stewblack

[quote name='Buzz' post='26754' date='Jul 3 2007, 10:31 PM']Note to TB owners: Apparnetly if you move the strap button/lock from the upper edge to the little square bit under the neck on the neck pocket area, the balance problems go away. I wish I'd have known that, as I wouldn't have sold mine last year otherwise.[/quote] Just to add a +1 - this works and the bonus is no extra holes in your instrument.

I first used flats last year and was, at first, seriously underwhelmed. Guess what? After a month or so I went back to a bass with my old standard rounds on and woah! could not stand the ott zingy brightness. As other have said give 'em a bit of time you may grow to love them and they will alter subtly. Mine are Rotosound, BTW. Never found a string to match them for reliability.

[quote name='endorka' post='26819' date='Jul 4 2007, 01:26 AM']"Interesting" is not really the priority in walking in my opinion, as interest and excitement will often be provided by other musicians - drummer, soloist, singer, whomever. As others have hinted in this thread, the priority when walking is to swing. Even if you are playing pretty "boring" notes, if you swing, if you have good time, rhythm and energy, people will love it. As long as you are more or less laying out the harmony and not making total howlers, you'll be ok. The general belief is that a bass player who can make simple quarter notes really swing will almost always be hired in preference to the guy who is making more advanced note choices, but doesn't swing as well. In other words, walking is mostly about feel. Simple is often better. Initially at least, you have to believe, really believe, that you are the foundation, the heartbeat of the band, and that other people will take care of the interesting stuff. Once your walk is swinging, you can start thinking about making it interesting :-) Also, don't be seduced by those who tell you that you must do more "digadidums", skips, triplets, or whatever you want to call them. Swinging the quarter notes well is far more important. Jennifer [url="http://www.jen.clark.btinternet.co.uk"]http://www.jen.clark.btinternet.co.uk[/url][/quote] Yep - I'd say that pretty well sums it up. Oh and please can I use 'digadidums' in conversation? I love it!

[quote name='Brandonh' post='25852' date='Jul 2 2007, 05:53 AM']My bass teacher was telling me that walking bass is really simple and not much too it. Now that I look at it I think he was wrong. Any one else here think walking the bass is one of the most knowledge demanding style there is?[/quote] I'm often accused of walking bass myself. It's whatever's approproate to the song. The only difficult thing in a good walk for me is to smoothly link the whole into one stroll. It's all too easy to walk up or down through the first chord then[i] clunk[/i] as the chord changes and you walk through that one and on and on. It's finding the right path to lead to the right passing note so that the line progresses seamlessly. I love a good walking bass line but only to the right music and, yep, it does have to have that certain swing.

[quote name='douggy' post='25909' date='Jul 2 2007, 11:05 AM']how much does he charge on avarage , anyone know? d[/quote] His site says around £1200

[quote name='Breakfast' post='23307' date='Jun 25 2007, 11:52 PM']I really like a lot of music that has been influenced by dub in various directions but it occurs to me that I know very little about it as a genre. Can anyone suggest what records would make a good introduction or are truly essential, either from a bass playing or a general point of view?[/quote] I have the trojan dub box set mentioned earlier if you want a listen pm me your address and I'll post you an MP3 disc.

[quote name='owen' post='25154' date='Jun 29 2007, 10:14 PM']www.bravewoodguitars.co.uk Just fabulous![/quote] I didn't know about it either - thanks for the link, really fascinating. I'm just not sure I could 'distress' such a beautiful instrument - what a shame it looked great before!

[quote name='Hamster' post='24848' date='Jun 29 2007, 12:42 PM']I'm watching the 'For Sale' section like a hawk for this one ! Found this on the web for you [url="http://www.urineoff.co.uk/urineoff.html"]http://www.urineoff.co.uk/urineoff.html[/url] I suppose www.pi$$off.co.uk was taken Hamster edit: just found another [url="http://www.petfresh.co.uk/petfresh.html"]http://www.petfresh.co.uk/petfresh.html[/url][/quote] Cheers for the links. I'm not overly concerned about the smell it doesn't seem too bad, but will it damage the cones? Time will, of course, tell. The cab won't be for sale any time soon, smell or no smell, it is a wonderful piece of kit.

Came home from holiday to find a neighbour's cat had been in through an (stupid i know) open window and pissed, twice, up against my lovely new Epifani cab. Now, does anyone know if the cones will have been irrepairably damaged? is there anything I could or should do? Most of it appears to be on the grill but stands to reason that some will have penetrated.

Thanks for the heads up mate, I played bass for years in The More Specials, which, yep you've guessed it was a Specials tribute, so this is of particular interest to me.

