WalMan

This from the same seller looks good too - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tuscany-Silverado-Bass-Guitar-Amber-Basswood-Body-Maple-Neck-Active-Psv-Switch-/290696628967?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item43aede8ae7

Wel another with the fairly regular dep & just rouns the corner from home so nice & easy compared to most of my gigs, which tend to be a 100ish mile round trip. Played the Tanglewater Classic J for most of the night just using the L2500 for a couple towards the end. The Classic J with the EB Cobalts on was really nice and got cpmpliments at the end compared to the L2500. Not an entirely fair comparison as the J had the gain switch in on the Streamliner & out for the L2500, and that bit of oof helps, added to which the L2500 needed re eq'g mids. I should really have taken the Microbass II and used the AB to handle the difference, but went for the bass, lead, amp option leaving the effects board in its bag. Different dep drummer who I had played with once before. Good player but he doesn't know some of the songs or ends (I'm not sure I do even) Still getting the instruction early in the first set to "give him the cues" added to the spice of the night for me as we tried to work out nods between us & played follow the leader

In a bit of a thread resurection I have just put a set of EB Cobalt Hybrids (45-105) onto the Tanglewater ClassicJ and added some "After" clips with the Cobalts on to compare to the "Before" with the strings it came with, which I believe were 38-98. Clips are on my Soundcloud account [url="http://soundcloud.com/aka_walman/sets/overwater-by-tanglewood"]HERE[/url] hopefully. Just a set of rough noodles but a slight comparison perhaps.

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1335739984' post='1635402'] Loved the Fingers P, down the right hand side. What were you using to record that. [/quote]Ta. That was the original demo of the Overwater by Tanglewood Classic J on the front Precision pup. It was the bass into the Mac through an EBS Microbass ii (though set purely as a DI with no tone control used on the EBS) plus a littler reverb I have redone them since I put a heavier set of Ernie Ball Cobalts on and had it set up & must update the account to add those, as a slight comparison of the Cobalts as much as anything. Not a true comparison of the strings as the originals were 38-98's and the Cobalts are 45-105, but anyway.

We were All That's Fiction at the time. Funnily enough a mate found a much more recent punky band called exactly the same on Facebook a couple of weeks back - I have told them there's nothing new under the sun

Aye. I'll just go an add my gear to the for sale section I think. Gotta love a bit of a widdle one in a while.

It was a horrid wet Sunday afternoon so I just wasted faaaaar too many hours mucking about with some old multitracks I had digitised (well I rambled to this effect in the notes to the Soundcloud track) [url="http://soundcloud.com/aka_walman/storyteller-2012"]Storyteller 2012[/url] We were a poorish mans Nik Kershaw - just a bit taller - at the time. Talking of whom he has a new album scheduled for later in the year I am looking forward to.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1335722943' post='1635044'] I fully expected to get the bum's rush for posting this thread, and quite rightly so, but once again the BassChat community has stepped up to the plate and our own Mr Happy Jack has sorted me out with an 1100W rig... Thanks very much, Jack. And thanks to everyone else who posted here and sent PMs to selflessly offer their prized gear to a total stranger! I'm really quite amazed at the spirit of community on this forum and am very touched and humbled. Thanks again. Better go, or I'll start to blub in a minute... *bottom lip tremble* [/quote]Well lets be fair you've been cluttering up the place for a while I suspect it would probably have been different if you'd joined yesterday & had a post count of 2

Went OK considering it had been a while and no r/h in between due to one guitarists dad passing on. The main thing however, and as elsewhere, the screaming in my head has subsided. I really do need to work on getting some more gigs to keep vaguely sane!

The couple of auditions I have been to recently I was:[list=1] [*]sent a couple of CD's and told to learn a couple [*]given a list of songs to learn [/list] For the first I ended up working out all of them. No bother a fair few were pretty basic for the bass. We played the couple, then a few more I had learnt from the CD. For the other we played through the songs, then a couple more I knew from crossover in sets. Got one, not the other. Years back did a few more for what were basically classic rock / blues bands and just turned up. I was cr@p (still am) and didn't get any of those. As others have said an audition ois a two way process. It's not just for them to decide if they like you and you fit in, but for you to decide if you like & can work with them. I think I might have looked on it as something for the back pocket to know a load of songs in the set already, and see what they wanted to run through. If they have a load of people to try out then a comparison of abilities to play the same song might be helpful from their point of view. If you needed to learn a couple of songs, well it's not the end of the world (IMV). Get through those and if there's time you always have the option of throwing back "how about ???" and run through one of the others you know.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1335429634' post='1630787'] I have to say, that looks better! This one has a blue lit panel on the front (hence the Line6 look) showing off its valves in a cheap, ostentatious, chinese/american way (made in the US - I'm led to believe). This is its low point. (Apparently it does low sound better!) [/quote]That'll be a Streamliner then Edit: Beaten to it, but still loving my STM6.0

