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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/04/18 in Posts
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Got booked for a private gig - 40th birthday party - but the chap said all his biker mates from his club would be there and we could expect 200+ people to be there. Arrived at the address he gave us for the venue and were a bit confused at first as we couldn't see and pubs, halls, hotels or anything that looked like a venue for a party - just a big council housing estate. He then comes out of his garden gate and calls us into his small back garden where he's just about managed to fit an old army mess tent for us to play in. We got to play for him and his immediate family (literally him, his wife, 2 kids and his elderly parents). Turns out he didn't even own a motorcycle let alone be in a biker club - or apparently have any friends. The low point of the evening (although only one of many) was when he got into a fist fight with one of his neighbours over the noise. The high point was watching his elderly parents slow dancing romantically and not letting the fact that we were playing Paranoid at the time put them off.8 points
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Some crazy woman booked us (via an agent we have since parted company with) to play a 60th bday party. The address was something like "Fawson Hall". Turned out that was the name she called her 2 bed semi in milton Keynes. We arrived in pouring rain to be told we would be playing in the garden which was approx 5m x 8m. We were shoehorned in under a pergola but as there was no cover anywhere else in the garden all the guests (about 20 max) stayed in the dining room with the patio doors open. She paid over £800 for the privilege. Tried to book us again this year but luckily we're already booked on the date she wants. Video evidence :5 points
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My Jake! I kinda bought is as backup for my Elwood L5, figuring that a J type and a P type would cover everything. Wrong, the P type has everything covered by itself. The Elwood is lighter, a pleasure to play and weighs nothing. It has a lovely range of tones from the preamp, but for all its simplicity the passive Jake blows it away. I had them wire it volume, pan and tone as that's what I prefer, and it's just perfect. The output from those Delanos is monstrous too. Occasionally, usually in practice, I miss the 24 frets and easy top end access of it's brother, but it's always my first choice.3 points
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Yup, classic fail for a wedding / function is to let someone who's a massive fan of a particular band / style of music book the entertainment. Been to many such events that have been a sorry (and often expensive mistake. ) You really have to go for what will appeal to most of the audience for most of the event - bearing in mind you will never ever please everyone. When I was in a function band playing at a wedding with usually a wide spread of ages/tastes in the audience, we'd usually start with some quiet-ish old stuff (Sinatra etc) for the more elderly folks to enjoy and dance to. The younger people would be at the bar or occasionally join in with the dancing, but generally be far more open minded about this than the old folk were about modern material. By the time we'd got round to the loud more current stuff the oldies would have left anyway, so everyone happy. Not exactly rocket science, but seen many pub rock bands struggle to keep any sort of audience in these circumstances.3 points
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Last night's gig was one I will never forget, and for all the right reasons. My first time out with The Grateful Dudes, and established Grateful Dead covers band I joined in January. Longest drive to a gig (yet) at just over 200 miles each way, best venue I've played in (Hebden Bridge Trades Club) and by far the most accomplished bunch of musicians I've ever played with. Decent sized crowd, lots of people dancing, sold quite a few band T shirts, people queueing up to shake for hands and/or hug us, very positive feelings all round. Drove home in pouring rain with periods of sleet, lot of standing water on the motorways, and the end of our road here flooded, so had to drive with great care for the last hundred yards. I was away for 18 hours, covered about 420 miles and I'd do again next week if we had a gig lined up. Next one's not until July at the moment, though. Somehow, it added up to so much more than just another gig.3 points
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She shouldn't have to, but 2018 is not exactly a time of tolerance and human compassion. We're in an era of intellectual regression. Actually it's not quite as simple as that. We're in an era abundant with intellectual progress and tolerance, which is being stifled by an increasingly dumb, aggressive and intolerant ageing population, who wish it was still 1842. And thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, they're out there shuffling about in huge numbers, and they will live until they're 136 years old. So it's going to take a long time for attitudes to change significantly.3 points
