stewblack

[quote name='Deep Thought' post='57545' date='Sep 8 2007, 10:02 PM']How many of you folks have specific stuff to wear onstage, or do you just play in what you got out of bed in? Obviously tribute bands have to make some sort of effort to emulate those to whom they are paying tribute, but how many have proper stage clothing, and I suppose it would be remiss of me not to ask for photographs?[/quote]
I got in the habit of wearing a suit when playing in a ska band and find I prefer it now. It helps me get into character so to speak. Even if I'm wearing a t shirt underneath I still like to wear a suit on stage.
Having recently started a new job which demands I wear a suit and tie every day I'm wondering if the stage gear will now need to smarten down to compensate.

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='57466' date='Sep 8 2007, 06:42 PM']Hi Guys,

I've gone beyond learning easy stuff and i'm looking for intermidiate bass lines to learn but i'm struggling for ideas....any suggestions?[/quote]
Give us a few examples of what you've been learning - it'll be easier to judge what might represent a 'step up' from where you are.

I love when you post this kind of information Alex. You convey great knowledge in a clear understandable way. Not saying I clearly understand all of it but am sufficiently interested by your posts to investigate further where I may by unclear. Thank you.

Looks beautiful, congrats!

[quote name='OldGit' post='56711' date='Sep 6 2007, 09:47 PM']Aw ta mate .. could you arrange to be at every gig then? t'average punter only goes wow at the "training lights" on the side of the neck [/quote]
Hey - some of us have an eye for quality and if you're really completely fed up with it and just couldn't be bothered to ask anyone for money I'd be prepared to take it off your hands. Shall we meet at Magor as per usual? No, no you don't need to thank me.

[quote name='OldGit' post='56447' date='Sep 6 2007, 12:28 PM']Number Two Shuker's on the way.


Call me shallow but the public (and even bass players) don't look at the P5 and go "wow" ..[/quote]

Have to say mate, even though I only saw it briefly in the boot of your car in a rainy car park - I definitely thought Wow!

[quote name='bass_in_ya_face' post='55383' date='Sep 4 2007, 04:46 PM']I use the c-tech pocket rockit v2

[url="http://www.musicstreet.co.uk/ctechpocketrockitv2forguitar-p-1271.html?language=en&name=C-Tech%20Pocket%20Rockit%20V2%20for%20Guitar"]http://www.musicstreet.co.uk/ctechpocketro...%20for%20Guitar[/url]

It's briliiant and has various diffrerent effects distortion / delay etc and a metronome as well as a line in and out socket so i can plug in my mp3 player in. I use nothing else to practice with.[/quote]
They are excellent aren't they? I take my old version Rockit with me if I'm trying out a bass just because the sound is so true.
In fact I just noticed I'm wearing it on my avatar!

[quote name='The_D' post='54528' date='Sep 3 2007, 02:16 AM']Does anyone have much experience with 4ohm cabs? I am looking for a 2x10 cab but my Ashdown head unit likes to run off 4ohms so that is what I have been looking for.

Trouble is most of the 10's I have found are rated at 8ohms and I have only really found the Peavey models that go to 4. Does anyone know of other companies that have 4 ohm 10's?

I will be looking for a second hand cab as I find you get better deals going used but if I am relying on finding a Peavey cab alone then I may be waiting for a while [/quote]
I use an Epifani 2X10 which is a 4ohm cab and it's really very good.

[quote name='Merton' post='54202' date='Sep 2 2007, 02:50 PM']So I know a fair few of you guys use wall hangers at home for your basses - are Qwik Lok the ones to go for? My cunning plan is that my new flat (which I'm hoping to buy v soon!) will have all my basses proudly hanging in the living room. So I want the best wall hangers out there please, don't really fancy the Retroactive falling.....

Cheers peeps [/quote]
Local DIY store. Cheap as chips and perfect.

[quote name='gilmour' post='54225' date='Sep 2 2007, 03:47 PM']Not really sure where to post this - I'm sure it'll get moved if this is the wrong thread.

I'm imagining a bit of kit - and wondering if it exists.

