gjones

I've owned : ashdown abm 500 T.C. electronic classic 450 Fender TV 15 Ashdown Mibass 550 GK mb500 Of them all I liked the GK mb500 best. It's clean,punchy and it's loud. It is also as light as a feather. A worthy mention should go to the Hartke ha550. Which I've never owned but always liked the sound I've got while playing through them. They are pretty cheap new and a steal second-hand.

[quote name='anzoid' timestamp='1496689605' post='3313255'] Hmmm, interesting, have honestly (in 27 years of bass playing) never seen frets like that. Do you notice much of a difference from your Fenders when you play the Mighty Mite? [/quote] Not really but it's a very comfortable neck with a nut size a little bit slimmer than a normal P bass. Probably 70's sized as it was made in the early 80s.

[quote name='anzoid' timestamp='1496665943' post='3313047'] Don't think I've ever seen a bass before that actually had flat frets... is that original or has it been done afterwards? [/quote] I checked mine, which are very fat, low, flat, frets. Very different to the frets on my Fenders which are high and narrow.

I'll check out the frets when I get back home. All I know is that 30 odd years after I bought it and 1000 gigs later, the frets still have plenty of life in them.

The last time somebody came up on stage, with some random song request, I just screamed at him to 'f*** off!'. Shouting 'f*** off!' at people is not, normally, in my character. But if you are so ignorant as to clamber on stage and shout in my face while I'm playing, you deserve everything you get. He turned around and tootled off with a downtrodden look and his tail between his legs. I felt so bad about it that, after we had finished our set, I tried to find him and apologise. unfortunately, by then he had left. I hope my response hadn't traumatised him too much.

I know your sax player, Peter, from years back. He used to offer the blues band, I was in at the time, gigs around the Edinburgh/Dalkeith area. The only stipulation was, that he played the gigs with us. Well we didn't need, or want, a sax player in the band.....but we did want to do those gigs. So we agreed to his terms and he tootled along on the sax while we played the gigs and he got his cut of the fee. I figured out that he had been going around bars, that put on live music, and getting gigs for a non existent blues band (he wasn't a member of a band at that time). Of course he then had the problem of finding a band he could do those gigs with.......which is when he called us (he may well have done these gigs with other bands when we weren't free, I don't know?). I think he has probably realised that ska bands have a limited attraction to music bars and what they really want is rockier bands with wailing guitar solos. The fact that rock bands don't have saxophones in them, is only a problem when the band is not your band, and you aren't the one getting the gigs (as in reality no rock band is going to hire a sax player) He will be doing that same with this new band, as he did with us way back when - i.e. if you want to do the gig, you have to have him playing sax.

These are few and far between. In the 1980s the original Mighty Mite (The US company) created these really nice basses. The US built parts were shipped over to the UK and assembled by Peter Cook (John Entwistle's bass builder/luthier). I own one that I bought back in 1984 and it's a really lovely bass. Mine has bound edges and is sunburst. The electronics are top notch and the pickups sound fantastic. The nut on mine is 42 mm and the neck has really nice rolled edges. I'd buy this myself if I didn't already have one. Definitely worth the £250 he's asking (they originally cost £425 in the 80s which wasn't cheap back then). [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Early-1980s-Mighty-Mite-Rock-II-Bass-Peter-Cook/311884030795?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D43782%26meid%3D42231d43f0d54b39997bcd3f6b1c4b71%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D162533219667"]http://www.ebay.co.u...%3D162533219667[/url] If you do buy it, I recommend asking the selling if the truss rod works ok as, after 30 odd years, mine has seized up.

I've been in a band where repeated rehearsals never got the band anywhere, due to lack of musical ability (except for me of course!). And I've been in a band who never rehearsed but managed to put on a decent show, because the individual members were talented and experienced. The second band irritated me the most, because we had the ability to be so much better if we just put a bit of work into the songs but the band leader was a lazy sod.

The original Ibanez Prometheans are rare beasts. I also remember the days when Barefaced Compacts were few and far between; they'd be sold, within about 10 seconds, after they were posted up for sale. But that was before Alex figured out, that creating 'The only cab you'll ever need', was an extremely bad business model.

Top of my list would probably be one of the new Fender Rumbles. They are cheap, loud and very light. I'm sure you could get a 500 watt one for £350 secondhand. I played through the 100 watt version and it kept up with a drumkit pretty well. I'm sure there are many satisfied Rumble owners on Basschat, who will agree.

I really like this version of Senor Blues, by Taj Mahal. The bassline was originally played on piano, in the Horace Silver version. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpPXgjsjgAw[/media]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1495732939' post='3306243'] If you have an old set of strings on, simply taking them off and putting then back on again can make them sound brighter. I guess it's the same phenomenon as this, just without the slapping! [media]http://youtu.be/s8OYeN9mAL4[/media] [/quote] I have been saying this for years but everybody thought I was just iNsANe! Edit: Well of course, I am insane......but it still works.

I left a band once because of the bar they played in. It was in 'Trainspotting' territory, full of hookers and junkies and someone threw a full pint at us just as we were about to start. I had a vision of myself being stabbed,and bleeding to death in the adjacent alley, if I ever played there again. The band went back for another gig the next week, without me. I asked the drummer how did it go and he said somebody got glassed for wearing the wrong football shirt and another guy got clubbed unconscious, with the heavy end of a pool cue. One of my better decisions I think.

