Grangur

I just watched a video featuring Anthony Wellington. As many will know, he's a really amazing player. If you don't know, there are a good number of YT videos out there worth watching. This one raises a point of asking where you are in your competence in playing bass. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rhvxy0r2Do&list=PL69E17AA3155CDF9C"]www.youtube....9E17AA3155CDF9C[/url] I just wondered where we are on this scale. I'd say I fall well into the "Conscious Not Knowing". I certainly can't say that all the right notes fall naturally under my fingers, although that's were I aspire to be. Also, what are your thoughts on this? Cheers Rich

What he said^ It's also possible a small adjustment on the saddle of the bridge may fix the G string "feature". But I'm sure there's nowt wrong there that a setup wont cure. There are some good YTube vids available to tell you how to set your bass up.

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1409058514' post='2535874'] I'm talking th ewhole stack yes matey, I have offered the cab at a previous gig as I knew exactly what head the guy was going to use and it was lower powered than mine so would have been ok but generally speaking, neither are for 'loan' at a gig. [/quote] Yes, but that comes under the area of knowing the guy and you feel better about it. In the case of a multi-band gig, forget it, no way!

At the risk of hi-jacking: When folk talk about lending not wanting to lend amps, I take it you mean the whole stack? I've heard folk talking of being prepared to lend cabs but not the amp. Why would they do this? My worry would be at having some guy plug his 500w amp into my 300w cabs and blow the drivers. Am I missing something?

You don't need to guess or even wait to find out. Its allon the R2 website.

IME this arrogance and disregard is typical of a lot of this current generation. It seems to go with a sense of "entitlement" they all seem to have. This follows in the jobs market too. They all want great jobs from day1. Plus it [i]has [/i]to be something they will enjoy every moment of every day, or they won't do it. I also have a step-daughter who's looking to move rented accommodation. She can't find anything she can afford, so somehow it's her Mum's responsibility to fork out the extra or house her AND the bf. Besides, they can't both go to their own respective families can they? Or maybe that's just the ones I know?

[quote name='Marc S & Various' timestamp='1408695485' post='2532534'] Keep that P bass copy [/quote] I will. At the end of the day. I'm not short of cash or space to the point that I need £50 (? ish) So there's no need to move it on. I might respray the body, but here's a family shot of how it's likely to be for a bit. It's still a thought though, how many changes or tryouts are you prepared to make to be sure a bass is "wrong" before you move it on? By this I do mean "wrong for you", because one man's meat is another man's poison.. The cheap Gear4Music bass I got was bought from a music student. It was unplayable when I got it. The bridge saddles were as low as they go, the action was [i]way [/i]high... Half an hour after buying it the neck was off, shim in place and back together and it was being tuned up and it's a good bass.

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1408687526' post='2532470'] So Rich, is the G&L taking up residence in Grangur Towers? [/quote] It certainly appears so. And it has the thumbs up from Louisa too.

Thanks for the excellent ideas here. What you've convinced me to do here today is keep everything and still go and try the G&L. I did just that. Its a SB-2 Tribute in burgundy red. with a perl white pick guard and rosewood neck. It sounds great and in new condition except for the addition of a thumb rest. I'll probably be experimenting with strings soon too. Many thanks to all.. You're amazing.

There's some really good info here. The only other resource I can think of that you may find useful is Scottsbasslessons.com. He has done hours of tutorials on youtube. Pick through his lessons carefully. Some can be at very mixed up levels. What I mean by that is the subject matter can be basic, but he can throw in references to more advanced things, but don't be put off. There's some great info there

Thanks for all the great advice. [quote name='ern500evo' timestamp='1408628482' post='2531979'] Maybe it's worth putting a set of flats on the fretted Streamer and seeing how it sounds then? [/quote] Good thought. I have had flats on there and it then lacked "growl". I've actually been thinking of putting rounds on the fretless. (not easy am I?) [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1408628520' post='2531981'] It's difficult isn't it.. I think our idea of what we want our bass to sound like changes over the years. You might get rid of the streamer now only to find in a couple of years time it's that tone that your looking for again.... The thing with getting rid of the P is you'll be able to pick up something similar sounding for not alot.... the streamer may prove difficult to get hold of at a later date... Ideally get the G&L and keep all the others [/quote] I like it! LOL This also gets even more complicated when you start factoring likes/demands of a band as well. I think one thing that is good right now is that it's a buyers market right now. Anything you buy now can probably be sold in a year without losing too much. If you're lucky enough to not need the ready cash. [quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1408628845' post='2531983'] What you might not like is active EQ or the way your Warwick employs it in the Streamer. I've got an old Westone Spectrum LX bass with a PJ configuration that employs both passive and active tone shaping controls - they sound very different to each other (which is good, otherwise there'd be little point having this arrangement, though I have to add the caveat here that the passive and active EQ interact in a fairly uncommon way). After some exposure to both fully active, fully passive and hybrid EQ controls (the Westone) I have to admit that I do like the simplicity of a passive tone control and I've a tendency to set-and-forget the 3 band EQ tone controls on the actives (only really bothering with changing the mids). [/quote] Good point. I actually play both W'wicks mostly in passive mode, and mostly turned right forward to the P pup too. Discreet - good point about the flats. I might give flats another wizz. At £400 for a brand new G&L, It's looking very dangerously like there'll be another bass headed this way

