mrtcat

Unless your guitarist is out of this world talented or he owns a brewery, a tour bus and a recording studio I'd suggest being totally blunt and tell him to stop being a c**k. Ultimately he'll drive punters away and then your band will struggle to get re booked anywhere. Landlords are not all as stupid as they appear to be. His rig is clearly an extension of his penis and nothing more. If he were a musician he'd know his amp really is there to produce a nice sound that can go into the pa via a mic and only really has to act as a monitor for himself. a 60w 1x12 is more than enough for pubs and clubs. If he's not interested in listening to feedback now then it's unlikely he ever will. Our guitarist is great and only uses a little 60w amp but by christ he can steal the show anytime he wants because he's got bags of talent, he sits well in the mix and he has everything under control (possibly a bass player in disguise).

I always follow the riff as we only have 1 guitarist. Love this tune and it always goes down surprisingly well. You can hear us playing it on our myspace page. Recorded live in studio before our keyboard player left so it's got a keys solo which is poss a bit different. www.myspace.com/crudemeasure

I play this with my band and can only do our own version because much as it appears a simple song on paper Leon Wilkeson was an incredible player with an amazing feel for songs. Sweet home is very subtle and clever in places and it is 110% about feel. Sometimes it's the simplest stuff that's hardest to pull off. I would give my left nut to have his skills tho. As a pub song it's a winner though because punters love it and ultimately they pay the bands fee. If you think this one is tough to get sounding good try Freebird. It's a monster. We do it regularly but I always feel we don't really do it justice. There's an isolated bass line on the tube that highlights how unique Leon's playing was [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WJBBW1Kl94"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WJBBW1Kl94[/url]

I picked up a s/h fender 1975 reissue jazz bass for that exact sum. It was in pristine condition and has a beautiful glossy finish, maple neck, a nice big body and they hold value really well. I never want to part with it so it's not for sale but they do come up now and again and I'd certainly recommend one. Only issue for you may be that a jazz neck is not your cup of tea. I always had warwicks and a p bass before but found the slim jazz neck surprisingly easy to play.

I was always a fingers player through and through and was snobby about pick players. I'm now working hard on using a plectrum for some Thin Lizzy stuff we do and really starting to like it. It really cuts through too. Only problem is I keep dropping the pick. As for slap, I like it a lot and am nowhere near as good at it as I'd like to be. The only thing that puts me off it is all the numpties in the guitar shops and at bass shows doing it at full volume. It just makes me think "you tosser stop showing off and go get a girlfriend". Double thumbing just sounds painful

[quote name='paul h' post='1043957' date='Dec 1 2010, 03:50 PM']It's a £115 copy! I can drill all I want ! [/quote] At that price you may not even choose to use a drill?

A handful of lessons with a good teacher can really help here too. A decent teacher will be able to give you some pointers on how to get close to the sound you're after. He/she should also be able to tell you if your gear is holding you back. Beyond that I firmly believe practice and experimentation will be your biggest help. A friend of mine went and bought the exact same gear as a youtube bass player he was really into but couldn't get anywhere near the sound of his idol. It's 99% in the fingers IMO

I've put a thumb rest on my battered Pbass between the bridge and the pickup and it works well and sounds good. My P is a fake tho (very convincing with nice pickups but a fake nontheless)which has been "aged" so I was not too reluctant to screw in a thumb rest in a new position. If it were a more valuable genuine usa or something I would be worried about de-valuing it by putting more holes in it.

Hey Jim I'm sorry to hear that. The chap who plays bass for pub rock legends "The Hamsters" suffers with this and has made some changes to his playing technique to enable him to continue playing a very busy full time schedule. There's an interview on their site about it. [url="http://www.thehamsters.co.uk/interviews/dystonia.php"]http://www.thehamsters.co.uk/interviews/dystonia.php[/url] I gather medical knowledge is limited and you may find his experiences helpful.

I like Lady Ga-Ga, Ellie Goulding and metal. Not ALL Lady Ga-Ga, not ALL Ellie Goulding and not ALL metal but generally I have time for all of it. Not keen on EJ as a person cos I hear he's a bit of a jumped up nitwit but I can't deny he's got more than just a little bit of talent. I've got a lot of respect for both the ladies I've mentioned (I don't include EJ in those two although I respect his music) as I've seen both do some great live stuff and both seem very genuine (if a little nuts in Lady G's case) when interviewed. Ellie Goulding is also v - cute unlike Ga-Ga, EJ and 99.99999% of heavy metal (IMO)

I wouldn't worry too much about the male / female thing as they can both be as bonkers as each other - I'd be more concerned about singer and guitarist in one cos that's two whole portions of mental in one person!

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1040974' date='Nov 29 2010, 11:41 AM']What are the chances of a drummer being called Mr Drums?[/quote] My guitarist is called Russ Axeman

We used to have a rhythm guitarist who was cr@p and we regularly used to "accidentally" leave his amp behind and make him play direct into the pa so we could simply mix him out completely. Funnily enough he quit after just a few months of gigging.

Not my bag at all and Elvis really does nothing for me but cannot deny this guy is a class act and I could quite happily watch him play all day long.

Ordered some Seymour Duncan pups from Bass Centre a few months back. I was after two different sets and ordered one set from BC and the other from Blue Arran. The Blue Arran ones arrived next day and the BC ones arrived two weeks later with no explanation. Says enough IMO to keep me from buying from them again when 99% of online stores give excellent service.

