Leaderboard

Had to share this guidance to ensure we are all singing from same sheet. HOW TO REQUEST A SONG FROM THE BAND When requesting a song from the band, just say “Play my song.” We have chips implanted in our heads with an unlimited database of the favorite tunes of every patron who ever walked into a bar and all songs ever recorded so feel free to be vague, we love the challenge. If we say we really don’t remember that tune you want, we’re only kidding. Bands do know every song ever recorded, so keep humming. Hum harder if need be… it helps jog the memory, or just repeat your request over and over again. If a band tells you they do not know a song you want to hear, they either forgot they know the tune or they are just putting you on. Try singing a few words for the band, any words will do. It also helps to scream your request from across the room several times per set followed by the phrases, “AW, COME ON!” and “YOU SUCK!” Exaggerated hand gestures expressing disapproval from the dance floor are a big help as well, such as the thumbs down or your middle finger up. Put-downs are the best way to jog a band’s memory. This instantly promotes you to the status of “Personal Friend of the Band.” You can bet your request will be the next song we play. Entertainers are notorious fakers and jokesters and never really prepared for their shows. We simply walk on stage with no prior thought to what we will do once we arrive. We don’t actually make set lists or rehearse songs, we mostly just wait for you to yell something out, then fake it. An entertainer’s job is easy, even a monkey could do it, so don’t let them off the hook easily. Your request is all that matters. Once you’ve figured out what genre of music the band plays, please make your requests from a totally different genre, the more exaggerated the better. If it’s a blues band playing, yell for some Metallica, Black Sabbath or Motley Crue. If it’s a death-speed metal band be sure to request Brown Eyed Girl or some Grateful Dead. We musicians constantly need to broaden our horizons and it’s your job to see that it happens… immediately. TALKING WITH THE BAND The best time to discuss anything with the band in any meaningful way is at the middle of a song when all band members are singing at the same time. Our hearing is so advanced that we can pick out your tiny voice from the megawatt wall of sound blasting all around us. And we can converse with you in sign language while singing the song, so don’t worry that we’re in the middle of the chorus. Musicians are expert lip-readers too. If a musician does not reply to your question or comment during a tune, it’s because they didn’t get a good look at your mouth in order to read your lips. Simply continue to scream out your request and be sure to over emphasize the words with your lips. This helps immensely. Don’t be fooled. Singers have the innate ability to answer questions and sing at the same time. If the singer doesn’t answer your questions immediately, regardless of how stupid the question may seem, it’s because they are purposely ignoring you. If this happens, immediately cop an attitude. We love this. IMPORTANT TIP When an entertainer leans over to hear you better, grab his or her head in both hands and yell directly into their ear, while holding their head securely so they can’t pull away. This will be taken as an invitation to a friendly game of tug of war between their head and your hands. Don’t give up, hang on until the singer or guitar player submits. Drummers are often unavailable for this fun game since they usually sit at the back, protected by their drum kits. Keyboard players are protected by their instrument and only play the game when tricked into coming out from behind their instruments. Though difficult to get them to play, it’s not impossible, so keep trying. They’re especially vulnerable during the break between songs. HELPING THE BAND If you inform the band that you are a singer, the band will appreciate your help with the next few tunes, or however long you can remain standing on stage. If you’re too drunk to stand unassisted, simply lean on one of the band members or the most expensive piece of equipment you see. Just pretend you’re in a karaoke bar. Simply feel free to walk up on stage and join in the fun. By the way, the drunker you are, the better you sound, and the louder you should sing. If by chance you fall off the stage, be sure to crawl back up and attempt to sing harmony. Keep in mind that nothing assists the band more than outrageous dancing, fifth and sixth part harmonies or a tambourine played on one and three and out of tempo. Try the cowbell, they love the challenge. The band always needs the help and will take this as a compliment. Finally, the microphone and PA system are merely props, they don’t really amplify your voice, so when you grab the mic out of the singer’s hand, be sure to scream into it at the top of your lungs, otherwise nobody will hear what a great singer you are. Hearing is over-rated anyhow. The crowd and the sound tech will love you for it. BONUS TIP As a last resort, wait until the band takes a break and then get on stage and start playing their instruments. They love this. Even if you are ejected from the club, you can rest assured in the knowledge you have successfully completed your audition. The band will call you the following day to offer you a position.

