Leaderboard

It has landed! After the unfortunate situation where yesterday's postman had to take retirement on medical grounds (mainly due to him not being medically alive for his gross failure of duty), today's replacement postman handed me a package hoping to placate my all consuming thirst for distortion pedals. So, here we are. The smallest pedal I've ever seen with so many controls. Plus my new rizla box. Maybe. Thanks to Darren for sorting this out. Will be having a play later today after I get my alibi sorted for yesterday with my legal team.

Photos....

When we set up to play in a pub, the people who are there have chosen to be there. They could have gone somewhere else, but this is where they want to be. Some (a few, a very small number) are there specifically to see us, some are there to check out the music because it's a music pub, and some are there for all sorts of other random reasons. Once we start playing, those punters who don't like rock music will leave. Those punters who don't like our particular brand of rock music will also leave, but not so quickly. Meanwhile, those punters who DO like what we're doing will be texting or phoning their mates and saying "great band on tonight, you should come down here". By the time we play our last set, the people in the pub will have self-selected to be only those who actually like what we're doing, and who will respond to the music ... dance maybe, or sing along, or at least applaud after each song. The gig is far more involving for the band, far more fun for everyone, far more likely to bring repeat bookings. ************************************************************************************ When we set up to play in a club (Social, WMC, whatever), the people who are there are always there. Most of them cannot imagine going somewhere else on a Saturday night, and if they do their friends will ask where they were. They are there for the venue and to see their friends, and the music is almost incidental. They sit there with their arms folded, staring at us, and daring us to entertain them. It's THEIR club and we are the intruders. Once we start playing, those members who don't like rock music will complain. Those members who don't like our particular brand of rock music will also complain, but not so quickly. Meanwhile, those members who DO like what we're doing will NOT be texting or phoning their mates and saying "great band on tonight, you should come down here", because the club is Members Only. After the first set, one of the members (almost invariably a guitarist, allegedly) will buttonhole a bandmate and explain in enormous detail what we are 'doing wrong', advise the lead guitarist and the drummer to play louder because no one can hear them, and then disappear into the smoker's paradise for the rest of the evening. After the second set, there will be a 30-minute hiatus while everyone pretends they've joined the Jarrow Hunger March of 1936 so that they can get excited about the Meat Raffle. Have these people never heard of Sainsburys? By the time we play our last set, most of the people in the club will be sitting grim-faced and glowering their sense of entitlement at us, waiting for us to finish so that they can return to playing Abba on the jukebox (last Saturday it was Phil Collins!). Those who actually enjoy what we are doing and want to dance will be intimidated off the dancefloor by the drunken poseurs trying to throw shapes while playing air guitar, and stumbling into the PA. The club gigs are well-paid and the venues are usually excellent ... big stage, loads of power, built-in lightshow, etc. But in truth if I never play another club I won't miss it. Silvie and I do all the gig-getting for my main band, and we have already decided not to bother with clubs at all for 2019. Life's too short.

Well, since completing the holy trinity bass collection of Jazz, Precision & Stingray that trinity may now have to be broken as i decide which one to sacrifice for my new addition. I've carefully negotiated with Mrs Raslee to keep hold of what I've got right now whilst I work through the honeymoon period - maybe she'll forget ahem!. I have always liked Warwick basses, they just feel right, perfect adjustments and always a quality build. However, I was never overly keen on that phallic top horn on the Corvette styles I previously owned. I vowed one day I'll try the Streamer and today was that day. The stars aligned in space, the sun shined on my wallet, Bootsy was on the one, Trump had his mouth closed and my wife was seemingly on good acid (or at least she must have been on something to have supported the purchase) - and better still Mansons in Exeter had a used Streamer Stage 1 and a LX both in natural (preference). So after engineering the trip to Exeter rather than another fricken National Trust jaunt i plugged the yummies in, also tired a Manson bass too whilst the wife and little ones went off shopping. The LX as expected had a lot more growl, dare I say harsh compared to the S1. I decided right away a no on the Mansons bass...nice but pricey and the tone sounded a bit thin to my ears. Then I tried the Streamer S1 and I was really taken by the versatility of tone on tap, further still it felt astonishingly lovely to play and was a nice weight too, not really owned many neck throughs before either. Both the LX and S1 were nice but the S1 was the clear winner to my ears ....so I text the wife to tell her 'I love her'. I have not researched the build year yet but if feels probably mid 00's or later. Played for the last 3 hours and I'm kicking myself why have i never played one of these beauts before...right now I love it.....of course it could be the honeymoon period...but it is good, very good...in fact I'll end this NBD here....

