WalMan

[i]Able to read?[/i] not necessarily - unless I suppose you have one main writer in the band who expects everything to be as he heard it & scores it for you - but would you want to be in such a dictatorship? [i]Play complex lines/playing ability?[/i] Yes definitely helps [i]Play complex time sigs?[/i] ditto [i]Good theory?[/i] not necessarily but might help. A good ear is just as much use, but if you know the theory you might get there a bit quicker. It depends how instinctive you are [i]Extended range? [/i]I have only just acquired my first 5 string but the lack of a 5 or 6 stringer was never a problem when I was in such a band - mind that goes back a few years now. When I saw Spocks Beard in London recently Dave Meros was using a modified Rick (with a Hipshot D-Tuner) & was turning to a keyboard to double really deep lines. Pete Trewavas only uses 4 strings & bass pedals in the Transatlantic DVDs so I should have thought it is not an absolute must have. There are other ways of covering really low end & if the band has keys you could end up fighting for the same sonic space. Mind you, I had been thinking of giving a call to an ad for a proggy band in my area recently, but the ad said "must have 5 string". I have other things on the go so not desperate for another project anyway, but to be so prescriptive in an ad does seem a bit limiting.

Welcome to the deep end

I've been lucky having upgraded amps slowly but surely over the years, but having used the same bass for the last 20+ years - mind I lucked out with my baby and it was uprated to actives 11 years ago (seems like yesterday, doesn't time fly) so it's not [i]quite [/i]the same bass for all those years!

So would this [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3134"]Trace 122H[/url] be any good to you? Works fine on its own. Stick a 15 under it and it opens up even more.

It really comes down to experimentation (no sh1t Sherlock ) Years ago my band used to rehearse in a small but reasonably dead studio and often recorded straight to a reel to reel with a stereo mike pair, or even the guitarists boombox so that we could take ideas away to work on & learn, with passable results. I have bags full of gig recordings on cassette, that I really must find the time to put into digital form before they disintegrate, that were recorded on nothing more than a hi fi deck or the guitarists which are fine as a record of the [url="http://www.myspace.com/akindoffury"]evening [/url] I suppose it depends what you want the recording for, your own purposes or to post on your MySpace & send off to get gigs. If its just for yourself to work on then tweak on as you are, but if it is for wider use then with the price of recording gear nowadays then you should really throw a bit more at it. Perhaps a couple of [url="http://www.studiospares.com/pd_450430_BOUNDARY%20MICROPHONE.htm"]boundary mics[/url] operating as a pair in the room. Recording with just a (decent) stereo mic will give the band as a whole an idea of how members are interacting and whether everyone is playing for themselves. Sorry these are developing into the random noodlings of an old fart

I have a Monster cable as well as a load of shorter patch cables in my rack and they certainly seem solid enough. That said I mainly got them because I went into Andertons one lunchtime and there were loads really cheap in a "Clearout" bucket so it was [i][b]NOTHING [/b][/i]like £88 for a cable. I am honestly not sure I could justify that.

[quote name='Musky' post='14441' date='Jun 9 2007, 12:25 AM']... has anyone had any direct experience of them on a precision, or [i][b]any other bass[/b][/i] for that matter.[/quote] Before my Wal Pro was upgraded to the Custom electrics & while it was still passive Kent Armstrong built a pup to fit in a Wal housing and I had that installed. It certainly did the trick for me until Pete installed the actives a few years later on.

Get a [url="http://www.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=6"]Hipshot D-Tuner[/url] then you can flick down to D when you need it & back up again and broadly keep all the patterns you are used to. I picked up one for my Wal years back and find it really useful. Takes a bit of getting used to, remembering that with it flicked down you need to adjust fretting on the E string +2 frets (assuming you have set the drop to D) but good for watching confusion reign on the face of anyone watching you who does not know about them when you get so that you can flick down & back up surreptitiously with your thumb Mind you if all you are doing is dropping EADG to DGCF all your usual patterns are still there anyway. If you are doing that you might want to investigate using a heavier set of strings to stop them flapping, but 45-105 works fine for me with the Hipshot

1. Is a light bass cabinet important to you? Y 2. Would you be interested in a smaller designed cabinet for maximum portability? Y 3. What is the weight of your current rig now? _______ Kg 4. Have you ever had portability issues with this cabinet before? Y 5. Would a Neo speaker make the amplifier more appealing? Y 6. Would you want casters on the amplifier for added portability? N 7. Would you want the input to be in the back? Y 8. Would you want the Ohm rating to be 4? Indifferent 9. Would you want the power rating to be over 200 watts? Y 10. Is a metal grille cover attractive on an amplifier? Indifferent for 3 Not sure & "very" does not really count does it. I shall edit if I can find it 6 I would qualify as Y if removable 10 Indifferent as to attractiveness, but Y for protection

[quote name='therealting' post='48129' date='Aug 21 2007, 03:43 AM']That X-ray looks like you've had a piece of very large fretwire embedded in your arm.[/quote] Who'd have thunk! I had a refret

