Franticsmurf

It was no. 9 on my list and may well have made it to the list on another day. As an aside, have you heard the 'Todmobile/Jon Anderson' version?

Yes, well done. Now the fun starts. 😀

1. Wonderous Stories - Yes (Going for the One). First 'proper' rock song/band I got into as a kid. Buying the Yesshows album got me started on my musical 'career' so it will always bring back memories of those early days. 2. Garden of Paradise - Steve Hillage (Rainbow Dome Musick). A great chill-out piece and takes me back to the summer of 86, that glorious pause between college and work when everything is possible. 3. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (Pulse). I was at the gig they recorded for Pulse. This was the first song I sang in a band, and when the audience joined me for the chorus the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. 4. Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel (Any live version). This is a song that never fails to pick me up out of a bad mood. And the pace is just right for walking, so I'd have it blaring as I explored my island, looking for Kate Bush. 😀 5. Golden Air - Sun's Signature. A new one that has rapidly grown on me. A song for watching the sun rise over the endless ocean. 6. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley (Exodus). I climbed Kilimanjaro in 2014 and this was in my head during the final night ascent to the crater rim. I slowed the tempo to fit the relentless plodding pace and kept telling myself every little thing gonna be alright. And it was. 7. Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner. Because on the days when I'm angry at being marooned on my island, I need a soundtrack to be angry to. 8. I'll Find My Way Home - Jon and Vangelis (Friends of Mr Cairo). Apart from the obvious message of the title, this was the song I used to listen to before my 'A' level exams. The one I'd rescue from the waves - probably Wonderous Stories for the specific memories. Book - Lord of the Rings. Plenty to get into there. Luxury - a camera that uses the same power source as the device that plays my discs. Failing that, pen and paper to record my diary. I keep a record of all my treks and travels. Most of my musical choices are songs that generate strong, pleasant memories. I guess that would go some way to keeping me going during my isolation. That and my search for Kate. 😀

Brilliant. Good luck and remember to enjoy it! 😃

I've been in a similar position to the OP, with the singer only agreeing to perform songs that he already knows. Turns out they were from his solo act. Initially not too bad (although frustrating as we missed some good songs) but ultimately it led to other problems as his ego realised he could do anything he wanted. We had all sorts of odd tunes turn up, strange random arrangements of the songs we already did. Eventually, as he was putting no effort in to playing with the band, even his own song choices suffered as he forgot there was a band behind him. The rest of the band walked. The drummer stills says he played Hotel California many times with the singer, but rarely the same version more than once. 😃 To the OP - my point is that the band's reputation suffered as the singer got more of his own way, which equated with poor performances, song choices and ultimately attitude as we became fed up with the situation. We lost venues as a direct result of his attitude. We should have acted sooner but the lure of gigs was strong. A band is a band. A solo artist with a backing band is a separate beast. Everyone has to own the material or the performance is poor.

Quantum bass. The notes I play are right and wrong at the same time unless someone listens to them.

Hi Jacq.

Brief update. Plugged the VI into my B1-4 with studio headphones. Initial setting was an effects free 'Through' patch. No issues with string volume balance. The difference I heard was, like @BigRedX said, the difference between FRFR and bass amp/cab voicing.

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The GBVI was initially bought partly as an experiment (I have small hands and the short scale and string spacing appealed to my ex-guitarist self). It was also to use in a 13 piece, largely acoustic, band who were missing some melody parts. This it does but with the aforementioned drop off in volume. Recently I've been depping in a duo/trio and I can see place for it there, too, filling the sound out with some chords now and again and playing some riffs as required. I think I'll create a pedal board just for it, rather than using the same pedals as the main basses I use. I have an EQ pedal which should be able to compensate for the difference in volume (and I should add that its not a massive difference). Thanks again, all. I find reading all the replies here has set my mind thinking on tangents about solutions, work-arounds and so on. 👍

I get the same comments from the Hulla Band (part time band that just plays for fun and charity gigs). I like to give my basses an airing now and then. Every time I turn up with a different bass, I get the 'New bass?' comment. I have 8 basses and two electric 6 strings. I did have to stop and think for a minute. 😀

Initially TCE BAM200 and TE1x10 cab. One gig was with a supplied TE combo, where the difference was more noticeable but this I put down to it being an unfamiliar amp and I was unable to make proper adjustments to the controls. I hadn't considered FRFR but it's not really an option for similar reasons to the custom pickups as you mentioned above. I will include a run through my recording set up to see if there is a difference. The reality is that when I use the Guitarbass to play bass on the EADG strings it's fine. It's when I launch into the upper registers using the B and E that the issue appears. It is the world telling me to leave the upper registers alone. 😀

