gjones

I once bought a Jackson because I saw a guy playing it onstage and it sounded excellent.

It was for sale, so I bought it.

It played really nicely and had a great neck.

But I just couldn't get on with that pointy headstock and it had to go.

....I'm so shallow.

If you really lose the plot, just turn your volume down and dance about. Nobody will notice they can't hear you.

I've done it a few times 😄

I rarely talk about politics with my bandmates. I certainly don't bring up the topic of politics with them. 

I've had sneaking suspicions about some ex bandmates world views but never investigated further - because I didn't want their political views to have an effect on the musical relationship I had with them.

If I did find out they had views that were VERY extreme, I might think twice about playing in a band with them.

The idea of starting your own band sounds like a good one.

42 minutes ago, synthaside said:

I have to say when I know were going to be playing in a place with a rumble 100  I commit to taking my own markbass as it can be frustrating as no matter what i do with the EQ they seem to stay very wooly as the volume goes up , it could be the way it reacts to my active bass rather than a passive fender style one ...  but  i wouldnt say i love the " tone shaping options"

 

I used to have a Fender V3 100 combo and it was great. Extremely light and small, decent EQ, capable of competing with a quiet drummer live and unobtrusive for home practice.

I then bought a Markbass CMD121P and it can do all of the above, as well as the Fender, but it has a better EQ and can really pump out the volume and compete with a loud drummer when playing live.

I would recommend the Fender, because it's cheaper than a Markbass combo (if you're buying second hand or new) and you don't require an amp to pump out the volume, in a biker bar.

4 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I can`t remember details but if I recall correctly I think after a specified period (determined at time of registering or something) music can be used irrespective of the artist? I may have this wrong though. 

I checked with Google AI and it said that copyright generally lasts for the life of the last surviving author plus 70 years.

Up until 2013 it was protected for 50 years. Then Paul McCartney said......'Hold on a minute!' and Keith Richards said  'Oi mate!'.

Well I've played some large gigs, to large crowds, all who have paid for tickets to see us. The bass amp will be provided (usually an Ampeg with an 8x10). we're treated very professionally by the stage crew and we're usually paid reasonably well. The audiences are usually, civilised, appreciative and receptive, which is good. I like those gigs a lot.

On the other hand, I've played some fabulous gigs in, sweaty dives, to a drunken rabble, at 3 in the morning.......  and I really liked those as well.

I think the best gigs are the ones were the crowd is great, the band is rockin' and the onstage sound is excellent. You can't beat that.

3 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Urgh

(Apologies... I know I'm in a rapidly diminishing minority)

I'm in that minority too 🤣

5 minutes ago, Hobbayne said:

To be honest, the singer is a lovely lady, but she is a  singer who sings in the bath, and has no live experience. She answered their ad, but has to read the words off an ipad. 

We did an open mike night recently, and it was a disaster. They are friendly enough and nice folk, apart from 

 the guitarist who  is a monumental bell end. 

It's difficult when you realise a band has no future (especially when you like the people in the band) and you have to bail out. I've done it a couple of times. I recommend asking ChatGPT ,or Grok, how you would write a very diplomatic 'Dear John' letter to your band. I'm sure the AI will come up with something you could use.

Nobody will make much money from AI music, as you can't copyright AI created content (and spotify only pay $0.003 per stream anyway) but the streaming companies will save from having to pay out to record companies and artists, when they stream AI created music. 

Hopefully AI music will eventually be tagged as non human, and that means I won't need to listen to it. 

I suppose artists can incorporate the fact that they are human in the art that accompanies their music (i.e what used to be album covers). So that, if you listen to a track on Spotify, or whatever, and if it doesn't have the word human in the album art, then it's obviously AI generated.

On 19/07/2021 at 20:44, Linus27 said:

Fender Japan everytime.

I've owned a lot of Japanese Fenders (including a Japanese Silver Squier) and every one of them was excellent, including a Precision 57 reissue, which had a lovely shallow neck. I now own a US Elite Precision and I much preferred the neck on the 57 reissue.  By the way, American Fenders are no longer allowed to have Made In The USA stamped on them any longer, as many of the parts are manufactured overseas (maybe all of them, who knows?).