We are a London based Singer/songwriter Guitarist,Bassist and Drummer Who are seeking second Guitarist's to start an original QUALITY Pop Rock band. When i say pop i mean in the good sense of the word with a difference. We are Looking for pro/semi pro musicians from 19 upwards Who dare to dream and believe in what their doing and would want to stay in the band and are looking to push hard and get ahead IDEALLY FULLY COMMITTED PEOPLE I am looking for a Lead Guitarists or Rhtyhm Guitarist with (Energy,Style,Stage Presence,Charisma and possibly own Gear Bv even better) who know their instruments like they know their prick lol who are really creative to help in the creation of new material however if you are a guitarist who can play well and tick all the boxes but is not that creative you may still be of use :-0 !!IMAGE IS IMPORTANT!! SO A GOOD LOOK IS REQUIRED OR A KOOL QUIRKY MUSICIAN LOOK IT ADDS WEIGHT The music is as important also We take musical influences from across the board including :Kings of Leon, Guns and Roses ,Lenny Kravitz , The strokes, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Biffy Clyro , Foo Fighters, The Cure , Black keys, Michael Jackson ,Motown , James Brown, Queens Of the Stone age, Queen , Beatles, The who, Rolling stones, Led Zepplin , Artic monkeys, Jimi hendrix, Linkin Park, Bring me the horizon, Janes Addiction etc etc. We are open minded and down to earth, We have lots of written material and are VERY SERIOUS and if you write or have any other contributions they will be welcomed however (JAMMING IS ALSO A GOOD WAY OF CREATING NEW MATERIAL AND TAKING THE MUSIC IN A DIRECTION EVERY MEMBERS OF THE BAND IS HAPPY WITH) We are looking to make modern rock so We are looking for like minded people who want to move fast once everything is together :-0 !!BUT ARE PATIENT AND WILLING TO TAKE THE TIME TO BUILD MORE QUALITY MATERIAL !! WE HAVE SONGS TO LEARN READY TO GO OUT AND PLAY WE LOOKING TO BOOK SHOWS ASAP (HOWEVER I FEEL STRONGLY IT IS IMPORTANT TO CREATE MATERIAL AS A BAND THAT CAN BE ADDED TO THE SET LIST SO DONT THINK IT WILL BE ONLY ABOUT THE MATERIAL WE HAVE BUT IT GETS US OUT THIER PLAYING AND MOVING FAST ) NUMEROUS INDUSTRY CONTACTS (If your interested you can send me a private message) (Please send a visual/audio of yourself playing and any social media links) PS. Although We are taking this seriously. Getting on and having a laugh together is just as important as making the music. NO BIGOTS your Boring And Strictly No TIME WASTERS you're useless lol. CAUTION (If you are really busy with work or busy with life or Any other reason which will stop you from giving 100% then this is not for you ok its a sacrifice of your time and effort at the best of times so its more than just a hobby for us

B2ADB looks like some odd Soundgarden tuning 😆

85/86 I was writing songs with a guy who was an amazing singer but had difficulties with various addictions which had more or less brick-walled a promising career for him. We were taken under the wing of record producer who was well known up here in Scotland at the time and he bankrolled a proper full scale studio demo. He then hawked the tapes around various record companies and Polydor was the keenest. So he and I went down to London to meet with the record company. In the office, the A&R guy was going crazy about the songs - "This stuff is perfect for the States", "Fantastic Songs", "Great Singing and playing" etc. etc. As we left the meeting with hugely positive vibes, we held it together until the lift arrived and as soon as the doors closed, my producer friend was punching the air with delight. He had a lot of experience in the business and reckoned that a lucrative deal was virtually in the bag. Two days later, Polydor call him up. "It's XXX XXXXXX singing, isn't it?" was the question. Unfortunately, my singer's reputation for drug use and related unreliability cast a large shadow and the idea was dropped instantaneously. Fast forward about a year and I'm earning a crust playing for various cabaret acts. One is a Drifters tribute act and the promoter/ manager has the habit of bringing to the UK former stars of Motown or whatever who's careers have slid somewhat from the heady days of the 60s. One of these is Ben E King. As we're a Drifters band, we are chosen to back Ben E. for a tour. It all kicks off inauspiciously in the usual way for those things at that time with a smashed windscreen in the tour van in the middle of the night driving down from Scotland to the Isle of Wight- the first date of the tour is the end of season party for the staff at some holiday camp. That wild weekend was a story in itself but the tour went on at equally salubrious venues for a while till one day Ben got a call during the soundcheck. No mobiles - he was called away to the telephone. When he reappears, he says that apparently, due to the recent release of the Rob Reiner movie Stand by Me, his song of the same name which we open the set with every night has just gone to No 1 in the Uk charts! Suddenly, we're part of a 60s revival tour and are playing to packed houses in big venues that you've seen on tour schedules by the big bands - Liverpool Empire, Colston Halls, Bristol, Edinburgh Playhouse etc. Talk about 15 minutes of fame? Then Ben went back to the States and that was that. These two episodes in their own ways are my nearest misses but what the heck - I've now been playing the bass and gigging regularly since 1973 and I'm still going, still learning and still enjoying it!

