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No, no, no ... it's tone perspex.

I don't think there's any danger in me not doing that, Silvia You know me - I even stop strangers in the street with an 'Excuse me, but have you seen my new build? Here, I've got a few hundred photos. Oh, wait a minute...can you see them properly if you're walking this fast???'

It's arrived!!

This weekend just gone. Friday night gig. Singer is giving it her all on the intro to Somebody elses' guy '. Rude silly billy sitting straight in front of the band talking loudly to his mates as if there is no band in the room. Woman from other side of the room strolls up to him and slaps him ( gently but firmly) round the back of the head and pulls his baseball cap down over his face. He looks round somewhat shocked, she indicates that there is a band and puts her finger over his mouth doing "shhhh" thing with her lips. Audience cheers.He shuts up. By end of the number I look up and he and his two mates are gone. Table now full with more enthusiastic punters. Its nice when the audience helps you out.

Music seems to attract so many delusional people. Do they imagine it's an easy option? Anything worth doing demands commitment, focus and drive. Music is no exception, though you wouldn't think so given the thousands of deadbeat wannabe nut-jobs making a terrible racket in rehearsal rooms up and down the country...

You're clinging onto the band because at least its a band and the' in no band' wilderness is a depressing place to be if you have no immediate direction. These two idiots serve only one purpose in your life right now and that's to make sure you don't get any better at playing bass by restricting every possible positive bass playing experience you could be having elsewhere. Bin them with immediate effect and get on with your life. Use this as a what not to do in bands learning experience.

I prefer the one on the right. Why not try a tweed or patterned grill cloth? The black looks like a black box.

I've been a novice who plays for fun for the past 30-40 years!

Very badly. At this weekends gig, a large middle aged drunk woman was rubbing herself against this 20 year old bloke who looked pretty terrified while his mates were laughing. I said when I described it when I got home if the genders were reversed it would be sexual assault, to which my wife pointed out the gender made no difference, it was still sexual assault.

I wish Aria UK had the Selected Wood series! Just look at these two!

Disagree - I was 51 when I first picked up a bass and although I know I'm a long way behind the curve, I'm taking it very seriously indeed. It helps that I have played other instruments in the past and can read music, I mustard mitt. But IMHO attitude is more important than aptitude, in that if you practise regularly, play with and be willing to learn from other people and don't think you're awesome from day one, then you will get better. Might take a wee while, but effort will pay off, whether you're sixteen or sixty. But you have to put the effort in in the first place, and from reading the forums here, that seems to be a huge problem - fantasists thinking they're a lot better than they are. Age shouldn't be an issue. Just my 0.02.

Contrary to popular belief sealed cabs do not have higher 'compression' than ported. The reverse is the case. Reducing port area doesn't increase compression, it only lowers the tuning frequency of the cab. There is no characteristic sealed sound, there is no characteristic ported sound. In blind listening tests with cabs EQ'd for the same response one cannot tell if a cab is sealed or ported. Side by side with the same amp and settings they won't sound the same, but that's only because they have not been EQ'd for the same response.

You need one of these....

This. Myself and an old guitarist were in a 4 piece band with 2 intelligent but flaky individuals (singer and drummer). We used to rehearse in their house but they were always late for rehearsals. Upstairs fannying about/power play. After a year of this nonsense the guitarist and I quit, set up our own band. Within 2 weeks I found our drummer at a New Year's Eve gig playing in a top function band. He just recently played 3 sell out nights at the Royal Albert Hall with Steven Wilson and a singer who was an understudy in the West End playing a young Elvis. We rehearsed like crazy and our first gig (3 months later) was on a TV show and we signed management contracts and later an independent record deal to record singles with Dave Allen (cure's producer) in a top studio. Unfortunately in the end it never happened for lots of different reasons but it goes to show that when everybody is 'committed, focused and driven' anything is possible. This is why amateur bands with amateur attitudes frustrate me so much.

Oddly enough I have never chinned anyone, I’m all talk. Do as I say, not as I do as my c*** of a mother used to say *spits*. No issues there then...

