Rayman

I've always used TI flats. They were great on a Jazz bass for both rock and jazz stuff because you can get a great click and punch from them, plus they're nice and soft and quite low tension so they're nice to play. I found LaBellas a bit darker and rounder sounding. Never tried D'Addario.

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='954282' date='Sep 13 2010, 04:43 AM']Going slightly off topic Russ - it's worth you coming to see Mark and his band The Big Figures - look [url="http://www.bigfigures.co.uk/Gigs.html"]here[/url]. He's a really nice down to earth bloke, you'd be able to have a beer and a chat and his band's brilliant. Been to see 'em a couple of times now, our own Cameron (wayne58) plays bass for him.[/quote] Yeah I was wondering about Cameron while watching the programme. They're playing in Manc with Wilco Johnson on 20th Nov, but we've got a gig the same night . Maybe Holmfirth a few nights earlier, I could get up there.

[quote name='chris_b' post='956048' date='Sep 14 2010, 02:33 PM']The arena and stadium gigs (if they're full) are unique for the noise an audience makes when the stage lights go up, and then you realise, it's for you!! You can't get that feeling any where else![/quote] That's what I'm missing from my life, just once, a screeming adoring crowd, big stage.....wow, it must be a magic moment.

Some great posts there chaps. I guess it's not even fame and fortune with me anymore, I guess like in the OP it's just the chance to walk out onto the stage of a big venue in front of a big audience of people who have come to see you play, rather than a pub or party where people aren't bothered as long as you play something they know. A good gig, at a decent pub, that goes down well, is a great feeling, and it's funny, we did a gig recently that went down a real storm, a great crowd reaction, everybody up dancing, and we launched into "Mr Brightside" by the Killers for the last song. They went [i]mental[/i], and I couldn't help but close my eyes, as a middle aged bloke playing bass in a covers band, in a pub, and wonder, is this what it's like to be actually [i]in[/i] the Killers? and for a few seconds in my imagination I had a taste of what it must be like to play to an adoring crowd, and like others have pointed out, I could then go home to my bed rather than the back of a van for the night. Not so bad I guess. Yep, sad I know. I think as musicians were are largely creative people, and a bit of imagination and escapism from the drudgeries of life isn't a bad thing. Maybe things turned out the way they did for a reason, and I'm better off where I am. Fame?? Who needs it?

You see that's what I would've like to do, session work etc, just making a decent living making music that's all, nothing flash. Actually that's cobblers, I want to punch the air in front of 20,000 people at Maddison Square Garden.

Do any of the older guys know of anyone who made it? I've known hundreds of musicians over the last 30 years, good ones too, but I can't think of a single one that made it thier career, not one, let alone became "famous". I used to spend hours at school, staring out of the window dreaming of being a famous rock star. Here I am now, staring out of the window of my company car, on my way to some bloody factory somewhere still dreaming. Oh well, I've got a couple of Kasabian songs to learn for the next gig, at some boozer in Stoke.

I just watched one of the "First Love" programmes, where celebs go back to thier roots and learn to play the instrument they played as a kid, and perform in public. The one I just watched was the one where Mark Radcliffe had to learn a Rufus Wainright track and perform it on the drums live on stage with him at the Manchester Apollo. All the way through Mark is misty eyed while remembering his youth, playing in bands with mates, and wishing he'd "made it" as a professional drummer rather than being the DJ he is now. Watching him walk up the stairs to the dressing rooms in the Apollo, it was like watching a starry eyed fan living a dream, and the feelings Mark had were the exact same ones I would have too. I had tears streaming down my face as he walked out onto the stage and perform the song brilliantly with Rufus. I felt like I was watching myself. I too feel I've missed the boat at 45 to live the dream, and that I'll never walk out onto the Apollo stage with a band, a place where I've been in the audience a hundred times. I don't know where I'm going with this. I'll never "retire" from music, I'll be in some pub somewhere when I'm 70, with a Precision, playing some old songs to a handful of people, but I do feel great sadness that I never tasted success as a musician. The closest I came was a Radio 1 session in the 80s at Maida Vale, and a couple of brief stints with a couple of "name" musicians. The younger players on here have got it all ahead of them, so they won't get what I'm on about, but you older guys will know [i]exactly[/i] what I mean. Ah well, back to work tomorrow.