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I’ve recently started the build of a ridiculous idea. A 20” scale bass. The body and neck are from an old mahog bookshelf I’ve already got 3 bodies from. The idea is to use the low 4 string of a 5 string and tune them up to whatever the correct tension is. It will be, at most, a step up from standard. It won’t have a truss rod, just a graphite rod. The neck is tiny and half of it is in a neck pocket anyway. Ive just planed down the neck and shaped the body. The neck looks very thick in the photos but that was not it’s proper thickness. I’m using a piezo bridge only.2 points
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A beautiful Marleaux Sopran bass in fantastic, almost mint condition. These are really quite rare and quite special. Tuned an octave up from standard, there's a beautiful piano like quality to each note (a characteristic that extends to chordal work). Can be used with an octave pedal to achieve standard bass tones (though works best with a high quality unit - Eventide etc.) I discovered these last year and now have two - this is overkill, of course, so this one (with by far the best finish and and least signs of use) is up for grabs. Build quality is stunning - everything you'd expect of a custom hand-built from Marleaux. Some specs (taken from the Marleaux site): 3 piece maple neck - 4 string - separated with Wenge. 6 point bolt-on neck matching headstock rosewood fretboard with 24 frets, 57 cm (22.44") scale. Burl poplar top (gorgeous figuring) on two piece figured walnut body with ergonomic shaping passive single humbucker from Delano black from ETS/Schaller Strap locks Neck measurement Scale: 570 mm / 22.44" Nut: 40 mm / 1.57" 12. fret: 50 mm / 1.97" 24. fret: 55 mm / 2.17" Bridge: 54 mm (2.13") / 18 mm (0.71") each string Excellent condition with only very minor playwear - essentially (a) a couple of tiny indentations on the rear bottom of the bass near the side jack socket - it wasn't possible to photograph these - there really are small, and (b) some string-end scrapes on the headstock from re-stringing (there when I bought the bass). I've had this for around 9 months and imported it last year at a total cost of £930. It's been a revelation but I don't need two and I'm going to take a big hit on this - so no offers or trades please (I do feel that £775 is very cheap for an instrument of such quality). I've re-strung with D'Addario baritone strings. These are cheap and OK but don't have the same fundamental and complexity as the specially made strings for this bass (the original set is included in the sale). New strings are available via Thoman for around £20. Incredibly good fun, light and extremely easy to play. This had me playing things that I wouldn't normally contemplate (and enjoying it) within an hour - quite addictive really and so easy to carry around. The original, dedicated gig bag (Warwick Rockbass with Marleaux branding) is included in the sale, as are the hex keys. I don't have the original paperwork/receipts etc. Take a look at http://marleaux-bass.com/marleaux-bass_consat_sopran.html for further details. The bass can be collected in Manchester of Birmingham, or I can ship to EC countries (it's a rosewood board so I don't want to fall foul of CITES). Any questions, please just ask.2 points
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I find the turn that this thread has taken rather bizarre. While one might reasonably claim that the gender of an instrumentalist is, or should be, of no relevance to their suitability for any given band, this cannot be said of singers. The male voice is, in most cases, intrinsically quite different from the female voice in range and timbre, and a band seeking a vocalist might well have good reasons for preferring one over the other. It would be odd then, surely, for a vocalist advertising their services not to specify their gender. In the case of transgender women, the situation is a little complex, as vocal reassigment is one of the more challenging parts of the process. This is what the (US) National Association of Teachers of Singing has to say on the matter: A transgender woman will have gone through puberty as a male. Her larynx enlarged and descended in the neck, the vocal folds became thicker and longer and the voice deepened into an adult male voice. Once puberty is complete, there is nothing that can reverse the process so she may choose voice therapy or phonosurgery to sound more feminine. Voice therapy should be undertaken with a speech-language pathologist qualified to work in this area. Voice therapy goals include raising the average speaking pitch, usually to an androgynous pitch area and modifying voice quality, resonance and inflectional patterns. There are several phonosurgical procedures used to raise speaking pitch and eliminate lower pitches. However, these are controversial, the outcomes are mixed and they don’t address other vocal characteristics, such as resonance or voice quality. (https://www.nats.org/cgi/page.cgi/_article.html/What_s_New/Training_the_Transgender_Singer_Finding_the_Voice_Inside) For the advertiser to describe herself simply as a female singer could therefore be misleading. Quite reasonably, she has specified her gender as "transwoman". As has already been pointed out, this is in no way a description of her sexuality, which is of course entirely irrelevant. The fact that she has felt free to describe herself in this way could be seen as a positive and welcome sign of increasing acceptance of trans people. Some here, however, perversely choose to interpret it as evidence of intolerance. There seems to be a view that any suggestion that a transgender person is not in all respects the same as someone born to that gender constitutes some kind of hate-speech. It isn't; it's just an acceptance of reality. Maybe one day medical science will advance to the point where that view is justified, but we are not there yet. The fact that this issue has triggered an intolerant hate-filled rant against an entire generation just shows that when it comes to self-righteous bigotry, there are some amongst those who consider themselves "progressives" who could give any US evangelist preacher a run for their money.2 points
