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It's a place full of mainly grumpy, old, over-entitled men who have vastly over-stayed their welcome on the stage and whose opinions are, frankly, almost irrelevant. But that's the House of Lords...thank god BC is nothing like that.

Otherwise known as the dusty end

Also, while I think about it. I'd like to say a big thank you and well done to the moderators on here. It's a thankless task and there's a fine line between over moderation and allowing things to just run rampant. I think this forum has got the balance just right.

"A guitard is a man who knows the solo of everything and the chords of nothing" Oscar Wilde - Lady Windermere's Fan

The two big issues I have with BC is firstly, I joined as a moderately wealthy man and now I'm broke, and secondly, could somebody please increase @Teebs 'like' allowance, the poor chaps always running out 😂

Not the ideal comment for that post in this thread??

BassChat is a considerably less fractious environment than it was when I joined and it's been even more matey than ever during its most recent evolutionary cycle. There's a natural churn to the forum (beyond which we also lost a clutch of regulars during that period which some have dubbed 'The Weird Times') but an influx of fun, witty and informed people have added much lustre to our common enterprise during the last couple of years. Yes, there are localised outbreaks of snark; contextually inappropriate political pronouncements continue to make themselves unwelcome. But there's a generally more relaxed feel to the place; mad rants tend to be greeted with a quizzically raised eyebrow or gentle mockery rather than feverish declarations of war; most importantly, people are no longer completely losing their sh*t over the issue of mixing driver sizes in a multi-cab rig (afaik).

Something which often gets forgotten when we talk about moderation on the forum is just how incredibly handsome @ped is. I'm completely heterosexual but he's so lush I'd go down on him, no question

I protect the finish on mine by putting a large gut between me and the bass. Very effective, and super-attractive.

I’m on here quite regularly nowadays, I’ve noticed so many BC’ers are fast to create drama and hostility towards each other and jump down each other’s throats, what’s the deal? What happened to peace & love among bassists???

Fellow BC-ers, can I ask you to please stop posting on the forum for a few days? I have to learn a set of audition pieces for a gig that i really would like to get and you lot are all distracting me from practising. Between Off Topic, General Discussion and the market place, I'm spending time on here which should be spent learning new stuff. So, can you all please quiet down for a few days? (Thinking about it, some of these pieces are a bit challenging - give me a week at least...) Alternatively, just try to be a bit boring while i get my head round these things.... Thank you for understanding

It's impossible to answer this without going against what you're asking us to do.. A bit like that brilliant Steven Wright (USA comedian) joke, 'What's Braille for Do Not Touch?' Good luck with your practicing

I’ll chip in and agree with @stewblack I use the forum for what it is, an amazing source of reference from some pretty knowledgeable folk, that , most of the time, have no agenda and are not trying to sell you a bass, amp, cab etc. I have met and continue to stay in touch, even made friends with several people on here, all more accomplished bass players better than me, but on here we are all the same. I have been given some fantastic advice about gear and recommendations that have made me part with cash and not regretted it. I think if a thread gets heated and you take offence, walk away, swipe left or however you wish to navigate away, if it’s directed at you then report it if you feel that strongly. I also firmly believe that some people write things in a way that comes across as being hostile but isn’t meant to be, it’s just how they write. I may be wrong, usually am. I think this is a fantastic forum , you aren’t going to like everyone, there will always be differences of opinion but there’s a lot of people you will like who’s opinion you will take note of. There are a few on here with some amazing one liners that look like it’s hostility, but actually they make me roll up laughing, oh the irony.... Anyway, that’s my 2 pence worth, the first in 2019. I hope the grammar police are ok with the ramble, now off to the ‘ Amps Vs Wattage’ thread with my wooden spoon. 😃

I finally got round to refinishing this body and fitted the new electrics all that's left is to fit the block inlay decals when they arrive then it's completely finished! I think itooks a lot better in a satin finish 😀

Hey I’m big enough to say I can be a bit angsty - but it’s usually backed up through my experience and me being passionate enough for others not to make the same mistakes as I have. If I see people talk bull, I’ll pull people up on it - because I’m amazed at how many people talk with authority about gear or subjects that they have zero experience of... self appointed experts if you will. I’m hoping those that meet me in real life can see that I’m a good egg and if you read the threads I participate in and those that I have written lengthy PM exchanges with, will see that I only have the best interests of everybody at heart. Life is too short to be making mistakes and playing through stinky poo gear. Im sure there’s a few people on here that my input on FRFR and inears alone has changed their gigging life... for the better!

That must be a hard job, with "no indication" of when it's all going to kick off.

In some respects I think it’s the words written, most of communication is taken by visuals, as well as tone of voice - remove those and you’re left with just the words which will more than likely seem much harsher than were intended.

