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Rehearsing on your partner's birthday - now that's dedication/sheer stupidity 😟

In the interests of accuracy I am prepared to disclose certain pertinent facts: * I am not Dr No. In point of fact my former associate Julius No worked for me between 1957-1961 but we parted on difficult terms, mainly because he complained that I 'expected him to be a Yes-man'. Nothing could have been further from the truth; I always welcome constructive discussion. Nevertheless, Julius became far too wedded to the whole Caribbean Island thing at a time when super-villainry was trending more towards space stations and / or lairs in dormant volcanoes. I was all about the volcano. Julius wanted an island. We parted ways. C'est tout. * My affinity with the game Cluedo dates from 1944 when I lent my chum the pianist Tony Pratt the not inconsiderable sum of fifty guineas towards the development costs of his idea for a board game. I'd known Tony from his days playing the piano on cruise ships; he tickled the ivories while I plied my trade as a gigolo / lounge lizard among the ladies of a certain age travelling first class. (That Barbara Cartland? Had her). So when Tony needed some cash for a working presentation to Messrs Waddington it was I to whom he turned. * I do not live on the South Coast, rather in South Central Wiltshire. My bungalow (decorated in a tasteful, un-ostentatious Louis XIV stylee) forms part of a more extensive compound including a small airstrip, weapons testing bunkers, a communications centre and a compact but efficient miniature nuclear reactor. I've given up on shark tanks. IMO, they're both passé and de trop.

I nearly bought it, but I tried it out and it wouldn't play Rhythm Stick properly, kept fluffing some of the notes, so I gave it a miss...

Warning! Bass solo content! 😂 What a brilliant player Gerry Mc Avoy is. Shame he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. 😢

Just over 30 years and still learning new things, still improving and certainly still loving it. When I was at school along with my parents, I was told that I will never make a musician and I don't have a musical bone in my body. I must of been about 10 and I then picked up the bass at about 17. I played it every day in my bedroom for 2 years and then went out and joined a band. I've played Stadium Rock, Indie Guitar Punk Pop, Folk Pop, Acoustic Soul, Electronic EBM, 50s/60 pop, 50's sounding Rock n Roll and depped for a U2 tribute band. I've had a record deal, been on TV, written music for an advert, multiple live radio sessions, many tours either supporting or on my own. I've worked and recorded with many named artists, did 119 gigs last year and have gigs booked up for the next 3 years. I consider myself very lucky but every day there is something new I learn about playing bass, it never stops, it never gets boring and I love it to bits. No idea how long I will keep going as my fingers seem tighter these days and a couple of knuckles get sore occasionally so gonna make the most of it while I can.

I can’t ignore the lead singer... he’s just... THERE. Like a creepy uncle.

Personally I have used a rack compressor (a Focusrite compounder) for years and years, but then I had a very specific set of requirements with my rig that it helped out with a lot. New rig now, may even ditch the always on compressor completely, and get a pedal comp for some very overt compression fx in a few distinct spots rather than the always on comp set up I've enjoyed for the last 10 years. In general the single biggest weakness of 90% of compressor pedals is a lack of serious metering: by definition you cant hear compression work when its transparent, unless you are in the mix, in which case you are playing your bass, not setting up a compressor! If you want really transparent compression then I recommend looking at parallel compression, or anything with a blend knob. Parallel compression allows you to 'get away with' heavier compression settings without them becoming so obvious, its all about psychoacoustics, it also can act more like an expander than a compressor. Most compressors with an LPF dont compress the bottom of the signal at all, anything under the LPF frequency is not compressed and so you have to bear this in mind, they are great for transient shaping but not so good at taming wayward low end. Multicomp pedals are the solution to this, but the truth is you need a huge amount of parameter control and metering to get the most out of them - or some kind of computer interface (and therefore a digital pedal) - and masses of experience. Things like the spectracomp are fine, but unless you really know your beans dont go fiddling with the internals. Personally if I want an obvious effected compressed sound then I love optical compressors, they have this gorgeoues bwoooOOP sound to the front of the note when set right, its so funky I love it to death, but its definitely not an always on thing! My favourite is the Joe Meek FloorQ btw. For an always on compressor I like to emulate the compression of a tube amp (not the saturation though), I have explained exactly how I set this up on a bunch of other threads so a search will help you, but basically its a very very low ratio (1.3:1) and a threshold set so its always on, just (this ends up being a very low threshold indeed), attack slow enough to let the transient through, a bit of low pass, a medium/fast release ( I play a lot of 16ths) and make up gain to match on/off output when digging in. This way you cant really feel it, but its always helping atad to even things out, your dynamics are unchanged in the main. I've even run this in parallel with a much faster attack too, it stays really transparent but fattens up the front of the note a bit.

I've seen the guy from D.A.D's version before - not sure why, but there's something about these that just makes me want to punch whoever thought this was a good idea.