Tried to get down to 1 fretted and 1 fretless a while back Currently at 17 basses

Peter Hook: “I’ve never liked to be hidden, and I don’t like to be patronised. I don’t buy into the idea that the bass player is the quiet one” The Joy Division and New Order hero looks back on his genre-defining legacy “I guess I was just lucky with the riffs,” reckons Peter Hook, the founding member of Joy Division and New Order, who now heads up his own group, The Light. Seated across the table from him in an upmarket Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Manchester, this thoughtful nugget feels like a front-runner for understatement of the year. On Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980), Joy Division’s two albums before the tragic death of their singer Ian Curtis, Hooky invented a style of bass playing that continues to register and inspire to this day, with his moody post-punk grit sitting at the very forefront of the mix. The guy in the shop asked which one I wanted and that stumped me, I just kept saying ‘bass’ guitar In New Order, he experimented even further, embracing the new technology of the 80s to mutate his acerbic low end into electro-pop, once again doing what had never been done. As readers of this magazine know perfectly well, it is no stretch at all to consider the man one of the most influential English players since Sir Paul McCartney himself. “We went to a Sex Pistols gig and decided to form a band and the next day [guitarist] Bernard Sumner said ‘Go get a bass’,” relates Hook, taking us back to that life-changing day as lunch is prepared in the kitchen. He jokes that the idea to start the band was a case of realising that “we could just as easily stand there telling everyone to flip off, if that’s what groups did”. Borrowing £35 from his mother, he went to Mazel’s in Manchester in search of a bass, but there was one slight problem - he didn’t quite know what a bass guitar was or did. “The guy in the shop asked which one I wanted and that stumped me, I just kept saying ‘bass’ guitar. He must have thought, ‘God, I’ve got a right one here, another idiot from that Sex Pistols gig!’ When he grabbed the nearest one, I said it wouldn’t do because there was only four strings - and that’s when he told me, ‘No son, basses only have four’.” The punk convert proudly rode the bus home with his new Gibson EB-0 replica wrapped in a black binliner and its headstock poking out. He “plinked and plonked” that night and then began rehearsing with Bernard the following day, with no idea of even how to tune the thing. “It really was the most inauspicious start,” he laughs, adding: “if the bookies had a bet on these two idiots amounting to anything, the odds against us would have been pretty high. To go on and be in two earth- changing bands was pretty surprising for me as well, you know...” Looking back on the impact of Unknown Pleasures - recently repackaged on limited edition vinyl for its 40th anniversary - it almost feels inevitable that it became such a landmark release in rock music. Hook’s driving bass-lines had all the aggression of punk, funnelled into an outside suspense, creating a new sonic blueprint that felt every bit as expressive as music could be. At the time, however, it was more as if they were making it up as they went along. “We were teenagers - confused, anxious and rebellious - because that’s what teenagers are,” shrugs Hook, before the cheeky wink that comes ahead of all his classic one-liners. “Guess it’s my hormones I need to thank, then!” I never needed a compressor, because I hit my guitars so hard they just flatline completely every time When we point out that it’s hard to imagine Unknown Pleasures sounding the same if it had been made by more theoretically enlightened musicians, Hooky nods in wholehearted agreement. Although Joy Division may have been playing a more intelligent form of punk rock, it was punk rock nonetheless. “We made glorious mistakes because we were self-taught,” he muses. “There’s this theory that when any punk band tries to learn the rules, they can’t do it any more. There’s evidence for that, they can get too conscious. Still, some of our songs are hard to play even now. It’s all down-picking. I never needed a compressor, because I hit my guitars so hard they just flatline completely every time. I never step back. Songs like Transmission can make your hand feel like it’s