I know from bitter experience that people are lazy and will try to get away with minimum effort. A mediocre player who imagines they are doing a good job will not improve regardless of how much you want them to. They are just wasting their time, and yours.

Thanks @Silvia Bluejay - it’s just been shipped 😁

I was once in a similar situation - I was playing with a drummer who I disliked both musically and personally, and no matter how hard I tried, we never seemed to gel, on or off stage. Meanwhile, the narcissistic control-freak singer/guitarist sang badly and his guitar playing was only average at best. However, I liked the material that we were playing, and rather than face the bandless void, I spent over a year trying to make things work, whilst steadily enjoying myself less and less and becoming more and more frustrated and depressed. In the end, a particularly unpleasant racist story from the drummer prompted me to walk out, and it was the best thing that I ever did in that band. Unsurprisingly, I got a lot of abuse for leaving, but a couple of months later I found myself playing in two great bands with lovely, talented bandmates, and right now I'm loving my musical endeavours. Life is too short. If you're not having fun, walk. Remember too that it's possible to improve your bandmate's musically, but completely impossible to fix their personalities.

this can be true, I don't think us pub bands should be so far up our own backsides that we should imagine the only reason people are in the pub is to watch us

If it is to keep the volume down, what does this do that turning the volume down wouldn't do?

This question is very prescient to my current position, as I find myself increasingly frustrated with the way my band operates (I have a thread on this elsewhere, which goes into details). So, as I ponder my predicament I draw ever closer to the conclusion that it might be time to move on. I’m keen to avoid any repeat of the issues I currently face, therefore my next band should (ideally) tick the following boxes: 1. Location: ideally the band or band members should be fairly close to me. I already spend all day in a car wearing a groove in the M40, doing the same at night doesn’t much appeal. 2. I might have to try and recruit members to form a band, but having done this several times before I know what a pain it can be, so joining an existing band or nucleus of an existing band would be preferable. 3. Gigging or nearly gigging. I don’t want to spend months trying to get to a gigable standard. Something that I can just slot into would be amazing. Also, as much as I love gigging I don’t want to do it every weekend. Once a month is satisfactory for me. 4. I’m not interested in playing someone’s songs about how his missus left him and how he really misses her, I want to play covers. Floorfilling, crowd pleasing covers. Even if it’s not necessarily music I’d chose to listen to at home I want to play Saturday night songs that people want to jump about and get drunk to. Entertaininment is the name of the game. 5. No jamming. I hate jamming. Mind numbing nonsense. Rehearsal time is rehearsal time. Do your practising at home and turn up to rehearsal with the song learned, at the right tempo, in the right key. 6. Money split equally after every gig, after any necessary expenses have been deducted. 7. Lastly, I want an excellent drummer. There you go. I’m tired of all the BS, the egos and the politics. That’s what I want. Don’t want much, do I?

I always make sure to see Jeff when he comes to Milwaukee. The smaller the venue the better. Jeff played the rather small Turner Hall ( an old gym from the 50s). I arrived early, real early walked in on their sound check. Here I am, alone with Jeff, Tal and Vinnie. When I realized what I had done I freaked out , turned around and left before I got the boot. Great night, great show, somehow I ended up standing in front of the stage with Rick Neilson from Cheap Trick. Blue

Update: I have gone with my gut and the majority here and sent out a message on our whattsapp to say that I am not happy with our current situation and we need to meet up to talk rather than say nothing and walk away. I have had some responses from the singer who seems worried but nothing yet from the drummer yet.

Or, alternatively, chin both of them.

I really couldn't be in a band which is named after one member...stinks of narcissism and egotism.

Maple cap neck too, IIRC the only Fender bass that has one. At least outside of the Custom Shop. I'm surprised Fender don't make a bigger deal of it - in fact, I don't think they even mention it having one. Congrats on the new bass 😎

You can get a similar effect putting this on the inside of the grille: https://www.amazon.co.uk/15x24x3-16-A-C-Filter/dp/B000BO68BU/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1525286995&sr=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=air+conditioner+foam+filter+material Spray the inside of the grille with spray adhesive, then apply the foam.