My birthday too - many happy returns

"Dr Nowt" 😂

As a long time fan of both Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, it's seems to me to be an utterly pointless argument to say that one of them is a (musical) genius, whilst the other is not. They are both extraordinarily talented songwriters, singers and musicians in their own right but they come from very different cultural and artistic backgrounds IMO, which makes comparing them more about personal preference and opinion than fact. Their back catalogues, record sales, worldwide fan bases and respect from amongst their own musical peer groups tells its own story though and they both have those things in abundance. I'm just grateful that they have made the fantastic music they have over the years; my life's been all the richer for it.

Feel free to come, @MoJoKe We’ll have sessions of people showing off and giving talks about bass related bits so let me know if you’d like your name down for that.

Oddly enough i do see it as a plus and never a negative. Not sure my wife shares my opinion as we normally go out for dinner but as you say .......never on your wife's birthday Dave

Surely playing with your mates is a plus not a minus? I would take it as a birthday present, anytime.

A great pedal, no doubt. Having said that this very forum proves that if you ask 10 bassists what the 'best' compressor is you'll get 47 different answers.

They’d go bust.......

Thomann advising 'In stock within about one week'. Getting a little moister. 😄

Had an email yesterday from Andy @ Wing Instruments. They’re just putting the finishing touches on my Wing. Things got somewhat delayed, partly due to NAMM amongst other things. I decided to take the plunge and order the UDG MIDI Controller case I posted about above - it arrived today and is fantastic. Obviously I just have the empty case and no Wingbass yet but the guys who designed the case really thought it through. Very high quality. I’ll post pics once the Wing arrives! EDIT: Just realised I’m actually hijacking @Grantd‘s thread so I’ll start a new one when the time comes

Giblin played some lovely things with Chris de Burgh and with Jon Anderson. This is from the 'Song Of Seven' album. The opening bass solo is sweet.

Apologies for not meeting your high standards. I've just spent a week in A&E in Ipswich Hospital, so I'm slightly behind the curve.

As soon as you send any contact details to each other before buying, phone, address etc its robots will automatically pick it up and flag it.

One question, Mr D... Do you have an industrial laser that could burn a bloke's jacob(s) off if required? 😬

Nice introduction Gary and welcome back to the world of bass, how are you finding it with giving it a break? More passion and interest than before? Not too bad equipment as well, pretty much ready to go pro 😉 hahaha Just.... word to the wise, steer clear from the marketplace on here. You'll end up penniless like the rest of us haha. Welcome to BassChat and I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Merlot. Burp.

'The Space Ritual' by Hawkwind. Most of Hawkwind's early studio stuff was pretty lack lustre to say the least, but this album was something else.

My take on it is.... 1. They must have written procedures to follow. Written by themselves. These are there to ensure the job gets done correctly. 2. They clearly haven't followed their own written procedures. AND they have admitted this. Therefore they are responsible not just for loss, but for being negligent and not abiding by their own procedures. 3. They're offering the standard cheapo payout because that's just what they do. It doesn't make them right.

Best concert/gig/performance I've ever seen in 44 years of going to gigs was KB's Before The Dawn show in August 2016.. It had everything - incredible songs, musicians, vocals, stage sets, choreography.. It was as close to artistic perfection as I think it's possible to get. And KB herself was the strangest mix of down to earth 'girl next door' and charismatic diva all at the same time. Just brilliant! What she created was performance art of the highest standard and it was all on her own terms; no record label or product driving it - just the desire to tell her own story.. And for me, it was on another level of creativity altogether, better than most of my other favourite artists shows that I've seen over the years, including Queen, Bowie, Sinatra, Prince etc.. I love Joni Mitchell too, but to try and compare her and KB is pointless really - their musical DNA comes from quite different sources IMHO. We're just lucky that they've both created unique and beautiful bodies of work. Oh, and at the KB show, John Giblin with Omar Hakim on drums were absolutely unbelievable as a rhythm section.. 😊

Good suggestion. For really spiffing results, try ethyl mercaptan, aka the smelliest substance known to man. I used to play in a band with an industrial chemist and he put just a smidgeon in the loos of a pub that upset us. Place emptied in short order.

Good to see Bjork's name added into the debate.. Definitely another unique, genius level female artist of the last 25 years... 😊

Happy birthday Dave 🎂

Haha I'm the same, if not my basses and equipment then my bicycles take up my time and money haha. Keep up the practice and with the books and I'm sure soon we'll see you excel in your playing and enjoy delving more info your theory. Fun stuff. My dad's off like a rocket, wondering if I'm playing good enough for my 15 years of play time😂

If it's no longer good enough for Norm, it's not good enough for me.

I was also looking at those, read every thread there is out there... unfortunately I haven't tried either, only a Super Twin (or whatever the tweeterless BF 212 is called). Between those two, based on what I've read, I think I'd go for the Fearless if my top priority was the sound and for the BF if it was weight. But I'd like to add another suggestion, the Audiokinesis Thunderchild, which is what I went with. Should give you less low lows, but they are enough for me - and it helps avoid boominess. It's also more compact compared to the two you're looking at, with the weight a little above the BF. Might cost a little more when you factor in shipping and import taxes, but personally I didn't regret it. I have a TC212 and recently ordered a TC112UFT too. Duke, the owner, is also probably the nicest guy I've dealt with in the industry.

