NickH

Another vote for Yeah It's Bloody Great right here!
Learnt it for the band when we had both male and female vocals. Messed around three or 4 different keys, trying to find the one that suited both their voices with some register-hopping. Then the lady singer ups and leaves, so we have to punt round a few more keys... think I can now play it backwards, in any key, with my toes. While asleep

Can't help with the available practice time, or the motivation or any of the psychology above.
Definitely helps to practice like you mean to play live though, IE dancing about like a loon in my case!
If I'm working out something new I'll sit down and concentrate, but apart from that all practice both solo and with the band is done stood up and dancing, deliberately looking at the other players or something on my wall so I'm not looking at the fingerboard.
The rest of the band think I'm a bit weird for this (not just for this actually ) but it really notices when it comes to a show that I can play and dance and do all other stuff while still keeping my playing reasonably tight & acurate, while they screw up as they practice sat down or stood stock still.
Also - it's good physical conditioning! Gets you used to the weight of the bass hanging off the strap for a couple of hours, and the C.V. of moving about a lot while having breath to sing backup is good too.

[url="http://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/index_home.html"]http://www.status-graphite.com/status/frames/index_home.html[/url]

Graphite!

Seymour Duncan do the Hot Stack for Jazz, awesome sounding pup. I put those in both of my custom-made 5er's neck slot with a big fat MM in the bridge.
Bloody great, esp with a rotary to single/parallel/series them.

[url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/"]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/[/url]

OK, something appears to be weird with their website at time of posting this. Things keep popping up and then disappearing.
When it's working... there's the regular Stack for Jazz in the normal section, and (IIRC) the Hot Stack for Jazz under "progressive"

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='737941' date='Feb 7 2010, 11:36 AM'] After reading through this thread re. this 'organiser' friend of yours, I hope she isn't personally organising [u][b]that[/b][/u]? [/quote]

Err, yeah, can you like bring the cement mixer? Coz none of the other volunteers have a cement mixer or can transport it.
Don't worry you'll get use of a trowel from one of the other bands.

It's not something I've done a huge amount of, but organising a multi-band gig isn't rocket science as long as you understand the logistics of what bands need in order to play and have a venue. Perhaps if there's a few bands who want to do a charity gig and a good target audience, you could look at putting a show together yourself?
If there's under 18's don't hold it in a pub, rent a hall somewhere. You get to do all the promotions and publicity, get run absolutely ragged a few days before and on the night, but it's a very satisfying thing to pull off. Will get you the recognition of your musical peers and looks good to put on your "music CV" when you come to organise gigs in regular bars etc.

I rent a room from my lovely landlady so I'm in limited space. There's room for my bass and my stack but not any of the PA gear I've accumulated over the years.
Solution? I dumped it in my guitarist's garage He's got a big estate car and is now responsible for shifting it when we need it.

Yes, I'm awesome. Takes some charm, talent and cojones to pull that move off!

[quote name='Tait' post='734611' date='Feb 3 2010, 11:05 PM']a few weeks ago one of my mates told me he's got a friend organising a couple of gigs, and she's looking for bands. so he gives her my number and a link to our myspace, and she says she likes our band and do we want to play. so i checked with my band, and we were booked to play at a pub this coming saturday.

anyway, she tells me a few days ago there are 3 bands playing, and can we bring our drumkit and can the other bands borrow it. i told her no because my dad's band has a gig the same night and so will be taking the big car, and we can't really fit a bass, a whole drumkit, an amp and 3 people into a fiat punto. well can't i get someone else to take them? maybe, i'll ask my guitarist if he can take some bits, but he usually takes our other guitarists so thats 2 guitars, 2 amps, half a drumkit and 3 people in one car, which isn't entirely plausible. what if she sends someone around to pick the drums up? i'm not comfortable with the idea of a total stranger taking our drumkit.

i ask her why another band doesn't just take their drumkits, and she just tells me they can't. so i say well neither can we. but she says why not? if its trouble getting it there, she'll get someone to pick it up. in the end i tell her "well i'll check with my guitarist, see if i can sort anything out. no promises though."

