Leaderboard

Arrogant mostly

It's all about variety - longest I've been in one band so far is five years, though I suspect my current band is my last one. I've always needed to keep looking for something new, but the current band is by far the most rewarding and challenging I've ever been in. I'm knocking on 62 now, and started when I was 15. I've had some time out, but bass playing has always been central to my identity. Quite honestly, the best gig I've played was probably the most recent one - and so it should be! Fiddler's Elbow last Saturday - good crowd, a great evening, but the best part was the encore - we'd discussed it at the last rehearsal and thought the audience might join in at the end, but they all started singing after the first two chords! Hardly a dry eye in the house. The sort of thing that makes us remember why we do this.

My concern with Mr Phillips' instrument is that it is possible that beginners are likely to buy one of his creations thinking that they are playable, VFM instruments. Now I have no experience of playing his instruments but I believe that there is a consensus of concern, based on what we can see, about the usability of these. I've no idea of his motivation for turning out poorly constructed instruments - if he has any talent as a luthier he should be producing items of a much higher quality. I don't think I've seen any of his work which constitutes an improvement over what came out of the factory. He may make a few bob from churning these out and selling them to inexperienced players but in doing so he may also be crushing the dreams of those new players (many of who can barely afford their first instrument) who, finding them unplayable, think that it isn't the instrument, it's their lack of talent/ability and give up. If he is offended by comments on forums such as ours he has a number of options, including upping his game and producing usable instruments and giving up making these atrocities. He is accountable for what he's doing, I believe we are well within our rights to hold him, and anybody else producing poorly constructed instruments, to account.

Good to see Martin from the bass centre contributing to this thread. I went there in 1991. I had been to Fat Ricks to look at a Hamer Thunderbird that had been owned (wrecked) by the Quireboys. It was £450. It was all I had. The bass was rubbish so I went off to Wapping. Tried loads of basses and found a s/h Status 4000 in a sort of burnt orange at £595. I explained to Martin I only had £450 and the only thing in the shop I liked was the status. He let me have it for £450. I was stoked. Thanks Martin

It's actually got nothing to do with being grumpy, old, or a git ... its a microcosmic reflection upon the rapidly declining standards of acceptible behaviour so evident today in our society. Bad manners, rudeness, selfishness and lack of courtesy are blatantly on show like never before (Trump / Westminster anyone?). It might currently be 'on trend' to act in that way however, it remains appalling nonetheless.

Apologies for the long post but a little story in recognition of a good gear experience. TLDR: Faulty Speaker replaced, excellent customer service in doing so, one very satisfied customer!: So a few months ago I bought my first 'real' rig. Up till this year I've been using various combos as I've never had the need or ambition for more but I've got a new itch to join a band so I thought I'd get myself a capable head & cab. After much research & consideration I plump for the Laney Nexus SLS head, with the R210 cab (might do a separate NAD post on this if anyone's interested, or even if not). Pleased as punch with this combination, looks great, all the bells and whistles, loads of power, lightweight and doesn't break the budget. Until... Farting noises. Not from me for a change, but coming from the amp while I'm playing. Like most of us when something appears to be wrong with an expensive purchase, I try to ignore it. Convince myself it isn't there. It's not that bad. Isn't it? Yes it is quite bad. I can't ignore it. It is definitely not supposed to sound like that. That is not the sound of a preamp tube, or the tweeter. It sounds like my signal is being fed through a very quiet fuzz pedal alongside my clean signal. But I don't have a fuzz pedal, and if I did, what would be the point of playing one quietly? So I try to eliminate the possible sources of the noise: effects pedals, leads, speaker cables etc. I narrow it down to the cab, or the amp. My first instinct is to contact the retailer, but both items were bought online from foreign based retailers (because apparently its cheaper to ship Laney gear to mainland Europe and back to a UK consumer than to buy from a UK dealer - who knew). So returning would be tricky. So to avoid the tricky conversation with a non-English speaking retailer I contact Laney. I don't know about anyone else but I have had distinctly mixed results contacting companies through websites so I wasn't expecting much from the technical query contact form on their website. But I described the problem and my attempts so far to identify and solve it, not hoping for much, but who knows, its worth a try. Anyway, I receive a reply within a day, asking further questions and suggesting other ways to investigate. A series of messages follows, checking one thing then another, and we locate the fuzz in one of the speakers. Via email I confirm that I'd bought the cab this year, and before I knew it a replacement speaker was on its way. Received within 1 more day, fitted to the cab, and problem solved from inital contact to satisfied customer in less than a week, and without a penny spent. So I am very grateful to Laney, who although I am a mostly bedroom bass playing nobody they didn't have to keep happy, and although they of course should rectify build faults in their products, they have got one very happy customer who took a gamble on their gear and has now become a fan of the company. Much appreciation for excellent service (especially Pete in the Service Department) and a further glow because its a British company who I think are making some genuinely innovative and standout products, both for guitar and bass.