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For a moment I thought you meant Line 6 Helix, which added another layer of comedy for me2 points
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2 points
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I have an ACG EQ02 (only 1 low pass filter shared between both pickups) in my Status bass and If you like filter pre's then you'll like the EQ01. As you surmise, it does all the Wal/ Alembic stuff but with much greater flexibility. Both low pass filters have such a range that they can even be used a treble boosts as well as going down to virtually sub bass depths. If you're anything like me, you will need to spend some time with it if you're going to be switching loads of tones around in a live setting but it doesn't take long. For recording, it's excellent - you can dial in just about any sort of sound you imagine. In one of the bands I play with, we do house rehearsals and I play through a wee "busker" combo which is the most horrible, boxy sounding amp I've used for decades. The EQ02 equipped Status is the only bass I have which can completely cancel out all the bad aspects of that amp and provide a beautiful, full, rich and crisp bass sound with no help from external eq's etc.2 points
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Even schools do gender swaps on Romeo and Juliet, this can't be such an arcane idea If a vocalist did take issue with lyrics somewhere, I guess it would be down to them to say so, not down to everyone else to decide it's not good for them to sing because of their gender/sex.2 points
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Ill agree with that. There are quite a few of these type of boxes already out, and the one thing that puts me off is they are all trying to do so much. Ok, the SD could have had more things on it, but when to stop? A tuner would have been good, but that would involve a display of some kind, which I’m sure would push the cost up and maybe make the box larger. the thing that jumped out of Rome was that it offerese just what I need, in a box the size I want, with an effect I’m already using so wont lose out by replacing it with the SD. It’s still way under the cost of the Darkglas Ultra boxes, and for me at least, much more usable in more than one situation. .2 points
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I'd argue that we live in a liberal and open minded country, and we just keep becoming more liberal and open minded. Comparatively of course. I also think it's more to do with culture than age, and some cultures are more traditional than others regardless of age. Oh and it's not that new is it? In 1977 when I was a would-be young punk, transgender Wayne Country and the Electric chairs had their famous single out called 'F#ck Off'.2 points
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It seems like, as with most bands, you have a requirement for a vocalist, regardless of gender/sex. If you're really having trouble with female vocalists, maybe the problem is you and your band-mates, and not all women.2 points
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In my ELO tribute band (not the one you mention thank goodness...) we occasionally get asked to perform at private functions, usually by people who are fans of ELO stuff. We always decline, on the basis that most of the audience won't be.2 points
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Many years ago, I was asked if my band would play the Inland Revenue (UK version of the IRS), fraud squad's, Christmas party. I had to turn them down. That would most definitely be 'The wrong crowd' for my then band2 points
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I like the way it looks like a miniature AJ Presentation bass. But without the bulk, if you see what I mean. Good to see Sting following your lead Ped!2 points
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I think this hits the nail on the head. I've bought well, along with one purchase a while back that I still pinch myself about. I could do with getting rid of a couple, but I have space and there's no urgency to do so.2 points
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2-3 basses isn't so many in quantity. As a new Dad, the money could be an issue for some follk. If you need money to feed the children, then you can't argue against needing to sell, or gig to get more money. As for they amount of money, I guess £6k is the new value? Well I guess you won't be able to get all that back if you sell. So, the damage is done. In any case, you need to be realistic in terms of what they would sell for. Good luck with the family. Stop feeling guilty. Get some sleep, and deal with problems as they come up. Everything seems worse in the middle of the night.2 points
