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Will be there on the Saturday. Be good to catch up with people over some mildly over-priced coffee.

Hello BassChat! Charlie here from The Gallery... Since BassChat is where you're all hanging out these days we thought we'd join in on the fun and start our own thread! We'll be keeping you up to date with new stock, shop news and all that jazz. This is also another way for you to reach us with any enquiries! If you've never heard of us, this is who we are and what we're about: We're a bass specialist shop situated in Camden, London. The Gallery opened in 1993 and since then has been London's largest bass-only store. We have a huge selection of basses, amps, effects and accessories (new, pre-owned and vintage!). The basement (bassment?) of the shop is home to Sei Bass, which comprises of top luthiers Martin Petersen & John Chapman. They build wonderful custom bass guitars and offer a long list of workshop services. Below are a few pictures of our shop plus a couple of photos of Sei Basses so you can get an idea of what we do... That's it from me for now but I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me on BC from now on! Love, Charlie & The Bass Gallery crew.

Just a quick heads up on this one folks and sorry if it has already been posted.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ernie-Ball-MusicMan-Sting-Ray-Bass-Guitar-in-MusicMan-Hard-Case-UK-SELLER/352279781214?hash=item520582df5e:g:phcAAOSwFnxaWe0Z I mailed the seller regarding the photos of the bass as it looks as though the frets had been removed.....seller replied "this is a fretless bass" that was it! They're not telling lies but they haven't been exactly forthcoming. Just beggars belief as some poor sod may buy this without realising the frets had been ripped out!! Rant over...

An easy way of distinguishing this is to play a piano recording through your speaker. You'll hear immediately what the cab is doing to the signal. It may sound odd, but IMO playing bass through your bass cab is not necessarily the best test.

So what's the score if the singer wants to sing a number slowly, and it turns the song into a pig's ear..? Go with the singer's choice..? Surely not..?

To expand briefly on my much-maligned laconic comment, I would just explain that the cost of producing a 3-way loudspeaker system with a high quality midrange driver and HF unit is much higher than the configuration of a single or twin driver with an optional small tweeter favoured by Barefaced and many others. Although it's fairly obvious that the drive units in a 3-way system cost more, many people don't appreciate that the crossover in a system like some of the early Barefaced models and the current Fearful range is a very high-cost item - not to mention quite difficult to design properly.

True

Tears of a Clown and What's Going On.

Things may be a bit different here in France as we always get fed before the gig, even if it's just a small bar that doesn't do food themselves. They'll buy in a pizza for the band. So no need to eat during the gig, but I wouldn't anyway as it's just plain rude. As for drink, we always get a free tab but as we all have to drive, we're on water. Being the main vocalist, I see nothing wrong in having a bottle of water on hand. And the same for the rest of the band, as it can get pretty warm here in summer...! As to TV, can't say we've ever been in a position to watch it during a gig. But we did have a regular gig at a bar that had a 50" TV right above the stage. They insisted on playing YouTube concerts (minus the sound) while we played our set and it annoyed the hell out of me. But they paid us well...! So one night, our lead guitarist finished a rather splendid solo and the crowd suddenly went ape... Looking at the stage, cheering, clapping and stamping their feet. I thought, well if they enjoyed it that much, I'll give him another solo after the next chorus...! It was then I noticed the bar owner sprinting across the room, diving over the drummer and between our amps, then flapping wildly at the TV trying to turn it off. I glanced up at the screen and found that some wag had got hold of the remote control and switched to a full on porn channel. But my man still got his solo in....

Except, as all gigging musicians will know, it never is just a "few hours work". If you add up the practice and rehearsal time, the travelling time and expenses and staff costs (all bands got ripped off by their "management" back then), then the true cost of being in a band and gigging emerges. Then you see how little the bands actually got to put in their pockets.

Agreed that a clean blend option would have been a useful addition on some of the models although I don't know how many of the models that they are emulating have clean blends? Having said that, Zoom have added clean blends to some of their drive sounds where the original pedals they are emulating didn't have them, so it can be done. Metering is useful too, I guess, although I always prefer to use my ears and dial in my compression sounds in the context of the band mix. I also find the M-Comp (my personal fave on the MS-60B) quick and easy to dial in for the punchy sound that I like Yes, the TCE SpectraComp is a thing of joy, it is paradoxically the simplest and most complex pedal compressor pedal available . I gig mine regularly love it. On those gigs where it's standing room only and I have no space for my pedal board, I use the MS-60B on top of my amp as a tuner and compressor. I just use the one, always on sound, so the limited form factor for chopping and changing patches all night isn't an issue for me. And although the SpectraComp performs 'better' IMO (possibly down to having a small amount of clean signal blended it along with a slight push in the higher frequencies?) (and depending on how you want to actually quantify 'better') the Zoom still holds its own in a live situation with a quality bass and rig.

some musicians should be committed

I used pound the strings like a ruddy jack hammer, Steve Harris style. I was always a heavy player with heavy strings, and it was a bit of a workout doing gigs, especially being the singer too. Then I watched Gary Willis play. Effortless technique and beautiful tone. He looked like he might doze off mid song it was that easy. Now I'm with the Billy Gibbons school of thought. Make it easy for yourself. Lighter strings, lighter touch.... just turn your amp up!