The management clearly made a huge mistake in appointing three attractive women. As everyone knows, I am militantly anti-sexist but we all know that pretty girls are usually lazy, high maintenance and don't stick around long. Secondly, three pretty girls in one office will inevitably fall out, usually in a 2 vs 1 psychodrama that drags everyone else into their vortex of madness. The bosses would have been much better off appointing just one middle-aged woman of homely appearance. They work harder, they're sensible and loyal and they don't come up to your desk at half-four in the afternoon whining 'Can I leave early to go the gym? Pleeeze?'

I tried using switching jack plugs. But my bass is an old dog, and you can't teach an old dog Neutrix.

Continuing my quest to further stress test the floorboards of my mancave, I got this today. It's lived in a full flight case for most of it's close on thirty years and as a result has fared far better than many of the others I've looked at (the 'rubberised' cases tend to have chunks missing out of them looking like they've been nibbled around the edges). Some of the grey/silver paint has worn where it's been slid in and out of the flight case and there's a very slight nick out of one of the corners but other than that it's in fine fettle. The front and back panels are immaculate with all switches, knobs, lights and sliders present and correct and working. It really is in superb nick and sounds great. No scratchy pots, all switches and sliders operate smoothly and with a quality feel to them. No unwelcome buzzing or hissing and the always on fan just spins away quietly in the background. My MkIV is the quietest running amp I've ever heard and this is just the same. So I've got the MkIV, the Series 6 and an SMX (and an Elf). Just on the lookout for a pristine MkV AH250 now and then I think I'd better call it a day. 😁

It’s finally out. Months after I’ve quit the band. Very long story with the craziness/hassle with this project but here it is. Me playing music that I would never listen to. My cousin plays guitar and the solo is superb in my opinion. Enjoy!

OK I'm finally back in the workshop after some time in Italy trying to find somewhere to live, and some time in a police cell courtesy of Extinction Rebellion. I've finally got round to gluing on the fretboard. I've started using these spring clamps more and more. They seem to offer plenty of clamping force when used en masse, but are much quicker and easier to use than G or F clamps, generally less sliding around etc. Because the 'jaws' are moveable you can also easily clamp a fretboard which has already been radiused without having to used a radiused caul. Invisible glue lines are something I get a bit obsessive about (albeit on this build they'll be hidden by binding anyway) so was glad to see a very clean join once I trimmed the fretboard to size.

From Sunderland and gig from Morpeth to redcar Facebook North east bass bin is good for crack and the occasional "bass player needed" or "dep needed" .I "LIKE" most of the pubs facebook pages who do bands so you get their stuff coming up ,last minute gigs ,cancellations etc .Lets talk music NE is another fb page ..I don't think there's one place that does it all up here .Riffs online has a canny ,musicians wanted section .The gig listing will also show you which pubs do regular gigs .We've been around for years and luckily pick repeat stuff up no problem.Starting out is probably harder

I am utterly convinced of the veracity of this hypothesis. For a brief phase in which one of my old bands started dropping into open mic nights, I saw more than my fair share of aspiring troubadours who'd decided that their "unique selling point" was best built around being an absolute wet blanket. Gingerly strumming through the four chords they'd mastered while shyly and sensitively opining what shy and sensitive souls they were. Just like all the others. By the end of the evening, the only way you could tell these affected termini campanarum apart was by the fret they put their capo behind to play the same four f**king chords as the last one. And oh, how the fashions shifted - the second Pete Doherty's slack-jawed, fat-tongued mockney vocal style was prominent on the radio, every wet blanket at these godforsaken evenings squelched onto the same sodden bandwagon, and supplemented their same set of inane wimperings about how they'd love the object of their desires to bring them Lemsip while they were holed up in their bedrooms with a sniffle, by delivering them in the manner you might expect if (god forbid) Jamie Oliver decided to start a singing career.

-

No, genuinely I'm a big fan. Got all their albums and seen them live a few times. They're brilliant. I think one or more of them are some sort of entomologist or other animal scientist. Hence all the lyrics about weevils, ants hiding in peaches, kitties, bug cities, monkey rivers, electric spiders, fleas versus mites (fighting with bites), slow slow flies, ladybugs, troglobites, butterflies, salamanders, frogs, etc.. That's my morning's iPod playlist sorted though! *puts on headphones to try and pretend I'm not stuck in an office*