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Got mine strung with flats at the moment for a bit of contrast with my other basses and it sounds lovely. All 3 of my gigging basses are 5 string passives - the other 2 being a Fender modern player Jazz (which like the Gibson is loaded with a pair of coil-tappable humbuckers) and my main bass which is a Squier VM P5. I love the Squier - it just suits me perfectly despite being one of the cheapest basses I've ever owned - and it is my clear number one overall. I do have to concede though that the Gibson has the better low B.2 points
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What the f*cking hell is this crap? I'm a Boomer and strongly resent the implication that I'm an angry, bitter old windbag. Actually, I may well be angry and bitter and indeed a windbag, but only because I'm sick of endless injustice and blame being meted out to the poorest and most vulnerable people in society (by all age groups) when it should be aimed at those greedy, ruthless bastards who would aspire to wealth and power at any cost. Yes, I'm of 'that' generation. What of it? Are you really going to start blaming older people en masse for society's ills? We're not all swivel-eyed, prejudiced Mail-reading conservative Leave-voting nutcases. Shame on you for your sweeping (and totally inaccurate) ageist generalisations. I don't accept them and it's quite wrong to have made them. You might expect such comments on FB or YT, but not on BC. Very poor.2 points
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I read that their readership is declining, as are their finances. It would be so sad if they went bust.2 points
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I took a chance on a Maruszczyk Jake 5p on the for sale boards on here a couple of years ago. Haven't wanted anything else since. If I'd had the choice I'd probably have gone for the haussel pups instead of the delano but it plays beautifully.2 points
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Wish it was. Probably a bit harsh, I know, but I don't know of anyone under 25 who even remotely cares about sexual orientation, gender or race. Sexual orientation is largely a problem for old people. As mentioned above, the media that old people rely on for information definitely doesn't help. In fact one of the main reasons behind the current big divide between generations is that traditional media is almost completely ignored by young people, so their impression of the world is completely different to those who still read newspapers and watch tv. Now this is obviously a generalization - there are exceptions, but in generational terms the division is clear.2 points
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She is I believe male to female. Good luck to her, though in 2018 she really shouldn't need to fear any kind of prejudice or childishness. I guess she's just being honest about it.2 points
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Problem fixed! The new driver arrived today. It's now fitted and all is sounding pretty good. Lee chucked in some Ashdown freebies too. I can sit in the freezing North with my Ashdown hat on, drinking a hot cup of tea from my Ashdown cup and rest it upon my Ashdown coasters! All in all, I'm very pleased with the outcome. A big thanks to eude and Lee for sorting it.2 points
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There are lots of cracking passive 4 stringers like Sandbergs, Fenders, and G&L's but when it comes to 5 stringers I am more drawn to active ibanez's G&L's, Stingrays etc. I do see a few nice Fender Jazz's and precisions but not much else. Am I missing out on something? What are people playing?1 point
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So - this happened yesterday, these were the sellers pics but you get the idea! Most folks on here know how good these are and I've wanted one for a while now. Judging by the serial it appears to be a 2013 build, and the fit and finish really are fantastic. Showed up locally on the Facebook marketplace and I was quick! Should put the GAS for a Pino signature to rest (for a while anyway!). I plan to put some TI Flats on it, give it a setup and that's about it really, possibly some flat top knobs but it's great as it is. May consider upgrading the loom to a Kiogon job in the future. Doesn't seem to need it but, you know....1 point
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HOME BUILT PRECISION BASS SOLD!!! I built this little beauty just before Xmas, but due to the fact that I am now trying to thin out my collection, this is another one that has to go. It plays and sounds great, and is virtually unmarked because all parts were purchased new. I have had to fill and plug one of the holes in the neck because a screw broke flush with the wood, so I had to dig it out and then fill it, the repaired hole is very strong and makes no difference to the stability of the neck. You are welcome to try it for yourself at my home in Bridgnorth. Materials Used: Body: American Alder, Olympic White Neck: North American Maple, Satin Finish Nut: Bone 38mm (Jazz Width) Radius: 9.5’’ Electrics: Obsidian Wire Precision Bass Wiring Harness http://obsidianwire.com/traditional-vintage-for-precision-bass/ Pickup: Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage Precision Tuners: Schaller Bass Tuners BML 4L Chrome Bridge: Gotoh 201 (Equivalent)1 point