That's it really. I know it's a noob question, but I'm sitting here with 3 perfectly good basses and I face a dilemma. The one that I like the sound of best is my cheap P-bass copy with SD Quarter Pounders. It has a great, dark thump and the only thing wrong is the snob value of not having a great looking name on the headstock. The one I'm most unsure about is a £1000 neck-through PJ... yeah, ok it's my Streamer in my avatar.. It doesn't have that dark thump of the P bass. The sound is too "jingley" for my liking. The strings are newish, it could be that. I've found a lovely looking G&L PJ for sale, that I'm sorely tempted by, but would buying it be simply an expensive change of strings? It could be pups, but the sound on my fretless Streamer is much better (fitted with flats, admittedly). Also, if I buy the G&L it's probably the cheap P that will go up for grabs. After all, the Streamer is Mrs G's favourite bass. I don't know if this is asking the impossible, for an online forum, but how do you know when to give a bass the heave-ho?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1408624501' post='2531897'] Aggh! You said the 'G'-word! Welcome to the forum - have fun. [/quote] Yeah, he's the 2nd this week to say "Guild"!! Welcome Papa J. See you around

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1408534639' post='2531096'] Thinking about it... Maybe it would be a good idea for us all to have a thread somewhere on BC for bands to search for bass players in their area. It would have to follow a simple structure to be searchable by the forums software something like. Username : CamdenRob Location : London NW1 Genres : Blues, Electro, Icelandic Throat Singing etc... Available for new projects : Yes Youtube / Soundcloud clip : www.???? Basically a little Bio of all our members. Don't want too many fields or it'll become unwieldly, plus no-one cares what gear people have or how old they are...If everyone posted in that thread a band could search keywords and return a set of matches for people in their area.... Sorry for veering wildly OT - hope you find something soon [/quote] Good idea. Even better if folk delete their post when the vacancy is filled (assuming they know when the role has been filled) I guess Mods could delete posts older than 3 months, for example.

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1408516695' post='2530837'] Thinking back over the years....(but that's a different thread), what's worked for me is spending time hanging out where other musicians hang out. Open-mics, jam nights, gigs, music shops, trade shows etc. . Through networking with people I've met great new friends and got involved with some great music projects. I'm confident at talking to strangers but I know that's not the case for everyone. On the mobile version I can't see where you live or your age, these are factors that might make it easier or harder to find a band. Although, since you posted at 7:24am I'm guessing you're not a teenager. [/quote] 25 yrs old and located at "the Desk". Sorry, but I was never good at geography

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1408472261' post='2530556'] You have to buy a 2x10" or a 15" cab with the head before you can claim the free 2x12", so the cost will substantially exceed the OP's £300 budget [/quote] No, I've spoken with the shop. You buy the head and you get a 2x12" cab free of charge. No catches. The offer is on until the end of August. Edit: I'm also considering their offer for the 420w for £399; with a free 420w 2x12" cab.... unless the guy I spoke with didn't know what he was talking about

If you are interested in going the separates route, you could look at the Ashdown Rootmaster 220. It comes with a "Free" 2x12 cab. all for £299. http://www.giggear.co.uk/p/ashdown-rm-mag-220-rootmaster-220w-bass-head/

Hey!! I've just been accepted for an audition for joining my first band ever!! I'm 55 and I get the impression I'm the youngest in the band. The last bass player died! Rock on!

My son and his mates have been more into video games than anything else. Those who have played instruments play guitar and really only want to learn the tabs for the iconic rifs in some of the classics. I do think some of todays' music trends are engineered by the publishing companies to be more "of the moment". In their position it must be scary to think of having to list forever an ever growing back-catalogue. Also, I'm sure they'd rather "negotiate" a contract with a solo talent-show winner, who will sing in front of the staff session players, than deal with a new generation Rolling Stones or U2.

Subsonic, you have a good point there too. I can see I'm going to have to do a pub-crawl round all the local gigs as well... probably with NO beer too! If it's down to me I would prefer not to go too loud, but I know this is often dictated by the drums. Gary Mac also made a good point in a PM to me; [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][quote]My Genz amp is 600 watts, so with both cabs connected, that amount of power is available. I've yet to crank the master volume past about the 10 o'clock position, couldn't tell you what that amounts to in Wattage though.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]the good thing about having a powerful amp is that it doesn't need to work too hard, there is plenty of headroom, so it doesnt get all flappy and distorted. Mind you some players like flappy and distorted.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Another good thing about having a powerful rig is that, if you are feeling a bit fatigued or hands are aching, you can turn the amp up but play with a more gentle touch. That has been very useful for me in recent times.[/quote][/font][/color]

There are some vids with Billy Sheehan talking on the subject of the comparison of 10s and 15s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk5GmMYZ1QI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOh4S4FsRIg But, as he says, he's not a sound engineer, but it's interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr6f1IpYyIA Nice..