about to drop off. But I never warm up. I don’t even practise at home, I find it boring.” Hook regards Joy Division’s debut as “more of a jam record with as many bum notes as any of your favourite albums from the 60s, 70s or 80s”. Whenever producer Martin Hannett felt the bass chords needed more clarity, they would record notes separately and simply add them together. The members would talk about their ambitions but rarely discussed the music itself - exploring a creative subconscious through a natural, primitive instinct. There was also the fact they didn’t have the time or money to fix the mistakes they inevitably made. “People would ask why the first verse was 16 bars and the second only eight,” says Hook, “but there’s no cataclysmic reason behind it. We just counted wrong, but it sounded good, so that was that. Martin helped me design the loudest flipping bass rig you’ve ever heard in your life - an Alembic Stereo preamp going into a Amcron DC-300A, which is 1000 watts a channel, in stereo, through two 1500 watt speakers. Once I put the chorus on, it was just mental. I was never going to hide behind a bush after that.” (Image credit: Phil Barker / Future) Hearing ghosts On Joy Division’s defining moment - the 1980 non-album single, Love Will Tear Us Apart - it was Hook’s contrasting open strings against notes high up the neck of a Hondo II Rickenbacker copy that inspired its sullen, era-defining vocal melody. This came from his refusal to stay in the background. “They tried telling me once, asking if I could just follow the root,” laughs Hooky. “I said, ‘No - how about you flipin’ follow me?’ - probably out of ignorance, because I didn’t know what a root note even was. I’ve never liked to be hidden, and I don’t like to be patronised. I don’t buy into the idea that the bass player is the quiet one who drives the van...” and there’s that cheeky wink again, before the admission that he was in fact behind the wheel for most tours. [Trying a six-string bass] The devil in me realised that no-one else had one of these. It meant that I could play even more chords Quiet he certainly wasn’t, and with encouragement from producer Hannett and singer Curtis, Hook soon discovered that the higher frets were where his potency was at its most ripe. “Berny had a really loud amp right from the word go. I couldn’t hear myself at practice if I played low, so I went high - and that’s when Ian would be shouting, ‘Sounds great, do that, go high Hooky, go high!’ It was nice to be encouraged. A lot of those bass riffs were at his insistence.” At the time, Hook recalls that Joy Division’s biggest single didn’t feel any more revolutionary than their other material. What did feel cutting-edge, however, was the Shergold Marathon Custom six-string bass that ended up on Joy Division’s final album, as well as later New Order tracks, thanks to a recommendation from the owner of their local Mamelok music shop. “He probably wondered what kind of lunatics would play it... ‘Oh, I know!’ So I went and tried it. The devil in me realised that no-one else had one of these. It meant that I could play even more chords, which proved hugely inspirational on songs like ‘Passover’. I still love playing six-string basses: they don’t need to be as overdriven. The clarity makes them easier to use, but they’re also difficult because of the monster neck.” It was the same shop owner who introduced them to Electro-Harmonix pedals, most notably the Clone Theory chorus which he told Hook could help fatten up the lower register even more. Tracks such as ‘24 Hours’ from Joy Division’s swansong album saw the final elements of that signature Hooky sound come to fruition. “Those early EHX boxes are fantastic,” continues Hook. “I did have a collection at one point but it got stolen. What I loved about them was the sheer amount of noise, almost like birds tweeting. I took great delight in that, because Martin kept thinking he could hear ghosts.” Another wink. “He made me get a noise gate in the end...” After lunch and a round of coffees, we head to Hook’s home studio for an exclusive look at the equipment in his current rig. He points to various amps and speakers, including a couple of Yamaha BB1200S basses, a series that has been the staple of his sound since New Order started. As we learn, this long-enduring love affair was born purely out of chance. “My Gibson EB-0 got stolen in America, but it was