Leaderboard

Decided I'm going to actively look for gigging work again, if anyone will have me at my advanced age. To that end, and because I just happen to have the wherewithal at the moment, I've ordered a Squier Sonic P-Bass in Cali Blue, two sets of Fender flats (the real Fender needs new strings!), a decent Speakon cable, and... a second Barefaced One10 with cover! So, have a small, light, versatile rig that won't endanger all the metalwork in my back. Still only using the Elf, but it will give me the option of a 500W amp should I need it. Also means I can put the entire rig in a Smart Car, with room to spare. Not that I have something that small... I know it's not quite Christmas yet, but it feels a bit like it. Yay!

Son Of Pea Turgh’s New Bass Day! My son absolutely loves Royal Blood - been to see them twice, he knows all of the songs, and has mostly been nicking my Toby pro 4 (the cheap 90’s licenced one), playing it through an elaborate pedalboard and dual amp set up. Nails the sound. He got a job in a local rehearsal studio and saved up to buy a Junior Jet - the final piece of the puzzle! I found one on eBay collection only and convinced the seller to post. Sorted. It turned up this afternoon (two days early - bonus), and oh my… Really nicely set up, low action, looks brand new. Fitted with D’Addario flats (a preference he’s picked up from me). Padded gig bag too. Plays soooo nicely. Sounds great. Heres a screenshot of the video I sent him when he was in school to let him know it arrived safely 😂

An attack of 'Sick Of Loadsa Instruments Dilemma' if I ever saw one. SOLID - the opposite of GAS

My GR cab turned up today. Initial impression is that it's pretty much what I was hoping for: light and loud. I've got the Natural Fibre 110 active. I'm using a Darkglass Vintage Ultra preamp I'm really happy with the sound. The cab doesn't add or take away anything. Just nice uncolored amplification. Have a gig coming up soonish so we'll see how it stacks up.

Any chance you could take a double case.. only there’s a nice 66 P I’ve seen 😁

Didn't have time to build a pedal board for last night's gig so I bunged four effects together on a patch on my B6 and legged it out of the house. Every time I have gigged this pedal the sounds from it have been superb. Yesterday was no exception. I believe it's the most underrated of all the multi effects. Underrated by me of course. Except now it isn't because I'm rating it. Highly.

Personally, I would be happy to pay a higher ticket price to ensure that the event is self-supporting.

Yes, we broke even with enough left over to pay for the customary post-bash Chinese take-away treat for the event team at our house - provided the few pre-paid DNAs don't ask for their money back 😐

If you are playing a tyne in F major, the notes are. F G A Bb C D E F Not F G A A# C D E F When scoring the former you just put a b on the stave at the start on the B line and everyone knows to flatten the B everytime you play it. In the latter case, you'd put no #s or bs on the stave and everytime you wanted to play an A# you'd have to add a # to that note. The peice would be extremely cluttered and horrendous to read. So there's a reason to have bs, it's not pretentious bellshill.

Double flat ? That's a maisonette isn't it ?

I'm on-record in the forum stating I don't enjoy live music at all (playing or listening), so I get where you're coming from. I've even lied to people asking me to dep or jam, claiming I have no gear, etc. Sometimes it feels like flogging a long-dead horse to me, so I now play mostly at home when the urge takes me. Still enjoy looking at basses, but as in the old BB King track, the thrill is [long] gone in my case. Whatever you decide to do, I hope it works out for you. Even if you sell the gear, unless you're chasing 'stardom', it's not going to bust the bank to buy some stuff and start playing again sometime in the future.

When they work, T-nuts are definitely a superior fixing, but they do demand a certain amount of Fingerspitzengefühl, as @Phil Starr has mentioned. I've fitted hundreds if not thousands of the things, and I still make the first couple of turns by hand - just to make sure. And I watch out for any unwanted resistance when I'm screwing them in. Because woodscrews are a lot more forgiving, I think i would probably recommend woodscrews with lock washers nowadays for self-builds. They can (and will) work loose, however, if you don't use lock washers. On my LFSys cabs, I use socket head machine screws and T-nuts. Although not absolutely necessary, I fit lock washers and also secure the T-nuts with staples from behind for extra security.

