Truckstop

I emailed the shop owner this morning to see if he wouldn't mind if I came by and cleaned and performed a basic set-up on the basses on show. "Sir, Hope you are well and happy new year! The other day I visited ********** with the view of seeing and perhaps trying out your current bass stock with a view to perhaps purchasing in the future. I am a fairly regular customer, buying things such as cables and strings at least a few times a year and have been visiting for over 10 years. In fact, my first two basses and two amps came from *********! I was a little disheartened to see a formerly impressive collection of basses reduced to the small offering you have currently. I was further disheartened, upon taking some off the wall to try out, that the majority weren't in a suitable playing condition to really show off the quality of the instruments. On a few models I noticed rusty strings, many had action and intonation issues and all were covered in fingerprints and dust. All the instruments I tried were out of tune also. I am an experienced player and I am able to see past issues such as these, but it does make it harder to endear oneself to a instrument that you may previously have thought of buying. Other, less experienced, players may well simply prefer to go somewhere else. If you would like, I would be perfectly happy to come by sometime and fit new strings, adjust action and clean all the basses you have on offer. I am not a luthier or professional by any means, but I do know how to make an instrument playable and suitable for purpose. Legacy brand strings are good quality, can be had very cheaply and so, for a small outlay (I require only a constant supply of tea!), we can get your bass stock up to scratch and on a par with other larger music shops. Please get in touch if you feel I am offering a service that you think you require and we will arrange a suitable time to meet. Many thanks for your time, Alex Dictated but not read" Truckstop

Stick it in the washing machine. The dog, I mean.

[quote name='dadofsix' timestamp='1421204088' post='2658458'] In reading the OP, I'm curious, did you say anything to the shop owner or the manager about the condition of the basses? Perhaps a gentle "I'd love to feel how this bass would play with better strings on it" or the like. It's easy to condemn, but, sometimes a kind word or an encouraging word can accomplish much more. <><Peace [/quote] No, I was embarrassed! I'm not very good a criticising, I always end up sounding like a condescending git. Truckstop

I won't name and shame because the rest of the shop's great. A really good selection of guitars and a few stage pianos. They have knowledgeable staff and they sell cables and other accessories at good prices. I just wish there was more interesting bass stuff like there used to be! I once saw a Tobias when the shop was on the other side of the road and they had a whole wall stacked up with amps and cabs and combos and stuff. I'm just sad that it's fallen out of favour so much Truckstop

Surprisingly the prices were really good! The BB425 was £269, USA P £650, Mexican Jazz (70's) £520. They also have the new Rumble combos in stock; the 12" 100w one is £229 which seems pretty good to me. Truckstop

Hello all, So I found myself with an hour to kill today between finishing a days work and meeting my wife for a quick drink before heading home. I went to my local music shop just to keep abreast of their stock and see what they had in. They've not had great stock in since they moved to a smaller shop a few years ago but it was especially sad today. About 12 basses in total, all dusty and totally neglected. Horribly set-up. In some cases with rusty strings. They had a brand new Yamaha BB425 in tobacco burst with the most horrid strings on, hadn't been touched with an Allen key or screwdriver and was just horrible to play, sadly. Lovely grey Ibanez SR fretless with round wounds on and horribly gouged fretboard. USA P covered in dust and fingerprints, rusty strings, stiff knobs and action so high you could sail a boat underneath. Almost shocking. I presume they expect to sell their stock at some point but they're really not making it easy for themselves! All of them were out of tune, none of them had been touched by staff for days and days Just disappointing really. Not a nice experience to have a go on instruments that aren't fit for purpose! Truckstop

You need to play with a band more and learn more songs in a band environment. I've never sat down with a metronome in my life and I've never had any timing issues. My education came through playing with live drummers from day one and from learning as many songs as I could. Truckstop

Wymanite is a great handle btw!

"C?!" "No! D!!" "G?!" "No! D! For dog!" "God?! G it is then!" "Feck!"

