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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.. 😊

So far I haven’t heard any funny moises.... apart from me playing! 🤪

That's Goldfinger!!! Stop getting Bond wrong😂

Crikey, I'm well past showing off! No, just a bit of floor space and somewhere to plug stuff in is all! I'll see if I can blag some raffle prizes if you do such a thing... I'm doing the same at the SW Bash next month, which I have attended twice now ('cos I live fairly locally)... I'll probably spend more of my energy on the day spouting about how brilliant Mr Chown's new NT basses are... so good I have just ordered two! I'm praying they'll arrive in time for the bash, but that's probably expecting way too much..!

Huzzah! Recently bought this lovely 33” six string Shuker from @JMT3781. Still getting used to the flattish fingerboard, but I really like the narrow spacing, medium scale, and it looks lovely... if a little on the heavier side than I’m used to. If I keep it I may end up swapping the EMG system out for some Nordstrands.

Never thought a P Bass would make you break the fast....

www.youtube.com/funnysongsorelse

But that's not the point of what I am trying to understand! I do occasionally read these type of threads but what I want to understand is when someone states that Product X is the best bass/amp/pedal/whatever few people actually say why, or explain how they arrived at that conclusion. And that's what I want to understand. Maybe it's the scientist in me but when someone makes a claim I want to see the evidence in support of that claim, to test the validity of it. Otherwise it's just an unsubstantiated opinion. As Christopher Hitchens once said "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence". As I said in my previous post, I have no doubt that the two amps you have chosen are great. But why those particular two? What were your selection criteria? Why didn't you include some of the other suggestions in this thread? How and why are these the best? I'm not trying to be difficult, no more than usual anyway, and I appreciate that this is all a bit of fun and that maybe I'm just over thinking the whole thing. I just want to know why and understand some of the claims. I'll just sign of by saying that the Mini Metro is the greatest car of all time.

Welcome Robbo! I started at 59, four years ago, long hard battle with confidence to get started, but I'm now in a band with peeps I love and we're starting to get some nice little gigs. It's never too late 🙂 Very best wishes and let us know how it goes.

Anyone else here using one of these? i've had one for around a year now and its been a great bit of kit for tracking a solid D.I at home and on the move, I'm using logic all the time to create music and have still not yet purchased a bigger interface because this has been so clean!

You've answered your own supposition there! 😉 The restauranteur has almost total control over what you're buying - the quality/quantity/price of the food, what it consists of, etc, etc. Very few variables. If the service they advertise differs from what you receive then they're clearly obliged to remedy it. The courier company has no real control over what gets shipped, its value, how it's packaged, whether it is addressed correctly, etc. Hence they require us - the customers - to shoulder some of the risk. There's no other way in which they could operate. So if they advise that you take out insurance for items over a certain value, that's your responsibility - or at least your choice - as the customer. Clearly, it sucks when deliveries go awry and I fully sympathise with the OP in that regard. Insurance (on anything) always seems expensive and unnecessary until the moment when you need it. Hindsight being a "wonderful thing".

I'm a little confused. Are you suggesting that the stalwart of BC, known to us as Skankdelvar is in fact Dr No, eponymous villain of the Bond film? You're implying that the good (sorry, evil) Doctor has given up his bad works and retired to the South Coast? Wow. OK, Skank - I guess this is your chance to tell the story from your perspective. Do you still have the stronghold? Or was that sold off when you downsized to the bungalow?

It's not so bad... think of it this way - many of the baddies in Sean Connery as Bond films lived in bungalows (or at least, cool & retro split level pads). Like the bad guy in Dr No, for instance. I can't remember his name, but he wears a black glove and dresses a bit like Chairman Mao. Or rather, he did in 1962 or whatever. 👍

The stock Spectracomp preset does indeed boost the volume slightly, but you can adjust the level via the app, or find another preset that's closer to unity gain. Me, I just leave it stock and don't worry about the boost as it's always on. Hyper Gravity if you don't mind tweaking tons of parameters to find your setting, and want the hands on control of multiple knobs. Spectracomp if you want an easy life and tons of dedicated bass presets, and don't mind having just the one knob!

Sorry, but I'm afraid I have some bad news for you here. The WD-40 is one of the substances that I have confirmed through lab testing will damage your pots and will also migrate over the surface of the high voltage PCB and can cause additional problems there. WD-40 has no business inside ANY amp, especially one with high voltages present. Yes, I handle the factory authorized service for your amp here in the states, but by doing what you have to your amp, the cost will increase well beyond the simple flat rate charge that it would otherwise cost because I won't touch it without replacing all the pots and removing and properly cleaning the high voltage PCB of residue. Because of this, I think your otherwise economical to repair amp is probably going to cost more than you can get a good used one for once shipping is involved. Why won't I repair it without doing the additional work? Because the repair won't be stable enough for me to have confidence that there won't be additional problems cause by the WD-40 down the road. Sending the amp back for the additional repairs would be impractical, and I don't want there to be bad feelings that could have been otherwise prevented.

This a Andyjr1515 build which acknowledges the CS original design. I love the headstock designs he produces. Here's the design on my Psilos Bass. Got to agree that many headstock designs are poorly designed, many are just lazy copies of the original Fender design. One my favourite headstock designs is the mid 80s design of the Ibanez models such as the Musician, even though this has a nod to the Alembic SC models.

This though I just don't understand at all.

[quote name='RhysP' post='959729' date='Sep 17 2010, 05:56 PM']I know I say exactly the same thing every time John Giblin gets mentioned, but his playing on "Babooshka" has got to be my favourite bass part ever. Pure class. What a superb player. Kate's a f***ing genius too.[/quote] +2 One of my all time favourite artists..and she has always had great musicians with her..Great bass playing on these by the way!