Leaderboard

I have vivid and fond memories of watching my (South African) mate giving an excellent and very well received impromptu version of "We Will Rock You" on the highland pipes while dressed in full Scottish regalia, accompanied by a German oompah band, also wearing their traditional costumes, late at night at an open-air riverside café in Turku, Finland in the summer of 2017 during the Europeade (European folk dance) festival. Pick the cultural bones out of that one!

I've only ever depped a few times and only for people I know. Last time was a young girl who occasionally songs with my band gave me about 48hrs notice that her bassist couldn't do a festival gig. She got her band moved to be on just before mine so I'd be there and sent me the set list of covers... i got introduced as a last minute cover and got through the first few songs including an improv section I wasn't prior warned about and all went well. Then Seven Nation Army was up next. I just stood there. Singer says "it's you". I had ear plugs in. "It's you. Now, it's you" I'm just standing there. "It's you" "what?" "Play the riff" "what riff?" This went on for ages until she basically spoke like to an elderly relative who thinks he's escaping from the nursing home "seven nation army. It starts with the bass riff. You need to start playing it"

I'm looking forward to going down my next blues jam night to check passports, and I'll be requiring written proof that the singer's dog has actually died, his woman did indeed done him wrong, etc. 😁 I used to go to the Bier Keller in Manchester when standing on tables and hurling steinfuls of lager around the place was a big night out, and the house band there (definitely Oompah) covered Like A Virgin...it was a life-changing experience... 😁

"Music eh...shit business int'it?"

Two things: first, Bob Marley's dad was a white guy from Liverpool. Second: you live in a flipping colony!!!

@The59Sound do you need to take a break?! How about it, or do you think you can behave like a grown up for a bit? Calm down.

Been in the news a bit this week following Michelle Obama’s speech. How many of you guys have been in this situation? I did a dep gig on Saturday night. Was sent the set list, had a brief look through it, met the guitarist and ran through a few numbers. Didn’t seem anything too complex. Turned up to the gig unloaded and set up and then realised I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Not practiced any of the tunes at home, didn’t know the structure to half the tunes, no ideas of intros or endings. I was screwed. Anyway, felt my way through the gig by using my eyes and ears and smiling a lot. The band thought I was great, the audience thought we were great. We got paid and the band leader was asked for cards. I suppose really that’s what musicians do when they play properly and all this endless rehearsals and preparation with semi-pro bands is mainly just to stoke the singer/guitarists ego. Quite honestly I’d prefer to dep all gigs. Keeps it fresh and reminds me of what a real musician is.

This. When I started, I was the worst musician in the room, but - I was a musician! Our om community was truly appreciative of the people who came every week just to listen, but as soon as I crossed that line it became completely different. I'm usually still the worst musician in the room, but that's because I keep pushing myself, and trying to play with better musicians, because it's the only way I'll get better myself. Many years ago a sprinter who came last in the Olympic 100m final was asked how he felt about coming last. His answer: "Being the 8th fastest man in the world ain't bad."

Flight cased in ears porn.

Remember , unlike my generation, I'm 65, no longer is every kid in the neighborhood buying a guitar and starting a band. There aren't that many guys in their 20s & 30s interested in bands or gigging. But there's a ton of us older guys not willing to give up our rock & roll spot light quite yet I'm not Blue

I had some trouble with Twist and Shout once I realised I was a different colour than the people who first sang it. Or is it a different nationality? Or religion? The Isley Brothers (who were the first to chart with it) were Seventh Day Adventists...

He's currently on a hiatus. God knows what he's going to be like when he finally decides he loves playing bass again.

It's a good thing to be helpful, right? Apparently the cry has gone out that the 2nd market is slowing (see that other thread). How could what we are signing up to do here (led by our pied piper moderator @Sibob) be described in any shape or form as being "helpful" on that score? 😄

My current fretless squeeze... OLP Ray body, Jaydee neck with mostly-unlined ebony board, EMG-HZ pickup, as yet passive electrics. Future plans are to squeeze some sort of 3-band eq in there. For the moment, I'm loving it just as it is. It plays beautifully and sounds better.

I fully understand. I just wish that big events like this weren't always so London-centric.

How did the Hipster burn his hand? He changed the light bulb before it was cool.

Next time I gig my Super Twin, I'll have to take an umph meter and see what is lacking

all brands of IPA available in the UK for a Yule long tasting session 🍻

A bit of peace and quiet hopefully.

Have you planted the Helix Stomp seed yet? I love how you have named your P2s too. I'm going to call mine Stan.

You can download them yes. Click on the 3 dots at the side of the video, that should give you the option to download. I've attached a photo of one of mine.

Unless you have a Mark King complex, you'll probably find that 4kHz isn't much of a limitation at all.

@Paul S Good luck. They won’t be expecting too much. Have fun.

I play in a ska band. I thought I was a bass player. I never realised I was a thief, coloniser and oppressor too. Thanks for the heads up.

You really are an over opinionated racist fool aren't you i grew up in Tottenham listening to reggae [both uk and Jamaican] and have played it for most of my fifty years i play with a band that consists of Jamaican, Indian ,Polish, Bermudan, mixed heritage and uk born some of the white members of the band have played with some of the biggest names in reggae without any problem i play the music from the streets i grew up in but reggae music is loved the world over ,and its message of unity and love is open to all.

I started in live music by playing at one of the better jams in West London (the Drayton Arms, Ealing, formerly the King's Head, Acton jam). Quite literally everybody in the room was a better musician than me, and the great majority (including the guitarists) were better bass players than me. So? You have to start somewhere. If I could get in a time machine and go back those years - taking my bass with me, natch - there would still be plenty of better musicians there. There will always be better musicians than yourself somewhere, if you look hard enough. So stop looking and enjoy what you do.