In my experience metal lyrics tend (though not always) to celebrate the protagonist's agency*. He is often about to do something; something possibly glorious, possibly evil, possibly involving a member of the opposite sex. On many occasions the metallist is in a state of open revolt the better to pursue his aim of enhancing his individuality. At other times the practitioner metallique invites like-minded people to join him in subsuming their individuality in a celebratory communal experience, possibly involving rituals of a bacchanalian or shamanistic or highly destructive nature. On rare occasions the metallista embraces melancholy but it doesn't usually last for long. Consider Mr John 'Ozzie' Osbourne's chef d'oeuvre Paranoid where he signs off with the encouragingly positive couplet: "I tell you to enjoy life I wish I could but it's too late" Even in his own personal pit of despair Ozzie exhorts the rest of us to enjoy ourselves. I think we can all learn from that By contrast, the white boy pop idols de nos jours mostly stink the place up with their whiny, self-pitying lyrics and their self-abasing paeans to unobtainable young women who in some way excite in the performer a sense of inferiority and general helplessness. Consider Mr James Blunt's hit You're beautiful. Some thirty four years separates the song from Paranoid and what a difference. The final couplet cosily embraces futility and failure: 'But it's time to face the truth I will never be with you' You're beautiful is now fifteen years old yet in many ways it set a template for so many young, white, male singer-songwriters. Depressed? Check. A failure? Check. Unshaggable? Check. Perhaps this is how young men today go about the business of soliciting a mercy fück? Perhaps these neo-pubescent milksops think that gaining access to the mossy bower requires fervent demonstrations of 'sensitivity' and 'consideration'? Or perhaps these simpering lads are simply resigned to the fact that 'they' (by whom they actually mean 'you, the listener' because these pop stars are prolly getting laid left, right and centre whereas I expect ordinary, healthy young chaps are lucky to get a sniff of it, 'Dark days for a cöcksman, dark days indeed', as Mr David Coverdale observed) are doomed to go their graves with their cherries un-popped. Frankly, were I to be forced to listen to a specific genre of lyrics I would choose metal over white boy pop any day of the week including Sundays. Proper Metal is a gourmand's dish of raw, bloody steak liberally dowsed with alcohol, mind-altering substances and tiger spünk. White boy pop lyrics are - by comparison - a sad little Tesco Basics egg sandwich. On a more specific point, the sword and sorcery sub-genre is nothing new in popular culture and plays into the general rampancy of 'metal as it should be'. My old pal and wing man Johnny Tolkien was wont to remark: 'What I really like on a Saturday night is a good old-fashioned goblin'. * Not his booking agency, obvs. I mean his capacity to act with autonomy, possibly in the furtherance of achieving his personal goals

Does it bug anyone else when messages are left unanswered? Or someone gets in touch about an item, you reply and then they don't respond, even though you can see they've read the message...... Seems to be happening more and more these days. Just a "no thanks", or "thanks, but that's not what I'm after" would do, a little bit of courtesy.... Guess I'm just a grumpy git today.

Welcome aboard. Prepare to need to buy everything ever made with any connection to the bass guitar. This place has bankrupted me more more times than my ex wife. 😉

Sometimes I want to burn all my music equipment and live in a cave. Then I come up with an awesome tune at 3am (which is always gone by daylight). Some gigs are crap, some have women flashing their boobs (ok, just the once) and you feel like you own that moment, like you created the best feeling in the world and shared it with everyone in the room. The tide comes in and out, too.

A great set of videos, plus the bonus, thanks to the title, is that forevermore I will think of Sheldon as 'Sheldon Dingwall of Dingwall'...

Hey y'all! I'm a Dutch bass player born when Jimi visited London first. Starting out with Queen, ACDC and VanHalen, soon discovering tons of hard rock and metal (which was brand new!) bands, I began volunteering at a local rock stage when I was fourteen, this is where I learned the ropes, from booking negotiations to designing and printing posters that I hang around town, to fill the place. This got easier after I brought in some good looking, rock loving girls. My elder brother had a punkrock band, Vömit, and I tried to make his acoustic guitar electric which didn't work so I bought someones home built electric guitar, built a couple myself, but learned already that it's easier to borrow a cheap guitar from a friend, which I did at age 18. I took blues guitar lessons at a music school for half a year, and some time later found a bass guitarist that I think is a great player, Walter Latupeirissa. He played with Dana Fuchs, Walter Trout, Snowy White and the likes. After I asked him if he wanted to teach me, he had to think for a while but called me and accepted me as his first student. These lessons were set up to teach me the feel. He worked on my fingering and timing and I'm still grateful for his energy. I started playing in bands around this time, and found out that I could fit in, even with my fretless first borrowed bass, an Egmond (obscure Dutch brand). When I moved to Amsterdam I found a live music bar, the Waterhole. There were good musicians leading jam sessions, and after some earwashing I was accepted in that scene. One of the bassplayers, Jeroen van Niele (Livingbluesxperience, rolling beat machine), I had asked to inform me if he would find a California hippie chick that plays music. In the warehouse of Rounder Records, where I was practicing with a Dutch band, I got his phone call telling me about Ilene, who I really should meet, she met my criteria. So I went to see her and we clicked, started living together and formed a band: the Freewheelers Cello Band, http://www.thefreewheelers.nl with which we've done thousands of gigs in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and America. We're currently living on a big boat in the California delta near Stockton, doing blues cruises and shows all over the Central Valley. My playing style is rock oriented, with blues influence. I would say Jack Bruce is my greatest example, followed by Jaco, Geddy and Lemmy.

