mcnach

Let me guess... would it involve bodily fluids?

It is easy... but I can see your point too. Often I just want things to work, without spending time on them, so if I can pay someone to get it just right, why not? However, let that be by choice. I think a lot of people, especially when not very experienced, they find the whole set up business a bit daunting, when it really isn't and it can be very rewarding as you will be able to get your own instrument exactly the way you want it.

Matt bought a set of DR Hi Beams I bought by mistake... great guy to deal with, easy going and good communications

42mm is the minimum I like... 43-44mm best. I like the Jazz sound but dislike the thin necks... so I've messed about a fair amount with basses to get a Jazz with a wider neck. My latest is a Jazz where I ordered a neck for it... 42mm, not the best but comfortable enough. The thing is that I started out with the thinnest necks I could find, and my preference has changed over time.

Thank you Yes, the journey never ends... strings are a relatively cheap way to transform a bass. It's just that sometimes the transformation is not in the best direction for our taste, but it's fun to experiment nonetheless.

I just tried the Status black nylon tapewounds... They're ok. More 'thumpy' perhaps than D'Addarios, nice feeling (although they do feel very thin despite being the right gauge, the cores being much thinner are noticeable I guess)... Not a bad string and good price. However, the Labella white nylon tapewounds are in a separate higher league as far as I'm concerned. The Status feel like they lack a bit of "oomph" and they don't have that thick low midrange the Labellas have. They're still good, but just not as good, for me.

I left after the description of the first two members. If you start describing them like that and have already been considering the band is going nowhere, and you need a new vocalist... Sounds like you might as well start fresh. One way could be by getting rid off the first two (perhaps by simply starting something with the others... it's done alll the time ;)). Maybe wait until you figure out if the drummer is worth it. A good drummer is worth a lot. So is a singer. Anybody else is more or less replaceable... don't waste time when things don't work out: you'll get stuck and go nowhere.

I went to a gig once where a guy was shooting some unidentified liquid into the mouth of anybody who would want to. I felt very old. Is that really a thing? Ugh.

So I gathered!

True, gigs are getting more and more annoying... but I'm not sure if it's the people or me getting old

A little melodramatic? I see lots of phones... but I do not see any sign of any life being taken away from gigs because of that. I don't like having my view obstructed, but let's not make up stories

Just because you don't need/want your phone it doesn't mean others should do without. As long as they're not holding it up obstructing your view, what do you care?

He'd better not come to see my band, then. We're peaceful but not pacifists

that's probably a very fair assessment

charming...

They don't keep the phones. They put it in a pouch that they seal, and you keep it. Then you need to find someone from the venue so that they open it and you take your phone back and they keep the pouch. Can you imagine how much fun that must be?

I like their style, the new colours, black hardware etc... the 5-bolt neck joint is great... lighter as well? great! But... I'm not sure about the neodymium pickups. I'll have to try them before categorically say NO!!! but I'm not impressed by that change.

I agree. The people being a nuisance are really a minority. Deal with them as it happens, rather than go the lazy way and create yet another half-baked rule. Because we don't have enough of those...

Although they do not bother me as much as other people... I don't get the obsession and I'd rather people refrained from constantly filming everything. However, the pouch thing, I'm not sure I like it... it seems an unnecessary extra that will definitely make money for someone, and I detest being treated like a child. My phone is with me most times and I'll bring it to the gig, but it stays in my pocket. I don't appreciate having to queue again for a stupid pouch thing and being treated like I'm in kindergarden. There are behaviours that annoy me far more than telephones: people throwing their plastic beer glasses (not empty) above me and sometimes partially on me, people who feel the need to test their strength by pushing everybody around (it's very tempting to turn and show them that I'm probably a hell of a lot stronger than them), people who dance like they're alone and end up punching the bodies around them (again, so tempting to place a single well aimed fist... and see them drop to the ground... but I control myself, for now)... people 'crowdsurfing'... It used to be that there was an area where those activities would happen but you could easily avoid them without having to stay at the back. I find that more and more if you want to be close to the stage, you need to endure that. So... you want me to have that, and wear a sodding pouch for my mobile as if I were a 5 year old? Is that how we really want to do things?

Uf... I can see a Frog in my future...

Always the troublemaker!

I know people say this in jest often, but I *did* spill my coffee over my T-shirt !!!!