Davo-London

Having said my piece. Having a good drummer makes the world of difference and it is worth searching for that illusive drummer. Good luck. In my view, and I'm looking for a drummer for a covers band (where I play bass), I would be looking for someone with at least 10 years playing behind them. May seem a weird requirement but this is something I've noticed. Even playing the simplest of grooves an experienced player will always sound better. Cheers Davo

A lot of negativity here in this post. I'm a drummer and basically you go through stages of learning. Firstly you learn basic grooves and then try a fill and lose the timing. Then there's the thinking you're better than you are as you can play along to any track. Then you record yourself and realise there's a long long road ahead of you. Then you play with other musicians and realise this is a lot trickier than you thought. Then you start to get the feel of some track and someone says you're playing it too slow or vice versa. And then you learn to practice with a click track. And you get proficient at that. But this doesn't help you play with live musicians of varying ability. And so it goes on. Truly there is no substitute for putting in the years of playing. I've been playing 6-7 years and I've pretty well done all of the above. I've been a bass player for 35 years and I find the drums far more difficult to master. You can become a competent bassist in a few years but to become a quality drummer takes longer IMHO. The responsibility of the drummer is greater too. Setting and keeping the tempo spot-on is genuinely difficult. The hardest songs are the slowest. Keeping accurate tempo at 60 bpm or even 55 bpm for a remark you made by Weather Report is truly mind numbingly hard. So folks, there's a lot of superior beings on this forum doing a lot of drummer-bashing. Try it yourself if you think it's easy. I'm telling you from the heart it isn't. There is so much to learn. So, I always have time for musicians that practice and are serious about there instrument as you know in time they will probably get there. If they don't practice then I lose interest. That's my arbiter. Peace Davo

Ha good luck at least you're not too far from the M25. Davo

The Doug John's clip is grooving IMHO. However, the bass is master and the drums slave. So there is no real interplay within the groove other than the breaks. I play drums and bass and as a drummer often note that we (drum and bass) are playing together but not necessarily grooving! Little Feat is a great example of a band that simple oozes groove. Again the drummer is playing a very straight beat, maybe the band is simply very tight. Lovely feel to all their stuff. The Robert Palmer Track has a great feel to it as well and again the drums are pretty straight 2/4 beat so is it the bass that makes all the difference? Mwahahaha Davo

Loved the Jamiroquai track. My fav sound is from Burke Shelley from Budgie. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54H3EUAzpVg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54H3EUAzpVg[/url] Davo

If this thread started: [i]anyone hate Ampeg gear[/i], I'd be there in a flash. Tried loads of Ampeg gear at rehearsals and never liked the sound. Whereas we have a (pre-reincarnation) Trace 715 combo at church. It's taken loads of abuse and it still sounds big and punchy and by dialling everything flat it gives a very good tone on both low-end and hi-end basses. in particular my Jaco fretless sounds pure Jaco through this combo. So I don't understand all the negativity. Never tried the separate heads and speaker units so I couldn't comment. Davo

I so agree that the drummer makes or breaks a band. One of the reasons I learnt to play drums was because I hated playing with lousy drummers. Now that's someone else's problem! mwah ha Davo

Er why do you assume it's the PUs? It could be the amp, it could be crappy cables, it could be old strings. You'll have to eliminate all other possible causes first before you get the soldering iron out. A preamp isn't going to help per se, especially if you like the acoustic sound. Have you tried other basses? Have you found one you like? You might be better off selling your bass unmolested and buying a bass with an amplified sound you do like. Cheers Davo

Good Times is a bass players dream. It was so dark at one point that I couldn't see the dot inlays on my neck! Anyway the 700RB 2x10 KG combo had oodles of punch and that was fun to use. Peace Davo

I would only buy Jap Fenders from now on. They are fantastic. My Jaco signature Jazz is amazing with great tone. Peace Davo

I never realised he used P fretless originally. I bought a fretless P in about 1979. I just sold it recently. I could never get a decent tone out of it, so I admire that P-bass tone even more. I like both the P and Wal and hate his Ibanez tone. Not sure it's the bass just the sound he's going for. I just don't like it and it seems a shame. Davo

Hurray, I'm at the climb down stage of the evening. Only one song went south, other than that we were quite tight. Highlights were [i]Good Times[/i] by Chic and E[i]ver Fallen In Love[/i] by the Buzzcocks. There were several cock-ups on my part but I bluffed my way through and everyone was dancing. So thanks to all the comments and being part of the journey. Peace Davo

Hey guys you've cheered me no end. Just 4 hours to go ... Davo

Hey, I'm at work ... can't you tell? I can't practice now - even I wouldn't do that!!! Even though the director is in the band : ) I'm told they are all in the original key so that's cool. Just saw the last post. Yes I can read, but I usually work from chord sheets. I find that's the best compromise between constant reading and running around the stage doing a goose-step. Davo

Thanks good tips. I could have said no of course but it's not in my DNA. Anyone want to hire me a barefaced cab? I love to try one out and I will make sure you're not out of pocket. Gig is in Pimlico in London. Cheers Davo

Hey I deputise in a band every now and then on drums. This week the resident bassist cuts his hand up on a glass. So I get the call. We have a corporate function in 3 days, can you play bass? Well I've been playing bass for 35 years so in principle I can play the music but learning 25 songs in 3 days???? So any tips out there to short-cut the laborius effort required? Cheers Davo

I would equally like to know about the Tone Hammer. I was looking for a simple amp head. Davo

Now you see every time I try an SVT head I think, why does anyone bother with valves? I absolutely cannot stand the sound the SVT heads. All that colouration is too much. Each to his own. And if you find the sound you love then you are very lucky. It took me 25 years to find that sound! Cheers Davo

Ok everyone seems convinced the sonic differences are worthwhile. I put on a Badass II on my 70's P bass in 1979. When I finally took it off and put back the original bridge I realised I preferred the original bridge. In fact I did a shoot out and you may enjoy this link as I did the comparison blind so that online forumites could select which sound clip was the Badass and whether they preferred it or not. It was very illuminating but there was very little agreement and overall I don't think there is much difference. Anyway enjoy the link: [url="http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1962802/page/1/fpart/1"]http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1962802/page/1/fpart/1[/url] Davo

Oh I didn't expect it to be any smaller than the current D-class offerings. However, there is something v sexy about an amp with one control (ie volume). For some reason that really appeals to me. There's a hi-fi purity in it. If you compare that to this: Then I think you'll see my point. Since you are onboard Alex, have you noticed any amp/cab matches that really work? Particularly for a Jaco tone on fretless? Cheers Davo

Thanks for the replies. Very useful, I think I might start with Markbass! Cheers Davo

Markbass LM III, Ashdown MiBass 500 and the TC Electronic RH750 or Staccato 51 look possible alternatives if I can't find one without EQ. Anyone have thoughts on what combines well with BF cabs? Cheers Davo

Just wondering. I have preamps on my basses so I don't really want tone control on my amp. I guess power amps just have volume controls but they tend to be quite large. So does anyone make a class D amp with just a volume control? I'm thinking of a Compact Barefaced cab to go with it. Cheers Davo

Andy McCluskey of OMD is way cooler than all your votes put together. Davo

Basically the bolt-on gives a bit more snap and the ability to bend the neck and of course remove it. THe thru-neck gives potentially better intonation and looks better. It's not something that would bother me in buying a bass. That said if you have a custom bass made they will never be a bolt-on neck. So obviously it's a cheaper construction method. Some people prefer bolt ons so there's not much either way. Davo