dmccombe7

Just got my Ampeg SVT4 Pro back from repair. Had a couple of relays failed and some bad connections on main board. As i wasn't gigging at the time i just left it in spare room for past year. Started with another band and bought couple Orange cabs and thought the Ampeg would sound great with them. I had forgotten how much i loved the sound from my Ampeg when using my Fenders. Rich deep and great mids used thru my Berg HT322. Rehearsals tomorrow night with my Orange 115 & 210 cabs. Looking forward to trying out the Ampeg. Currently using my GK MB200 and TE GP150 into both cabs but it lacks that smooth rich tone from a tube amp. Dave

The band you had sounded pretty good too. As someone said it was good old proper rock music. Its taken me until my late 50's to find a band that i'm truly comfortable with No pressure, no ego's, no attitude and altho its not my typical style of music i've never had more fun and enjoyment. Only been with them 6mths and played one gig and have since been asked to play 3 other venues in same area. Over the past 6-7 yrs i've been in several bands all of which just didn't work out for various reasons usually guitarist ego or attitudes but some just not having the drive to gig even after rehearsing for a year (originals Prog). Since turning 50 i've probably had more offers to join bands than i did as a youngster. That's no great help for you Juliet. There are more bands out there loking for bassists and i've seen quite a few younger female bands looking for female bassists too playing rock so never give up and just keep going. I only play for enjoyment these days and as long as i'm happy with a band i'll stay with it but there needs to be a drive within the band to keep pushing for perfection and gigs. After hearing your clip i'm pretty sure you'll find another band soon. All i would say is to be a bit picky with any new bands and make sure they are what you want from a band. Dave

It seems that everyone i knew when i was in my mid to late teens (70's) was playing guitar or bass or in bands in some fashion or other. On reflection tho it was probably a small minority from the friends i knew at school. My social circle on leaving school was based around music, playing in bands or going to see bands every other night. Venues would run band nights every night of the week in some pubs. On the other hand many or probably the majority of my school friends went to disco's rather than see live bands and i'm not sure that the proportion of musicians against non-musicians has changed that much. I have teenage neices that are into heavy rock and you only have to look at the various rock and Prog festivals in UK to see there is still a huge following of that style of music. I also know many young bands doing the circuit in Central belt area so there's no shortage of younger kids out there playing. Like someone else mentioned its maybe that the big companies have just over produced and that pruduction from all the major companies has over-run the number of people buying new guitars or basses. The 2nd hand market has such a huge selection these days compared to when i was just staring in mid 70's. All you could get was basically Gibson, Fender, Rik with a smaller selection of cheaper Asian copies. Nowadays the market is awash with manufacturers whether originals or copies on a theme. Dave

One door closes and another will open. Looks like time to move on. Always a bummer when band splits after all that hard work and effort. Good luck with whatever comes along. Dave

[quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1474203945' post='3136220'] Had fun with this the other day... [/quote] Peavey's greatest ever bass head. Loved it Dave Not sure why the photo didn't transfer along with the comment. (Peavey Mk4 bass head)

[quote name='cd_david' timestamp='1495112719' post='3301366'] 2nd time round, maybe ill not be dumb enough to sell the cab again........... [url="http://s519.photobucket.com/user/cd_david/media/Bass%20Chat%20PA%20Stuff/2F101124-3B1B-4C42-ACF2-50214AE9EC53_zpsfyylpkcr.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] WOW that looks awesome. Is the Acoustic cab a 1x15 or 2x15 ? I have the orange 115 & 210 cabs and thought about getting the AD200 head but thta rig takes me back to the halcien days of proper big bass rigs. Dave

New Years Day from U2 is a great catchy and simple song Several from AC/DC (personal fav is Sin City but there are a lot of simple easy to learn ones) ZZ Top always a good crowd pleaser. Oh and yes i've played the first song in set as an encore and as part of the 2nd set usually the singer states that "by special request we've been asked to play ***** again) Dave

Guess i've been lucky then with studios. Its either been Ampeg 8x10, Ashdown 610, Warwick 410 cabs with a combination of varying heads including Ampeg SVT4 Pro (which is main reason i bought one) Warwick, Ashdown, Aguilar and various EBS amps. Once had a full Markbass rig with 410 and 115 cabs (nice) It allowed me to hear quite a few different set ups and a contributing factor why i bought my Ampeg head and my Markbass combo with ext cab. Some of the amps i just didn't like at all like the Aguilar and EBS. I just could not get a nice tone from them at all. No warmth ? Dave