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1335432726' post='1630871'] Silly music-on-hold while trying to contact HMRC NI dept [/quote]You'll be there a while (30 minutes is our current record) that's assuming they don't just cut you off after a while

Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy & Paul Gilbert's cover of Crazy Horses. This has to be learnt for a gig http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyuIePgMwSw

Have used Elixirs on all my basses for years now (45-105 +130 on the 5's), but have just had the Tanglewater Classic J - which came with a set 38-98's - set up with a set of EB Cobalts (45-105 again) to see what the latest "snakeoil" is all about. Tonight was the first try out with them and they sounded pretty good. Solid but still with some zing there. I recorded a few noodles to the same backing I did to demo the Classic J with the original strings it came with and may put them up for comparison FWIW. Depending on how they last, how they fit in in the band situation, and whether I can get them at a sensible price (Stringbusters had them at just over £30 for a set when everywhere else seemed to be £45 - 50+) then I may give them a second shot on the Classic J. They certainly faired better than a different brand of coated strings that I picked up for a try at LBGS2011 that went on to the Wal and didn't last very long as they were not a patch on the Elixirs.

Again a +1 for Roqsolid. Needed a cover for my MIDI bass pedals. Exchanged a few emails re the dimensions/extras , placed an order and had it withing a week. Admittedly they forgot one of the protection pockets, but that was fixed at no cost within a couple of days. Hotcovers look like they [i]might[/i] possibly be more padded, but all my Roqsolids are still in great condition as is the gear they cover, so....

[quote name='LowdownRumble' timestamp='1334776604' post='1621200'] Mine isn't any louder than my old passive bass was. And the change of batteries is pissing me off and I hate that I cant leave it plugged in. Is there such a thing as an active/passive bass? Such as, when the battery dies switch to passive and rock on? [/quote]G&L's - at least my L2500's have a 3 way switch that runs passive : active : active with treble boost. And yes the L2500's & Wal are a lot louder than the Tanglewater ClassicJ

Let's see (and in writing this I realise just how many death traps we seemed to have owned over the years!!) Being stood in the middle of nowhere on the Eastbourne road with one of the roadies/mates (who was a bike mechanc) taking the carb on the Transit apart with a screwdriver, by the light of a dimming torch. He got it back together and the misfire problem we had had for some time never returned IIRC. Re enacting Basil Fawlty's whipping of his recalcitrant Austin on the same van earlier in the evening when the fecker wouldn't start. Too many gigs in the same van, full of gear 4 or 5 across the front & another 2 or 3 lying on top of the gear in the back. Pulled by the boys in blue in the Commer van with the drummer sat in the back on the gear sharing out the scoff we had rescued from the buffet. Side door slides back "Blimey there's more of them" says plod "Sausage roll officer?" says the drummer. Going to a photoshoot in London in the daytime prior to a gig in the evening back on the coast. Stuck in traffic & something (driveshaft possibly) dropped out, thankfully only a few yards from a garage who fixed the van & sent us on our way. Same van on the way back from a weekend gig in Germany & the alternator packed up somewhere on the autobahn so that by the time we got off the ferry and back to home town we were navigating by torches out of the window (thankfully @ around 3 in the morning) Driving the bands bedford bus (caged off halfway back and described as a "mobile home") back through Hastings on the night the brakes decided they didn't really want to work much and coming down the hill stood on the foot and exhaust brakes with one of the others hauling back on the hand brake. Years back when the others were running a big theatrical show like The Tubes / Alice Cooper our soundguy was driving the 3 ton truck with all the gear in back from a gig when a woman who had decided life wasn't worth it decided that the band lorry would be the thing to drive at at speed to end it all. Slightly more recently he was stopped in a smaller van with the PA in it by an excitable young constable and his puppy walker. "Have you been drinking?" "Only water all night" "Well in that case I require you to take a roadside narcotics test" Puppy walker stood on the passenger side raises his eyebrows. "Why?" Response from the puppy was to the effect "You look dozy" which was greated by cries of "HE ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE THAT!" from the rest of the van & puppy walker telling us to sod off before putting the leash on his charge

Well snake oil or not I have noticed a differenxe, so much so on first use on a high boomy stage I thought the bass had disappeared having not properly cheked & reset the amp. In addition had the sound guy at one venue say mine was one of the few rigs he hadn't had problems with excessive boom with. Whatever, it is I tend to lob the pad under the rig at all venues nowadays