Yeah I have an annoying habit of putting basses that I'm working on back in their cases for 'tidying' reasons. A couple of times I've turned up to a show with a bass that's got no bridge or tuners on it. Jesus wept! Truckstop

Thanks for all the ideas guys, have forwarded this thread to the guys and we'll see if anything clicks! I used to play Alex Harvey's 'Delilah' in an old band and it always went down well. Need the organ though! Truckstop

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1421006318' post='2656130'] Sod the venues. The Shapla Tandoori in Watford was the best curry house I've ever eaten at. Hopefully it's still as good now. [/quote] Certainly is the wife and I were there last week! Truckstop

See if you can record a rehearsal or gig and ask him what he thinks, specifically, of the bass and keyboard inter-play. If he doesn't see a problem then you'd need to say that you think there is a problem and it's making it hard for you feel happy with the bands sound. Truckstop

What Lozz said! In the St. Albans area there's a few bands that you simply must see: The Phoenix Blues Band, The Co-Jones and Huggy Flares. Guaranteed a great night with any of those! Welcome to the area

I wish I'd never sold on my '84 Ibanez Blazer. Bought it off FlatEric and used it solidly for 18 months. I bloody loved that thing I did. I think I fell out of love with the natural finish and stupidly moved it on. Tone in spades and lovely worn in maple neck. I used the money to buy my current squeeze (BB424x) so it's not all bad I suppose. Truckstop

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1420899522' post='2654735'] With one band we always finish - as in last encore (assuming we are asked for one) - with this Daryl Hall and John Oates version of 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'. Everyone starts to sing along then the big surprise when it gets rocky. Great track, always goes down a storm and really good fun to play. http://youtu.be/Fzh1IMhdMOo [/quote] That is perfect, exactly the kind of thing we're looking for! We already do Hit the Road, Jack to close the first set. Maybe we'll try it at the end to see how it goes down! Many thanks everyone, keep going! Alex

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1420889262' post='2654567'] We usually close with [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cES0e1e7Gak&autoplay=1"]this[/url], a good female vocalist is essential! [/quote] Not keen on the song but, blimey, she's got a great voice! Truckstop

Ooh, Don't Stop Believin might work if we can somehow get past the piano intro. My brother suggested 'I wanna know what love is'. Cracking song, but might be a bit too ballad-y? Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming in! Alex

Yeah, we're somewhat restricted as we're a trio, musically, so we can't get away with a lot of the traditional piano led type stuff. We're pretty creative with rejigging songs to make them work, but obviously, some just don't! This is why we're struggling a bit with a strong closer. Alex Ps. Care to share any more of your five closers?

Hello all, My band are in a bit of rut thinking of a carefully chosen last song. For many bands, their last song is something that is a kind of signature. A song that always goes down well, but is not the obvious 500 Miles, or Alright Now, Hey Jude or whatever. A local band I know play Viva Las Vegas, another one always plays Angels and another one always goes for Want You Back (Take That). Great songs that most bands don't even bother putting in their main sets but gets pulled out of the bag right at the end and sounds great. So really I'm asking if anyone has any ideas for a slightly unusual anthemic, sing along song to close the night with. Any ideas gratefully recieved! Alex

Too right! Would you rather look 'lame' for having a stand on stage or would you rather put in a terrible performance and get sacked? No shame in using a stand. I think your bandmates and the people paying your fee would appreciate that you'd prefer to sound good rather than trying to busk your way through unfamiliar songs. As others have suggested, listen to the songs ALOT! Truckstop

Saucy!

Ha ha, looks cool. Kind of ominous!!

Bullshit. There's no pictures!

I currently have a PF350 as my back-up head and I used a PF500 nonstop for about 18 months. They sound great, but if you're after an SVT in a small box you'll be disappointed. Nothing using class D technology will ever come close. You do get that core Ampeg tone; that lovely low-mid burr that just jumps out at you. But, you know, no valves and no balls! Truckstop