stinky poo and kept going out of tune,” he admits. “So I went to Manny’s on 48th Street and the only thing that was any good was their Yamaha BB600. It felt perfect. I traded in for the 1000 and after that the 1200, which had a straight-through neck and two non-active pickups. Then someone from a shop called me up saying there was now a three-way active 1200S. I went straight there and never looked back. I’ve tried every other guitar in the world, but they just don’t do anything for me.” Forget the awards and the money, I finally got my own signature bass! Despite the music history on the walls and in the room around us, we learn of a recent development that’s given this world-renowned icon a well-overdue sense of having made it. There’s a Yamaha Peter Hook model on the way. “Forget the awards and the money, I finally got my own signature bass!” he grins, explaining how Yamaha only caught wind through his son Jack Bates, currently playing bass in Smashing Pumpkins. “He told the reps I’d been using the same Yamaha for 39 years. They couldn’t believe it and wanted to do a version to my spec. I’m playing the prototype right now, it’s sounding lovely.” Also in the room are Hook’s custom-made Chris Eccleshall basses, which he jokes are the instruments Yamaha refused to make him. By his own admission, the guitars are a “half-Yamaha, half semi-acoustic hybrid that only a nutter would want to play”. And of course, that makes them perfect for him. Before long the conversation turns to the equipment and personal archive that was auctioned earlier this year. Treasures that went under the hammer included his very first EB-0 bass, the original Clone Theory pedal and the Shergold six-string. “I actually sold pretty much all of my Joy Division and New Order memorabilia,” he says, adding that he shared the profits with three charities close to his heart. “I could play any six-string but it wouldn’t be the one used on those tracks. It was very special... the chemistry we had back then was perfect and rare, but that same chemistry is what splits you up because of a million other reasons. It was like a romantic breakup - instead of getting a haircut, I got new guitars.” Since forming Peter Hook & The Light in 2010, in which his son Jack also played, Hook has been able to revisit his past in a way that’s truly faithful to its roots - performing his classic albums in their entirety. He describes the experience by comparing it to finding an old toy in the back of the cupboard. The rediscovery leaves him less concerned with looking for new ones. If he gets to retread former glories and continue to inspire, even learning a thing or two along the way, he’s more than happy. I love going online to watch people playing my parts “I love going online to watch people playing my parts,” he grins. “I haven’t seen one kid yet - and they’re all great players - that can do it the whole way through. They’ll nearly get there and flip up, leaving me shouting, ‘Yes!’ I take great delight in watching people get 24 Hours wrong. The only person who can play like me is Jack. He pulls me up on things - saying I shouldn’t do it like that, telling me how to play my own riffs. And he’s usually right, to be fair!” Advertisement Holding his soon-to-be signature Yamaha bass up for our camera, and looking every bit the punk legend he is, Hooky regales us with a few lesser-known facts about his genre-shaping career. His sense of humour is every bit as razor-sharp as his tone. “People used to tell me that as soon they heard the bass-line, they’d know it was me and I took that as bad - so I tried playing differently,” he shrugs. “I even had a friend show me how to slap, which ended with him saying, ‘Don’t bother!’ I’ve been offered so many gigs - Echobelly, Elastica, Primal Scream and Killing Joke - but I couldn’t do them. I’d be all over the place. I recently found out I was fifth in line for the Rolling Stones when Bill Wyman left...” One last wink before we leave. “Luckily number four got it!” cackles Hooky. “If Mick Jagger held a gun to my head, telling me to play Satisfaction I’d have said, ‘Just shoot me. There’s no flipping way I can play that stinky poo.’ I’ve never been good at playing other people’s music, which is a strange thing to admit. I’ve been lucky with what I do.” Peter Hook & the Light will be touring the UK until September, and the USA and Canada in October and November.

