gjones

I've bought many a part from Stratosphere. Usually when my patience has snapped and I can't wait any longer for the part to come up on Basschat. They can be expensive when you factor in postage and import tax.

I have a vague recollection of breaking one at a gig decades ago. I carry spares though. I snapped one, tuning up at home, about 10 years ago.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1471539993' post='3113847'] Depends on the gig, for me it would be a "big deal" and unprofessional. Blue [/quote] A bass is a very simple instrument, it won't explode into a million pieces. Any emergency can be sorted with a set of screwdrivers. My pickups are connected, via solderless terminals, to the wiring loom. So no soldering required. In my 35 years of gigging, I've never needed to make a quick change because of a failing/broken bass. On the other hand, my guitarist broke 4 strings on his guitar the other day, during 3 different songs - two during the same song. Which necessitated an amazing 3 minute bass solo from yours truly (by the end of which, I bet the audience wished he'd brought along a second guitar )

Ive played at least 1000 gigs and never had anything major go wrong with a bass. I carry tools to repair any electronic issues. What's the worst that could happen? The rest of the band would have to go on without me. Big deal.

I play with pro musicians and do pro level gigs but have to have a day job to keep my head above water. The fully pro musicians I know manage to scratch a living but only just. Most are guitarists/vocalists and make the majority of their money doing solo gigs. Some also teach. A band gig is a luxury for them, as although a band will get a bigger fee, it has to be split 4/5 ways.

Make sure you have a blend control.

[quote name='fluffo' timestamp='1469983505' post='3102459'] [center]I've been thinking about buying a cheap Jazz bass, I have to real high end basses but fancy a Jazz.[/center] [center]So far I've come up with Squire VM/Affinity ect basses, LTD J204/214 the Sire Marcus Miller and The Revelation Jazz bass.[/center] [center]Lets hear your opinions and experiences, fire away.[/center] [/quote] There's a nice Japanese, Silver Squier, bass on sale on BC at the moment. Very nice, well put together basses. Edit - Actually there's two....

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1468844146' post='3093676'] In a nutshell - should you ask for payment before or after the set? We've done a few weddings before but always for someone we've known. This Saturday we're playing a wedding without knowing the lucky people beforehand. So far the groom has been the contact and he's been flakey to say the least - we were actually recruited quite late in the day for reasons unknown - either the previous band pulled out or maybe he's just spectacularly disorganised! We've been given a small deposit but aren't sure how to proceed with the rest of the payment. The rest of the band are insistent on money upfront or we don't play but I'm worried that could come across as confrontational. [/quote] I played a wedding, for an exceedingly rich banker, whose daughter was getting married. The wedding was held in a marquee, in the grounds of his estate. By the end of the night the drummer, whose band it was, had to hunt him down, wake him up (he'd gone to his bed by then, drunk) and get him to write out the cheque then and there. To avoid that kind of scenario, tell the groom you need the rest of the money when you arrive at the venue.

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1468869091' post='3093943'] GK MB500...... Played a festival yesterday to 15k people...... plenty of volume through the 2 x 2x12" Aguilars for on stage monitoring. What else do you need? [/quote] My MB500 is extremely loud, punchy and extremely light.

Carol will occasionally put photos of royalty payment, documentation up on her facebook site, as proof of what iconic tracks she's played on in the past. Such as this..... [attachment=224532:13118847_991532104257630_2197201859138249044_n.jpg]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1469624037' post='3099809'] The cheapest rig I could take out would still cost £5k to replace but that isn't the reason I wouldn't play dives. I don't play them because they ARE dives...not because I wouldn't take my kit there. I wouldn't take ME there But.... this also opens up other issues which you can get caught up in. I've taken a few dates to help out a mate and so I'm finding that their booking criteria and mine are way way apart. If you dep... at what point do you decide not to do a gig and for what reason.. Might be another Topic.. I have what I have because I see the need to have it... it gets used because I want that on the gig. Fortunately, there is quite a bit of cross over in my basses and the way they are set up..and also the Amp/cabs so they should be pretty interchangeable. They are tools and they'll be used on the gig I take. The question is more whether I should take the gig in the first place [/quote] I played a gig in Dundee recently, where the regulars were living examples of the failure of 'Care in The Community' and where, when I attempted to use the lavatory facilities, somebody had done a sh*t in the urinal. Just in case your depping takes you to sunny Dundee, The place is called the Artic Bar. I recommend you pack a crowbar (the bass you take is up to you).