Do you go through a 'Living In Quasi-Unused-Instrument Despair' (or LIQUID) phase before you get to that state? Must be sublime if you manage not to.

We have 2 separate what'sapp chats. One for general chatter, setting up gigs, arranging practices and choosing new tunes. The other just has details of gigs we are playing. This means no searching in the main chat and we can delete past gig messages. It stays very clean and empty except for upcoming gigs.

My band Shreds. are playing at the Bank Top Tavern in Oldham tomorrow. Entry is free so come check us out!

Our upcoming gigs over the next few months, ( although we’ve just heard that the Carlisle gig has been cancelled due to problems at The Sands venue regarding the concrete structure of the building.)

Sounds like tough times for you Andy. Stay strong buddy.

Now I have to cart gear around.. the ampeg stuff stays at home!

I've always used creating music as a refuge when my personal life has been less than brilliant.

I think that the concept of a double flat comes from the need to use each note name once and once only in a scale in that key. So if you have already used the E (as an Eb), the next note up has to be an F something. David

@CJPJ yeah, I’m totally at ease with it. Agreed to work on an arrangement with a couple of students at school - they can’t believe their head of year is an ex muso. But think I’ll pass the torch to younger Trav (eldest daughter) - not a bad bassist at all.

Yes, kind of. I use 1st finger on E and little finger on D (or A and G). A slight rockung motion between the two to mute/play each string. As Huw says, index low, middle hi. Car Wash is a very obvious example but there's load of disco stuff. It takes practice, thats all.

Out of all the main "more affordable" brands, I've been thinking for some time now that SBMM have been taking the mick more than most in these times of inflation and increased prices.

I've had one of their semi acoustic basses for years. They used to be branded sub zero, but they're still selling essentially the same bass and just keep changing the colours and renaming it (well if it's good enough for Fender) usually after different cities in the USA. I bought it as B stock for about 100 quid but couldn't find a single thing wrong with it. After several years the electronics have gone a bit shoddy, and it's very flat and woody sounding, but other than that it's a nice enough looking thing and perfectly playable.

Hi all, Some shameless self promotion again but my bands second album, Umbra, is launched today on Vinyl, CD and all digital formats. Single track, 43 mins...reasonably epic BANDCAMP: https://gevaudan.bandcamp.com/album/umbra Spotify: https://spotify.link/h1sdZ2PqRDb We're playing it live tonight at The Fiddlers Elbow in London in case anyone fancies a trip out. ✌️

This Sunday in the Wiltshire village of Aldbourne (as featured in Dr. Who's 1971 The Daemons)

You people need to get into a proper jazz band! This isn't new or weird. It follows the rules of music just as: It's not pretentious bull crap at all - in fact it can make it a lot easier using each note name only once. Far less chance of a wrong note when sight reading.

I've been there many times.... I now own many basses.... I couldn't possibly comment

Put the jazz ciggy down and look at their website. Jeeeeeeeez, the yoof of today get lazier every year

Packing foam from @Hellzero arrived... looks cool

Totally with you @AndyTravis. I quit my band a few months ago after 10+ years as I was bored and want enjoying it. Haven’t missed or regretted it once - still I’m touch with the band who are mates and I think they expect me to say I regret my decision. I don’t. It actually felt like a massive weight off my shoulders. I’ve totally stopped playing the bass and re-discovered the piano. I still love ‘bass’ as a sound but I’ve got zero GAS for any equipment or kit. I don’t think I’ll ever sell my JMJ 😃 as it’s just a thing of beauty but I can see me gradually selling off much of the other stuff. It just feels like a natural end. I’m OK with it. If the urge comes back in time I’m sure I’ll pick it up again.

I've got one this weekend with Aimless Arrows. Weavers Market in Trowbridge at 1415, with quite an interesting line up of bands starting around 1130. We are debuting our new live sound, it's going to be exciting! Edit - we have been moved to a new venue. Emannuels Yard so as to avoid a clash with the bellringers! Same time, and same great line up.

