Leaderboard

Been playing for decades now. Big stages and small, theatrical to rock and roll and every point in between. 2017 the wheels fell off, lost marriage, home, mental health, work, just about all of it. Was lucky to have a family member willing to put me up so had a roof. Got a small pay off from the ex so she could keep everything and help ease my way into whatever awaited. Decided to embrace my 'freedom'. Buy decent gear, keep a vehicle on the road and get out there and call myself a musician. Took lessons, joined bands, started bands, depped in bands, placed ads answered ads. Gave it my all. This week the money ran out. I'm not earning anything apart from the occasional dep slot in a function band and the odd £50 here and there which gets eaten by petrol and rehearsal money. So I finally lived the dream, for a whole 13 months. Got pretty good at the bass by playing for hours every day. Learned I can improvise live to a good enough standard to get paid and asked back. Made some friends. But that's it. I'm going to have to get a job and go back to being a hobby bassist. Unfortunately at my age and with my checkered employment history, the economy about to collapse, and enjoying very unstable mental health, my prospects are not great. Perhaps I just left it too late. I did enjoy saying 'musician' when people asked what I do for a living, that was the first and only time since entering the workplace in 1980 that I've derived any pleasure from answering that question. But it was a sham.

Just got new bass into family and needed to share it with dear basschaters

...And I'm fecking loving learning the bass. I didn't want to be one of those guitarists that would pick up a bass and think by default that they can play the instrument. No. And whilst the guitar actually feels quite alien in my hands now (I must factor in enough practice time) actively learning the Bass has been the best decision I have made in many a year. Thanks for your support ✊

I nearly put this in the Gigs section but as it is a bit more of an event figured it was better housed in General Discussion. Just before Christmas I went up to Camden in the rain and did an audition for what was initially a dep gig. It's kind of grown and I am now doing 2 tours of the UK and going over to Italy, Denmark and Sweden. I appreciate we've all got different tastes but if Glam tinged Power Pop is your thing come and see me at one of the shows. Last Great Dreamers are the band and I have known them through mutual friends since '94 (small world but I gigged with the new drummer back then too). I'll be firing up my new Orange rig and I'm just deciding on which basses to take. It's going to be a lot of fun. Wed 13th February - EDINBURGH Bannermans (w/Enuff Znuff) Thu 14th February - LONDON Lounge666 (w/Enuff Znuff) Fri 15th February - NUNEATON Queens Hall (w/Enuff Znuff) Sat 16th February - BRADFORD Trash (w/Enuff Znuff) Sun 17th February - BUCKLEY Tivoli (w/Enuff Znuff) Mon 18th February - STOKE ON TRENT Eleven (w/Enuff Znuff) Thu 21 February - (TBC) (ITALY) (w/Enuff Znuff) Fri 22nd February - VERCELLI Sonore (ITALY) (w/Enuff Znuff) Sat 23rd February - SAN DONA DI PIAVE Revolver (ITALY) (w/Enuff Znuff) Sun 24th February - BERGAMO UFO (TALY) (w/Enuff Znuff) Wed 27th February - VARBURG Backstage (SWEDEN) (w/Enuff Znuff) Thu 28th February - GOTHENBURG Tregaarden (SWEDEN) (w/Enuff Znuff) Fri 1st March - OSLO Olsen (NORWAY) (w/Enuff Znuff) - TICKETS Fri 15th March - BRADFORD The Underground (w/Electric Boys) Sat 16th March - HRHAOR Festival (Prestatyn, Wales) Sun 17th March - BLACKPOOL Waterloo (w/Electric Boys) Mon 18th March - EDINBURGH Bannermans (w/Electric Boys) Tue 19th March - NEWCASTLE Think Tank (w/Electric Boys) Wed 20th March - LONDON Underworld (w/Electric Boys) Thu 21st March - MILTON KEYNES Crauford Arms (w/Electric Boys) Fri 22nd March - BUCKLEY Tivoli (w/Electric Boys) Thu 18th April - LONDON – Hope & Anchor (Rockaway Beach Club)

This isn't going to end well - I have a beard and a lot of tools. Only today, I was assembling my nice new pillar drill!