Hi Yes - some images would be helpful. +1 on @DoubleOhStephan 's suggestion too. Heat applied in the right way and in the exact spot can raise dints very well. Have a look on Youtube - there will be a number of videos showing how people do this without leaving marks in the finish. Often, this is all that would be needed. Even if it does need the more extreme measure of sanding down, it is usually best to raise such dints before starting sanding in any case.

Don't think I can manage time travel. Too busy learning to read music. Perhaps the two are connected

Just waiting on my transport back to NL. Bas and I did business for the millionth time today which resulted in me having a big case with a rather yummy Yammy with me. And Bas took me to lunch even 😎 Absolute pleasure to deal with, and really nice to meet you in person Bas. Cracking collection of basses you have (even without a jazz ...). Thank you.

-

takes me right back to my first AH150 Mk5 I think. 1988 then I had the AH300. It looked fab all lit up. now I have a BLX-80

Not that I am casting doubt on his swordsmanship, but are you sure that's why they called him that?

Of course there is - but the note pitches, lengths and dynamics are important too. You're assuming that the ear-trained, non-reading musician can simply "get" the note pitches, lengths and dynamics, then their "ear-training" makes them superior at being able to apply all the other factors which make up a great performance - phrasing, timbre, etc. In my experience this isn't the case. Also, there is a MASSIVE time saving in being able to get those note pitches, lengths and dynamics quickly - building a base to add all those extra elements. People who can read can do it quicker, and those who can sight read can do it essentially "in real time", without needing to have heard the song before and possibly play it over and over again in their own time.

You don't even see that many with all of the little slider ends in place... I've got four TE heads and only enough of those white bits to fully equip one of them at a time.

First time customer of John's - and it won't be the last. He replied to my initial enquiry after an hour and then felt he should apologise for his tardiness... Transaction was completed on a Friday afternoon and the loom (nicely protected in a proper box) arrived the next day. Superb!

erm, Bandmix, Joinmyband, Gumtree, Facebook? local venues, friends etc.

Saturday is reserved for getting your kit ready, checking strings & batteries, cases out of the loft, etc.

Indeed - Been showing it to the Mrs this week. She's not keen.

don't really see the problem. Opera often deals with the same subject matter as Metal, but because it's considered 'high brow' and often in Italian, we're not debating the lyrical content of any arias. For example, from The Departure Aria: This damn door sticks, This damn door sticks It sticks no matter what I do. It is marked 'pull' and indeed I am pulling Perhaps it should be marked 'push'?”

I went there once in about 1985 as a skint student. Just to have a look around really. I bought a packet of strings which I could barely afford just to have something to take home.

I’ve never kept a bass which relied on the pre for its sound so if a batt dies I’m more than happy to switch to passive - in fact all my current actives sound the same in passive (with everything centred) so I’d only use the active EQ to adjust on-the-fly but could easily do without.

That was part of the magic - Wapping back then was like what I imagine Chernobyl is like now, like everyone had up and left. Then suddenly you walk into The Bass Centre and a parallel universe. There was a rehearsal studio across the road in a riverside warehouse. Down some stairs into a very musty basement - I think that basement was below the water table. Used it a couple of times. They had an Acoustic 360/361 - that was just epic. That was mid 80s I think, when The Bass Centre seemed to be wall-to-wall Trace. Fine by me as I was and still am a Trace fan, but that Acoustic rig was legendary for very good reasons. I digress, The Bass Centre remains the very best shop on the planet ever in my lifetime.

Absolutely, but I was thinking of "playing by ear" in terms of hearing a melody and then playing it or figuring out a melody without having it written out. I would also include being able to hear and play basic chord change patterns like blues and many jazz standards without having to see them on paper.

Used to sing along to the Macc Lads every Friday in my mate’s car, driving between pubs (he was teetotal). I can’t imagine you’d get away with anything they wrote these days.

We'll knock me sideways with a feather. And checking multiple versions I'm not the only one to miss that subtlety! Thanks.

It's just the modern trend for combining things. Like the toilet brush / soap dish. I'm not convinced about that either TBH.

If you want subtle and sensitive lyrics, then Spinal Tap's your best bet.

I got jealous so copied people and there's now less to trip over cluttering up the floor. Bonus!

As of last week I own two fretlesses again: De Gier Origin fretless and my trusty 17 year old Fender MIM Standard fretless with Lollar pickups.