I formed a blues band nearly 2 years ago with the intention of ensuring I play maybe 18 gigs a year for the next few years. That is the minimum that will keep me motivated, practising and keeping my core basses. I am nearly 68 and know my present good health won’t last indefinitely. The recent passing of my great pals @bumnote and @yorks5stringer has reinforced my determination to play till I drop. Like many I know, my career has been a ‘doughnut’, with parental years the hole in the middle. So I intend to enjoy every last bite!

New Hotone goodness here! https://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/multi-effects/ampero-ii-stage Looks like a step up from the Ampero II stomp, which is a really impressive bit of kit, and if it was a better known brand with a bit more customisation would've been a genuine HX stomp killer! This unit looks seriously impressive!

Also, addicted to making pedalboards…

I started with Stuart Clayton's Sight Reading Bass books, and then using example sight reading tests for double bass. There's lots more available for double bass than bass guitar. Just ignore any bowing instructions! Clayton beginner sight reading Double bass sight reading samples I like using samples / examples because there are loads of them and it means each time I am actually reading something new rather than remembering them from the last time. Then it's just realising it's a language. When you start talking as an infant you copy. Then when you start reading everything is broken down into phonetics - but that is only a stepping stone. As a kid you look at a word and split it into the little parts, but eventually you don't do that anymore and instead recognise the entire pattern. The same happens in music after enough practice - even high speed shred metal runs have patterns! So eventually you don't see individual notes like F/B/A/Bb/C/D/E you just recognise the pattern is the F Major scale. Maybe the Bb has been left out and it's a jump to the C - you end up recognising that too, much quicker than actually reading each note. But the secret really is - 10 mins per day, and play as slow as you need to get every note right. Never be embarrassed if you have to consult a picture with the lines and the note names on it before playing the note - just get it right. There's loads of easy remembered filthy mnemonics to help! It's also a good idea to say the note name as you play it to help reinforce it. As with any skill though - having a good teacher will really help. They can stop bad habits before they start. Good luck!

Can we get them a graphic designer first? They look like they’d unlock an iPhone for me. 😜

In the 60s / 70s and 80s, a hundred watt Pa amp and a pair of 2 x 12s, or if you were rich enough a pair of 4 x 12s, was more than adequate. Don't worry.

This. I think you’re actually me. Apart from the Scottish bit of course

56 basses have entered the building, 48 have left. They left because they weren't being played, less favoured ones were sold to finance new acquisitions, and the occasional fire sale when things got financially grim (like when moving house). In the latter case, I kept the ones which weren't worth that much and sold the ones I'd get the most back from. This unfortunately meant selling some tasty stuff I would rather have kept, but that's less important than keeping a roof over one's head.

Yup. I've pretty much given up on the whole idea too. I haven't played since April when the band had an extremely minor disagreement, which would ordinarily be water off a duck's back, but this time it coincided with an extremely busy time at work and my mother's health taking a turn for the worse, so I just couldn't be ar5ed. Now all my time and mental energy is taken up caring for mum who has terminal cancer. Even the thought of gigging or rehearsing leaves me feeling exhausted. I also wouldn't trust myself to be out in public in my current mental state. As a card carrying misanthrope at the best of times, I think one wrong word right now would lead to me getting locked up. Something I can't afford given my current situation.

There’s been a fair bit of chat on this thread, other sites and in video reviews about the different pick ups available for these basses. I’m posting this one so people can hear what is achievable with the stock Bartolinis. This is the EHB1000S, so the shortscale. The on-board eq is active, a bit of bass boost, low mids boosted a bit, treble boost most (but not all), the way. The pick up blend is centered. I’ve some compression on, but really just to clean up my playing. I have a bit of drive on from my Spectradrive - not much, but enough to get the top end just breaking up. The eq on the Spectradrive is set flat. So not too much processing after the instrument, though the drive is undoubtedly contributing to the sound. if you want to avoid listening to me talking, the playing starts at about 1:45. And in case you don’t listen to me, the reason it’s not the full song is I was struggling with an RSI at the time I recorded it. I’ve posted this as I think it may be a useful contribution - hopefully I don’t unintentionally send us off topic.

I love the disembodied wig hiding nearly out of shot.