I have seen many advertisements of this nature over the decades and they really have absolutely nothing at all to do with forming a working band. A cursory analysis of the content reveals that the advertiser's true (if unconscious) purpose is to find some friends with a common taste in music and politics, and a desire to 'have a laugh together'. And - as in a lonely hearts ad - he'd like to see a picture of the respondent. Really, all that stuff about "dare to dream and believe in what their (sic) doing and would want to stay in the band" is the 19 yr-old male guitard's equivalent of "cosy evenings by the fire and looking for a long-term relationship". IMO, a band of this nature "rehearses" often but without direction, talks a lot, has loads of hissy fits about who likes who better and seldom if ever performs in front of an audience.

I know what you mean, Mick. I`ve been racking my brains deciding what basses to keep/sell, and have finally made my decision, being the three US Precisions that I have that have no mods at all, plus a Vintage Tony Butler Sig Precision as backup. I`d been thinking of different permutations, colours, value etc, and then realised I was looking at it all wrong, simply which do I like playing the most should be the question I needed to answer.

And lastly, this. One of the most haunting pieces of music I’ve ever heard. The intro section (0.00 - 0.25) conjures childhood memories of strikes, IRA bombings, plane highjackings etc and the end credits section from 0.26 sounds like the music they’ll play when Armageddon comes. And on that cheery note...

@intime-nick?

Update time. the rather rare stack knob PJ-Ray! now with a Nordstand J blade in it as well.

Right....to keep this topic going here's another one....this time with a Moog inspired bass solo over the outro (3mins ish onwards)...again all thoughts appreciated! This is just an OC2 - all wet signal 1 8ve down. A bit of compression & EQ on the DAW after recording. Its not the finished article just a decent demo at the moment! If it was live I'd use a boost pedal to bring the volume up a bit and of course some compression to keep it fat! Dinosaur demo with SYNTH BASS & solo.mp3

I have a Behringer 8500 and bass vocal range, it works incredibly well for me, especially as every other Behringer product I have come into contact with has been awful

Wowsers! Thanks everyone. You've definitely all given me some food for thought. Like I said, they are my best mates. I know they appreciate me and it's only this small issue relating to gear that is on my mind. Forgot to mention, our main sound engineer is also the bass player that quit, resulting in me getting the job. He used an amp and no in-ears. As a result, he used to turn up loud so he could monitor himself as well as doing sound on the fly. Slight 'pot calling kettle black' but I know he was just doing what he had to. He's a good guy. I think the main thing I'll take from everyone's advice, is that I was hired for good reason and I should own it. You can't please all the people all the time.

Nuremberg - 1993. To answer the question - no!!

Here's my black Thunderbird

So, like many here, I've spent lots of time and money "researching" basses and amps. Some of the gear I've acquired I love, others "not so much". In the past 10 years I've probably owned 50+ basses in the search for the ultimate tone palette. The list reads like a What's what of quality basses - Wal, Ritter, Status, Overwater, Shuker, Warwick, Spector, I've got a number of custom builds, I've even owned a Fender or two. I generally have basses on a rota, play them for 3-4 months put them back in their case, bring another out. One of the basses I've neglected to play (been in it's case unplayed for over 3 years) is a Veillette Citron - most of you haven't even heard of them, never mind played one. One of less than a handful in the UK, It's always been top of my list of my "never to be sold" list. I also had a fretless which I foolishly sold here, only because it wasn't getting played. I rotated basses yesterday, went looking for my Overwater Jazz but instead pulled out the VC. Recognising it hadn't been out for a while I took it to the amp and plugged it in. WOW!! Yes WOW!! Indeed!! I now remember why I decided that this would be "the last to go" - man, it blew my mind. Tough, kicking tones - proper punchy - everything I've ever wanted tones-wise from a bass. Made me question why I've ever bought anything else ( other than i wouldn't really want to take it anywhere it might get hurt/stolen). All this time chasing the "unobtainable" when the whole time I've had what I wanted in a case. Photos and sound clips to follow.

