gjones

I wonder if there's a guy, on a guitarists forum somewhere, moaning about the bass player playing too quietly? Probably not.

Join a wedding band. Bar bands get paid crap money. Edit: of course it depends on where you live. I played a gig in Camden recently (in a bar/restaurant) and our 4 piece were paid £500. Unfortunately I usually gig in Edinburgh, where my band is lucky if we get paid half of that.

Spare pair of underpants.

I've had MIJ 62 reissues and Japanese Squiers. The truss rod adjuster on the 62 reissue, is at the body end of the neck. On the Squiers it's at the headstock end. Serial numbers should be on the heel of the neck if it's a MIJ Jazz.. The Squiers have the serial number under the logo as your bass does. Both Squiers and MIJ reissues have the grounding strap going from the bridge to the rear pickup. Both the Squiers and reissues are great basses . The main difference between the two is the selling price. A 90's Japanese Squier would usually go for about £250. A MIJ 60's reissue would go for about £450.

Another one with Al Brown playing on it. This is a great one to play along with to get up to speed with your swang thang. http://youtu.be/e_VfEiLQMG0

Get this album and play along with it. If you can play everything on this album 'with feeling' you be able to play 'The Blues' and then some. I've been playing Blues for over 25 years, with some great bands but it was only when I listened to this album that I really got it. Notice how behind the beat the rhythm section is on this track. That's Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith doing his thing. It gives it a real dragging feel, which is a distinct feature of Chicago Blues. There's plenty of Blues bands in Scotland. I recommend Blues 'N' Trouble, The Nimmo Brothers, King King, The Jensen Interceptors and any band with Al Brown playing in it (Glasgow based guitarist) Muddy Waters 'Deep Down in Florida', from Hard Again. [media]http://youtu.be/dzLB4xAY10Y[/media] Al Brown [media]http://youtu.be/LIRUsYR2Ius[/media]

If you want a bit more volume,GK MB500 amps are very loud. I used to have a TC 450 classic and didn't like it much (no low mid). I play both Jazz and P through my GK and they both sound great.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1478993494' post='3173251'] Why is being a Screw a dead end job? I think you are being a bit disingenuous there. [/quote] It won't get him laid.

A great songwriter can make the simplest, off the shelf, chord structure, into a great song.

This is my experience with a Eminence Kappa driver I fitted to my old Ashdown cab http://basschat.co.uk/topic/190368-barefaced-compact-vs-b-stock-speaker-in-dodgy-ashdown-combo/

The passive output on my J retro is not as loud as the active but is pretty strong. The last time I had problems with my pickups sounding weak it was because I had wired them up out of phase. It might be worthwhile checking your wiring.

[quote name='Surrpaul' timestamp='1478684346' post='3170833'] My covers band, like most I assume, get requests all the time from punters. We try our best to add some to our set if we think it'll benefit us long-term, as most fit into the genre of music we mostly play. Until Country was requested... We get asked for Cash all the time. Every gig almost it seems, so we've decided to go for Folsam Prison Blues. Its dead easy, pretty much E A B7 throughout, and whilst I am comfortable playing the original bass lines in the song, I can't embellish it the way I want to. I want it to be an authentic 'fill' when I do it. Some quick web searches throw up chromatic elements to scales but I want something in particular to make country music fans go "oh man, that bass line was sweet there". My question, what would you do, specifically, to provide a quick fill/flourish to colour the dull monotony of the percussive element to the bass line in the song? [/quote] Slap bass solo?

There is a certain age, beyond which, it is embarrassing to play, in public, in a dodgy band. Find a better band, with better musicians.

Macy Gray 'Why didn't you call me'. It's definitely Blues and it's funky too. I could hear Robert Cray covering it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHaz1foH1cc Same goes for Duffy's 'Mercy'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ZEVA5dy-Y

Charles & Eddie 'Would I lie to you?' http://youtu.be/G_UXvcr22rM

a few years ago I sold a bass on basschat which had dodgy wiring (which was unknown to me at the time I sold it). The buyer, a trusted member of basschat, messaged me and made me aware of it within a couple of days of receiving it. I immediately gave him a refund of the cost of repair. If he had got in touch 2 months later, I would probably have told him that the bass was no longer my responsibility and the cost of repair was down to him.

I bought a Fender TV15 combo from them a few years ago. It was about £100 off the normal price so I thought I'd got a bargain. when it arrived it was clear that it was a demo model, as there was marks on the tweed covering. I was philosophical about it, as I had paid £600 for a £700 amp, the marks were superficial and it worked fine, so I didn't bother returning it. The problem I had with GAK, was that they hadn't made me aware that the amp was B stock on their web page. I would have been well within my rights to return it and ask for a new amp - if I felt inclined. Ever since that time I have been very wary of using GAK to buy new gear. I'd much prefer to use Thomann, as their customer service is excellent.

I tend to go with the singer. I play in a lot of trios, where the guitarist is also the singer. If they make a mistake I'll go with them.

It took me a long time to figure out it was the cab that was the most important element when playing live. Cheap instruments can be worked on but you can put a five grand bass through a dodgy cab and it will sound like you just picked it out of a skip. Don't skimp on the cab kids!

I bought a hydrive 112 which puts out 300 watts at 8 ohms. It is significantly quieter than both my Ashdown 115 and my Barefaced compact. The barefaced is significantly louder than either the Hartke, or the Ashdown.

The change in tone you can get with varying where you set your volume, is more apparent when recording than playing live,I feel.

Playing, with the new drummer in the band, makes me feel like the rhythm section is a train powering down the track. The old drummer was so lacking in groove,or any musical empathy, I felt like I was dragging a dead whale behind me, over a landscape littered with huge boulders.

A Wal MK 2 is the only bass that I have ever stopped and spun around, mid conversation, at a sound check in Whistlebinkies and went 'What the hell is that bass!'.

I never experience any woolliness from the Ashdowns I've owned. The Ashdown cans might be a bit undefined but the amps are fine.

This has got me thinking. I was asked to join a band recently and I didn't ask any of these questions. If the set list is sh*t but they make big bucks I can compromise. If the set list is great and the money is sh*t I can compromise. But if the set list is sh*t and so is the money......nah!