Good luck with your endeavours. If anyone, of whatever colour, tries to tell you that you shouldn't be playing a particular type of music because of your ethnic background, then they are being racist, and should be ignored, however much they may try to conceal their racism behind such fatuous pc terms as "cultural appropriation". It's no different from someone telling a black person that they shouldn't be performing opera or playing in a string quartet. Music is music, and has always benefitted from cross-cultural fertilization, without which much of the music we enjoy, and which has enriched our lives, simply would not exist. Enjoy!

Why are you being rude? What an odd reply. Literally an opinion, a point of view - my 2p. The concept of a cheaper (‘kiddy’) Flea bass in itself was acknowledged by Flea when he brought out the “fleabass” range of instruments and further addressed by the introduction of a lower price point Fleabass (street bass). I was just pointing out that Fender may have missed a trick by only having the one price point which would be out of reach for younger/less affluent fans when they’ve done broader attempts to previously... Mike Dirnt has/had a Fender and a Squier model simultaneously BB King had a Gibson and Epiphone version of Lucille (there are plenty more examples) It just broadens their buying audience somewhat and more buyers means more money. Makes more business sense. And having left the guitar/bass retail industry after 12 years in 2015 - I might have an idea of what people buy into. As a point, the cheap fleabass instruments weren’t that great - but we sold 100’s of them because people bought into the Flea name/image. But what would I know, I’m only a child.

Went along to a start-up originals audition once. The band were pretty good and (along with myself) had largely done their homework - except for the potential singer/guitarist/front man, who clearly was unable to fulfil any of those roles. It became obvious that he had made no effort to listen to any of the material, but this turned out to be irrelevant as he just plain couldn't sing, sounded as if he'd never ever picked up a guitar before and had all the charisma and personality of a canoe. BUT he thought he was great! The band played the songs while he made a terrible howling noise like an aphasic drunk falling down an escalator with a cutlery drawer, gurning horribly and throwing weird stunted shapes like an arthritic gnome with terminal hemarroids. The band immediately avoided each other's gaze. Rarely have I been so embarrassed yet so wanted to laugh as never before. No-one stepped in to stop it, we just kept going on and on through the set. It was absolutely interminable. We never met again, but later I heard he had persistently phoned the band leader pleading for the job, claiming he was obviously the best choice! And in the end actually got weird and threatening. Steps had to be taken. I've met some deluded flakes in my time - comes with the territory - but I won't forget this one in a hurry.

Just pulled the trigger on one for £250. Anybody using one at the moment? What's your opinion? I simply bought it as a backup to my SVT3 which, in it's massive flight case weights a ton.

That was a forgotten blast from the past! Can't help with the bass player, but spent an enjoyable hour reading up about Gene, Carl Davies, Chi-Sound Records, Edwin Starr, Curtis Mayfield, and Chicago soul in general. Apologies if this has been posted before:

they are? hadn't noticed that, Doombar is my go to pint, followed by any copper/amber beers, I would have thought if there's 4 handpulls on at least one ought to be amber and one mild, not 4 pale ales 😡

Nothing bass-related, then! Wouldn't mind a maple board/lined fretless J neck off a Sire MM V7, for a project. And whatever kind soul gives it to me can re-shape the headstock to a Tele style, to save me doing it myself, cheers.

I promise not to buy anything in 2019, apart from during week days and the odd weekend.

Nah, that's Croydon.

Get the blue paint back out! 😂

I also don't see the point in this. A good split pickup CIJ Mustang reissue can still be had for south of £700 (even with the comp stripe) and will knock spots off one of these.

Once we get these in ears fired up after Xmas my only FOH sound will be from the RCF 735s and hopefully the guitarist will be ampless too, that should kill rock and roll off forever!

VERSION: Stomp TITLE: Patch example - Crossover into parallel paths DESCRIPTION: Tubey low gain sound with clean lows. sounds ace with flats on my P IN DETAIL: Using a Crossover split at 500Hz, sending highs and mids through a mpeg SVT amp & 810 cab, lows through studio compressor, then merged. There's a volume pedal block on each path as i find it useful to switch these on and off to hear what each path contains. Amp Tone'z.hlx amptonez.mp3

Marco Bass Guitars MV fretless build in progress. I won't decide on control config and electronics package until I get a chance to hear the proprietary neodymium sidewinder pickups Marco has wound specifically for this bass. That's a purpleheart fingerboard, maple neck, maple top wings, and not sure on the core wood.

It's not being 'unable to work' social media, purpleblob, I'm not a complete luddite! It's the information harvesting that I ( and apparently many others) have a natural aversion to. But if people on here really think this might be where I'm missing out, then it could be a price I'm prepared to pay.

Guess what Eude is thinking.. Early Xmas pressie to himself...

Yeah. Was aiming for a football team...ended up with a barbershop quartet...story of my life 🤷🏻‍♂️

You say this like it's a bad thing. S.P.

Warmoth Precision neck with ebony board, no idea about body wood, but it weighs marginally less than Gibraltar. Sustains for ever. Wizard '64s. Offered it for sale here, no one wanted it. In retrospect I'm rather happy about that

Had these before: Ned Steinberger Design, very "upright-ish"... Fernandes 60's Jazz Bass copy: VERY good! Like the real deal, this one... I also had this: an old lined fretless Steinberger L2 I bought in Hamburg in early 1984. Three digit serial number beginning at 2...