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I'd just say to them - and i have said this - "Don't book bands - get yourself a disco, duo or have a quiz" but not something WITH ACOUSTIC DRUMS. I just don't get why they would book a full band if noise is an issue. Its like a vegetarian ordering a bacon sandwhich then complaining its got meat in. Derrr - hello. There is a limit to how low you can go on drums and believe me our poor drummer was using spaghetti sticks and was using the lightest touch on his bass pedal. It wasn't good enough for the venue. We had a quick chat in the break and decided we didn't need the gig or the money or the hassle so we packed up and left.

In the words of Alan Partridge "Lovely Stuff"

What about that Jamiroquai guy? I'd look like a complete twat in that hat.

I play in a covers function thingy band and i never have needed effects. I'd say in 25 years of gigging i have never needed to use any. Not to say that i didn't use them but in retrospect i didn't need to. Most punters in audiences at cover gigs (generalisation i know) aren't listening to the individuals in the band but the whole thing. A rough approximation or re-working of an original is probably what is expected not an exact copy of every single note. Recently i did some recording and the engineer said he was going to have a fiddle with the bass tracks and see what happens using some high quality effects. After a week he said he took them all off as the original sound was better One thing i don't understand is spending a small fortune on a bass and then putting it through a chain of effects so that it sounds nothing like its meant to.

FWIW i'd put a new set of tuners on it for the relatively low price that they will be. Arias (if it is one) were pretty good in their day. Got to be worth a go.

Hehe - loving the drum programming too! Wow its different you gotta say that. The strange thing is that in between all the odd stuff there are glimpses of what might have been At least hes not doing any more of those Jonathan Creek series.

I'd love to look cool with a hat. What hats are cool though? I look like a twat in a baseball cap as my face is quite long. Often have to wear a suit or shirt when gigging so something that would go with that.

They all get an airing though some more than others. There are two that i would say get more gigs than the others but i use all the basses for recording. Its nice to be able to choose a bass which has qualities that suit a particular song rather than playing about with EQ.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1316536173' post='1379366'] The "difficult bit" is probably different for everybody. For example I have (if I say so myself) a sharp analytical mind and excellent motor skills and have a tendency to use those things to cover my weaknesses (aural recognition and repertoire) . Had I enguaged a teacher about 25 years ago I could have started work on those weaknesses alot sooner [/quote] Absolutely. I am not saying don't get a teacher. Quite the opposite. I am just saying that there is a lot of stuff that you can do yourself as well as get a teacher. I live in a reasonably sized town and cannot find a teacher locally. That said, it doesn't mean that i can't learn stuff.

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1316532579' post='1379300'] It is money well spent if the player doesn't know and understand the scales. I've had people who come for lessons who say they know the scales but when questioned can only show you a fingering pattern and proving that they don't actually know the scales at all. [/quote] Sure, but a good book will go into detail about the relationship between notes in a scale and the relationship between one scale and another. You can find this stuff out easily. Its not difficult. The difficult part is being motivated and disciplined in your practise. If i was rich i might pay a teacher for everything - if not i would make a lot of effort to get the basics learnt first.

You can learn a lot from books too and being disciplined in your practise. So many people i know just end up doing the same old stuff when they practise. Setting goals, writing them down and sticking to your plan is a good way to develop. There are loads of good books and it may pay to learn some of the basic stuff before you start paying for lessons. For me paying £30 per hour to learn major/minor scales is not money well spent. I really believe you should have this in your locker before you start to pay for lessons. When you do go for lessons try and find a bass teacher who is recommended and not a guitar teacher. Other than that enjoy the journey and don't get too hung up on the destination.

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1316526958' post='1379198'] HAHA well I only know that by doing a google for pictures of her [/quote] yeah right

[quote name='Linus27' timestamp='1316523252' post='1379112'] Is she the same woman who was married to Bradley in Eastenders or Coronation Street?? If so then she was quite nice [/quote] Can't help you there

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1316510608' post='1378877'] Who is she? [/quote] Its a lady called Debra Stephenson an actress from the telly. We are doing a charity event and she is singing a couple of tunes with us. We are booked as the main entertainment and she is lending her support to the charity. I kind of recognised her and then my wife told me that we saw her as Peter Pan at a panto we took the kids to recently. I wouldn't of recognised her from the photos ;-) Anyway, looking forward to it. Jumpers for goalposts and all that.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1316447041' post='1378100'] She looks great, I love that style [/quote] LOL yeah it has a certain appeal innit? I found another pic of her (i fear i am becoming a bit of a stalker!). Quite looking forward to meeting her now...