[quote name='deanovw' timestamp='1469536953' post='3099092'] And there is the problem. Oh, and some of the places I play are smaller than a small thing. [/quote] Well in that case I think you should get TWO!!!! Now lets get serious. Have you ever tried to get an 8x10 up 3 flights of stairs, on your own? Have you ever tried to pick up an Ampeg valve head (I 'tried' to pick up a SVT VR head once. I didn't realise, at the time, it weighed 6 stone. I thought it had been bolted to the ground) ? Do you have roadies?

This is the bit I don't like... '[i]● We also monitor the noise from a number of other locations outside the marquee on an hourly basis to determine if the level of noise is too much (ie. is traveling to our neighbours). While using the decibel monitor is useful some music or vocals travel more than others so please bear with us if we ask you to turn down certain aspects.'[/i] Bass frequencies travel. There's nothing you we can do about that. This means that 200m from the venue, all you can probably hear is bass. If you turn down only the bass, in reaction to this, then within the performance area the band mix will be altered and the bass will probably just disappear. What needs to happen, in these circumstances, is that the whole band needs to turn down, not just the bass. Then the band mix in the venue may be quieter but at least it will be balanced.

I recently bought a Jazz Bass body from Ebay which had Wilkinson pickups fitted. I wasn't interested in the pickups and planned to replace them with some Fender USA pickups, or whatever, but after fitting a neck to the body, I was really pleasantly surprised. I've owned a lot of Jazz basses but IMO, these these pickups sound superior to any others I've had the experience of using (USA & Japanese). Such a lovely punchy sound, with some sweet (not harsh) highs. I've played them through a John East J retro and just a normal passive loom and they sound great active or passive. They are Alnico with waxed cotton wires. They cost about £40 for the pair. Real classy, classic sounding pickups which won't break the bank.

Learn to play tuba? James Jamerson on Tuba anyone? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oBc5mHNFBg

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1468889557' post='3094129'] Finding out there were multiple personal changes happening. In other words you really wouldn't be joining the band you thought you were. Blue [/quote] Yes this happened to me. The talented ones left just as I arrived. They went on to form their own band and joined the UK tour of a No 1 selling act as support. Talk about bad timing.

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1468737831' post='3092912'] (grin) Turned up at a session yesterday with my charts, preamp, favourite cans, leads....left the bass at home! The only one they had in the studio was this wesley jazz copy with just the bridge pickup. Left behind by a guitarist and never reclaimed, apparently! After re-fitting the A string (wound the wrong way and jumped out of the nut slot all the time) I used it to do two 50s style rock and roll tracks. A ballad and one that moved. Same experience as you - turned the tone full off, volume 3/4 up and it worked for both songs. Nobody was more surprised than me! Maybe we have all been looking at it from the wrong perspective all these years! [/quote] Ooops, I have done the same thing, in the past, embarrassing isn't it?

They say it's what the Road worn is based on. You can get the nitrocellulose version too.

Mex Classic 60s Jazz?

Phil Lynott played an Ibanez Blazer for a while. I didn't know he played a Yamaha. Paul McCartney played a Yamaha live for a while.

Fed up being the one in the band, whose name everyone forgets? Now it's your turn to shine! Guaranteed to get you laid, or your money back! [media]http://youtu.be/n5gtluPTPq4[/media]

They fart usually.

If the speaker has blown it would fart. It's more likely that a fuse has blown somewhere between the amp and the speaker. Some speaker cabs have a little bulb (you can sometimes see them lighting up the inside of your speaker cab) which will blow to protect your speaker. I would do some googling on an Ampeg forum and get the screw driver out to search for fuses, either on the board, or between amp and speaker, if I were you.