[quote name='shizznit' timestamp='1334564921' post='1617519'] This is a topic no doubt that has been discussed on BC many times before, but allow me to vent! I went out for a meal with my girlfriend on Saturday night and she wanted to catch some live music after we had eaten. I took her to a well known live music venue in Cardiff and as we walked in a 5-piece covers band were setting up. Sorted! Soon afterwards they started to play their first set. Apart from being horrifically loud for the size of the venue they were simply just awful. The singers voice was very weak, flat and forgot his lyrics, the drummer knew only two beat patterns for every song they played, the bass player didn’t know that he was playing the wrong notes for at least 2 bars before realising on quite a few songs and the guitar player…well…he was actually pretty good to be fair! Sometimes a band can have a bad night (we all do), but you can tell that they are simply crap anyway. I am not focussing so much on their ability or talent, but more on how much my girlfriend (along with many others) enjoyed their performance despite being so bad. I really struggled to enjoy the evening hearing so many monumental mistakes being made or lack of effort to at least play the song vaguely similar to the original. I have got to a stage whereby I am very pensive about going out to see a live band in town…covers bands to be precise. Most of my live work at the moment is with covers bands and we do put a lot of effort in to study the songs and get them sounding tight and as precise to the original song as possible. And yet, we are struggling to get into well paid venues in the area such as this one and a bunch of plebs can walk in to play a bunch of songs very poorly and get away with it. I couldn’t help but feel a bit gutted and a tad bit angry. As a musician I can be hyper critical (and often I am) about other performing musicians. But, the bigger thing for me is that punters will enjoy a poor band as equally as a good one. Most folks at the venue are not musicians and don’t pick up on the mistakes or bad musicianship. I’m fine with that…as long as they have a great night who cares really, but I go out to perform to my best ability so that the punters can enjoy their evening. Is my hard work to achieve that noticeable? As I get older and more experienced with my musical endeavours I find it harder to enjoy myself at a gig for these reasons. This kills me because above all else I am a music fan and I want to enjoy live music, but I do have a competitive nature. I think you gain that on the covers circuit after a while because you are all fighting to get the best gig in town. But, it does really vex me when I watch a band in venues with high exposure that we can’t get into that are not good enough for the fee they are paid and the punters big them up. I need to relax more and let it go over my head, but I can't help feel that the punters deserve better even though they might not know it. [/quote] This, and sadly [quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1334569926' post='1617607'] It's always tempting to vent over this sort of thing. After all, one has put so much effort into mastering one's instrument and one's material and being musicianly and whatnot. But really, it's not remotely about this other band's technical failings. Somehow or another, they must be doing [i]something[/i] right because they've got the gig and the OP hasn't. Perhaps someone in their band is a consummate gig-blagger. Perhaps their marketing is better. Maybe a booker looks at their setlist and thinks "That's the right mix". Maybe they played for free. Maybe the drummer's related to the booker. Whatever the reason, they've exploited it and there's little benefit in us going down the "Bookers are stupid and punters are stupid" route because you have to work with what you're given. Selling a band in to a booker is like selling anything else. Find out what people want and give it to them. Problem is, many of us start out by focussing on what [i]we[/i] want to play and how to play it - genre, material, arrangements etc. That's the wrong way round if your aim is to secure regular gigs at local venues. The crafty ones survey the market and focus as much on how they present their offering as how they deliver it. As for punters not noticing, well who cares if they notice or not? Our job is not to present a faultless musical display but to entertain them in the broadest possible sense. Let's face it, if people will happily dance to a record, they're clearly not too bothered about the 'live' component. They just want a beat and a tune, preferably one they know. Audience engagement is about much more than playing the right notes, yet how often is this critical issue discussed on BC? Hardly ever. The reason why we're collectively less successful than we could be is because we spend too much time on here agonising about tone and cables and guitarists' irritating little habits. Frankly, looking an audience member in the eye and smiling at them is a lot more productive than executing that fancy lick we spent all afternoon learning. But we never learn. [color=#FFFFFF].[/color] [/quote]This I have got to the end of a night on a dep and thought it had been a frankly sh1te night where the crowd, MrsW included, have been raving about what a great night it was and I just despair. Been to those gigs where I look at the band and think WTF and the reaction they are getting and similarly get to the end of a night with my main lot where we work our nuts off to be tight etc and get sweet FA and think "why do I bother" but 'twas ever thus. I think it's me that is the jinx sometimes Perhaps as JTUK says we should have just given up to old age years ago. There is a gig just round the corner from me, but a bit out of town & the main drag, that is trying to make a go of it, has good lights & a house PA, but sometimes you go in there and it seems to be the usual p155ed up bug eyed monsters in who could frankly care less and eventually have that last one and stagger off to the gutter halfway through the night. I feel sorry for the guy who is really trying to make a go of it, but I suspect is struggling, not helped by the mafia from one of the other gigs in town (used to be the main/only one despite being a sh1t place to play - punters walk through the band to the bogs etc).

So I was looking for a smaller rig for those bijou gigs. These probably don't quite fit the bill [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Funktion-One-F221A-self-powered-2x-21-bass-/120878185330?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item1c24e6bb72"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1c24e6bb72[/url] EDIT - I should probably add, in the immortal words of Arfur Daley "Ooomygoodgawdterence! Time for a 'specially large VAT69"

The [url="http://basschat.co.uk/forum/41-groove-library/"]Groove Library[/url] forum was sort of supposed to add some bits that all might use. Been a while since I've been there though