Got both but don't play the P too much cos I'm really lazy and like to rest my thumb on the bridge pickup whilst fingering. I find I play tighter when I "finger" there as there's less movement in the strings and I prefer the punchier tone. Can't bring myself to de-face the P by putting in a thumb rest there as it would look odd. Other than that I love P basses.

I can never make my sound the same as anyone else's no matter how hard I try and sometimes it really frustrates me. Don't get me wrong I'm really happy with my sound and it cuts through nicely but I just can't get other people's sound as it's all in the fingers of the player IMO. I have a Jazz bass and love the thought of just rolling off the neck pickup a bit for a slightly punchier sound but am constantly bashing my head against the wall as I find that I only have to move the neck pickup control about 5 degrees anti clockwise and the neck pickup seems to vanish from the mix completely and vice versa if I roll off the bridge pickup. Has happened with every Jazz I've owned - anyone else have this problem?

I've used the scheme a handful of times and even won a prize after being entered into a draw for completing the service questionairre they give you when you've paid off the loan. When the economy was better and we still got interest on savings in the bank it was a good way of making your new amp/axe just a little bit cheaper. I always negotiate the price before mentioning using the scheme and have never had any resistance from the retailer. As with any finance scheme the golden rule is to know what you can afford and to manage your borrowing sensibly. If you lose your job or encounter any other financial problems you simply MUST contact the lender. I would much rather borrow from a government backed scheme than one of the many dodgy loan companies advertising on tv/net. If you're not confident you can handle a finance deal walk away and don't do it. Like many other topics on here it's sadly a classic case of "you can't always save people from themselves". I recently bought my new rig from Mark and have to say that the "Take It Away" scheme was simply a bonus. I would buy from Mark any day of the week as he has heaps of knowledge and really takes the time to walk you through all the different options and then takes the time to make sure you get the most out of every bit of kit you try. Where else would you find the very best bass kit (and I mean the best - really interesting top end gear) in a store where you get looked after by a bass player and don't have to put up with 16yr guitarists shredding badly at full volume all around you.

I've recently picked up a tc electronic classic 450 and although just 450 is huge sounding (much much louder than my old Ashdown ABM500). By far the most flexible head I ever owned and so simple to use. I play plenty of funk and am really really pleased with it. MarloweDK now uses the sw***y posh version of the same amp (RH450) and that guy is funk personified.

I started with some tabs from a bass magazine and also by playing along to cd's. I found it really important to do stuff I enjoyed to help me fall in love with playing bass. Once I was able to play a handful of songs I started a band with mates at school(we must have been bloody awful) it really gave me good incentive and helped me keep the enthusiasm up. Only then did I start to worry about theory. Only then did I take lessons to help me understand theory etc and it made masses of difference and gave me a nice solid platform to build from. I'm the kinda guy that hated school and although I'm not thick I hated having homework etc. That's why I had to make playing about enjoying and not schooling. If I'd started with lessons I know for sure that I wouldn't be playing now cos I would have resented being set homework and jacked it in. Once I was really into playing tho I found I actually wanted the lessons cos I could see it would make me a better player. I guess what I'm saying is (if you're anything like me) worry about enjoying it first and then when you know you love playing take some lessons to open even more doors. Oh yeah listen to anything and everything. Don't be embarrassed to learn anything if the bass line grabs you even if it's a nursery rhyme or the Brittney Spears or something. It all helps to add to your arsenal of styles. Good luck

Last year was our first year together and we managed about 6 pubs from August til end of year. This year so far we've done 22 pubs one corporate event and two beer festivals. A decent improvement I reckon but it hasn't come without heaps of pushing for gigs. Pubs have been reluctant to take on bands they haven't used before and as usual a few have stiffed us over money. We have had to keep pestering landlords and landladys but the good news is we have been rebooked at all venues. Punters wise it's been a mixed bag. Some venues have been dead as a dodo but some have been heaving. It's always the nights where you expect a flat crowd that they surprise you. Beer price really hasn't helped and neither has the fact that a few pubs have gone bust due to breweries screwing tennants. To be fair tho my experience of landlords / ladys is that many of them couldn't organise a p*** up in their own establishment.

Zsa Zsa Poltergeist - The Hamsters - I love his driving bass lines and as I teenager I used fake ID to get into pubs to see him play. Marlowe DK - T'internet - Again not famous but he has such amazing feel and lets face it the lessons are free. Neil Murray - Whitesnake - So imaginative and slick..................................IMO

When we started my current band two years ago we took on a singer who had only ever done a bit of karaoke before. He was ok at best and rehearsals worried me a bit. In the end I started recording rehearsals on a Zoom mp3 recorder and emailing them out weekly to the rest of the band. It seemed to help everyone with their own playing but especially helped us pick out which songs would need to be played in a different key to help the singer. It also meant he could not hide away and had to confront his own ability and be honest about his limitations. Before our first gig he was really nervous but it was like a total Jekyl and Hyde scenario when the lights went down. Two years on he's the star now. People regularly say he sounds like Rod Stewart and I'm so chuffed to be in a band with him. As stated by others tho, the concern is his temperament. If he's prepared to take criticism onboard you stand a fair chance of seeing improvement. If not then forget it, you'll all be tripping over yourselves to push him off the front of the stage eventually.

Saw someone wearing a "Bass Players Are Sexy" t-shirt so thought I'd better give that a whirl as nothing else was working for me as a teeneager. 19yrs later I'm still not sure it's worked but love playing bass too much to give it up and start something else that may or may not make me sexy.