I'd really like some kind of headphone amp that I can practice with (especcialy backstage - I dep in a band that have a habit of changing the set 20 mins before we go on - not really leaving time to learn the tracks) but I'd like to be able to either plug in an MP3 player, or maybe have a CD playing so that I can practice along to tracks (or learn! lol).

I'm not sure if this exists - if it does, can anyone tell me what it's called I have no idea what I'm looking for? Ideally I'd like it to be really portable as it will have to come on flights with me as hand luggage etc.

Also I assume I'll need some decent headphones, so any recommedations wamrly recieved.

Thanks[/quote]
It's called the pocket rockit and I've been using mine for about a year now. Plugs straight into the guitar (any guitar) has aux input and is really great. I wander merrily about the house rehearsing and is also perfect for back stage
[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/23985"]Here it is - but shop around mine was about 15 quid cheaper[/url]
[url="http://www.audiotoyz.co.uk/erol.html#2800x0&&http%3A%252F%252Fwww.google.co.uk%252Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%253Aen-GB%253Aofficial%26q%3D%2522pocket+rock+it%2522+bass%26btnG%3DSearch%26meta%3Dcr%253DcountryUK%257CcountryGB"]Or here - it is a seriously good bit of kit.[/url]

Cheers guys.

[quote name='Dodge' post='53174' date='Aug 31 2007, 10:01 AM']0000 grade steel wool would be my choice. I use it to clean my Warwick SS1 and my MM Silhouette guitar. Just don't rub too hard and keep it well away from the pickups! It shines up frets nicely too.

Do you treat your neck with anything like wax, oil etc.?[/quote]
Don't treat it with anything it's due its first clean up since I bought it so I thought I'd check for tips.

Apologies if i asked this before but that would have been on BW so I can't drag up the relevant response.
How do you guys keep your maple necks clean? I asked a bassist the other day who had a similar 'Ray to mine except the neck was gorgeous and not grotty and she said she scraped it with a blade.
I just think this sounds a bit extreme!

[quote name='john_the_bass' post='53152' date='Aug 31 2007, 09:34 AM']Just wondering how many of you play guitar (or another instrument, but mainly a guitar), either as a hobby, as a second instrument in a band or something like that and made the transition either from guitar to bass or picked up the guitar as an aside to learning the bass.

Personally - I was always a guitar player, asked to play bass in a band so I did and haven't stopped. I
Just interested really[/quote]

Followed the same route as yourself. Actually auditioned for a band as rhythm guitarist on the night their bassist quit, they wondered if I'd stand in on bass and the rest is history.
I still use the guitar for songwriting and recording but simply as a tool. I take no pleasure in sitting down and noodling about on it. Whereas I can spend many a happy evening going over and over one tricky bass part until it's right.
I think some people just suit certain instruments others can play many with equal skill.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='53050' date='Aug 30 2007, 11:03 PM']Did you nick his bike?

[/quote]
Nah - but I had a very nice one nicked from the back garden - which I wrongly assumed to be so remote and at the dead end of a row of isolated cottages as to be safe as houses. And yes I blamed myself for leaving it out and unlocked. Never assume something is safe. Of course I was wrong to blame myself the fault for the theft lay entirely one hundred percent with the thief for stealing it but it's natural to think "Damn I should have locked that".
Damn I bowed out of this debate - stop dragging me back in.

Looking forward to the rest of this, thanks for the pics. BTW I'm using an Armstrong soapbar in my old Aria after the original went to pick up heaven and it is fabulous. You won't regret it.

[quote name='Beedster' post='52926' date='Aug 30 2007, 06:29 PM']I got my new racing bike nicked when I was a kid and the policeman who called at the house simply said "bloody stupid place to leave it, what did you expect". I think that to be honest, he had a point [/quote]
Fair comment - I bow gracefully from the fray.

[quote name='Beedster' post='52792' date='Aug 30 2007, 02:01 PM']If you read the often published stories of some of the idiots who've been ripped off on ebay - usually in the Sunday supplements - you'd might think "someone should have been a bit harsh with them before they hit the 'send payment button..." . In fact, sometimes I almost almost find myself sympathising with the scammers because the scammed are often foolish beyond imagination.
D
Chris[/quote]
The debate over how much responsibility the victim should shoulder in any crime is a long and complex one, and I'm sure as hell not going to enter into it here (or anywhere else for that matter).
[quote]Your apology is of course accepted[/quote]
Good oh!

