GarethFlatlands

Played guitar for 3 years, got a bass ('99) after borrowing a friends and realising it was fun. Spent years learning to play along to records both by ear and tab from the web. Joined a series of bands (starting '01) before learning any theory (about '07) and wished I'd done it years earlier. Now spend time trying to improve my ability to come up with interesting lines rather than how to shred.

I started playing in the early/mid 90's so saw Flea play and immediately wanted an MM Stingray for many years. I've still never played one! They seem to hold their value far too well and I don't think I've seen one come up for a price that I could justify spending, especially not a blind buy on the internet.

Nothing more than £400 bass wise, I've got 2 COG pedals I didn't strictly need but I get a nice gooey feeling inside supporting a local gear maker and of course the pedals themselves are excellent.

I've got to the stage where I'm happy with my skill level, I can pick up and play the majority of lines I'm asked to learn or come up with and the rest can be either nailed with some practice or in rare cases, simplified. I'm still toying with the idea of working my way through "The Evolving Bassist" purely to improve my improv skills but that's about it. I'd rather come up with interesting lines than play in a flashy way 99% of the audience won't care about!

[quote name='sykilz' timestamp='1474575645' post='3139001'] Thought my £150 Yamaha BB would be among the cheapest, but apparently I've been gigging a vastly overly expensive bass !!!! [/quote] Same here, never thought I'd see the day I felt like a fancy bastard with my £160 Ibanez! Edit for spelling. It's late.

[quote name='Iain' timestamp='1474652784' post='3139691'] Most Rush songs... [/quote] I used to think I was a decent bassist until I tried learning YYZ....

[quote name='AlexDelores' timestamp='1474314051' post='3137097'] When I was Younger I really struggled to hit the second run on the intro for around the world by RHCP . [/quote] Same! It always felt like there's the wrong number of notes to fit in somehow. The verse was fine which is odd as it's all over the board and there's a lot of quick fills but I got it fairly quick. The intro still eludes me but I stopped being a fan and haven't tried their stuff in years. [quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1474360990' post='3137322'] Strangely enough, Its The Beatles 'Come Together' that irks me. While its not difficult to play, I cant get that slide up to the top D to sound smoothly. [/quote] I switched to playing the starting D on an open string rather than what I assume is the proper way on the low E. Gives you a little more breathing room in terms of the slide and you don't have to worry about muting the note going into it but I agree, it's a simple line but oddly tough to get sounding right.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1474293795' post='3136881'] Bloody Rhythm Stick. It needs regular practice or I can't pull it out the bag. At all. So dang tricky! [/quote] I think I'd need months of practice for that one! Very quick and busy, I can imagine it sounds terrible if you stray off course as well. Fantastic line, I might give it a try.

I've been doing the usual thing over the years of hearing a random song, thinking I like the bassline and then sitting down to learn it. It's thrown up a few interesting surprises in the form of a couple of basslines that I feel should be well within my skill range but can't nail. I Want You Back by Jackson 5 - Most of it's fine but I just can't do the double time section in the middle 8. Seems like it needs a pretty big stretch and I can't move between the phrases without a lot of small, fast hand movements and I lose it pretty fast. Roundabout by Yes - The main riff! It's such a great riff but the fast mutes on the A and D strings throw me. It's one of those where I can play it slow but can't get near the recorded speed. I'm sure there are more but those 2 spring to mind.

Apart from swapping between patches and re-naming stuff, it's very easy to use. If you were closer you'd be welcome to try mine out but the closest I've ever been to Amsterdam was Heerlen. I love Calvin and Hobbes too, I'm tempted by the hardback complete collection but it's pretty expensive still. I might treat myself for Christmas.

Ah, might not be for you then. It definitely sacrifices quality for quantity as per most Line 6 stuff. And yeah, the double press and then moving up and down patches during songs isn't easy. The gap between the buttons is just a fraction wider than my tiny feet so I have to come at it from an odd angle. Fine if you use 1 sound per song and can set it up but not great otherwise.