G to B to put the bass into tune, then G to B again to double check.

I always tune G,D,A,E. Except on a Wednesday, when I tune E,A,D,G.

Great pic. He was cool as... Lucky enough to see them a few times over the years and one show (with Brian Robertson) was, to this day, one of the best gigs I've seen - the band were right on top of their game. Also saw them with Snowy White and John Sykes (separately) playing foil to Scott Gorham and, whilst neither were as good a fit as Robertson (imo), and parts of the shows may have been patchy with some of the material not up to the standard of the mid/late 70s Lizzy (again, imo), Philo was always fabulous. For me, one of rock and roll's great frontmen...

That’s true - my bass sounds 0.1% better when I’m not touching it

Tips? Never mind the back of your bass. Don't you realise how uncool bullet belts are?

he's now a dead head

Am I allowed to play with this bad boy? Bb1000 from 1978, bought from our very own PawelG a few months back. I wasn't using it live until a few weeks ago as I kinda love my 5 string but I've forgotten how much i love 4 string basses! Will be playing this as my #1 for the next wee while.

Like duck it is.

Guilty plea re your first sentence, former teacher and still trying to get over the "correct the error"syndrome...I'm working on it and liking all the good stuff on this site, technical and personal.In OT I even made a resolution for 2019, a first for me. Good vibes and wonderful support from almost everyone on here make it a good part of my day.😊

I won't post a distracting reply to your post. I'll just let you get practicing. P.s. Should it be 'practicing' or 'practising'? Are the two interchangeable, is one an Americanism, or is one 'to rehearse something' and the other 'to carry out a profession or belief? Hmm 🤔.

Happy to take the blame for that!

I mostly avoid the off topic forum. That's because I know I don't cope well with opinions which differ from my own. This is a character defect of mine and not a fault of BC or other posters. The handful of times I've been bewildered by people getting overheated about amplifier ratings or the shape of a headstock is hugely outweighed by the amount of helpful, informative posts I've read. I've also download free transcriptions, received invaluable technical advice, found a fantastic tutor, discovered lightweight cabs and instruments which have prolonged my career, met some truly remarkable, kind, selfless people, been introduced to stunning bands and bass players, received and given practical help to and from fellow Basschaters, and been relieved of a staggering amount of money I could ill afford to lose in the market place. The good outweighs the bad. Sadly, for some, confrontation and dispute are entertaining and simple to ignite. These people seldom care about those they hurt.

Stick with us @Bassislife16, I’ve been in the middle of some discussions that made me want to leave, I’ve also occasionally said a thing or two on here that I regretted, but the longer you use BC the more you’ll see that most of the time it’s actually one of the more reasonable corners of the internet and a huge wealth of knowledge and experience is on tap. Lots of people are opinionated, sometimes vociferously so, but 9/10 it’s wisdom and occasionally that wisdom is a bit angsty.

This forum is a very warm and friendly place, with occasional spates of passion & strong opinion. People have different opinions & some are more ready to push them than others. I'm very grateful for the friends & acquaintances I've made in the short time I've been on here, but I hate the idea that Basschatistas would be put off by the posts of others. People can be stroppy, but its worth bearing in mind that things & problems happen in real life outside BC that can cause this - no excuse though. The Admins & Mods do a fab job & I'm very grateful. Play nice BC peeps, & if anyone wants a fight, I'll be in the car park after lasties

This is still the best place to find out about all things 'bass' IMO, whether that's double-bass, bass guitar, EUB, amps, cabs, FX etc, etc. Sure, some of the threads are a bit repetitious and some of the same topics produce the same arguments...which every now and again get a bit fractious..handbaggs at dawn and all that.. 😁 But by and large, those things are far outweighed by the positives that Basschat provides on tap, every day, week, month without fail! Gear advice, technical advice, music theory advice, support from a community of like-minded people (broadly speaking), for sale forums, off-topic debate & discussions.. The list of positives is almost endless. If there'd been somewhere I could get all this for free when I first started playing bass in the mid 70s, I'd have absolutely loved it. And I'm sure it would have made me a better bass player and musician.

I'm not going to try and work out how much a little piece of rubber would have saved me over the years!

Hi guys, A few times I've espoused my love of the incredible (and very sexily-named) Studiospares 458190 preamp and DI box. I've had mine around 2 years now and I love it. On the upside it's got a decent 3-band eq, a notch filter, a preshape/midscoop thing, effects loop yada yada yada. Most importantly (and more preamps should have this) separate volume controls for both the XLR and TRS. On the downside, it's as big as a house and it's stupidly 9V center positive. Well, you can get around that by using the battery or phantom power I suppose. Anyway, I think I more than got my money's worth when I paid £45, then a few months back I noticed they went up to £50 (hey, prices rise, inflation, whatever) and they were still more than worth that. I noticed today that they're down to £30+delivery. I actually thought the one that I saw on ebay had been incorrectly listed or B-stock but no, that's just how much they cost now. For £30 I'm not sure that there's a better DI box. For £100 I'm not sure there's a better DI box. I have to stress that I have no affiliation or anything, just a happy customer passing on, what is IMO, a great deal.