Thanks everyone. I've decided to leave well alone. As has been pointed out, to spend anything approaching the value of the guitar on upgrades or other fixes isn't worth it, bearing in mind I'm happy with the overall sound. Any fixes are to satisfy my mild OCD. Besides, there are other toys to spend my money on - now where is the marketplace.... 😀

The photo is centred over the middle pickup and shows the spacing quite accurately. The Low E string sits nicely over it's polepiece above the centre pickup. The other pickups are misaligned slightly. There is some barrel distortion in the photo from the wide angle lens, but only in the horizontal direction. 😃

That makes sense. The drop off isn't huge and may be partly due to EQ, pick-up height or a combination thereof. These are the next things to test. My OCD would allow me to do it but my lack of woodworking skills would render any careful alignment I planned into something that even I couldn't look at without feeling sick. 😀 I think I paid £180 or thereabouts, so it's definitely not worth spending a similar amount for custom pick-ups given the likely amount of use it will get. Thank you all, you've triggered some more ideas for me to look at.

I can hear a drop off in volume between bass and treble strings. It may just be a height adjustment thing - so that will be my next experiment. I assumed that as the high E string and pole piece were so far out, this was the cause.

A month on and I'm still happy with my HB Guitarbass VI. It's been gigged (FOH Engineer: "Who's the bassist?" Me: "Me." FOHE: "But... but..." etc), and it's a keeper. I'm now trying to decide what to do about the misaligned pole pieces on the pickups. I am assuming that there are pickups with the correct spacing for a HB Guitarbass VI out there so option 1 is to replace the originals with suitable pickups. Asking as a pick-up novice, would a simple replacement Strat style single coil pickup work with bass strings? Would a bar pick up be a better option? Option 2 is to dig in with a router to realign the pickups, with the D string pole piece as the 'centred' measure. Any advice, in words of single syllables, would be appreciated. 😃

Welcome to the site.

Welcome to the site.

Two gigs this weekend. 1st set up is for an Eagles tribute band 'The Long Road'. Peavey Minimax 600 into 2x TE 1x10 cabs via a small board (tuner, comp, MS60b with chorus and flange patches and an Eden Glowplug). Main bass was a Fender Player Precision, in the second (non-Eagles) half I used my Sire MM V5. Edit: I was really pleased with the sound from the amp and cabs. Plenty of tight bass, cut through the onstage mix and headroom to spare. Second gig was third man in a duo(!). Dep gig with a range of musical genres and largely unpredictable as the singer/guitarist makes it up as he goes along! So out came the Spirit headless for an airing, along with the same amp and cab combination as above. This time the pedal board was loaded - tuner, comp, chorus, EHX Soul Food, Behinger Tube simulator, Octaver, a couple of filters which I was trying out (went with the Sonicake Crybot) and Eden Glowplug. I was happy with my sound and the headless is so light compared to the others I hardly felt it. And the tuning is so stable - although I checked the tuning several times during the evening, I didn't actually have to tune it at all.

Two gigs this weekend. Friday was the first outing for newly reformed 'The Long Road', playing songs of the Eagles. At the last minute it was revealed by the guy who organised (one of the singer/geetards) it that it was a showcase with two agents attending. We weren't ready for that. We were a 6 piece on a tiny stage, no lights of our own and with a small audience. We played well for a first live outing, but not well enough (IMHO) to showcase what we are really capable of as the band hadn't tightened up. The crowd loved it. Difficult to judge what the agents thought as the feedback was filtered through the organiser, who tends to select comments to suit his own opinions. We enjoyed, there is potential to go forward and the money wasn't bad for a 6 piece. Last night was a semi regular dep with Getting Even, the same singer/geetard as above (he's a mate and we've worked together for years) and a female singer. They occasionally need a third body to fulfill contracts booked as a trio after their original guitarist let them down. It pays for my GAS and I've learnt not to get concerned about the mechanics. I just turn up and play and it's a useful opportunity to try out new pedals etc. The singer guitarist uses a laptop for his backing tracks, the singer uses her phone for tracks and lyrics. Last night the laptop crashed at the start of the 2nd set and the phone stopped working after one song of the same set. No back up options so we played bass 'n' guitar (it'll be a thing before long) versions of cabaret classics. Sound was grim - the acoustic guitar was booming and there was no need for bass on many songs - in fact we chatted about me playing guitar for these gigs as it gives us more flexibility. Despite the negatives I enjoyed both gigs.

Hope you recovery is speedy. But don't rush things - you don't want to aggravate the injury. I wouldn't be without my varifocals now but it did take a couple of days to adjust. Great for staring at the audience and then at the fretboard without having to change glasses. 😬

We used to have an agent whose idea of promotion was a pre-printed poster template with the band/gig details added in marker pen. Occasionally it was red marker rather than black. 🤣

*checks no one is looking - downloads photo - starts to practice pose for inevitable bass solo* 🤣

It looks as if the bass has been Photoshopped in, too?🤣