On behalf of myself, Michael G and our Product Engineer Simon Austen, just putting a marker down that your friendly neighbourhood Basschat sponsor Gillett Guitars will be there on stand A0. We'll have our Contour Bass range, a couple of Ashdown amps (UK manufacturers only on our stand ), our bass buddy Freddie Draper, and an itinerant keyboard player to make it all feel like the cocktail lounge on the QE2. Very much looking forward to meeting fellow members of the Basschat gang over the weekend! Scrumpymike, aka Gillett Guitars Sales & Marketing Manager

Another reason I like P basses... as said above, they are very simple but instantly give you 'that' sound in a mix. So you can forget all about the 'tonequest', forget about GAS and get on with the business of actually playing the bloody thing. Which is why I don't much care for on-board preamps, active basses* and over-complicated amps - too much of a distraction. *Spectors excepted, obvs.

Even worse when the perp is the drummer! At least singers can be jollied along a bit by the rest of the band, whereas it's usually just down to the bassist to try and sort the tempos out if the drummer is at fault. I speak from bitter experience....

I have a Jazz neck on one of my Precisions. Some might argue that it changes the tone, but I’d say it has more of an impact on the way I play... which then changes the tone.

Burlesque by Family. And that tone - Wetton nailed it beyond the call of duty For younger members who dont know the band / track

Reef’s ‘Naked’, appropriate title for such a sparse bassline. It works perfectly for the song, but I hated playing this when my band had it in the set, bored me silly,

Yup, $750 for one of the best performances of the festival and $18,000 for one of the messiest 😂

I know we’re all about bass here, but it was quite cool hearing that Yolanda Charles will be playing with Guthrie Govan...

Not while there's TV to watch and kebabs to eat.

Haha, that's the first thing I thought when I saw it. Would be an impressive explosion of balsa wood and white emulsion!

OK I'll just open another tin

The most amusing thing is that everything after page 1 of this thread has been a complete waste of time. The OP made his decision on page 1.

Good man. Glad to see someone taking their blinkers off. Now, that really is codswallop. Evidence? Steve Lawson's gig at the weekend with artist Poppy Porter. He played, she drew from what she felt from his playing

OMG 'The Letter'. I know that smoking fingertip feeling!

Oh?

A typically helpful response

Sean, you shouldn’t have sold me your Markbass combo! It tilts back nicely and sounds good!

loving this thread. When anyone asks about my favourite bassists, or at least the one that got me started, Lenny Kravitz always comes to mind but I'm often to embarrassed to say so. The usual bass 'legends' aren't what got me started, or what I listen to. Lenny K is a great shout here @johnny wishbone

you had me going there for a minute, Lesbian, something Gay, something....

I just tried to recreate an Alpha Omega type distortion... First clip is Helix Native with 1.5kHz mid boost going into a signal split between a HiWatt amp + cab in parallel with the Facial Fuzz, then a clean channel on a separate path. Second is an Alpha Omega with the knobs mostly around noon, bite on and growl off. I literally only spent a few minutes tweaking and recording this so they're not EQ'd that closely. First clip needs a bit less 100Hz and a bit more 500Hz for example, but as a proof of concept I think it's not that bad! https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApKsVfvGwYkOiqVTIbX4oPNPwFxoig

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was such a mix in everything in the world?

So i got the behringer thingy! First impressions are that its great, does what i want and as a bonus, makes Netflix sound a lot better!

Who has time for kudos? It's about the fact that I find it easier to make good music and play in tune without trying to use visual clues to get a result that is non-visual. You don't use your ears to help you paint...

Updated again! Somehow I had missed a Denmark Street shop. I also came across an online/by appointment vintage dealer in Derbyshire.

Maybe not exactly the most bizarre of collaborations but one where all of the musicians or their bands have been mentioned previously was The Rockers. They comprised of Phil Lynott, Roy Wood, Chas Hodges and John Coghlan and recorded one single - a medley of old rock 'n' roll tunes. The video features a different drummer - looks like Bev Bevan I think.

I continue to be impressed at how close the 'Obsidian 7000' cops a B7K, including its knack of making any other dirt pedal going into it sound awesome. Obsidian 7000 with a (real) Alpha Omega switched on half way through: https://1drv.ms/u/s!ApKsVfvGwYkOiqVRHNPDvmbDsfumow

Some and some, although I don’t drink much at all these days. If it’s an informal pub gig I usually have a pint on the floor behind me for a swig here and there. If it’s a stage none at all. But I’ve got some good memories: on NYE 1961 we were playing support to the Acker Bilk band at Reading Town Hall. Quite a big gig for a load of youngsters. On first handover the Bilks came on stage with two carrier bags each loaded to the gunwales with beer and scotch and proceeded to set up a bar on two tables at the back of the stage. They invited us to share and for the two final numbers of the evening we joined them for a very boozy jam. And some of the European festivals were a bit hairy, especially in Holland where each stage had a stage manager whose main job seemed to make sure that the band never ran out of free beer.

Buy this immediately and then get the gold hardware. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Japan-PB70-70-BLK-Made-in-Japan/183049189614?hash=item2a9e94f8ee:g:7ecAAOSwDVtacy8I

For God's sake, don't tell Discreet!

I always come back to a P bass , I play a Jazz and a stingray sometimes , but if I had to just have one bass it would be a P bass