[quote name='Beedster' post='52623' date='Aug 30 2007, 08:49 AM']I wasn't 'slagging' anyone off Stewblack, read Jim's post then mine, the words that is, not what you assume I'm saying. Jim's own statement was that he is naive, I simply agreed. Even if that bass were kosher, would anyone but a naive person send the seller £800 unsecured for it? No, of course not. The reason people do however is because we are duped into thinking that if it's on ebay, or the internet generally, it's OK. I'll say it again - the reason so many scammers are out there is because other people are so naive, and so desperate to get their hands on this great bass at such a great price that they suspend common sense. If people didn't keep paying for non-existent basses by bank transfer or Western Union (both of which ebay after all explicitly warn against because they are in themselves almost 100% guarantee that the listing is a scam), scammers would go off and scam somewhere else. But people do, which is why they're still with us. Again, to stretch the Darwinian metaphor, every predator needs prey to survive.
Chris[/quote]

I did read your words and drew the entirely appropriate inferences from them. Anyway don't want to fall out with you just felt you were a bit harsh, in turn I apologise if my response offended you.

[quote name='Beedster' post='52417' date='Aug 29 2007, 04:40 PM']Jim mate, yes, you're naive. Zero feedback!!!!!!!!! If that doesn't give you 'any cause for alarm' with a bass of that value then I'm not surprised that scamming is so profitable!
In a Darwinian world, if people weren't so bloody gullible scammers would soon become extinct
Chris[/quote]
In fairness Jim did clearly state 'apart' from 0 feedback.
Before I was a regular here and on e-bay I too would have known nothing of such
scams. Luckily posters here were kind enough to share their knowledge and give out handy tips like always ask for more photographs and if you can try out the bass. It's the way this place works -Share the wealth of knowledge rather than slag off newbie posters .

[quote name='Wil' post='50110' date='Aug 24 2007, 01:16 PM']Is that all the Bristolians?[/quote]

I'm not but my band records in Toy Box studios which as any fule kno are in Bris, just off the Glosser road.
I am West Country about 15 miles out of Bristle. I support rovers and used to go into Eastville to watch 'em so do I count?

[quote name='paul, the' post='46847' date='Aug 17 2007, 01:48 PM']I tried to buy a set from Stringbusters. The website said the item was in stock, four days later stringbusters said they didn't have any and that they would send a set in 7-8 weeks.

I bought the strings on Ebay from the US and got them in two weeks at a cheaper price.[/quote]
Just goes to show - never experienced anything other than hassle free next day delivery from Stringbusters .

Me and the rest of the More Specials are getting together for a one off reunion gig at[url="http://www.wunderbar.co.uk/"] The Wunder Bar[/url] Midsomer Norton tomorrow night (Saturday 18th) if anyone fancies a bit of 2 Tone ska.
We officially split a couple of years ago but have the odd get together and this is it for this year. So if anyone wants to skank the night away and admire my black and white check tie then come on down. free admission on stage at about 9.30 - 10.

[quote name='TheRev' post='46754' date='Aug 17 2007, 09:35 AM']Don't you own a pub?? A teetotal publican is a bit like being an aethist vicar...... [/quote]
Vegetarian in a slaughterhouse was the favourite!
Used to own my own bar - the worst job imaginable. I got out just a couple of weeks ago. Now I'll have my evenings and weekends back will actually be able to gig occasionally, and I'll get paid and get holidays now I'll have a proper job.
Running a small business for most people means working all hours for way under minimum wage - and when you are reliant on a bunch of drunks for what little money you do make - no don't get me started.

[quote name='ARGH' post='46052' date='Aug 15 2007, 08:37 PM']YOU dont know how much of a hassle it is for other musicians to get over the fact that I "DONT DRINK OR TAKE DRUGS".[/quote]
Sadly it goes with the territory. One of the many things I've learned from people who've been down this road before me is it's none of my business what other people think of me.
Mate of mine was off to a gig the other night and said he wanted to stay sober but was damned if he'd go up to the bar and order a pint of lemonade.
It simply doesn't seem to occur that you don't have to go to the bar at all. It isn't compulsory.