Will keep an eye out for them "oldslapper" Dave

I bought a Jaydee Roadie fretless 2nd hand from Bass Direct for good bit under your budget. Think it was £800. Its active but has a by-pass switch and has a very nice rounded tone with both active or passive mode. Dave

I remember trying one years ago and was very surprised how good they were. Great necks. From memory tho i found them a touch dull on the tone side but i've no idea what version of bass it was. It was also a request to play a song with another band and their bassist had it so i didn't get a lot of time to play around with it. Dave

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1496572310' post='3312330'] Epiphone or Gibson, it'll make a serious impact, nothing looks as good as this! [attachment=246605:18902497_1059873444156318_656309542_n.jpg] It's put the pic in twice, but only shows as one in edit mode - sorry, but two Thunderbirds for the price of one can't be bad! [/quote] Looks like the strap button is at the neck joint on yours FinnDave. Is that the normal place on a Gibson T Bird. Maybe the bass has already been modified and explains why no serious neck dive. I moved my Epi one from above the neck position on the shoulder to the neck heel as its a bolt on and raised the one at the bridge a few inches to stop neck dive. Worked a treat but bass only cost me £100. Don't think i'd be happy doing that with a Gibson. DAMN I need to try a Gibson T bird as i now have serious GAS for one. Gorgeous looking and thunderous tone. Dave

Hopefully get a ticket for that. Should be an epic performance. Dennis was one of my influences as a teenager. His style and technique was way beyond my capapbilities at the time and i was in awe of him. And he was a cool looking dude into the bargain. Fantastic. Dave

This is VID from Motherwell gig i attended including Joe (Leftyhook) Hope http://youtu.be/DLkKMytTSA4

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1496572587' post='3312333'] Thank you for the update. It appears I was in a state of "confusion" but didn't know it. Dave says "Nothing overkill just good clean bass playing". If you look at the clip, the bass playing is competent but it is definitely a case of overkill, in my opinion, because it is more elaborate than was heard on Bowie's releases of the same tunes. It was a while back but I just realised that I was the one who put up the clip that my criticism was based upon because Dave had not provided a link. For that you deserve an apology. I am sorry. It was honest criticism on my part however so I understand how you might feel slighted given the circumstances. Would you care to put up a link to an example of the band with you in it please? If there is anything else bothering you I am always willing to discuss things. [/quote] Only just catching up on this guys. Someone else posted the promo VID on the thread. Having just listened to it now it is not my idea of a tribute bassist and as pointed out more like someone showing off .......badly. Time and place for that kind of thing and its not a tribute band trying to portray Bowie in all his glory. I wouldn't have been impressed by that at all. Joe's bass playing was in fact perfect for me. Just the right amount of playing as and when needed. Nothing overkill at all. Maybe if i had listened to the promo VID when it was posted i might have picked up on that. I honestly could not fault the band. They nailed every single song and being a huge Bowie fan myself i like to hear as close to the original as possible. The band were that good that the audience at Motherwell were on their feet for the full 2nd set. I've never seen that kind of response for any tribute act anywhere. I would like to reiterate that if you get a chance to see these guys with this line up then go for it. I don't think you will be disappointed. I went to the gig having never heard the band before with some doubts as to how good or accurate they would be. I was completely blown away with every song. Not a bad song in the set IMHO and i was driving and completely sober so no outside influences to make the atmosphere "better". I've seen other Bowie tributes and they have been good but not this good. NB : Joe has since completed an amazing Bowie portrait for me which has pride of place in our dining room. One very talented bassist, singer and artist and add to that a very nice guy too same as Ed. Dave

Have the SVT4 Pro and its pretty impressive. Love the tone. Tried the SVT 2 in various studios and found them a bit too muddy for me but that's just a personal preference. The variation available for tonal adjustment is quite impressive when you include the graphic and footswitch. Dave

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1496016826' post='3308164'] The neck on my 1991 Gibson Thunderbird is thin like a jazz bass and features the ebony fretboard. I gigged it last night and guess what, no neck dive. Guys, I hate to be pompas, but IMO the Epi product is not really a Thunderbird. Now, if there's a Japanese Ibenez Thunderbird, I'm interested. Blue [/quote] Cheers Blue i had no idea the original T bird had a slim neck. Think i might give one a go as i love the style and the tone is unique. I only bought the Epi cause it was so cheap and the seller was desperate for the money. Dave