anyway, today she added me to the event on facebook. it says in massive letters 18+. now, i'm 17 and one of the older ones in my year at college, so all my friends are 16 or 17. my drummer and guitarist are 15, and our other guitarist is 14. so i asked her about it being over 18, and of course i can't bring any friends under 18. then i said "you do realise none of the band are over 18 right?" and she replied with "sh*t, i just assumed you were! i should have asked, really!" why yes, yes you should. bearing in mind she's only just 18, and the friend that told her about us is 17, is it really that difficult to imagine that his friend's band might contain members under 18? obviously i dont say this to her, i just ask if we can still play. "well, technically you're not allowed. but if you go in the back entrance where there aren't any bouncers, and don't shout about being under 18, you should be ok. obviously don't try to buy any drinks either."

me: "but the pub WILL mind that we're under 18 then?"
her: "well, if they find out they'll be mad. they've had a go at me before for having under 18 bands play. they've even kicked one band out for being under 18 before". funnily enough, when a different mate found out where we were playing he was suprised because he always thought that pub was strict on 18+ only, but i didn't really think anything of it.
her: "anyway, like i said, just go in the back entrance and keep a low profile, you should be ok"

later on, another thought strikes me.

me: "doesn't it make sense to have another band bring the drumkit anyway? i mean, if we get kicked out, none of the bands will have a drumkit at all, so it doesnt make sense for us to bring it."
her: "yeah but none of the other bands CAN bring a drumkit."
me: "we've gone through this. we CAN'T bring a drumkit."
her: "yeah you can. i'll get a friend to pick it up. you won't get kicked out anyway if you sneak in the back entrance."

so... you expect me to go to a stupid amount of trouble to bring a drumkit, involving trusting some total stranger with my brother's drumkit, to a we have to sneak into because we're not allowed to play there, and there's every chance we'll get kicked out and then there'll be no kit at all for any band to play on, thus ruining the gig anyway? i bet you a fiver if that happened another band would magically be able to produce a kit.

some people are just unbelievable.

i figured before dropping out of the gig i should check with the band, and we decided pretty much straight away (there was no need to think about it), to tell her where she can shove her gig. it's too late to text her now, but first thing tomorrow morning i'm gonna let her know we're not playing. its just stupid.

on the bright side my guitarist has just told me he had to turn down a gig at a nice place we've played a few times before (and i know at least one other basschatter has played there before, too, and he said he really enjoyed it) because of this gig, so he's going to try and see if we can still get in there. obviously they might be full now, but they might still be able to fit us in

sorry about the rant by the way, i'm just pretty pissed off by it all.[/quote]

Oy vey. Sounds like a nightmare!
Would this by chance be her first attempt at organising a gig? Please dear God say that it is, because if it's not and she's still that bad, there may be no other option but to shoot her... or just lobotomise her and hand her a guitar.

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Obtainable new £300, even cheaper second hand. Absolutely kicks ass.

I had some dealings with Andy at Wizard when still working at the workshop. What this guy doesn't know about pickups and guitar/bass electronics isn't worth knowing! Awesome friendly guy to deal with as well, drop him an email or get on the phone and I'm sure he'll sort you out.

Tim at Bareknuckle is similarly knowledgeable and approachable too. Either company will be able to sort you out one way or another.

[quote name='Lenny B' post='731027' date='Jan 31 2010, 08:17 PM']Which bass?[/quote]


NVM that, which wife?

There's nothing as frustrating as seeing a really good player relegating themselves to the spare room when they should be out gigging.
My brother-in-law is an excellent guitarist and keyboardist, been playing for years but never joined a band. Finally got out to do it and he also regrets the time he spent not playing in public.

Any gig-virgins, pay attention! Go out and do your thing for others to enjoy!
(Just don't ninja my spot in my band, if you're 1. a better player than me, 2. easier to get along with, 3. better looking.
Anyone who comes along fulfilling any two of those criteria will likely result in me getting fired in pretty short order.