Brian Downey! Brian Downey on drums! One of the unsung heroes. Lovely flowing playing.

I always tune highest string to lowest (GDAEB in my case) which I think might be a subconscious spillover from using raking technique in my playing. It just feels like the most efficient way of doing it, especially considering the points that have been made re: knocking tuning pegs that have already been tuned.

Welcome Strawbs. Nice of you to break cover, as it were. I used to enjoy a good old lurk myself but I was getting funny looks from passers-by. In hindsight, the nudist beach in Studland Bay was perhaps not the best place to do it.

@fleabag A damn good seeing, oh sorry I see what you mean. Bizarrely she's asked if I could dig a hole about 6' by 2' and then book someone to lay a patio a couple of days after I've dug the hole. I don't know what she's got planned, exciting times eh? 🤔

😀

This thread raises some interesting points, and I think that we could all learn from it. However, what we should not do is have an extreme reaction & go crazy. @Maude BANJO!?¿ Are you ill? Are you mad, man? This is exactly the kind of dangerous behaviour I was talking about. Good God man! You'll be buying a RickenTractor™ next!

similarly - you're all a bunch of nasty pasties 😀 And what in the name of Jesus H Corbett is a nasty pasty? 🙂

Hook, line and sinker.

"Practising" is correct in the UK. The verb is "to practise". "Practice" is the noun. Eg 'We had a good practice today' but 'we practised for two hours'. If you forget which is which, think of "advice" vs "advise", which rarely get confused with each other because they are pronounced differently. HTH. 😉

I don't really recognise the picture painted by the OP. Basschat is one of the warmest, friendliest places I've been a contributor to. One thing that comes to mind is that it's easy to mistake the intentions that the author of a post had and to draw offense where none is due. Try to imagine they're written by nice people with smiles on their faces and winks in their eyes (but not in a Werthers Original way).

Play like Mark King. You'll be fine as long as you don't wear a scratchy tie.

Very interesting as always to read everyone's different opinions on live sound... Ultimately (and as a regular gig-goer, player, and someone who has toured at several levels through several continents in several capacities....) I personally conclude that trying to get a great sound at any live gig is kind of like trying to polish a turd a lot of the time; unless you're in an acoustically wonderful and probably designed-for-purpose venue, you're at a place that can never sound like your record player speakers, so don't expect it to.. Some of the best sound I've heard at gigs has been at small pub venues with just a basic PA with a not-overly-experienced sound person simply mic'ing vox and PA, perhaps with kick as well, and just balances the backline. In fact, my favourite venue for sound has this setup. It takes a bit of common sense and equally co-operation from the band; in this case, the sound person is balancing the backline before dealing with their own mix, so it's up to the amp users in the house not to flip the gig up for everyone by turning up during the gig or being a pink torpedo during soundcheck. And equally, some of the worst sound I've ever heard has been at major venues and festivals; as others have mentioned the typically poor sound found at outdoor festivals, and I concur; I've been at huge metal festivals watching name bands and for example, cannot hear any bass whatsoever, to the point in which I'm certain that the bass-player must be muted, but the gig goes on that way, and nobody seems to bat an eyelid... so, I guess it must be on... FOH guys have one of the hardest jobs around I personally think, and there are, like musicians, countless incompetent and arrogant ones, but trust me, it takes a flipping lot of effort to get it right. As I say, unless the venue is a God-send, 90% of the time the FOH has their work cut out for them, and is battling acoustics, time constraints, technical issues and egos... so, when they do get it right, they deserve a f*cking medal really... And crucially, with exception to what people can now do on their iPads, FOH guys are working from a single spot usually two thirds at the back, and have to factor in a compromise for everyone in the venue, so if you're stood at the very front, or very back, or to the left, or the right, or the middle, you'll hear differently in all of these positions - FOH guys aren't actual magicians, guys. Really, like everything in live music, you get what you get. You get which sound engineer the venue has, until you can afford your own. If you're that worried, hire your own. But even then, you can't expect them to pull the rabbit out of the hat at every gig... I think every tour I've been on there have been both rave reviews and terrible criticisms of the live sound within the same run of dates with the same FOH engineer, often even from the same gig... I think that says a lot. Respect your local engineer, they've got a harder job than you.... and when you come across the grumpy c*nty ones (of which there are a few...), their c*ntiness is usually an expression of their own incompetency, so bark back and tell them what to do.... IF you know better