowed me to do much else at the time. The bass played great which is why I modded it..plus the fact that Kent A was happy to do a few experiments sound-wise for me and knock up a few pickups that I could try out. He had such a brilliant insight to this sort of thing..as you'd expect, obviously, as he was making pickups for a whole host of makers and they were all wound in that shop, AFAIK. So, since he offered... I went with the idea. Loved it for quite a while and sold the bass with that pickup on ..plus the old stuff which I kept - only because I moved to 5 str and that made the MM redundant from a playing POV. The MM was a modern P-bass take so had the P-bass neck Dims in terms of width...as opposed to a Jazz. I still prefer this even though I play Jazzes. Apart from the basses I have now..that MM was the best bass I had from a playing POV...stellar and bombproof neck.

If you sub-mix, you loose individual control of that signal...and therefore you only have collective control on the sub group. Some might allow EQ on that group but some might just allow just gain. With vocals you want as much indivual control as poss..so I would keep them seperate. In this compromise mixing, I would select other groups to combine and sub mix before Vox ..which are pretty much the most important thing in a band

Being exceptionally well-made can get to a point of diminishing returns in terms of how playable it is. Of course, not all basses are equal and £2000 to a very small band of luthiers can go a very long way..as opposed to £2000 for a production type bass which has distribution costs factored into the price, but for me a well put together piece stands a better chance of being a good bass. Not entirely a given there, though, either. There are some basses that I wouldn't dream of touching unless I saw them up close and could play them..as I just don't think you can trust most makers all of the time. There are a few horror stories here to illustrate that point..and unfortunately those stories are not as rare, it seems, as you would hope. I am talking about £1500-2000 plus basses as well. Your money, your call.

P-bass and EQ it properly.

The MM pre amp is very powerful with what..?? 15bd to play with.. so not subtle at all in the wrong hands, IMO. That is unusable, tbh...as indeed it is with the East pre. I made my MM passive because of it...using a custom KA pickup. It worked for a while.

IMV, the Goliath ii was a fantastic cab and was the top 410 for ages... It is a heavy beast but that is the price you must pay. Big fan of SWR Goliath ll 410's and you'll not beat it with anything smaller and lighter, IMO.

I preferred the Thunderstruck link...song is a bit too chummy for me, but there you go..!!