I had a Ford Escort that was like that.

Spare a thought for the poor little so-n-so that eagerly opened his tenth birthday present of... Cork sheets. ...

Yes (shortened from the classic "Yes, we have no bananas").

Listened to this earlier after a while of hearing it, apart from being such a fantastic record, the bass playing is so great. Fits the feel of Eltons song so well. Holds the groove perfectly and and plays such great passing notes between the roots, as well as the subtle 16th notes now and again.

And I get to keep my DAY JOB!!!!!

You realise when you post one of these threads that’s me gone for the evening listening to music for hours!!

I think we're talking about 2 different issues. I'm talking about those not willing to put the effort and work into learning a song. That's lazy in my book. Blue

Was that bog standard music you were playing

You're scaring me. 😥

Until they start paying there due tax bill I will not use them for anything. They have destroyed competition and high street retailers by avoiding paying taxes and screwing warehouse staff. Awfull company. I dont care how "legal" their tax avoidance is, its morally wrong and unfair to competition.

...yeah! And his beard-oil & 'craft lager' made by a US megabrewery! (To be drunk out of a jam-jar when he gets back to his urban collective)

where else is he gonna put his artisan cheese, handcrafted sourdough bread and jar of stuffed olives?

I think amazon get bad press because they don't pay enough tax, I blame Governments for that, nobody pays more tax than they've got to, but their business model and customer service is spot on in my experience, which is why they're so successful

-

Well I have caved and now have the Club Cab on its way and have just ordered the Lo Cab too. I even tried to barter on the price haha... didn't work. haha

Fixed. No need to thank me.

That's f**kin obvious...

Dude, who knows?? I suspect that cetera may be a bit old to be part of my potential offspring, but the thing is that I have been around a bit and I've just got a clue how it works...

Contrary to common belief learning and covering songs is not easy. It takes committment, drive, ability and time to do it properly. This is just my theory , I think people with strong backgrounds in originals resist learning covers because they feel it's beneath them. I'm sorry but in actuality it's because they probably don't have what it takes to learn a cover properly. What's so frustrating is there are tons of good bass and guitar YouTube tutorials showing you exactly how to play a song from start to end. I have first hand experience with folks that absolutely refuse to learn covers properly. And they all have a million poor excuses. The real reason is, they don't want to put in the work required. Sorry for the rant, but this is a " hot button" topic for me. Blue

I know Amazon gets a lot of bad press but I would like to praise them for their excellent customer service. Over the past few years I have purchased a variety of items from them and if I ever want to return something for whatever reason, I always find them most helpful and they usually either replace the item or offer a full refund. This morning I removed the Seymor Duncan Quarter Pounder pickup from my precision bass which I purchased from Amazon last June 2018, I was going to replace it with a Fender CS 62 pickup which is more suitable for the genre I play, but in doing so, one of the wires detached itself from the pickup, before removing it, my original intention was to sell it on through our marketplace, but after discovering the detached wire, I thought that if I re-soldered the wire back, it might put people off buying it. I then thought that it should still covered by the warranty, so I called Amazon to see how I go about returning it for a repair, I explained what had happened and straight away the person asked if I want a replacement or a full refund, obviously I went for a full refund seeing that I was going to sell it anyway. When I look back at some of the problems I've had with some of the so called reputable music stores where they deny all responsibility, and usually say you should return the item to the manufacturer, it makes me think that I might be better off buying most of my musical items from Amazon in future.

recorded at Homefire studios Harrogate. Please feel free to comment weather you like it or not,all feedback is very welcome, I love my bass tone on here,it really kicks derrière & DI'd straight to the desk from my Darkglass AOU If you live in the Harrogate are you can check us out at Bilton Working mens club this evening cheers

Think it was just a fancy paint job, no special pickups or circuit.