@Teebs can't be with us tonight, but I happen to know he'd like three or four thousand of his posts deleted, please? And he wants all of his daily reactions transferred to me, if that's OK. 👍

Chaps, I never thought I'd ever see this day, so I think a little celebration is in order. 50 years ago today (just after lunch) I walked into Maurice Plaquet's music shop in Acton, West London, with £22 10/- in my pocket and bought my first bass, a Framus small body Star Bass. 6 weeks of hard graft on my Grandfather's nursery in Kent paid for it. It was easy to play and I played it at home for a year before I could afford an amp. Everything I know today I started on that bass. Unfortunately it began falling apart almost from day one. With an ever increasing number of repairs and mods I played that bass for 2 years and only stopped using it when I joined a pro band. [url="http://s293.photobucket.com/user/chris_b_photo/media/CopyofFSBme2.jpg.html"][/url] I've been a pro bass player twice, made a few records, been to some interesting places, played some great gigs in great bands with some fantastic players. I've also played in places and in bands that weren't any of those things. Ho hum! I have no idea where the time has gone. Anyway, my life started with that bass. Here's to the next 50.

Clamp , clamping, clamped. The face is now trimmed to fit and the neck pocket routed. Next comes sanding and finishing the sides and neck before final assembly. The F holes look a bit out of line (further from the bottom edge than the top) it looked worse in the picture than it real life but I have since trimmed the body a bit more to rectify it.

I was just sitting here, looking forward to my dinner. Now, I'm just sitting here.

Well, seeing as you've made the mistake of getting a bass that isn't black your only option is a black scratchplate. A nod in the right direction at least

I've completed the build of a new bass. Unlike other Brooks basses that I've built this does not feature a mix of a classic Gibson bass with another non-Gibson classic. The Brooks EB-N is an original design that I came up with in an attempt to give it a bit of a classic vibe without referring to well known designs. BROOKS EB-N - One piece mahogany body - Smoked oak constrasting veneer in between layer - Bookmatched flamed maple top - Five ply quartersawn mahogany/American walnut neck - Ebony fretboard - Mother of Pearl position marker dots. 12th circle inlay - Jumbo frets - 34" scale - Zero fret and buffalo horn nut - Babicz FCH4 bridge - Spokewheel double action trussrod - Lace Alumitone Bass Bar - Gotoh GB 707 bass tuners - Push-pull volume pot for humbucking or single coil - CTS tone pot

Wait for @Dood to do a review; half a dozen people to buy one and then 2 to come up in the for sale section...

If you use wire wool, STICK MASKING TAPE OVER THE PICKUPS BEFORE DOING SO. Apologies for the caps, but if you don't, you will end up with a "fur" of wire wool fragments on them that you will never completely remove. I speak from bitter experience.

I used both a fishman powerchord FX and the akai Unibass. Both do a 5th up / 4th down, octave etc. both do what they say and can sound good if a little artificial. The fish man was a little less artificial but a bit more flexible

Apologies for the hijack but Magnus playing C Jam blues with Frank Vignola is saved into my favourite videos folder on You Tube. Looking forward to meeting the man! I will have to buy one now.

My gig rig is now complete following the purchase of a 15" GK cabinet for £44 off of eBay (I sh*t you not). It works great... I even have the GK bi-amping running on it too. Hopefully I can convince the wife that we no longer need to use the front door... it fits so well in that little niche there. And if the police come to follow-up on the noise complaints, the cabinet stack makes for a nice barricade!

If you like fender flats, which are nice, try D'Addario chrome's, they feel and sound similar to the fenders only next level. 👍

Taped off the body to do some pore filling on the mahogany Next I stained the top a light brown colour to make the flame pop Sanded it back to get a bit of contrast After much deliberation I chose blue (other options were bright red and naturel) Stained the back the same colour. But oddly enough the colour simply disappeared after several layers of clear coat... Looks almost black now. Top after a few coats of clear lacquer

Well I do have information on it but it's 100% not for sale jezzaboy. I'll post more details and pictures once I get permission. I can say that I believe it to be made in 1961 and was refinished in the long distant past....possibly originally red, as so many were back then thanks to Jet Harris. It has some incredible play wear, has had many parts replaced over the years, has a Fender hipshot tuner as mentioned in the thread, and plays beautifully. The neck is to die for. I have this bass and Dave's spare in for a couple of very minor repairs so hopefully he won't mind me posting more close up pics of the bass soon. The thread metions Dave giving away a P Bass on the TV show Swap Shop. I'm reliably informed that the bass he gave away was one he made himself. Talented man.

I had some plonker walk up on stage while my band was in the middle of a song. he was mouthing something to me with great urgency (I assume a song request) but of course I couldn't hear a thing. Eventually I gestured for him to come closer and screamed F**CK OFF!! in his ear. It's not really in my character to be so aggressive but he was being a total knobhead. Anyway he got the message and effed off.