Yamaha every day of the week for that money. SB, BB or, as I did, Pulser 400.

If you want to play it more often, Mick, I'd suggest you stop leaving it lying outside on the lawn ...

holding the pick ups in - note that there are no screw holes on the pick ups in the front...

This used to knock me out as a kid, I used to hear this every Sunday lunchtime when my dad used to watch Weekend World, it’s still amazing now. Little excerpt from Mountain’s ‘Nantucket Sleighride’.

One of my favourites. The whole intro sequence is great.

Yup, that be me. Still use it and love it. Had a play last night for a quiet practice as the Mrs isn't well. Depending on the provided back line I might use it tonight at a gig too.

There are plenty of live recordings with Hamish Stuart playing a Mustang and on other songs, Alan Gorrie playing a Precision. They do sound quite different - Hamish Stuart often played with a pick and a phase effect also in AWB. They even sound quite different playing Stingrays - which goes to show a lot of it is down to the player, not the bass. Examples of songs with Hamish Stuart on bass (definitely live, probably in studio) are Schoolboy Crush; I'm the One; When Will You Be Mine. The first is probably on a Mustang - the others may be Stingray. There are quite a few.

The theme from the animé series Cowboy Bebop, it's a classic!

I know some folk who had a big old 5 bed tenement on Castle Street - they let it out to students for 11 months and festival for one month - they made twice as much in one month as the other 11

Here is my contribution to the May 2018 Basschat Composition Challenge, inspired by a picture chosen by last month's winner: Rikki1984. The ruined vestiges of a once-powerful empire, long-since engulfed by the ocean's depths. Joined, many centuries later, by a now-rotting hulk, another failure of mankind, another symbol of the ephemeral nature of 'power'. Quite complex, really, combining deceptively simple percussive elements (cymbal swells, taiko drums and more...) with more exotic timbres, such as sitars and operatic voices, (very...) deeply underpinned with several drones, aptly generated by a software synth, 'Atlantis' (the name is not a coincidence, but the appropriate timbre of the sounds certainly is...). The ocean's voice is expressed through renderings from hump-backed whales; these may well be leagues away, as their tones carry over vast distances under the surface. Thanks for listening, if you already have; if you're about to, enjoy.

12 bar being the lowest common denominator? These two seem to get some good mileage out of playing just one chord! My local jam does this from time to time, it’s a great way to strip everything back to basics, stop worrying about changes and just concentrate on phrasing and responding to what others are playing.

I also found it comfortable to play, the sort of reverse explorer shape worked well for me, and they also included a lower "horn" stump so you could play it sitting down with out it sliding off your leg, something the Guitar version lacked.

Have you ever tried to beat a seal to death with a pub ?

Well... my 50th will be this summer, and it looks like I'm getting this: Most people would probably aim for something rather more upmarket... but I'm very happy about this one

The band I was in, Inter managed to get a record deal. We were part of the post brit-pop scene and worked our rears off playing as much as humanly possible to build up a following. Started to get a name for ourselves and released a song on the Pet Sounds label and then later on our first single, Happy Ending in 1997. This got noticed by John Peel who said it was his favourite single of 1997 and gave us our first John Peel Session. This promoted us even further and it got to the point where Virgin were trying to decide to sign either us or The Stereophonics. They chose the Stereophonics in the end but we still managed to get a half decent record deal. We were all about 28 and got about £36k advance each for 3 years plus £5k to buy gear and then royalties from merchandise, sales etc. Going to the Bass Centre with £5k to go buy whatever I wanted was the best feeling in the world. I bought a Stingray, a Status and a massive top of the range Hartke rig 😊 We recorded our debut album at Loco Studios in South Wales which was where Oasis, The Manics, Stereophonics and many others had recorded stuff. The studio was also owned by Geoff Downes of Buggles fame and John Payne of Asia who both played on the album. We lived at the studio for three months in our own cottage and even had our own chef 😊 Our producer was Mark Wallis who has recorded with everyone but is most famous for recording the IT Bites album, The Primatives album, The Smiths, The Travis album and was the engineer on U2's Joshua Tree. Prior to choosing this producer we came very close to going to Seatle and recording the album with Rick Parasher who recorded Pearl Jam's Ten album but we told the record company no as we wanted to sound English still and not end up sounding like an American band. The album, titled Got My Nine sold 7k copies in the first week and we released 3 singles, National Paranoia, Speed Racer and Radio Finland. All got mainstream radio airplay and led on to a second John Peel Session, a live Virgin Radio Session and an XFM session. Also one of our tracks was used to advertise Casio G Shock watches in an advert for Spanish cinemas. We also did other TV stuff with tracks being used on Eurosport and Rebel TV. Q Magazine gave the album 4 out of 5. We continued to tour which was amazing with our own crew etc. and were doing really well but then things started to go wrong. We were getting offered some big things like going on tour with Feeder in Germany, film soundtracks, gigs in the States but the record company was saying no to it all. To cut a long story short, we found out we were being ran as a tax loss so initially the record company were happy to pump money in to us (the album alone cost £120k to record etc.) but as we started to get more successful they put the brakes on. We were literally being hung out to dry and missing out on great opportunities which at the time made no sense. Anyway, they breached contracts so we sued them and won and that was the end of it. It was incredibly hard work, constantly recording, touring, song writing, promoting, photo shoots, interviews etc. but I have no regrets as I lived my dream for 4 years, the best time of my life with the most amazing experiences. Plus I still get the odd royalty payment now and again 😊 More details below. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_(band) Other things I've done is go on tour with Paul Weller in another band, supporting him for 4 nights at the Roundhouse in Camden and recorded an album at his studio in Ripley. He also played on the album and I had to teach him to play this piano part that we wanted. I've been the Bass player in a video for a charity song that ELO were recording. Played at Brixton Academy using The Levellers back line. Supported Cactus World News and Let Loose and best of all chatted to Andrea Corr whilst making a cup of tea 😍😍 Now I play in an amazing 50s and 60s cover band, doing about 100 gigs a year and totally loving it.

