gjones

[quote name='ras52' post='1069828' date='Dec 26 2010, 09:53 PM']Interestingly it's also got me thinking about head + cab rather than combo. Hitherto I've always considered the combo the obvious route but it ain't necessarily so. I think amps have definitely got smaller/lighter during my sabbatical. Cheers Richard[/quote] You're definitely thinking along the right lines. Combos are ok but if it's portability you're thinking about, an amp head and a lightweight cab are probably the way to go. If you get a head of 500 W or thereabouts you can buy a 1 X 12 cab for smaller gigs and supplement it with another cab at a later date if you need more volume for larger gigs. Check out barefaced cabs. They've got a lot of good reviews on this forum and do a compact 1x15 which is lighter than most 1x12s and compares in volume output with many 4x12 cabs [url="http://www.barefacedbass.com/"]http://www.barefacedbass.com/[/url] I recently bought a Fender TV 15 bassman which is a great retro looking amp but pretty difficult to carry up (and down) 3 flights of stairs to my flat every time I do a gig.

[quote name='gareth' post='1069537' date='Dec 26 2010, 11:52 AM']Better price now [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Daphne-Blue-USA-Fender-70s-Re-Issue-P-Bass-/130468802252?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1e608beecc"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Daphne-Blue-USA-Fend...=item1e608beecc[/url][/quote] Hmmmmm, I saw this the other day and was a bit suspicious. The first link says it was sold for £400 now we find he's still got it and it's going for the price of a classic vibe? Initially I gave him the benefit of the doubt as I know very little about Precisions but now I think he's pulling a fast one.The decal is even in the wrong place it's up far too high under the string retainer. I checked his feedback, he's done this before it seems. I've reported the rat to Ebay.

I would only give up if 1- The bands I was playing with were crap 2- I wasn't enjoying myself. I get so much out of a good gig/rehearsal/recording that I can't ever see myself stopping.

I've gone through phases. But now I've come to the conclusion that If I'm playing bass I should stay away from all that trebly stuff and stick to the low end of the spectrum. The kind of tone I'm aiming for is the bass sound on Drive thru Booty by Freak Power (if you're a bass player and you haven't got this album go out and get it now!) I love Jesse Graham's aka the Bass Cadet's sound and feel. The bass is the soul of that album and wouldn't be half as good without his DEEP sound and fluid funky playing.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1059343' date='Dec 15 2010, 10:04 AM']Jazz bass wiring ... and much, much more. [url="http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/169606-1960-jazzbass-build.html"]http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot...bass-build.html[/url][/quote] Wow, that was an interesting read. A Jazz Bass made from scratch - very impressive. I wonder how much one of his Basses goes for?

Check out ebay.....there's a couple of Mex 70's Jazzers on there for well under your £400 limit.

It depends on the gig. An example would be the last two gigs I did which were with excellent professional musicians who really know their stuff. The band was thrown together at the last minute and we were doing the gigs without rehearsal. I was so looking forward to it I actually got nerves in the 1/2 hr before we got up on stage (me nerves). The first one went so well we got asked back by the venue the next week. I had such a good time my smile had to be surgically removed. As long as the musicians are good and the venue isn't dodgy I look forward to every gig. But as I get older I get pickier. I've refused to play certain venues (because I don't fancy getting stabbed) and I've also declined to play gigs with rotten musicians (I've wasted many a night trying to make iffy drummers sound half decent).

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='1045770' date='Dec 2 2010, 10:41 PM']Ed Friedland gets it right, plays the same Riff 10 times, different pickups, tone settings etc with 3 or 4 techniques.[/quote] As good old Ed Freidland says in this video you can't be a bass hero if you don't play slap. But he never ever gets to play it unless he's doing a bass clinic or while videoing a bass review as the bands he plays with never ask him to play that style. See his words of wisdom on the matter at 1 min 12 secs of this video [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQB8eIEhQeo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQB8eIEhQeo[/url] I'm in the same boat as the blues and alt country bands I play in would look at me as if I was insane if I started slapping. So why is it I've just ordered Ed's slap bass DVD from amazon? Is it because you can't be a proper bass player if you don't play slap? Good question. Answers on a postcard please.