Good evening all. After a long wait this finally showed up today. A brand new Fender Deluxe Jazz Bass Special Duff McKagan signature bass in black! I've only had an hour or so play time but first impressions are it's bloody gorgeous! Out of the box it plays well but I will probably lower the action to my personal preference and the Hipshot D-tuner needs some adjustment. Neck pocket is tight with no visible gap, paintwork is flawless on both the body and back of the neck. Fretwork is superb with no sharp ends. The nut width is definitely P Bass width 42mm and the thickness of the neck front to back feels deeper than my (now sold) 2017 MIM P Bass. Soundwise, loving the pickup switch and TBX tone circuit. It seems very versatile and just has so much grunt when you push the tone past the centre detent and engage the TBX circuit. With my EBS Multicomp and Darkglass B7K V2 it's all I need to give me the bass sound that I had in my head for so long! The only downside is that whilst everything is black...the side input jack is chrome..but that's just nitpicking. So if you're still reading..here are a couple of pictures.

There might be a Basschatter who can take a look for free. Very difficult to assess by proxy. Relief is a preference but the physics of the string do mean that it's fairly standard to have some relief to compensate for string movement. You can end up going round in circles if you don't do everything in the correct order, so it's good to start with a recommended setup if you don't have much experience doing it yourself, and go from there.

Hasn't got an On/Off switch either - nobody's noticed that yet as everyones getting hung up on XLR stuff as per most Quilter threads (pulls up a chair and grabs the biscuits....) and yes it's $249 so will be around £799 at todays rates https://www.bassgearmag.com/bassic-review-quilter-labs-interbass-pedalboard-preamp-amp/

Just wanted to say what a top bunch EBS are. I recently bought a Multidrive pedal second hand and the Ebay seller failed to mention it had 3 of it's four screws missing. I couldn't work out the size I needed so asked EBS via Facebook- a few days later I have four shiny new screws all the way from Sweden at no charge. Great stuff 😁

I'm now at seven. It used to be ten at one point, but seven is fine. For now. -1966 Fender Jazz Bass Original except for the frets and the finish. -1971 Fender Precision Bass Original except for the frets, the bridge chrome cover and the finish. -2013 De Gier Bebop 5 Custom built for yours truly. First Bebop ever with dot inlay and neck binding. -2018 Dingwall Combustion 5 Trans White Played this bass at the 2018 LBGS and now I have it. But not before Yolanda Charles played it. -2002 Fender Standard Jazz Bass fretless Lollar pickups, epoxied fingerboard, Gotoh 201 bridge, black pickguard. Best fretless I've ever owned and probably ever will own. This bass is made for me. -2001 Blade B2 Tetra Bass Nordstrand pickups, Aguilar OBP-1 preamp, otherwise original. Amazing 70's sound that feels great. -2001 Yamaha BB N5II My second bass ever, tuned EADGC. Will never sell this.

I love a bit of Ashdown, I’m a massive fan and their after sales service is superb 🙂

Irrelevant to the topic but... For around £1k new i’ve owned a Musicman Stingray and an American deluxe V jazz bass. basses I’ve played in that ballpark that I can remember: Rickenbacker, Spector Euro, Warwick corvettes, Warwick Thumb, American standard fenders, 1970’s American vintage jazz bass reissue, Fender Marcus Miller jazz bass, Lakland skyline 55-02, Lakland Skyline Jo Osborne, Musicman Sterling, Musicman Bongo. Then I’ve been lucky to own and play basses both cheaper and more expensive. I think that’s a fair amount to compare to just in one price bracket.

I press the string at the first and last fret and see how far away the string is from the middle frets. Personally I like it so close you can't see any gap but just about feel a tiny bit when you press it down. It's all by feel, so just try it and see. Acoustically, my basses with low action rattle a fair bit but plugged in you get that nice clank when you dig in and no nasty fret buzz. If the saddles won't go low enough my preference is to file down the string saddle using abrasive cord rather than shim the neck, unless it needs adjustment by shimming one end, but in that case I'd probably get rid instead. Ive had many instruments that can't support a low enough actin and the next owner they suit fine!