Line 6 M5? Contains a bunch of modulations including a few chorus sounds and a uni vibe, holds 25 presets and runs off a standard 9v connector. A lot of them are just OK but there's a few gems in there. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T-imUtypPg"]https://www.youtube....h?v=3T-imUtypPg[/url]

The only one I've tried is a Harley Benton GA5 which is essentially a budget Epiphone Valve Junior. Mine has also been heavily modified for high gain and is still pretty loud and I'm not sure what the stock models are like. I'm sure someone will suggest a Blackstar and I have to say, I've liked every amp I've heard from them so far. Is it just for home practice and what kind of tone are you after?

I believe Fenders have wider string spacing as some pickup makers offer F spaced options to accommodate the extra width so my suggestion would be a Fender. Maybe something like a Telecaster, the Baja tele I tried had a fat neck which didn't suit me but you might like better. Should be great for blues/rock.

Grabbed a cab by the castors (it was upside down), the wheels on one of which spun round and trapped my left hand index finger. Obviously this was about an hour before a gig and I had to try and not use it which was tricky. I also used to play with a very short strap and smacked myself in the face and head a few times taking the bass off.

Furthest I've done in my current covers band is Sheffield - Leicester which AA Route Planner says is 1h 25 but I hit Leicester in rush hour... Didn't get home until the wee hours but got about 50% more cash and it was an excellent, well attended gig. I wouldn't do it regularly as I'm permanently exhausted these days and hate driving with a passion so the stress and the full day to recover isn't worth it for me.

The guitarist in my band uses a Hot Rod Deluxe, really impressed by the sound for it's size.

[quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1472909703' post='3125284'] bought and sold several items on [url="http://www.thefretboard.co.uk"]www.thefretboard.co.uk[/url] with no issues. similar kind of forum to here and good deals to be had! [/quote] Thanks, I'll take a look and stay well away from the rest of the classifieds so I don't feel the need to buy anything else.

Thanks, good to know it's not just a matter of where you post it for other people too. A small local shop offered to sell them for me with no charge on the basis that having them in the window would get people through the door but it kind of felt like that was taking advantage. I'm considering letting them do it but insisting they take a % of the sale.

Bias control to give you the option of tight and focused to farty velcro fuzz and anything inbetween.

I have a mildly silly collection of guitars considering how much I actually play these days and am looking to offload a couple of guitars. I don't know of any guitar based site as good as BC and my attempts on Facebook and Gumtree haven't got any results. Where do you sell your axes, or keep an eye on for new ones? On the off chance anyone's interested, I'm looking to sell a Gordon Smith Gypsy 2 SS and a '98 CIJ Fender Jazzmaster, both of which can be seen on the guitar porn thread. Thanks

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1472573510' post='3122259'] I have no idea what year six even is... [/quote] Distant memory says it's the last year of primary school in which case they'd be about 10-11. I knew I wanted to play guitar back then but having to learn to read music just to play 'Little Brown Jug' put me off until I was 15 where I learned tab was a thing and you could get books for albums I actually liked.

I never really felt like a musician until people I didn't know at all or very well started getting in touch to ask me to try out as they'd heard I was decent. No scientific reasoning behind that at all, just a personal thing.

[quote name='Johnny Wishbone' timestamp='1472027920' post='3117734'] Just finalising the custom artwork with Tom and mine will be on its way! [/quote] I hope you asked for a Jar Jar Binks picture just to see his reaction.

[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1471725719' post='3115421'] They're getting a bit rare now. I love it to bits. [attachment=225932:IMG_5457.jpg] [/quote] That looks really cool, love the look of that type of gear that's really understated and doesn't stand out, especially for home use. I got an old radio extension cab and replaced the speaker with a Jensen to use with my Harley Benton GA5 head. I wish I was good at woodwork so I could put the guts of the amp into the cab so it's a nice all in one unit but I don't so it just sits on top.