[quote name='janmaat' timestamp='1316426447' post='1377773']Beautiful violinist. Come on, somebody else must have some cute female band members?[/quote] Heres a young lady who we will be backing on Saturday...

[quote name='Count Bassie' timestamp='1314225637' post='1350892'] Running for office? Watch with horror how our rainforests are being shaved off the face of the earth for someone's fattening pocket. Watch Syria's twisted leadership slaughter their own citizens, simply because they want to be treated like people. [u]That's[/u] horrible. This is just an old bass guitar that belongs to 'someone else'. Shame it does nothing for you though- my bad! [/quote] Wow someone needs a chill pill . Count I finally checked out the vids. Looking good especially the spirally white lead! Nice touch. Like you say its difficult to hear the bass properly - if i were smart enough to eq it on You Tube i'd probably have a better job than i do Main thing is though is that you are happy with it? Does it float your boat? What about the comfort issue? Do tell. Remember i said that you inspired me to do a build? Well i did one. I have some vids and things and if i ever get it together to publish a coherent diary of the build you'll be the first to know. Heres a couple of pics. Its a Squier body, US Pups and pots, US Neck and Tuners. I gathered the bits from different places, Basschat, Ebay, Online shops etc crossed my fingers and then put it all together in an evening. Total cost is about £400. Verdict - its ok. Took a while for the neck to settle and i can only get a half-decent action. Probably need to put a bit more bow on the neck as it is very straight. Sounds good - like a Precision but i think that the body is letting it down. So i bought a really old Korean Squier Precision for £75 off of Ebay and its amazing! Sounds so buttery. It weighs a ton and i think i am going to put all my custom parts onto this beat up old Squier body cos ugly as it is there is a certain resonance that i think will work. Sorry for rambling. B

[quote name='blamelouis' post='1375675' date='Sep 16 2011, 04:12 PM']You do realise your wife just picked the fit blokes [/quote] Yeah my missus loved Marcus Miller too

As a recent theory convert i would say learn as much as you can - scales, triads, chords, intervals etc. In terms of an order in which to do this i would go... Scales Intervals Triads Chord Tones It sounds like a lot and it is but its not difficult, its mainly repitition and its all related. On the upside the benefits to your playing will be huge and quite quickly you will be more fluid and have many more options when creating basslines.

[quote name='silddx' post='1374358' date='Sep 15 2011, 12:56 PM']What a lovely expressive face![/quote] I'll tell her Nige. She'll like that.

Heres ours:

[quote name='devinebass' post='1370730' date='Sep 12 2011, 04:50 PM']Hey guys it's been a long time... crazy summer gigs lol! Anyhow i'm back on it... so i've put two new tutorials together (on a new sexy camera yippee!!!). Both tutorials are covering the II V I progression. They're simply a couple of licks that can be applied over the chord progression - the key is to analyze each lick/melody and understand why they work over the II V I progression. Once you've leaned them stick them in as many different keys as you want and really try to play around with the phrasing. 1) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgRbuVhHhps&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgRbuVhHhps...feature=related[/url]]II V I Jazz Lick Bass Lesson (2) with Scott Devine 2) [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_fewYvGAqk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_fewYvGAqk[/url]]II V I Jazz Lick Bass Lesson (3) with Scott Devine Easy Scott. [url="http://www.scottsbasslessons.com"]http://www.scottsbasslessons.com[/url]]Free Online Bass Lessons - Scott's Bass Lessons [url="http://www.scottdevinemusic.com"]http://www.scottdevinemusic.com[/url]]SCOTT DEVINE-BASS PLAYER-COMPOSER-EDUCATOR[/quote] Thanks Scott. I will check those out when i get back from work. I am at the start of the improvisation road. Spent some time on upping my theory (from nowhere to ok) - lots of time on scales, arpeggios, chords. I really want to look at phrasing this new found knowledge into some juicy licks. I ran with your improv video on your site (which is great btw - donation forthcoming). Its about substituting DMinMaj7 over a G7 in a Cmaj ii-v-i. Anyway, sounds great when you do it - utter crap when i do it. I understand the key is rhythm and phrasing - any tips, pointers, links would be appreciated.

I've seen him twice. Effin brilliant. Also seen Lemmy. Brilliant too for different reasons. Pilates is the way.

The Major and Scot on the same thread. You guys are ruining my marriage!