Mr Mac nails it ^^^ Frankly, just stick a wig and some shades on the front man and and you'll be sorted for those 'purist' gigs. He's got the right shaped head, he seems like the sort of chap who wouldn't mind going a bit over the top and he could always sing a few notes a bit flat. In a world full of sh*te it behoves one to applaud the good stuff.

Thanks for clearing that up😂

Yep you and me both. Since finishing work 3 yrs ago i decided it was time to let the hair grow again and its now well down my back plus it suits my Harley image again. Having to keep short hair at work was a bummer. Dave

Absolutely no reason to be forking out for a US fender with these on the market. I’ve owned a few us one in the past , these are nicer

Vagazzle for the face!

ha ha beard oil, yes indeed. Now I only have a perma stubbly face (more out of laziness than design) - but was amused by all these beard care kits now available in Boots. Beard comb, beard brush, beard shampoo and wait for it ..beard glitter! Before I go any further I've not insulted any proud beard stylists here have I?😁

Not sure marriage will get you a free bass, but you never know! Si

Motorhead... the song was written while Lemmy was still in Hawkwind.

Go in a different direction.Put the money into a hire/rent/lease arrangement for a decent double bass and some lessons.You will have a lot of fun and will be a few steps along the winding path that leads to the dark side! 😊

I asked about teaching for a reason, I know very few ‘professional musicians’ who are JUST musicians. Most teach, write, make gear, produce for other people etc etc. I think you can continue, but simply expand upon the things you do already. But also, as above, it’s not unusual for amazing musicians to have a job. Mike Bendy works for Apple, Bryan Beller was a VP whilst still playing, Juan Alderete worked in data before he got the Mars Volta gig (I think). There’s a romanticism about being a ‘professional musician’ that sometimes forgets that music is about life, not really the other way around. Si

This - this - is the attitude to have. You have to pay the bills, but that doesn't mean that the thing you love doing automatically has to take a back seat just because you're a wage-slave. It depends on how you see yourself and your place in the world - are you Employee Number 12345678 or Stew the bassist who's putting some hours in to pay the bills?

Streamer Pro M (1998). For someone who loves both Streamers and Stingrays, this feels like the perfect bass. It’s possibly my all-time favourite. The first of them had wenge necks and only one preamp, which were soon replaced by the ovangkol/ twin preamp models. The controls on this are stacked Bass/ Treble, Pickup Blend, and Volume (with push/ pull Passive Switch). When in passive mode, tone is controlled via the pickup blend. The tonal range of the Pro M is deceptively broad. It’s very versatile, given how closely the twin J pickups sit together within that single housing. There’s a hum-cancelling dummy coil between the pickups too, so it’s very clean sounding when on one pickup or the other. This bass is the very definition of ‘punchy’ 🙂

I've got a Digitech Drop pedal. If you're using it on bass, don't use it to detune more than 2 semitones. I'm doing a project that's in C# standard. That's just on the cusp of too floppy strings, but also crucially if you use the pedal for the 3 semitones, the bottom goes weird and sounds plastic. So what I do for that is tune the bass down a semitone then drop the pedal by 2. Sounds fine. Either that or I use DR DDT strings. Not cheap at 30 odd quid a set, but it's personal taste.

Death Cab for Cutie (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band)

Most Jazz musicians are employed as teachers and get the bulk of their income from that rather than performing and recording. The relationship that each of us has with our music is very much our own. We define it as we see fit.