[quote name='Deep Thought' timestamp='1496739483' post='3313482'] Fender strings are made by D'Adarrio, I find those pretty good. . [/quote] I didn't know that as i changed from Fender nickel to D'Addario nickel and thought they sounded pretty similar. Dave

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1496582944' post='3312438'] That sounds pretty cool, actually! What are they called? If they play around here I'd like to see them. [/quote] The Led Zeppelin Story.....unplugged. [url="https://www.facebook.com/The-Led-Zeppelin-Story-730639227005478/"]https://www.facebook...30639227005478/[/url] They are playing Motherwell Concert Theatre in August. I know they've played Glasgow various venues recently but not sure about Edinburgh. Dave

Probably Genz Streamliner 600 as an overall amp experience, value for money and great tonal range. Best sound :- Roland pre-amp with Matamp valve power amps using internal Roland X-over to Bi-amp. Dave

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1496863847' post='3314393'] I'm not sure I follow. Unless you have all your strings the exact same height from the fret or board which is how any stringed instrument should be setup, your not following the exact radius. You don't really set string height via a radius. And you don't need a radius gauge just setup the string height from a fret or the board of fretless and you get that radius. And what do you mean by flat? Unless you set up the bass in a weird and totally wrong way you can't get a flat radius unless of course your fret board has no radius and you like the strings all the same height. To set up a flat radius on a bass with a radius you would have to set the e and g the same height and have the a and d lower, that is in relation to the fretboard. In practice most people prefer strings being different heights higher to lower, E to G. As you know. And with any different string heights your not follow the exact radius anyhow. However since the strings are setup from the fret which is also the neck radius then you will get close. Unless you like a wild variation in your string height. After setting up many many basses and guitars I would definetly say setting the string height from the 17th fret gets the best results and the radius of the strings while not perfect will match any radius well enough. One thing that you might be experiencing is on basses with 9.5 radius and smaller 7.5 etc, they do react better to a slightly higher setup. I'm not sure why exactly the science of that is. But every builder/manufacture also recommends higher action heights for more rounder fret boards. So maybe you've raised the action and that's why it feels better. [/quote] I'm with Twincam on this. Not sure how else you can set the strings up unless you are judging by sight and keeping the top of your strings level that way your A & D strings will be nearer the fret board tho. puzzled Dave

Gumtree annoys the hell outa me with that. Sold few items recently and number of people that asked if it was still there and were very interested and when you reply with yes you don't hear another thing. Complete disrespect Dave

Same for me. Bought gear from fellow BC'ers where i've met up to buy or sell. All good. All great to talk to, All happy to share trade secrets and techniques etc. Even tried a Parker Fly bass which was really nice. Only ever had one slightly awkward moment but not sure whether it was via Basschat. Was buying my first 6 string bass and arranged to meet up at Motorway services near his hometown. After driving over 200 miles the guy wasn't there but he had given me his phone number and address. Tried calling but no answer. Drove round to the house and he just arrived home from Uni after his train was delayed and didn't have time to make the agreed time. His mobile battery also died. Very apologetic and we did the deal no probs. Young guy and his parents were very apologetic too and made me a nice tea and biscuits while we chatted. All ended well but i would have been pissed off if travelled that distance for nothing. Dave

My mates band is a Led Zep tribute act for about 10-12 yrs now and they decided to acoustic set with Singer, guitar on mainly acoustic and bring in a female backing vocalist and two cello players with quite different techniques. One being very classical trained and sticks to the music note for note (i'm exaggerating a bit) and the other is more able to ad-lib as and when required. When he told me this set up i thought it would be a disaster but it was an absolutely fantastic gig and extremely entertaining so my advice is to give it a shot and see how it goes. Dave

I managed to pick up the bolt on version for £100 and its good fun and an ok bass for the money you would normally pay full price. Found it suffered from neck dive. Moved the strap buttons as shown on Youtube and made a huge diff. I also find the necks on them feel very rigid and chunky if that makes sense. I'm more used to slim Jazz neck. It also has a very low end thunderous tone which would be great for rock band. Bit limited ffor other styles i would think. Mate has the NT white special and its a far better bass to play. Never tried a Gibson. Dave