My band have started using Banana Row in Edinburgh which (compared to the doss houses I rehearsed at in the past) is pretty classy. They have acoustic treatment on the walls which makes the bass sound great. It seems all the rehearsal rooms I've used in the past seemed to provide ancient trace elliots in rooms with bare concrete walls which I hated and could never get a good sound out of. This place has Trace combos too but brand new models and they sound pretty good - which I put down to the room as much as the amp.

Aaaaaah it's a sunburst Geddy Lee Jazz! I made a vow that I wouldn't buy one until they brought them out in sunburst.......they've called my bluff! [url="http://magazine.dv247.com/2009/07/14/rush-buy-sunburst-geddy-lee-jazz/"]http://magazine.dv247.com/2009/07/14/rush-...geddy-lee-jazz/[/url]

I haven't yet bought or sold anything on the BC forum yet but scan the marketplace for basses or amps regularly just in case I see something I may be interested in. I like to think people who join BC are genuine enthusiasts and musicians but when people join and from day one start to offload bass after bass I do get suspicious. Why not have one marketplace for occasional sellers and another one for commercial dealers at least that way everybody's cards are on the table and you know who you're dealing with from day one.

[quote name='Linus27' post='1034616' date='Nov 24 2010, 12:08 AM']If you mean me then no, a Gemini.[/quote] I knew it!

[quote name='silddx' post='1034470' date='Nov 23 2010, 09:25 PM']You can make a major key sound sad. There's a deep sense of pathos in your playing. I think you are very self aware and consciously predict how you will react to situations, which takes some of the pleasure out of new experiences and can lead to introspection and lead to your being maudlin. Your playing reminds me of Peter Hook, you understand the power of melody but feel a deep sense of responsibility in life which led yo to play bass instead of guitar.[/quote] Are you a Virgo?

It's an electric guitar with a filter or possibly a wah wah pedal. Of course it could be a stylophone [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkTQsOQLEeU&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkTQsOQLEeU...feature=related[/url] which does sound very like a siamese cat.

All my Fender basses have different sized allen keys.................it's infuriating!

Cliffy from cheers is Fenders secret custom shop relicing weapon. Every time he hits it with his wee wotchamacallit it goes up in price by six thousand dollars. Keep an eye out when it gets to 4.55 [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTi8ISIxX8c&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTi8ISIxX8c...feature=related[/url]

He says that the last thing to be recorded, with the Beatles in the later days, would be the bass. Which meant he could take his time and get it right. I agree.........very underated.

I've played in blues bands for 20 years and am a big fan but that first track was well dodgy. It sounded like something that would have sounded a lot better just played solo on a cheap guitar because it lost the rawness it needed in a band of top of the line session guys with eric playing on a £10,000 Les Paul. The rest of the stuff was pretty run of the mill as well.

Well the Fender 70's classic has a chunkier neck, front to back, than most Jazzes I've tried. Maybe you need a bit more wood to keep it stable because of those mother of pearl inlays. Here's a nice one on ebay, sure is purty [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180581336341&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT[/url]

Any new song should be learned (i.e. chord changes, stops starts, your part) before you get to the rehearsal stage. My advice is to make sure everybody (who needs it) has a chord chart in front of them so they have no excuses for mucking it up and wasting your time. Playing music is fun but it's serious fun and you do need to put work and commitment into it. With a new band I always recommend having a gig booked so that there is a deadline to aim for. The nightmare of making a ballsup in front of an audience baying for blood because you haven't learnt the song properly is usuallly enough to concentrate the mind of the laziest musician.

MIJ Silver series squiers are excellent basses. Since I played a friends 92 jazz bass I was looking for a decent example on ebay and eventually bought one a year or so ago. Sound and build quality are great and it's well worth the £250 I paid for it. Don't know much about the precisions though but I assume they're of a similair quality. Japanese Fenders are never shoddily made.

Doesn't matter what make it is, just make sure it's got a light. I bought a snazzy korg tuner took it to a gig............and I couldn't see it in the dark because it doesn't light up (so totally useless on stage). I'll say it again........it's gotta light up!