mep

Hi & Welcome to the forum. I'm from the south west to, just a bit further south & west in south devon. I've done a few gigs in Cardiff some years ago in a Stereophonics tribute band. Can't remember the venue name but was always a blast.

[quote name='JMT3781' post='1084685' date='Jan 10 2011, 07:24 PM']although, when it asks what your main instrument, typically Bass guitar isn't an option... bit crap aint it?[/quote] Judging by the way the BBC dealt with bass players in their series 'I'm in a Rock 'n' Roll Band' that does not suprise me!

I don't know about basses but a radio report highlighted that most price hikes at the time of increased VAT were in excess of 4%

I see Basschat even gets a mentioned in the comments to the first video by muso247! Who is this? Are they a BC'er

[quote name='ian' post='1083563' date='Jan 9 2011, 08:37 PM']well what can i say i have always used drs and other well know brands and looked over rotosounds .but today bought some for £12 and they feel and sound great on my 78 jazz i just wanted to see your thoughts on these strings ?[/quote] You haven't said which ones you are using? I used to use Rotosound rounds years ago but had some issues with the E string so ditched them. After using a few other brands I bought some R45's, the nickel on steel roundwonds without the coloured windings as they were cheaper. To be honest they are pretty damn good for the price. I wanted to try something different from steel roundwounds without going to far - ie flats and these do for me now.

Not something I have though about for a long time. Worth getting to grips with as it really helps. I can imagine it's not easy if new. Good luck.

Get a cheap 4 channel mixer and mix your bass and the music before it gets to the amp. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-INPUT-CHANNEL-MONO-MINI-MICROPHONE-MIXER-DRUMS-PA-SM-/390277588372?pt=UK_Mixers&hash=item5ade5b6594"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-INPUT-CHANNEL-MONO...=item5ade5b6594[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-8-INPUT-2-CHANNEL-MONO-STEREO-MINI-MICROPHONE-MIXER-/350426738849?pt=UK_Mixers&hash=item51970fb0a1"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-8-INPUT-2-CHANNEL-...=item51970fb0a1[/url] Other useful stuff in this guys eBay shop. I can recommend him.

[quote name='silddx' post='1077496' date='Jan 4 2011, 04:45 PM']Despite the sh*t reviews and gear ratings, I LOVE the Scott Thunes interview in the latest one. Much more interesting than the average bassist interview. Thanks so much for that, Mike![/quote] +1. The interview was a great read. [quote name='Sean' post='1077806' date='Jan 4 2011, 08:19 PM']Issue 62, page 70! Alex's column. There's a graph missing with a badly cropped random photo in its place and the graphs that are there don't have their axes labelled. Hopeless.[/quote] I just looked at that page. What a stupid error to make. There are many postings on this thread that show up the editing errors. I almost feel like emailing them. To be fair I think it is pretty obvious from Alex's article that the horizontal axis is Hertz and the vertical axis is Decibels? I think they still have too many high end equipment reviews, and I am getting board at yet another bass scholarship article. They must have an advertising deal going with the institute or something?

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='1077715' date='Jan 4 2011, 07:23 PM']In the 25-odd years I've been using nylon Dunlops, I've yet to break one. They usually get worn out or lost.[/quote] Another +1 for these picks. They do it for me with about a third of our set containing picked rock / pop / punk stuff I'm very comfortable rocking out hard. As mentioned before get the wrist action right as well. Find some good pick excercises and do them as well, don't just blast through songs.

Good to hear your back with it after all those years. You'll also be glad that forums exist nowadays, welcome aboard.

Our son deps on drums. He was due to play on our last gig, but was ill. Our drummer was going to a party. We cancelled in the end as our guitarist had been ill. Unfortunately we don't have deps for our singer or guirtarist. I could get 2 or 3 bassists to dep for me if the need arose. As we are all family men we don't book gigs over half terms, Easter or in August so we can get away without the hassle of cancelling or getting deps for gigs

[quote name='Rich' post='1072254' date='Dec 29 2010, 11:00 PM']JD I have a couple of brass ones too, which I sometimes use. Really dirty sounding.[/quote] And me. I've tried others, but always come back to JD nylon 1mm's

My current band, and a previous one, detune by a half step and play the songs in the same position. Loads of bands have done it or do. As mentioned by posters on this thread most do it to help with the vocals and the guitarist. It works, go with it. GNR did it and if you have to learn any of there songs it will say tune down a half step and it will be written out as if you are in EADG.

Nice. I will try to get mine out when we get some sun.

Next gig is wednesday with a practice on tuesday, so ok so far. Was offered to go to see a gig tonight, but the snow has melted and frozen so going to stay in.

I went down this route on a gig as I couldn't bring my rig, only my Sansamp DI. The PA guy said it would not be a problem with his rig. How wrong he was. The monitor was a 12" with no guts so I could barely hear myself all night, even if I had my own mix which I'm not sure I did. I really missed my rig. Another time my speaker blew mid gig so I quickly DI'd. The only way I could really hear myself was to stand close to the PA bass bins. Don't try this without giving it a go at a practice and you will need your own monitor mix and a nice powerfull monitor system. The monitor needs to be a 15" floor wedge and powered if possible. A big pro PA rig will probably do you justice. Alterantively get some in-ear monitors?

I'm with the others in that I although I like many players tone I never really tried to sound like anyone in particular. I just try to get something I'm happy with. That eternal quest for your pefect tone is something we all strive towards. I must be getting there as at our last gig I was getting plenty of good comments about my sound and how it was sitting in the mix. For me it's been more of a case of creating and devoping my style of playing, which will in the long run help with your tone.

I've been using nickel coated rounds on mine and it has a great feel and great sound.

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1054945' date='Dec 11 2010, 01:39 PM']Beautiful Dangerous by Slash, with Fergie from The Black-Eyed Peas on vocals[/quote] Great vocals. Tricky guitar part. Even our guitarist couldn't get to grips with this one so he didn't offer it as song.

Get another generator to power some on stage heating! The lights alone will not keep you warm.

It's supposed to be a mix where you can hear everybody. Get a independent sound guy to do your PA or offer some advice on mixing. Get your band mates to listen to other live bands and see what it's supposed to sound like. There is no Hierachy on who is the loudest to who is the quietest. The bit about the vocals being the loudest is close to being right as they should be heard over all the instruments.

I have had one for sometime now. I wanted a budget chorus pedal for a couple of songs. I got this from a local music shop. The build quality is not great, but treat it well and it should last for a while. They have gone up in price, as I got mine for £15. The sound is ok and fairly flexible. You pay your money and take your choice. If your budget is low and the use you get out of it in minimal then fair enough, or stump up a few extra quid for another. They are not rubbish and I'll keep hold of mine.

COOL, enjoy!

My copy arrived on Monday. We are clear of any snow and ice down in Torbay and the postal service seems ok, except for a replacement sensor for our Guitar Hero drum kit that took over 2 weeks to arrive - before the bad weather affected large parts of the country. I always enjoy this thread as it rears it's head every month when the latest issue comes out.

I've not used these ones, but other standard wall hangers and have had no issues. As already said, make sure you fix them to something structural like a masonry wall if you can. If the wall you want to fix them to is a stud wall with plasterboard then find out where the studs are (they are usually spaced at max 600mm) and first screw a nice bit of timber (at least 12mm thick) to the wall to at least 2 of the studs, then screw the brackets to the timber.