The Funk

And that they're handing out his direct line when they get stuck.

[quote name='Sean' post='37308' date='Jul 26 2007, 01:16 PM']He who hesitates, eh?[/quote] Masturba... according to The Cable Guy, anyway.

[quote name='Russ' post='37252' date='Jul 26 2007, 11:39 AM']Having good pick technique is just another tool in your arsenal, another set of tones with another set of possibilities.[/quote] I think most of us fingerstyle snobs are coming to realise this now. There was a time when I equated pick-players to sloppy root-note players with bad rhythm whose hairstyles and posture were more interesting than their bass lines.

Ah, now that's interesting. Are we talking about Royal Mail employees and Parcelforce delivering it? Or are we just talking about Royal Mail handling both bits?

Well, I'll just explain the comment about upgrading the speakers/power amp as required. I don't have strong views on the rest and I hadn't considered the difficulty in getting a plug from your active speakers to an outlet. What I meant was that if you get a good quality unpowered mixer now you will be able to use that in venues of all sizes. If you're starting out now in smaller venues and expect to move onto playing bigger venues, then your power requirements may change as you progress. If that happens and you end up in a situation in which your powered mixer is not pumping out enough power, you would need to upgrade your mixer. It's not a big deal but I just thought I'd raise it. The only combination that I don't think would work is: Powered Mixer + Active PA Speakers.

I just think the mic preamps on the Soundcraft mixers are better than the Behringer ones. Although it's a very subjective thing.

No, it's not powered. I don't know about the Behringer - try the Behringer site. Powered mixers are more expensive than unpowered mixers and on the whole you tend to get more active PA speakers than passive these days. The advantage of an unpowered mixer over a powered mixer is that you can keep the same mixer but upgrade the speakers as required for different sized venues. Another advantage is the 'panning' facility on unpowered mixers - for some reason, most of the powered mixers I've seen don't have this (could just be I've come across the wrong ones). Then you can position the different instruments into more or less the same place in the stereo spectrum as they are on stage.

My advice, get a Soundcraft EPM12 mixer (£220) over a Behringer, then go into a pair of active PA speakers.

[quote name='OldGit' post='37196' date='Jul 26 2007, 10:09 AM']Do you think he will speak to me (I think he's a bit busy right now with a national strike looming) and if he did do you think he'd contradict his Customer Service Director?[/quote] Well, they've given you his number. Try it. If you get his voicemail or secretary, get an appointment to speak to him (either on the phone or in person). I think he'd have no problems in principle contradicting anyone below him. That doesn't mean he won't agree with the Customer Service Director. But if the only guidance anyone at Parcelforce has been able to give you is that you should pack it exactly as you have done, then there's a flaw in their guidance - making it their fault. Also, if you received some guidance about packing it before you posted it, and that was the same guidance, ie. bubble wrap + mark 'fragile', then you complied with their guidance - even if they're now saying that the guidance they gave you is wrong. Again, that would be their fault.

When I told my guitarist I was getting some ACME cabs, he said "do you think they'll throw in a bag of exploding peanuts with that?"

That's a very good point about the covering letter! Forgot about that. It explains to the recipient what it actually is they've got before them.

Just to clear up a couple of things it's not too late to make a claim against the US seller. That clause from the listing you quoted above could constitute a warranty that the bass is in good condition (and not in need of repair). The trouble is, as other people have pointed out, it's a bloody complex process suing someone from another legal jurisdiction. Without doing any research on it, I think you could probably sue him here (as you're a consumer) but you'd need permission from a court to issue a claim against him in the first place, and then you'd have legal proceedings and then, if you win, you'd have the problem of enforcing a judgment against him. If he has no assets in this country (and why would he?), you'd have to go to America to enforce your judgment against him. And this would all take lots of time and cost more than the £250 repair job. As for liability to the third buyer in the chain, there's no reason why he couldn't recover against the person you sold it to, while that person could then recover the same amount from you. No reason whatsoever. And let me just add to all the other comments saying good for you for taking responsibility for this when noone else will.

[quote name='OldGit' post='36835' date='Jul 25 2007, 12:49 PM']Can anyone tell me if I'm being unreasonable here? If 7 employees of the company tell me that wrapping it in bubblewrap is OK, is that the guidance I should have followed or some unpublished guidance seemingly made up by the customer service department, and not specifically published anywhere? So ... Do I contact Allan Leighton, top man at the Post Office, directly (they gave me his office number ) or do I just progress to the small claims track in the county courts?[/quote] Don't go to court yet. Contact Allan Leighton and explain the situation to him as calmly as possible. Did you get any packaging instructions from their employees before you posted it? I can't remember what you said about that earlier. If you did, you should definitely make that one of the first things you say.

[quote name='guitarnbass' post='36050' date='Jul 23 2007, 06:40 PM']I think I see what you mean, I started playing like that at first but started using the floating thumb technique after a lesson with a guy.[/quote] I'm still slightly annoyed 'cos that's how I used to play until I started having lessons a long while ago where the teacher advocated an anchored thumb. I'm sure it wouldn't take much practice to switch back again though.

I've just seen that they do small active cabs. I wonder if I could justify having an active 1x12 to go with my EBS Microbass II. That would be ridiculously portable.

I'd love to turn up to a funk gig with one of those

I love the look. Always makes me think of Slash in the You Could Be Mine video. "... cold heart-breaker, fit to burn and I'll rip your heart in two..."

I don't have a problem with anyone else listening to them or admiring their bassist's skills. I just wanted to go on the record as saying what I truly think of their music.

Alternative to the Wizards - Bare Knuckle Pickups. He'll do a P bass pickup for you. His website doesn't have anything about bass pickups on it but just email or ring him with your requirements. I'd go hand-wound custom made in the UK, either BKP or Wizard. It's not that I'm overly patriotic or anything - it's just cheaper and you'll get exactly what you're after.

Do all those basses have Delano pickups in them? Interesting. I always vote walnut. It is the sex.

Do you have a PA where you rehearse? If so, you'd have to go into the PA. That's a practice amp plain and simple. If you guys don't have a PA where you rehearse (what do the vocals go through?) then you're buggered. Start saving now! When I was starting out I had a practice amp too - similar wattage. I turned everything up as high as it would go 'cos that was the only way I could hear myself (and even then I couldn't really). It gave out a cool 'this is about to blow up' tone. And it wasn't long before it did.

My cuz uses one for guitar. Sounds great! Haven't tried it on bass yet. Your thoughts?