Feel free to work out what you think would be a fair price and providing it's reasonable I'd be more than happy to support a fellow BCer in a creative venture / buy from you. Not least as we're also using RCFs. My sense is that if you can organise and coordinate the whole thing in terms of getting banners made you'll be able to capture more of the value. Probably also worth setting up a fBook page when you've got your thoughts together?

I like the playing. That chromakey filming, though, is dreadful. When the whole stage is visible, it looks like they're on the deck of a trawler in heavy seas, and when Rory's amp is in shot, it looks like it's wandering off somewhere. Add to that the lurching in for close-ups every now and again, and that is a video that should be heard and not seen.

I’ve just bought a bass from Andy. The comms were clear and frequent and the deal was very smooth indeed. He’s a top Basschatter!

You are utterly, completely, and unequivocally correct. I withdraw my statement that are no right answers. Now please come to Somerset and tell my colour blind band-mates that my salmon pink bass is not orange.

I thought this could do with a refresh. A mere 8 years playing now and tonight I am just noodling away to anything from I Predict a Riot to Fly me to the Moon but am still smiling away to myself like a lunatic.

Did a surprise Birthday Party on Saturday in Wellingborough at a health club - they have a function room with pretty good acoustics, but its over the pool area so it smells of bleach. I show up at just after 5.00 to find THIS on the stage... All Gaffa'd down - no sign of the DJ, no sign of anyone We ended up setting up to the side, which in the event was good as we were able to evaporate after the live set while mr 'yes indeedy' played on into the night. Gave the DJ our set list so he wouldn't play our numbers.... the tart played almost every single one... Good night though, good money, good crowd.... and a crack at the BUFFET!!!

I've had a bit of a bass journey over the past couple of years. After 20 plus years of bass playing, owning and fettling the whole band shenanigans finally drove me to selling my rig, several basses and a host of other gear. I was just left with my ACGs and Rita my Sterling. They haven't been touched for over a year. I'd completely lost interest. Brilliantly, I'm at it again but with a better practice routine and I'm working on the basics as opposed to learning songs from tabs. I'm enjoying myself more than ever. Back to this story. I was hankering for a Jazz. Back to basics again. I bought a lovely 2008 MIM Jazz from Nick Carey on here. Its playability ranked with the best I've used (speaks the man who's owned over 100 basses). The fretwork has had a professional dress and setup and it shows. I am a serial tinkerer. I fitted upgraded electrics (still passive) and saw some overwound neodynium pickups that I thought might add something. They were great, looked lovely, well made and they sounded very punchy. Therein lies the rub. The bass was perfectly setup and I had to raise the saddles a whole turn to a turn and a half to stop fret buzz as the neo magnets were so powerful that they were bending the strings towards the board. I told myself that this was okay but yesterday I thought, no, I'm putting the old pups back in. With exactly the same setup I lowered the saddles by the same amount I'd raised them and normal service is resumed. My Jazz is back and it actually sounds bloody wonderful. I don't know if the pickups I've put back in are originals but they are very good. Lesson learnt.

It's interesting how we know this. What the general public often fail to recognise, is that "criminal is as criminal does". Most archcriminals, even at the highest level, can't resist screwing the system. For example, Hans Gruber was registered as living in a council flat in Holloway, North London, and was claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (which incidentally, his brother Eric continued to collect for three months after Hans' death). Even Hitler was on Incapacity Benefit (one ball), until he signed off a bit quick when he suddenly became famous for winning the Nuremberg Rally. And he put "The Berghof" in his mother's name for 'tax purposes'. Probably.

I always found the studio albums of the period a bit under cooked. I tried to love them, but (as per the point of the thread) but never liked them as much as the live album. For my "less than 25 years old" nomination, my favourite Beatsteaks album is Kanonen auf Spatzen which is one of my all time favourite albums full stop, although it's not that I don't also love the studio albums that the songs come from so it's probably not appropriate for the thread

Seems I'm the only one who thought the retro Stingray sounded utterly horrible. 😐 Impressed by the first MTD and Ken Smith, but I kinda doubt they're in my £200. second hand price bracket. 😬 I agree about Mr Devine's nice playing. 👍 Bet I could make them all sound rubbish, by spanking out my version of "Town Called Malice".

Chris Squire too, and Chris is my favourite bassist. I was a huge fan of the Beatles as a kid and I believe that subliminally influenced the way I played when I started playing bass. Stuff like Penny Lane would be my default setting for bass playing in a song. And if 'Something' is showing off, then count me a show off. Counter-melodies are where it's at for me.

America.... makes me grateful for our NHS. May they never get their greedy hands on it.

Thanks for your rig rundown, Fleabag. 👍 Unfortunately I don't smoke the old 'dub cabbage'. Was thinking more like a cuppa tea and two paracetamol. 🙂