OOH I played a really stunning Roadworn Jazz at PMT in Salford, a red one, beautiful it was, and played like a dream. I was very surprised.

No I would not, even if I was able to. There isn't a bass in existence worth [i]half[/i] that much, it's ridiculous.

I've had a few Preicions, a nice '78 springs to mind, but the best ones were a MIM with a QP in it, and an old MIJ Squier. You don't have to spend a bomb to find a great Precision. Yes, I guess trying a load out first is the way to go. When I'm old and knackered (even more than I already am), my plan is to settle down with an old Jazz or Precision at home and play along to CDs. I personally will be after a bog standard Fender rather than some posh bespoke jobbie.

Villex

I was watching that one too, good score, it looks like a cracker. I had an Antoria Jazzstar guitar, it was really nice. If I was replacing the pickguard, it'd have to be another black one.

Oh yeah, that's a beaut.

Didn't know that, and I was listening to it yesterday. I assume it was Paul who actually played it though?

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='952290' date='Sep 10 2010, 10:16 PM']the blockheads or the wilko band???[/quote] Blockheads, Sat 16th Oct.

I'm looking forward to seeing them in Sale in October.

The Ibanez GWB35 is a cracking bass, I really love mine. The only issue is the white fretlines have a tendancy to pop up slightly and cause a bit of buzz, and I'm thinking of having them removed and filled with epoxy resin instead. Other than that, the tone and playability is outstanding.

Put an OLP in my hands, plug it in and play it, I'd say, right Ok, that's alright. Put a [i]Musicman[/i] in my hands, plug it in and play it, I'd say, [i]oh yeah[/i], that's why it costs more. It's as simple as that for me.

I have no problem with him, I like his playing, and I like his tone. Overplayed? Maybe a bit, but I like it.

The original BB series were outstanding basses. I had a 3000S, an 1100S and a 850F, superb basses. I'd have a 1000 without any hesitation.

Taken recently with my other job as a frontman. LET'S ROCK!!

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='949591' date='Sep 8 2010, 04:39 PM']I think that's the OLP I've ended up with. Brass nut as well as the Nordy/East combination? I know what you mean about the build quality. Not even close, and the neck profile's quite "clubby". BUT... tonally, I love it. It's my fretted bass of choice at the moment, and I actually prefer the sound over my genuine SR5. To me, it out-Stingrays the SR5.[/quote] Yup, that's the one, I put a lot of time and money into that bass. It's a great bass, no question, and quite easily the best Tony Levin out there, and in fact Tony himself was interested in the work I'd done on it, and asked a few questions via email. The electrics are the best you can buy, and the brass nut was beautifully made by Steve Robinson in Manchester. The original electrics were awful, I chucked the lot in the bin. I guess it just comes down to the original timber and components, they're just not up to the quality of the US made stuff, but then it wouldn't be, it's produced for a fraction of the price, you get what you pay for at the end of the day. It'd be a shame to pull the upgrades out of that particular bass, I think it's quite special as it is.

Yeah that sure is purdy.

No such thing as a dumb question, I've asked many over the years. As a general rule for me personally: Active bass (bass with a battery in it somewhere) - keep the volume controls on the bass down a little bit, they're more powerful mostly than passive basses, and can drive the amp harder. Passive bass (no batteries anywhere) - Go for it and whack it up as loud as you like. If the amp starts to clip or distort slightly, you know it's time to turn something down, and usually that's the volume or gain on the amp in my case. I can play a Fender precision for example (no battery, passive) through my amp, and clunk the strings like a jackhammer and there's no problem, as long as the amp gain or volume isn't on full or it'll distort. If I welly the strings on my Spector (battery, active) with the volume controls on the bass up full, I'll blow a ruddy great big hole in the front of my amp. So I keep the volume controls rolled back a bit (quite a lot actually) and the amp volume turned down lower than with a passive bass. It's always good at the end of the day to set the volume and tone controls to a place where it all sounds great to you. Sometimes that means turn it all up full on the bass, if so, back the volume off a bit on the amp to avoid distortion.