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Although I'm a user of IEMs we have a few guys in the band that still don't "get it" - so managed to snag a bargain in the form of a pair of 1 x 12 HK Audio Power Works monitors - one passive one active. A couple of superficial marks but at £150 I'm really not going to complain! I have no doubt that they'll keep the drummer happy and able to hear everything nicely. The previous owner had been using them as an FRFR guitar setup so that's always an option too.1 point
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It was a nice bass, sat well on a strap and the neck was nice to get up and down. The pickup wasn't my favourite thing and as you can probably see I stuck a Seymour Duncan SPB3 in which worked very well, once I realised that, to my ears, these high output pickups work nicely in P bass form with the tone rolled down about 30%1 point
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of course it matters! Probably moreso in a band than in anything else. We are talking about a singer, a frontperson, that (possibly) looks like a woman but (possibly) sings like a man. Of course that matters. What songs are the band gonna play, female or male vocal based? Will the singer have a man's or woman's voice? it matters, jeebus you can't play bass in a Beatles tribute band unless you are left handed, so yes, appearances matter in music I worked with two men that trangenderred into women, with a year off work during the process. It is very hard to see them as a woman when you've worked closely with them as a man, it just IS. Different to meeting a trans person for the first time, it's much easier.1 point
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not quite right ,, someone on reddit said i said i was the 1st uk slap bassist after watching a youtube video ,, i did not say that ,, but maintain i was in the 1st wave of uk slap players ,, he also said , i personally influenced MK ,, also not true , but i did play bass in his shop & others Before & during the time MK worked in denmark st , meaning i was one of a handful of bass players he saw ( not herd as we already discussed ) that could have probably possibly made him switch from drums to bass. as slap was the No1 latest thing in music back then , only a few players knew the method ,, in the UK the source players are Bootsy & The Brothers Johnson with Robert Popswell as the bassist we wanted to be & sound like ,1 point
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Yamaha Signature Basses – Quick Review Popped into the London Yamaha Store - wanted to try out a couple of Yammy signature basses which were on my "must try" list: Yamaha Attitude Two (Billy Sheehan) As an end of line model, this was going to be much more affordable than the Attitude 3 but we never got around to discussing price! Unusually for a Yamaha the body shape was based on a Fender, but with very specific design changes such as the slab body and the stereo circuitry. So kinda felt like Rickenbacker meets Fender meets Yamaha. The action had been set very low so this was very easy to play and yet no discernible fret buzz. The five uppermost frets are scalloped to assist in the bending of the top two strings, something that Billy was fond of doing, but not something I can personally see much scope for using. To operate this in true stereo requires two separate amplifiers, and the electronics are consequently a bit strange and incorporate switching on / off the controls, but at least this also allows for mono operation which is all I had access to – although maybe next time if I try it again, or if one of you guys tries it out at the store, putting it through two of their Hartke combos may give a different feel to it. (Actually, drop that for me – I’m unlikely ever to be bi-amping my basses!) Maybe it was the fact that the bass was not being bi-amped or the fact that the tonal range through the shop Hartke 75W and its pretty simple EQ seemed limited, but the Attitude left me pretty cold. I liked it less than the Rickenbacker 4003 I’d previously tried elsewhere, less than the Fender Jazz MIM I moved on this time last year and a LOT less than the end of line Yammy BB1025 I recently got from the same store. Yamaha BBNE2 (Nathan East) Was I really playing this through the same Hartke 75W amp I’d been playing the Attitude through?! Wow - Warwick Streamer Stage II meets Yamaha! It’s a completely different beast to the rest of the Yamaha BB range. BBNE2 pups are stack type Alnico V Humbucker pickups include a hum-cancelling coil. This is combined with active electronics and versatile controls e.g. in place of single tone control on the BB1025, the BBNE2 has a 3 band EQ for bass, mids and treble; mid cut frequency & mid cut on-off switch together with the usual pickup selector and volume. In combination they deliver a wonderful, tonally rich sound (even through a 75W Hartke) which I’ll have to admit puts even my former Warwick $$ German Corvette in the shade. It has a contoured body which provides a compact, comfortable body shape and I found the neck to be very playable. Nice touches, which sadly aren’t found elsewhere further down the Yamaha range, include individual bridge pieces and 5-piece neck-through design (but both of which Ibanez provide as ‘standard’ in their BTB Premium range). Ok I’m in love with this bass! Wasn’t helped by an unsolicited offer from the duty store manager to knock 25% off the list price! If any of you have a BBNE2 you’re looking to move on at some point – please give me a shout; I suspect you’ll be pushing at an open door! 😊 Usual YMMV, IMHO etc.!1 point