Bollocks, who am I kidding? Any 1 criteria)

Be warned, playing gigs is like getting tattooed. The first one is the difficult one, but after that is becomes addictive and you want a whole load more.

Awesome job on hitting a blinder that man! Was anyone there with a videocamera to record the historic moment?

Probably rubbing his hands in glee at our excitement and madly cackling "THE POWER!! THE UNLIMITED POWER!!"

I'm going to affect an air of casual indifference, see if we can tease him out.

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='730112' date='Jan 30 2010, 09:03 PM']He will if Nick H is correct![/quote]

You know it mate
To quote Bon Jovi (I know, I know) -
"Every little boy wants to learn to play guitar
So he can pick up all the chicks and be a rock n roll star"

Just remember, your good lady is going to see a whole new side of you once you're on that stage rocking out and kicking ass.
She will be incredibly horny for you once you finish playing. Save some energy for this and don't put it all into the show!

Fear is the path to the Dark Side.
Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to... suffering.

[quote]Good luck and let the bass force be with you![/quote]

The BassForce will be with you... always

Right, I'm absolutely skint right now, but I'm going to hold a raffle round my dayjob office for some free bass lessons to drum up some cash.
(Maybe also find myself some new long-term pupils - charity does after all begin at home!)

Anyone else got any bright ideas how to raise some cash above and beyond?

Given the ones I've known, an Extortion of luthiers would fit best IMHO

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='727449' date='Jan 28 2010, 11:59 AM']In that case, definetly get the 34". The extra tension really improves the slap tone of a bass no end imo.[/quote]

QFT
I got an entirely custom 5 made at one point and it was 35.5". Was doing lots of low-B metal riffage and the extra length made everything really clear.
Was a bit of a bugger to play mind, but that's what practice time is for. Pity the poor DB guys!

[quote]LOL there could be a call for a basschat singles section by the end of this thread just imagine the posts ..[/quote]

Fantastic idea!

Male 32 y.o. seeks female in Southampton area. I'm average looking, good fitness, apart from bass enjoy movies, exercise, socialising, videogaming, cooking and martial arts. Applicants for Role of Nick's New Girlfriend must read all of the above topic and inscribe it on their minds with a permanence normally reserved for Decrees from On High to Prophets on Mountains.
(Also must be hawt).



My ex met me when I was making a go of the originals band and found the allure of the musician completely irresistable. A year later and the resentment crept in about all the time required to write, rehearse, record etc etc. Oddly enough she still loved coming to gigs and spending my cash at the bar. She genuinely loved the music but somewhere it just didn't click that without all the graft we'd have been sh!te.

In the end the relationship outlived the band for various reasons, and then the relationship ended for reasons nothing to do with music at all. C'est la vie.

The crackly volume pot and dead tone pot are easily fixable by anyone with a little soldering iron skill. If you can get the setup on the bass fixed I'd definitely go with getting a reasonable amp first.
If the bass plays OK but doesn't sound great once it's been set up, you could throw a new pickup or two in there. Often greatly enhances the sound of a budget bass for not much outlay.

PM'd re: 1x15

[quote name='karlthebassist' post='719389' date='Jan 20 2010, 06:21 PM']Band mates used to take the piss, but quite a few have started to see the light and play up high now [/quote]

We assume that unless you're in a multi-bass band, these are guiturds you're referring to?
Poke 'em in their cretinous eye and send them slithering to the bar to buy you a beer while you single-handedly carry the whole set on your broad, muscular bassplaying shoulders.

Had a brainstorming session with the band recently trying to find a good name. There was a little <ahem> booze involved so some fairly silly ones got thrown around and put on the list too.
The following day it fell to me to search google, Myspace, and general interwebs to see if any of the suggesitons were already taken. For giggles I put in the silly ones too. I was REALLY SHOCKED to see what some actual real gigging bands out there are calling themselves