The Kinky Jazz Kittens?

Many years ago my band auditioned a guitarist. He set his stuff up and we jammed along nicely but I noticed that he was playing just very fast, flashy lead guitar. So I said to him 'Your lead is great. Why don't you try out a bit of rhythm guitar now? This song is in E major.' He said 'How would I do that?'. I said ' Eh, play an E major chord?'. He said 'I don't know how to'. I looked at him in amazement and then, after lifting my jaw off the floor, showed him how to play an open E chord on his guitar. Just in case you were wondering............he didn't get the job.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1495329807' post='3303031'] You guys still have hippies? Blue [/quote] Crusties is the new term.

Bonham and Jones were big fans of Motown. The bass and drums in the solo of the Lemon Song are awesomely funky. The quiet second solo especially. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyhu2ysqKGk[/media]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1495304156' post='3302881'] Weather permitting, I'm supposed to be playing guitar with my band at a private outdoor party organised by hippies. There will be some sort of sound system and generator, though it's a complete unknown quantity. It's in a location you can't get a vehicle right up to, so I'd imagine it will be a little portable setup, and there's unlikely to be a proper stage. Sounds pretty dodgy, right? I'm a bit wary of running my usual valve combo on this kind of supply, since the grounding might not be done properly and the voltage and AC frequency might vary. The only solid-state setup I have is my small bass rig of a GK MB200 and 1x10 cab. It seems like the switch-mode supply of the GK is less likely to be stressed by power supply variations, and it might feel less risky, it's a bit lighter to carry too, but it's kind of squeaky clean for guitar. Which way would you go in these circumstances (other than not doing the gig)? Any other tips for coping in this situation are also welcome. [/quote] Interestingly, not long ago I played a gig in a big old tent, powered by a shonky generator, in the middle of a muddy field. The generator kept on cutting out, for a few seconds, intermittently, which resulted in both the lights and my digital amp head, switching on and off throughout the gig. The guitarist and the harmonica player, in the band, both had valve amps and they weren't affected in the slightest. I can only think that the big capacitors in the valve amps stored enough electricity to keep the amps running during the breaks in current. So if the gig is rescheduled, take the valve head instead of the GK as, according to my experience, it will deal with a dodgy power supply better than a solid state amp.

I have owned my original PJ bass for 33 years. It's in bits at the moment, as I've chopped and changed necks and pickups but it will live again, in the not so distant future.

If you have to tune down for one song and can't be bothered to do it during a set, then the capo could be used to play in normal EADG then when you remove the capo...Abracadabra....you're in drop down tuning. Replace the capo and you're back to normal tuning. I've never done it but it sounds very feasible.

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1495183660' post='3301878'] This meter reader = idiot. Smart Meters: There was a program on radio 2 Jeremy Vine about these. They all have a compatibility problem from one supplier to the next. They don't work properly and the program highlighted several customers being overcharged by thousands as a result. (although they did get it sorted out). One expert they had on said the tech was already out of date and it would be too expensive to upgrade the whole network so that they would work satisfactory so the whole concept as it stands is flawed. So really its a "Not so smart meter." [/quote] But if you don't pay your bill on time, they can change your meter to a prepayment meter at the touch of a computer keyboard. They can also set the bill on it remotely. No more need to bother with warrants or locksmiths to enter your property and change your meter. Just one day your electricity or gas will switch itself off and you'll get a payment card in the post. And people though it was all to do with lowering energy usage and accurate readings...........yeah that'll be right.

Demand a discount!

I think you're right. The back of the machineheads are identical https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/?iid=112402724177&&&adgroupid=33676502101&rlsatarget=pla-270397365723&abcId=893836&adtype=pla&merchantid=114889302&poi=&googleloc=1007326&device=c&campaignid=707291931&crdt=0&chn=ps

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1494633958' post='3297551'] There was a thread about the futility of taking a spare bass to gigs on here but I can't find it now, and I recall that some people suggested you could take it as far as taking a spare amp if you were really paranoid. At tonight's gig I had a brand new amp delivered to my house shortly before I left to drive to the gig. I tested it while the guy from the shop watched. I decided to take my old amp as well. The new amp lasted about 30 seconds into the first number before losing all power. I was able to swap it over for the old one (same speaker, power and speaker cable) and continue. Had I not had a spare amp in the car, it would have been a disastrously short gig! I was using a Fender Jazz bass, bought new last March, for the gig tonight. During the between sets break, it was in a Hercules stand when I saw stand and bass fall into the drum kit. No one was near it at the time, and the fall left some damage to the fingerboard and left the G string unplayable due to it hitting a cymbal. Again, the gig was saved because I had a spare Precision with me. I think the only things not duplicated in my gig kit now are speakers and me! [/quote] You should bring a spare bassist next time.............accidents do happen

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1494450496' post='3296172'] I know this is a different performance: ... but as a member of the audience, would you feel cheated that the band clearly aren't playing live? [/quote] Why do you say that? The bass player looks like he has a wireless wotsit in the jack and the guitarists have leads.