Thank you. Haven't built a short scale in years. But it wouldn't be a problem of course. I personally love short scale bass guitars. If anyone would ask me to build a short scale bass for him/her, I'd surely love to. The first three bass guitars that I built were all short scale: Brooks -1 The first one I ever built. 2009 Acoustic Fretless My goal was to build an acoustic bass that would be loud enough to compete with an acoustic guitar without amplifying. So I gave it a very big body (wide and deep). I used a bass bar and a staple, just like a Cello. The experiment failed. The bass is not loud enough. Les Paul Bass This is not a real Gibson bass. I built it myself after my personal favorite: the 1969 Les Paul Bass I tried to stay as close to the real thing as possible. Except it uses guitar pickups and controls

Here’s the best looking Fender P

I used to gig a lot and had a lot of work from the nineties until around 10 years ago.. Played with rather well known artists in Belgium and had around 120 bands and artists on my cv. Suddenly I got tired of playing too many covers (often the same ones), being stuck in traffic, having to be somewhere five hours or more in advance and being away for ten or twelve hours. Would be okay if all would be great but I found myself driving home at night feeling a bit depressed and the money I earned wasn't really necessary because I had and have a well paid daytime job (I can understand professional players who have to accept anything because they have to make a living out of it). A lot of work was without rehearsal and sometimes you got the call in the afternoon to replace someone and as a bassplayer you have to be on top of the game since everyone is relying on you...Lots of times the others weren't prepared or became sloppy and the gig would be sheer horror but the money kept everyone satisfied (I feel that attitude is still there). Got the impression that people just wanted to have a bass player and not especially me and that anyone would do (I see the pictures of all those bands on facebook and still a chain of bassplayers who are replacing one another). I didn't get calls anymore for bands with their own original music, I started my own band but that's instrumental fusion so the market is limited in Belgium.. So now I find myself turning down offers by countless cover bands (could have had a gig yesterday) and I'm staying at home..I still play lots of bass and I want to surprise myself so I'm learning new things and avoiding routine..I just don't need bands anymore.. I don't miss any of the stuff I mentionned above and I love playing bass (bit of fretless, slap, tapping, harmonics, pick, etc..there is so much to do). Every now and then there is the occasional gig with a couple of friends and recently I agreed again to replace a bass player in a coverband (45 songs without rehearsal) just to know if I could still do that sort of thing if I wanted to and everyone seemed to be really pleased.. I drove home away from the drunken crowd and the noise and I was happy to be home again..I realised again that I didn't miss the whole scene. I would miss playing bass though.

@wishface it's very difficult for anyone here to be able to offer a definative answer to your question (although they're a helpful bunch so will try their best) as it there are a number of variables which need to be ruled out before knowing for certain exactly what the "problem" is. Example - Is the neck relief correct, is the bridge set correctly, is the nut correct? If yes then, does the neck have a twist or bow, are the frets worn, are they bedded in correctly, does the neck require a shim etc etc. All of those things really need to be understood before the issue can be diagnosed and the correct solution offered. And without having the bass in hand and only a text discription of the problem (especially by someone who is inexperienced) makes solutionising almost impossible. I totally accept you're unable to pay to get a tech to look at your bass, but hoping to get an answer on a forum without being able to rule out any of the factors which cause fret buzz is a bit wishful (no pun intended) thinking. My advice would be to forget what you think the problem is, start again from scratch and look at the youtube set-up tutorial below (there are plenty of others on the if you don't like these). This is video 1 of 4, go through them in order following the instructions precisely - Once done, you'll then know you've eliminated poor set-up as a cause and have an actual fault which needs fixing. If that's the case, search for tutorials specific to that issue and work through it. Hope this helps.

Little update - I removed and desoldered the popped potentiometer from the PCB that connects it to the rest of the circuit and gave the whole thing a right proper clean - even took out the glowy green plastic control surrounds out and gave them a wash. Ooooh, they were grody. Sorry, forgot to take any photos - I'll post some when I get the replacement parts and start putting it back together.