While I wouldn't begin to disagree with your sentiment, that doesn't help with my point...! Has to be based on 7+ channels on the desk!

It means the speaker output:

Don't underestimate the value of owning the PA. I'm sure it's the only reason I've not been sacked by both my bands...

Haven't read this whole thread (so this may have already been said).. I think to a certain extent we all need to remember when we're out gigging that (assuming it's a PAID gig) we're actually working. Hold that thought and think about your day job, how many of us feel we get the appreciation we deserve every time we go to work in our day jobs? Why should gigging be so different? As always, YMMV!

No, it's a bass pod.

Gosh. Your brain must have a hard life!

I bought a copy of Rob van den Broek's Gibson Bass Book - mostly just for the gear pr0n photography, I'll be honest, but it turned out to be a really interesting read. I had never previously guessed that Gibson had experimented with so many different designs, especially in the '60s and '70s. I guess, much like Fender, they've become victims of their own success, in that a group of people will always just want a straightforward LP, SG or Thunderbird, but you have to wonder why they didn't at least push some of the variations a bit harder - double-cut LP Juniors (as you rightly say), "Melody Maker" SGs with single-coil pickups, or SGs with PAFs, or even - that radical idea which they only seemed to pick up on in the last couple of years - a f***ing 5-string bass. Seriously, did none of the bigwigs in the company pop the telly on during the last few decades and think "eh-up, some of these bass players have got more than four strings on them there bass guitars...I wonder if there's a market there?" I know I've stuck to fours myself, but I'm not so blinkered as to believe that a 5-string bass is still a strange and exotic variation on the bass guitar's design. FFS, if Mike Lull can stick a low B on a T-bird shape with minimal ballache, what was stopping them? I thought those EB models from the last few years showed a promising change of direciton, but clearly too little, too late.

for me its 1. location. (rehearsals for me normally mean me going straight from work so I don't want to have a 2 hour journey and then have to get home again) 2.age ( nothing against age at all im 38 but I cant see me having much in common with people in their early 20s when your sitting around waiting at gigs,travelling etc) 3.Travel ( I share a car with the wife so id like people that have ways and means of getting about comfitably) to add to 3. I don't mind giving people lifts, its just with some people it becomes known that YOU drive them everywhere.

Good afternoon, Ron, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

The logistically-challenged drummer and LookAtMe front man would be enough for me to have walked by now. It doesn't sound like any fun at all, and there's a big third reason.

I think the compression on the low notes of a sealed cabinet is what makes the ABM 610 sound like a SVT cabinet.My ported ABM 410H cabinets are some bit "looser" . I have some old towels ready for duty (thanks Lozz ! ). Why not petition Ashdown to make a sealed 410,210, etc. ?

The Crew Rock Bar in Nuneaton is worth a try. Played there about a year ago.

Don’t forget to chin them...

Lovely @Dan Dare indeed. 👍🏻

I can play the ones we currently play in our set. How many I have *ever* known is another matter. If I don't regularly play songs I forget them. I'm envious of players who seem to remember every song they ever knew.

We have those conversations regularly. It's merely Aguilar's turn.

Full version

I have one SM58 which has always been awful - I kinda knew that it was a duff mic from the word go but didn't think it would actually be duff given that it was from a "reputable dealer" doing a show special. Box, case and cable ties all present... all looked to be spot on. Anyway, in the height of boredom I stripped down this mic to see why this mic has never been as good as my other 58s (not that I tend to use 58s now, I favour 935s and 945s, Audix and Heil). All of it checked out to the letter. After looking at all the fake sites etc on how to spot them, it came down to one thing that my mic is missing - the rubbish bin imprinted in the xlr connector at the end of the mic. So yeah, finally confirmed after ten+ years. Fake - and that would explain why it sounds even worse than a standard 58 and has a tendency to feedback at any opportunity! Guess I now know why the show special was 50% off! The fakes back then seem to be better than the fakes now!

