Conan

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1363692339' post='2015843'] Nothing wrong with that is there? The music is what counts, not the instrument. [/quote] For me it's a bit of both. The relative size of the bits depends upon the bass and the music. But no, it's not "wrong"... just a bit surprising to me personally!

No mentions for Stan the Man? (Clarke, obviously...) Or Julian Crampton? Less swagger than some, certainly - but more charisma in the little fingers than some of the "faux Coltranes". Another great band name there BTW...

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1363691360' post='2015813'] Playing bass and NOT gigging is a concept I don't understand. When I stop gigging I’ll probably never play bass again. [/quote] How bizarre. So you have no love for the instrument itself? It is merely a tool of your trade?

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1363687821' post='2015711'] There are plenty of whores and clowns whose fingers now find the right note but don't know what they're playing. [/quote] Fixed.

[quote name='SpaceChick' timestamp='1363674434' post='2015515'] I was told to have something salty and to eat bananas[/quote] Or just salty bananas! Now there's a good name for a band....

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1363681400' post='2015564'] Pick a bass because it looks, sounds and plays how you want it. Don't worry about what it's made of. [/quote] ^This.

I haven't seen them since the Signals tour. And I have a feeling in my water that this might be their last UK tour, so I'd like to see them again for that reason alone. I'm not a big fan of their more recent stuff, and the thought of an orchestra on stage fills me with dread.... but what the hell. It's in the school holidays, and we have free accommodation available down the M8 in Edinburgh, so I have no excuses really!

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1363678953' post='2015536'] You'll only get better in a band mate. Bass is pretty pointless and can be boring outside of a band. [/quote] Hmmmm, not sure I agree with that. If you play your bass for your own enjoyment (because you like the sound and feel of it) that can hardly be described as "pointless" IMO. And it needn't be boring either!

I think she's great. I also fancy her. Does that make me a bad person? Oh sorry - is she the one on the right? I must have been looking at Jeff Beck then...

[quote name='Prunesquallor' timestamp='1363681505' post='2015565'] As for 'old' vs 'older', even mid-period stuff is now decades old. I just hope they do lots of stuff from Permanent Waves - Moving Pictures - Signals. That was MY Rush. [/quote] I'd love to hear "Here again". But I'm not holding my [s]fire[/s] breath...

Despite agreeing with everything WoT has said, and strenuously insisting that I would never pay these stupid ticket prices.... I am going to Glasgow to see them!

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1363651323' post='2015449'] After seeing that lovely Status above, maybe I just need some LEDs! [/quote] Only if they are black ones!

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1363679410' post='2015543'] that bloke from Rush who looks like an IT technician. [/quote] Hmmmm, you may be onto something there... Geddy sporting a rather interesting bass-shaped erection there.

[quote name='ingmar808' timestamp='1363656189' post='2015491']With electric guitars and basses, a magnetic pickup converts the vibrations of a metal string into a tiny electrical signal. So, how can the type of wood influence the quality of this signal? [/quote] Or, to approach it from a different direction, why would it not?

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1363619751' post='2014820'] My newest bass is ridiculously black[/quote] Agreed! Needs black strings though.... and colour in the dot markers with a pen... (a black one, obviously). [quote name='Schnozzalee' timestamp='1363623396' post='2014895'] If it's completely black you can't see what it is,[/quote] I think you are confusing the colour black with a "somebody else's problem" field... [url="http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Somebody_Else"]http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Somebody_Else's_Problem_field[/url]

Cool. Mos' def.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1363608086' post='2014572'] Never been in a band that was paid before playing nor played a venue where that was the common practice with other bands. [/quote] Me neither, but I can certainly see the value in it! Saves all that embarrassed hanging around at the end of the night when all the staff are telling all your mates to f*** off home but strangely are too busy washing glasses when you ask for your wages...

If you buy a bass it is your property and you can play it wherever you damn well like! There are (or have been) quite a few members on here who have, for one reason or another, got pissed off with playing in a particular band (or just bands in general) and stopped doing it. Some then sold their gear because (to them) bass playing means playing in a band and nothing else will do. Fair enough, but not everyone feels that way. I am in a band at the moment, but there has been plenty of time in the last 30 years when I haven't been - due to other commitments such as family, job, sport, etc. But during those times I have still kept and played my basses. Why would I not? I love the instrument and the way it sounds! I am certainly no virtuoso, and haven't played in a bedroom since I moved out of my folks' house!! My practice gear is set up in a downstairs room called the "Chill Room" as that is where I chill! It also has the Hi-Fi and my daughter's piano in it, so in reality I guess "Music Room" would be a more prosaic descriptor. I just enjoy playing bass. Sometimes I practise scales or exercises, but I get bored with that very quickly and then tend to play bass lines - either unaccompanied or along with CDs. Some of those bass lines were written by me as part of various original bands over the years, but often it will be Rush, Level 42, Iron Maiden, Marillion, Prcupine Tree, Stanley Clarke... etc. I'm not bothering anyone! But I would feel rather offended if anyone referred to me as a "bedroom bassist". Somehow it has slightly seedy connotations...

As above. It literally means that all the mid frequencies have been "scooped out". Sounds great at home but gets lost in a lot of band mixes. Slap players still tend to favour a scooped tone (for some reason)...

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1363271551' post='2010784'] somebody once said: "Start with a good one, end with a good one; the audience will never remember what came in between". [/quote] Great advice! It is always really satisfying at the end of the night when you are packing away to hear punters leaving whilst singing or whistling the last song you played! Even better if it was an original song There are just so many variables in composing a set list. At least you only have 13 tracks, so presumably you get to play ALL of them! Wait till you have more songs than you need and you have to start rotating them.... you also have to factor in things like instrument changes or tuning changes. In one band a few years ago, I tuned my E string down to D, which was no problem. But when I forgot to tune it back up to E for the next song... I always prefer it if you start with three ot four really catchy, up-tempo numbers. Then you can drop the pace a bit and maybe work in a ballad or two (if you have any) before building up again towards the finale. You might want to think about what you plan to do (if asked) for an encore? Keep a good track in reserve? Play the one that went down best again? I'm not sure you can ever be prepared for every eventuality though. I much prefer working to a setlist though. In one band a few years ago, the singer decided to do away with setlists and just call the set "as he felt it". It was a bloody nightmare as he plays no instruments so had no idea about the kind of changes that musicians might need to make between songs, like tuning or changing guitars for example. He said it would "keep us on our toes" but all it did was rob the set of any momentum and cause some pretty spectacular train-wrecks. Tosser.

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1363255982' post='2010436'] PS, of course as a learner I'm tending to play at low volumes, or unplugged, perhaps that has skewed my opinions on the tone a bit. [/quote] Very probably!

[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1363255737' post='2010425'] Phil and Conan, it sounds like bright flatwounds would be preferable to roundwounds? Is there a particular brand that either of you could recommend?[/quote] YMMV etc, but if you want to give flats a try I have been happy with La Bella. WoT strongly recommends Lakland flats, which are a good bit cheaper (nearly half the price in fact!) especially if you buy them direct from Lakland via their website...