We often get requests, but we keep playing anyway. One time a girl shouted in my ear mid song asking if we knew any One Direction songs. We're a blues band. I told her to ask the singer. She shouted "which one is the singer?". I told the band about it in our break and the singer said she'd shouted in his ear mid-song "are you the singer"! They're special in Knaresborough.

If it has a maple neck and it’s bright red then anodised gold. Don’t know why fender stopped making aluminium ones, much nicer than plastic. Good gob g&l did them for a while but again they stopped too?!

“we don’t play that song, but the next one has some of the same notes”

Hi fellow bass lovers! I haven’t posted anything here before but think this is a great way to start! I will attend the LBGS in a couple of weeks. It’s my first time to the show and I will be there together with Kala Ubass! I believe it’s the first time Kala has their own dedicated bass ubass stand at the show too! If you’ll be there please come by and say hi and try out some different ubass models! All the best from Sweden, Magnus http://playubass.com

To be fair, I don't interact much, if at all, with the audience while I'm playing, but focus entirely on the music we're playing (which as it contains a fair amount of improvisation requires concentration. I am aware of them from the energy they give us, but if I start looking at individuals in the audience, it distracts me. It is a fact that my current band plays far better in front of an audience than at a rehearsal, obviously a gig encourages greater concentration, but to me, the energy and enthusiasm of the audience is the main reason. I rarely experienced this when playing blues etc in pubs where the audience usually tolerated the band at best, but with current band, where we only play ticketed venues, the audience has travelled a fair distance and paid to hear us, so the band and its music are the main focus for them. When the entire audience starts cheering at the first notes of a song they love, that makes sure we do the song justice.

It's black Trevor and my mum watched High Chaparral when I was a kid. She likes westerns.

I love playing live. I don't even need to be paid.If I get paid its a bonus. I love making people dance like I do at festivals live music events that I dig. Half an hour lugging gear around pails in comparison to playing with a tight band live and getting a reaction. Maybe that's the narcissist in me. Maybe there is a little bit of narcissism in most musicians on BC me thinky.

My old band were playing a Saturday night in central Swindon when and obviously well-oiled punter climbed on the to stage and worked his around the band trying to ask us something while we were playing. He eventually tripped and fell off the stage, hitting his head on the PA and knocking himself out. We played on..and on…as first the pub's security tried to get him up, then they hailed in a couple of passing coppers (there were several pairs of them walking around the town centre - but that's Swindon for you) who finally managed to get him sitting up. They asked us to take a break while they got him into an ambulance. Turned out he was known by the drummer and guitarist (they are all from the same south Atlantic island) and he was trying to ask us what we wanted to drink so he could buy us a round!

Yeah

Thieving Ba5tards!!! As Roger says the thieves will have trouble selling something as distinctive as this - hope it comes back unsullied.

The start of my bass collection 😉

One time I boiled my strings, got a spoon and drank some of the scummy water so I could say I'd cooked and eaten myself. IIRC, I didn't taste very nice.

Yes, it is out of production, but they come up for sale from time to time. I would think they can be had for less that a new Fishman Fission - but probably still above budget for @stewblack. The Deep Impact is crazy expensive on the other hand!!

I built something similar a few years ago and would also advise you to put the bridge as far back as you can. The body I used was a cheap p bass modified by removing the upper horn and reducing the thickness to make it more slab like. The wood is quite light and due to the loss of the upper horn the neck dive was serious. I eventually solved it by adding a strap button extension and fixing the other button further along the body. As for pickup regimes , I tried just about everything , including a three pickup monstrosity before going back to a plain old P (Entwistle neodymium) . The hole left by the bridge pickup is now filled by a bit of wood held in place by two gert big wood screws. That old door was made of some nice wood , looking forward to the finished product.

Same for me walshy, I’ve also just bought their low tension flats but haven’t fitted them yet, I need to buy another bass to fit them to 😁.

I love Marillion with both singers, they have evolved but also retained their core sound IMO. If, as stated above, you wish to acquaint yourself with Hogarth era Marillion you could do worse than the albums This Strange Engine, Afraid of Sunlight, and Marbles. Also, Brave is a masterpiece IMO but is a concept album and takes a few listens. Pete is a great bass player too 👍