I walked across the zebra crossing outside Abbey Road once.

Hi yes Iv'e briefly looked that way but will investigate further! there were some lovely cheapish places on the "borders" but wondered if it was comutable to Edinburgh.Thanks so much for your comments,ya never know I may end up moving there so we could hopefully say" Hi"

Hey Joe, that song where guitarists can noodle pentatonic nonsense and convince themselves that they are a better guitar player than their peers because they aren’t playing over a straight 12 bar.

Oiiiii!!! I resemble that remark ...

I suppose it's a bit early in the game to tell them to go fück themselves with a traffic cone

This is, I’ve found, very common with bands I’ve played for or worked with, small and big, not bearing about the bass player nor their gear, but some exceptions have been quite the opposite and those bands always sound the better for it. Any group of selfish individuals who are only concerned with their own sound and not the blend of those sounds is not only going to be a drag to play with but a drag to listen to as well. The simple fact of the matter is that the bass is as vital as every other instrument and as ‘of course’ as that sounds it is a) rarely acknowledged, let alone applied in practice and b) rarely defended or even mentioned by us bass players while singers, guitarists and drummers ruin everything because of ego and intransigence. I no longer have any truck with people who do not understand the democracy of sonics and I am incredibly lucky to play with people who don’t bring ego to the stage nor the rehearsal room. It’s a difficult balance to strike, especially when egos are involved but stand your ground Sir, you and your bass are as important as every other element of the band, don’t get pushed around because you are new or consider yourself lucky

I'm thinking there's been a change of factory because I never found any of those points on my previous 4. The one witha QC date last November looked like this. The with QC date this January looks the same as yours.

`Twas a no brainer for me, I had the lovely chaps at Alpher build me a Cobia 5 string (still the only one in the world), my choice of everything and the serial number is my birth date, cool as you like!!

My 50th is in November and I suggested to my wife I might but a Mustang PJ. She suggested I might not reach 51 if I do - apparently 2 basses is enough for anyone.

Bit harsh there. This a 'bug' type product where you can slot the transmitter directly in to the input jack if you choose. The tape idea is optional if you want to make it more secure using it this way. Every other bug type receiver is the same in my experience. At least the smoothhound can handle many different types of input jacks, unlike several other bug type products. You can also use it the traditional way by attaching the transmitter to a belt or strap. this is the way I do it. If you're used to using many different wireless systems over the years without sticking something to your bass then this would be the way to go.

I don’t understand why it should be expected that it would drop out if either out of sight or on a large stage? Whenever I’ve tested quality systems you can leave the room, close the door, walk across the car park, get in a car and wait for some to start driving away before you lose signal!

Shout out for CBeebies Show, Go Jetters. Teaching the nation’s 5 year olds about geography and cultural heritage AND turning them on the disco and funk. They are a team of global adventurer superheroes who are led by a disco unicorn who wears a white sparkly glittery flared jump suit. Ubercorn always has funky facts about the place they visit each episode... surreal genius The theme is like the Wonder Woman Theme on steroids. CBeebies have also done a series of adverts which pastiche famous funky tunes... enjoy...