Hi from Spain! I've been following this post "in parallel" to waiting for my last iteration of a "Fender killer" 5er. I too was interested in the Schecter Model T Session 5, then found out about the CV-5. I'm pasting my story from a TalkBass thread I started yesterday, after one week with it. Short version: WAY TOO IMPRESSED, BEST FENDER KILLER I'VE OWNED, SOLID IN EVERY ASPECT. Those of you who have read some posts of mine might know that I'm a Stingray5 guy who's always looking for a Fender sounding 5er that not only feels like my SR5s but also that has at least the same quality low B, that extra edge (punchiness, in-you-face-ness, cut-thru' power) a Stingray has, just on an instrument that's timbrically in the Fender ballpark. I've been thru' a Sterling5 HS (just too thin sounding and only remotely decent at a sorta' Jazz Bass'ey thing), several Yamaha BBs (stock preamps sucked in those active and necks weren't that fast/comfortable), a very thin necked 2 pickup Ibby ATK (very versatile, just not aggressive enough) and a Maruszczyk Jake 5a+ (with Delano big pole pickups, killed what otherwise would be a magnificent bass, I know many love those pickups but to me they sound dead, terribly dead if you have the real thing beside to A/B). I had been interested in a Schecter Model T Session 5. VERY hard to see around here in Europe (Schecter distributors seem only interested in the "classical" Schecter metal oriented gear), as is the CV-5 also. Now, I wasn't even aware of the CV-5's existance a month ago. Found out accidentally thru' TalkBass (can't recall where really), one thing led to another and to Schecter's website with all of the neck specs (something I really appreciate). After listening to some reviews I decided to hunt for one and last week I got myself this beautiful ivy b-stock unit from the USA for maybe 25% less than what I'd have to pay here (buying from the UK). I still haven't made up my mind about this bass' looks, can't yet decide if it only looks weird to me or if it's plain ugly. What I'm 100% sure is THIS IS THE BEST FENDER KILLER I'VE EVER HAD. Those ugly guitar looking pickups and those coil tap switches provide a magnificent array of tones and characters, some of them personal, some great impersonations, always with an attitude. This bass PUNCHES and has some burp to its low-mids that reminds me of Wals. Can do the P and J thing great, in several flavors. Not finding the series (down) positions too engaging because the volume jump is so hard it forces me to adjust the input gain on whatever I plug into (SansAmp or MS60B emulating it). There's plenty of bass boost, or scoop combinations available at the flip of a switch, really liking it. This is my first 35" bass and I must say I don't feel anything different about it, the VERY THIN neck profile and the overal sensation of the bass feel like home, I'm equally as comfortable as with my Stingray5s despite the longer scale, didn't require any adaptation. In my case this bass came indeed "Setup to play" (as a sticker on a little cavity cover in the back claims), low action (maybe a little too low if I dig in too much, but I prefer it comes this way than a little too high), perfect relief and intonation, and the nut comes at the right height (usually I have to file them down on most instruments in this budget range). The long Slinkys this comes equipped with are really nice (I had a Slinky endorsement from a local EB distributor more than a decade ago and wasn't too crazy about them, these seem much nicer). Fortunately my usual cheap Warwick Red Label NICKEL (not the usual steels, these are only available thru' thomann) fit this bass well enough, with taper starting some 1cm after clearing the nut. It's not that I go thru' strings that fast, in fact the contrary, my hands won't sweat, ever, string zing lasts for months of daily use and I discard strings when they're halfway thru' their life for many other bass players' standards (and even that may be each 6 months on any bass that gets played on a daily basis). Still, going from spending 12.60€/set to probably over 30€/set was a "concern" for me. I'm a cheap creep, I know. This is both pickups on, neckside in single coil, bridgeside in parallel, my fave fingerstyle tone in this bass so far.

... and the wherewith all to know which one that is.

And he has a basket on his bike - What a W ⚓. ☹️

Exactly, it's not about playing it exactly like the original recording. It's about taking the time to understand the song and learning it properly. What a band wants to do with it after that is fine. Blue

Love Tracey...we were in the same year at school, she went to the local girls school about half a mile from the Secondary school I went to. I think I have all the albums (including her solo albums and the Marine Girls on vinyl) Great voice...deserves more recognition than she actually gets.