casapete

Both naturally. But Motown just wins out for me because of the amazing material they produced, with so many great varied tunes and performances over a long period. And Jamerson / Babbit 's inspirational lines of course.

There are what appear to be two interesting programmes about Bruce Springsteen on BBC4 tonight, starting at 11pm with a documentary on 'The River' , followed by a 1980 concert. More details here. [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/schedules/bbcfour"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/schedules/bbcfour[/url]

Phil Spector's Christmas album is always essential listening in our house.

Just no. My 63 Precision had been stored in a loft. The (refin) paint was peeling off in strips, and the frets were green. Took a fair bit of sorting out, fortunately the neck hadn't warped. Maybe source a relative or good friend with some space in a spare room?

We had a problem a couple of years ago with the country band I play in. Our usual drummer could n't make the gig, and so had booked a dep to cover it. As I was driving to the gig the dep rang and apologised for not being able to play, due to some family issues. I rang a drummer who lived 5 mins from the gig, but he could n't do it as his main kit was in a van somewhere and his spare kit was in the loft!! So, we did the gig without drums. Piano & accordion, guitar and bass, fortunately all singers too. And, yes you've guessed it, we went down a storm. Versions of songs we usually played sounded so different but good, and some 'arrangements' were made up on the fly to ensure they worked. Quite a revelation for band and audience. Now would it have worked without the bass I wonder.......

Tracks of my tears - Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. 50 years old and still does it for me. Honky Tonk Woman - Stones. That cowbell / drum sound / guitar thing is just so good.

Local hotel dinner dance, scratch band made up of 4 good mates so an easy and hopefully fun gig. Expect to be playing all the usual function band stuff, but infinitely preferable to other options. Home by 1.30am to watch recorded Jools with a beer too......

Once used a chorus pedal for a couple of songs, but other than that never use 'em. Got a graphic eq which comes in handy if I have to use someone else's amp though, saves messing up their settings. Same as Lozz above really. Am always a bit confused when people buy an expensive amp head and then use an expensive pedal in front of it as well in order to get their sound - seems a bit OTT to me. I just buy an amp I like the sound of with nothing added, in my case GK stuff.

As previous post, I've found most of the branded roundwound strings I've tried over the years quickly lose their initial twang after 1 - 2 gigs, then stay the same for maybe a dozen more after which they become dead which is when I replace them. I'm not a very sweaty handed player, so this of course may be different for those who are?! Might try the boiling thing soon just out of curiosity.

As above - I have used quite a few bronzewound strings on my Washburn elec/acoustic bass, and found the best are D'Addario and Elites. Not so good (for me anyway)are Fender or Martin. Have n't yet tried Elixirs but have heard good things about them. Assuming your bass has a piezo type pickup I think bronze acoustic style strings will give better results than standard electric bass ones.

^^^ Quite a few times - I'm the bassist!!

A great loss, RIP.

One Korg, and a couple of Snark clip ons in bass cases which for £8 a pop are really good. Oh yes, and a Korg GT6 bought in1979 by an ex girlfriend. Amazing tuner, still works fine.

EXL 170's for me on all my 34" scale basses. Used 'em for years, never a duff one, or a breakage. Last for ages with me, although I don't sweat much at all! Use their short scale ones on my Dano too, perfect.

Try checking whether the baffle board is loose, maybe get a mate to play your bass whilst you listen or feel for the rattle. Physical vibrations in a cab usually easier (and cheaper!) to rectify than speaker unit problems. As you say, tighten every screw / bolt you can find too Good luck.

Am so fortunate with my band. All great people, and amazingly for an 8 piece outfit we all get on fine. Any problems are dealt with in a businesslike and adult manner, so every gig it is possible just to concentrate on putting on the best performance we can. Even our sound / light crew are fantastic team players too, who I enjoy being around. Sickening eh?.....

Just been watching U2 on TFI Friday and thought Clayton was pretty good. Not my kinda thing but sounded fine to me.

When they start to go dead (and I keep adjusting the presence/treble on the amp..) Usually every 8-10 weeks, sometimes a bit longer. One at a time, clean and oil fingerboard if necessary, check intonation and swap battery. Takes me 30 mins, quite enjoy the process and having the bass in top playing fettle.

+1 for Musicman. Had a few Stingrays and a Sterling from various decades and all been exceptionally good quality. Also GK amps, always maintained a consistently high standard over a long period.

Words fail me.......

I have my GK amp serviced annually. Fan cleaned out, any connections checked/tightened etc and a general once over and bench test. Returned to me with PAT certificate which many venues insist on. Never had it miss a beat yet. Costs around £20, so 40p a week is my risk - not much for peace of mind? Of course it may go on for years without this, but for me I see no reason to take any chances.

I remember seeing Little Richard at a rock n roll package tour event. Fantastic band with horns section, sounded amazing. He had two bassists - a great player of mature years holding it all down really well, and a more err..'flamboyant' young chap (looked a bit like Prince) whose job seemed to be running around a great deal & occasionally playing some unison lines etc. And smiling a lot at LR.

[url="http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Alto-SXM112-12-Active-Stage-Monitor/G45"]http://www.gear4musi...age-Monitor/G45[/url] I've heard these and they are pretty good for the money.