Welcome back to[b] real[/b] bass playing [b]Amps[/b]: In my experience of playing at festivals where backline is provided, the amp is less of an issue than the speaker cab(s). Over the years I've been given an Ampeg SVT with a 2x10 cab (nice), 4x10 (careful with that volume...) and a 1x15 (uncontrollable feedback on any note below a B on the A string). The best 'random festy stage backline' amp I've played through was a TC Electronic 2x10 combo.... As long as you have a decent, designed for DB preamp (Fishman Bass Plat Pro Plus or Fdeck clone for example) then there's no reason why your Carvin or any other bass amp shouldn't work for you. If you're pairing it up with a 2x15 cab though, then you could be in trouble! 10s and 12s are generally popular for double bass with the current trend favouring 8 and even 5" drivers. [b]Ply or carved[/b]: The general consensus is that ply basses are easier to amplify than carved basses, simply because generally, ply basses resonate less than carved basses. However, it stands to reason that a poorly made, dead carved bass will be less feedback prone/easier to amplify than a well made ply bass. The truth is, you won't know till you try and there are multitude of pickup and preamp combinations you can use to help tame frisky basses. For folk and blues, a good (i.e.not a £300 Chinese Ebay job) ply pass will serve you well. Having said that, Danny Thompson does OK playing folk and blues on his 19th century French fully carved bass..... It's also worth bearing in mind that, for the same money, a well made laminate bass would be better than a poorly made carved bass. [b]Thomann/Gedo/Archer[/b]: I always recommend the Thomann 2 bass (carved top, laminate sides - the TN (Tineo wood) version is very highly rated) as that's the only one of the above importers/resellers basses that I've had direct experience of. The Thomann 2 basses are Czech made Strunals, which are considered decent quality, mass produced instruments. I've no idea where Gedo or Archer source their instruments from - there's a good chance that they all come from a small handful of Czech or Hungarian factories. If you have a substantial budget (£1500-2000), then you could buy a Duke bass and be pretty sure that you're going to get a very nice sounding and playing bass. Buying blind is always going to cause you a bit of panic - what if you don't like it, or it feels unplayable? Chill out... My experience is that you and your new bass will mould to each other - you'll make little changes to the bass setup and to your technique as you spend more and more time together until you find that everything is just right. This obviously will require the services of a luthier for setups and the close observation of the 'Double basses for sale' forum for the next pickup/strings combination that you just have to have to make everything 'just right' If you do decide to buy 'blind' from one of the big online shops, then I would recommend keeping £3-500 of your budget back to pay for work on your bridge and/or sound post and for a couple of different sets of strings o try out. If you're willing to travel to North London, then a trip to Thwaites in Watford would be time well spent. They usually have a good range of nice old eastern European ply & carved basses in the £900 -£1500 price bracket and you can play every single one of them to find the one that suits you best. [b]Strings[/b]: Oh Lordy - you don't know what you're asking!! The 'standard' double bass strings are Spirocore Mittles (medium tension) - though if you have issues with your hands, then the 'weich' set may be a better bet. I really like the weichs for rootsy/old school jazz stuff - nice low tension but still retaining enough note definition with short sustain and no 'sproingyness'. Other good 'gut-a-like' strings (which is what you want for folky/bluesy stuff) would be Evah Pirazzi, Innovation super silvers or honeys (tho I quite like the Rockabillys), Pirastro Obligatos, Rotosound RS4000, D'addario Zyex etc.etc. The list is almost endless, and what sounds good on my bass may not sound good on yours. As some where to begin, I'd plump for either Spirocore or Evah Pirazzi light/weich. Both are easy to play and are very popular, so if you don't get on with them, you'll be able to sell them easily enough. So. in summary, there are no easy answers - sorry about that. I think most people on the DB forum would agree that double bass is a much more personal instrument than a bass guitar or even an electric upright, so it does take time to work out what it is that you want from your bass. It can be a frustrating and potentially expensive journey, but it's also a very satisfying journey. Dave