On 14/08/2025 at 19:18, Lozz196 said:

Did try my 3-band eq ‘Ray with the band, just couldn’t get it to work - which in Lozz Speak means I tried to make it sound like a Precision and failed. 

That's my problem too, except I try to get every (non Jazz) Bass I buy, to sound like a Jazz Bass. I should really just stick to Jazz Basses.

I bought a G&L L2500 tribute because I felt I was missing out on something by not playing a 5 string. I have to admit it's a great bass and extremely versatile soundwise but I've never actually needed the 5th string, so stick with my 4 strings.

I bought an Auralex gramma pad, a dozen years ago, when everyone was going on about them. I used it once or twice and, by mistake, ended up leaving it in a pub that I had played in. I was so underwhelmed by the thing, that I never bothered going back to collect it. These days I just put my amp on a chair, or a beer crate.

I bought a Nord string mute, which I have never used live (maybe one day).

I bought a John East J-Retro pre amp.....  and liked it so much I bought another two! 😊

On the other hand...

The guitarist in my band plays through a 15 watt Pro Jnr combo and is still asked to turn down by sound engineers. 

He really isn't that loud.

11 hours ago, EssexBuccaneer said:

Interesting, since my peeve is cables! High quality wireless systems are so affordable I can’t think why anyone wouldn’t have one 😆

At 7.53 in this video the bassist in Lynyrd Skynrd wished that wireless guitar systems had been invented in 1976.

In fact, after this incident, he may have been the person who actually invented them  

Slap bass (mainly because I'm crap at it)

6 string basses (when will you ever play that skinny string - never)

Wireless guitar/bass systems (pointless unless you're in Lynrd Skynrd, or plan to crowd surf while playing bass)

Hofner Violin basses 

The band I used to be in, played a regular, well paid gig, in the bar of a 5 star hotel, in Edinburgh. 

One night we were playing to a, very large and appreciative, crowd of Americans. They were on a trip over to Edinburgh, paid for by the bank they worked for.

At the end of the night the President of the bank came up and asked us to play 'one more song'. We told him that the management told us that the curfew was 11pm, for the sake of the residents staying at the hotel. Under no circumstances were we allowed to play after that cut off time.

He replied 'Goddarn it, we ARE the residents!!!!'. 

He had a point....

So we played one more song.

The next day we got an email from the management to advise our contract had been terminated 😢

I used to own a Classic 450. The problem I found with it, was that the low mid control had almost no effect on the sound. 

After I bought it I went back to the shop and tried the display model and the low mid on that had the same issue.

I sold it and bought an Ashdown ABM head, which had a very effective low mid control.

I found that removing the pickguard, then fitting the control plate, and then re-fitting the pickguard usually works. 

It took me a while to figure this method out though, as in the past I've ended up sanding the pickguard to get it, and the control panel, to fit snugly.

Piano/keys are good to have in a band but there has to be discipline to stop the bottom end getting muddy. I would recommend listening to Fleetwood Mac to see how they incorporate both bass and piano, without stepping on each others toes.

Buy them both!

Edit: Most people on Basschat suffer from GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). They'll get the joke

I wouldn't have bothered trying to talk with Pirate, I'd have just called the fire service right away.

They'd confirm the place was safe, or not.

They would then contact Pirate.

Even the master of singing and playing bass has problems sometimes.

2 hours ago, King Tut said:

 

What sort of fretboard radius does yours have? Vintage or modern?

from looking at it I think it's more of a modern radius . There was no radius quoted in the original add. 

On 08/08/2022 at 23:09, Clarky said:

Also the US dollar has appreciated massively vs £ since 2008. $1600 might have translated to £850 back then but today its worth about £1300. 

Yes I recall buying a bass from a guy in the States in 2008, as it was cheaper than buying it from a guy down the road, even with the postage and duty added.

The exchange rate was $2 to the pound back then.