If you were looking for a different option that might allow you to carry on with you current gear you might try a slightly different strap. Before I had my left shoulder replaced a couple of years ago I had been suffering quite badly when gigging to the extent that even with a Comfort strap I could only last 3 or 4 numbers before pain spread down my left arm. I bought a strap that goes over both shoulders & crosses in the middle of your back the theory being that the weight of the bass was spread evenly across your body. With the addition of a couple of seatbelt pads, because it is basically a 2 inch wide webbing strap that could have a tendency to ruck up & dig in if you hurled yourself around on a gig it worked well. My playing posture is probably not great. With a normal strap I tend to have the body of the bass on my right hip with the neck going away at an angle rather than flat across my body. The strap that goes over both shoulders had a tendency to pull the bass around from the normal position I would have adopted so took some adjusting to [b]BUT [/b]it did leave me able to get through a couple of hour+ sets OK. Since my shoulder was fixed I have been able to go back to a normal strap. I certainly have one of the other straps in my case if you wanted to give it a go, and may even have an unused one as I seem to recall ordering two from the States to have a spare - I shall have to have a ferret around. In essence it[list] [*]spreads the weight of the bass across you back rather than dumping it all on one shoulder, but [*]will take a little getting used to and possibly a slight adjustment of stance, and [*]will require the patience of a saint for all the "where's your 'chute" and "you've left the baby somewhere mate" taunts that your oh so witty band mates will never cease to be amused by but [*]worked for me & kept me gigging until the shoulder was fixed [/list]I cannot remember the name of the company right now, but PM me if you want to try one out before you consider buying one and don't want to change basses if you can get away with it. [EDIT] Of course it came back to me as soon as I hit post. The company is [url="http://www.slider-straps.com/STR/bass.html"]Slider Straps[/url] and with the present exchange rate only about £20 delivered if you wanted to order from them

Oh believe me [u][b]NOTHING [/b][/u]was going anywhere without cleared funds. Without the Mastercard reference the scam sensors would probably not have been twitching immediately Perhaps I should [i]play [/i]with him for a bit

I have been advertising my TE 122H combo in a few places including Gumtree ads - still not really showing signs of moving but that's beside the point. I had an email this morning which I rather suspect is 8ullsh1t but I could be maligning the responder. It is short and does not seem to follow the lines of others I have had that are clearly utter toss, viz "what is you absolute lowest price & will you send it to [i]insert country[/i]" but then again it is from a hotmail account. Now a hotmail account could mean nothing, hell I have used one in the past as a hold all when registering for forums and not wanting to be spammed. The killer punch to me is "will you accept mastercard on delivery and confirmation that the amp is in good condition?" I had drafted a response along the lines of "yes it is and no I won't as I have no means of accepting a card" - though I suppose I could through PayPal if he paid the costs - but stopped at sending it until this evening after more thought. So what do we think? Utter cr@p or possibly OK?

Dunlop 2mm Big Stubbys for me - or 3mm if I am feeling particularly heavy handed. The smaller Stubbies tend to go flying & the big one have those nice indents for grip.

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='47440' date='Aug 19 2007, 04:55 PM'] Walman playing Bloodaxe's short-scale Aria with tremelo![/quote] Ahhh my son would be so proud!! [url="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=15497357"]He being a typical guitarist noodling over the bass solo[/url]

[quote name='obbm' post='47340' date='Aug 19 2007, 12:27 PM']If you're going to do that then maybe we should have retro theme (not J-Retro) and I'll bring my WEM and Sound City bits. Anyone got a Framus Star bass?[/quote] I could bring my old Marshall Superbass 100 Plexi (the guy who gave it a major overhaul recently reckoned 67-69). It sounded nice when the basic work was done on it a few years back with some cheap power valves. This time around we went the whole hog & got some decent valves. It is being used as an alternate guitar amp at the mo & I have no speakers for it but could probably "borrow" a 15 bin from our sound guy. Look forward to the next one. I even went so far as to look up flights to Manchester for the UK day in November today - then got a nasty shock £154 return Southampton - Manchester. Perhaps not. I think it could be better spent on a new toy

Good to meet up with everyone today & see all the toys come out to play. A veritable bevvy of beauties - the basses that is Nice to try out some different and esoteric gear (dive bombing Aria anyone) and hear the tales of daring do & hiding the latest acquisition Certainly got my bass buds whetted for a spot of searching out a bargain or two. Thanks to all involved in arranging the day.

I stay off because I hate the feeling of not being in control on a gig, anyway I am always driving. Got pulled up one night (well early morning actually) a few years back while taking the vocalist home & having had a pint of shandy at the start of the evening. The dear WPC's kept me waiting at the side of the road for 3/4 hour waiting for a breath kit to be delivered before giving up & sending me on my way. Mind I suppose it would have been the same if I had been on lemonade all night. Even the gig 1/2 a mile from my front door I end up driving the gear down, setting up & then going home to collect the missus - who does the drinking for me The band all like a drink but we all have to drive and it does sound a bit sad when the landlord/lady offers us a drink at the end of the evening and the round goes "Coke, mineral water, diet Coke, OJ & two more mineral water please"

Hope to be there at some point with my old upgraded Wal Pro 1. Must get a new set of wires on to save embarassment!! Its just round the corner from my office so free parking as long as its not full of Saturday scammers by the time I arrive

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='46283' date='Aug 16 2007, 11:08 AM']My response is "well, you can't wear more than 1 pair of shoes at a time...". Unfortunately, I'm reminded that whereas shoes would cost (say) £50, my basses cost on average £600+ each.[/quote] Surely you missed out "after I had straightened up, got my breath back & my voice back to normal pitch...."