[quote name='rodl2005' post='20006' date='Jun 19 2007, 02:13 AM']try it flat out for a little while & see what happpens. Then tell us here. Please BTW I put my FEnder 300pro at 1/2 volume thru my SVT410HLF & the cab nearly farted it's arse out! But that amp is renown for being VERY LOUD. Still the cab was 500wRMS. Now I've tried the same volume(not more) thru my Berg NV610 & IS all clean as a whistle! Am too scared to turn up more-it's SO loud that way anyway-have to be in a stadium(or outside) to try it![/quote] Don't think I'll be running anything 'flat out' any time soon, but i have faithfully promised that should anything go wrong with any of my kit, the behringer or non behringer parts i'll be happy to tell everyone. So far, sorry, it still stubbornly refuses to blow up.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='19640' date='Jun 18 2007, 02:38 PM']But that doesn't mean you're actually putting 650W through the speakers. Alex[/quote] Correct as it's a 4ohm cab it isn't the full 650 but someone else mentioned it couldn't handle a 500watt head, my experience is at variance with some others is all.

[quote name='Waldo' post='19494' date='Jun 18 2007, 10:21 AM']See, I knew those ratings were bullsh*t![/quote] I put my 650 watt head through my 4X10 and it A) Sounds great, really great, and Doesn't blow up in any way. Just posting for balance here.

Hi mark, I'm a recent convert to Macca's bass too, must confess I love it. One small tip is think about why you're doing what you're doing. By that I mean don't just learn stuff in a robotic fashion, find out what the chords are that the bass goes over, spot where particular bassists like certain patterns for certain changes or chords, and you'll be building up a repetoire of ideas for when you do the most important thing (to my mind) which is writing your own basslines.

[quote name='Brandonh' post='18967' date='Jun 16 2007, 10:55 PM']Well I have been trying to develop my ear (I have only been playing for 7 months) and I am working on the texas flood cd by SRV (Stevie Ray Vaughan). When I get stuck at a part of the tune I will check out the tab I would like to be able to get all songs strictly by ear someday but I am just starting out. Do you guys think its all right to look at the tab when I get stuck at a part in the song?[/quote] More and more as i learn songs I'm getting it by ear, but sometimes we all need a helping hand, no problem with tab at all in that respect. I've only recently started learning other peoples basslines having played for donkey's years and it's like all other skills, the more you do it the easier it gets!

[quote name='acidbass' post='16424' date='Jun 12 2007, 07:18 PM']Hello all, Basically, I've been using my Hartke combo with a pair of headphones to practice quietly at my house for the last year or so. However, the combo is quite bulky for me to have in the living room at all times, so I'm looking for a portable replacement. What do you guys use? I could play the bass unplugged obviously, but I like the idea of wearing headphones for a bit more volume. So...any suggestions? Cheers in advance, Danny[/quote] You need the pocket-rockit headphone hamp. 100% portable as it plugs into the instrument, aux input to put your MP3 into it battery powered off you go. I absolutely love it.

[quote name='setekh' post='17944' date='Jun 15 2007, 12:02 AM'] (the thread was 2 weeks old though ) so, stewblack, did you end up playing?[/quote] Nope. Ended up watching. the guy did fine, he was just being lazy!

[quote name='Musky' post='14441' date='Jun 9 2007, 12:25 AM']They do precision pickups at quite a good price, and I've read the odd comment on various boards about how great they sound but I'm slightly worried that if they really are so good why more people aren't shouting about them. They're British, so I can understand that maybe they haven't made much of a name for themselves in the US. But has anyone had any direct experience of them on a precision, or any other bass for that matter.[/quote] Yep, got one of theirs in my Aria Pro2 SB. Great company, great product. Thassit.

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='12649' date='Jun 5 2007, 07:46 PM']Its not just about weight but how its distributed in the cab, the design and location of the handles and the technique you use for lifting. However, Basson and Harke make some back breakers regardless of how you try and tackle them. Burman's old 4x12 was impossible for one person to lift and in them days they didn't make 'em wi' wheels. I can lift up to about 100lbs with not much problem but the Hartke 4.5xl weighs in at 125lbs and that was a struggle over anything but the shortest of distances. Dood used to have two of them!! Any 8x10 owners out there?[/quote] I work in a cellar bar and one guy used an 8X10 Ampeg which appeared in a metal flight case. It took the entire band to get it up the stairs and out, and my were those guys sweating! hell, i was sweating just watching them.

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' post='12025' date='Jun 4 2007, 07:42 PM']Ok I'm preparing to be slated here but I'm just giving my opinion with reference to personal experience. I had a behri alu 4x10, and on paper it was fantastic with its 1000 watts rms etc. In reality it was the heaviest thing in the world and when I used a warwick 400 watt hybrid amp through it ("protube IV", solid state with a 2 tube valve channel) I blew a cone to pieces on its first gig second song in (and no I wasn't driving the arse off it either, spec wise the cab should have been able to handle it but alas no). My opinion is that yes behri stuff is cheap but I'd recommend to anyone who wants their gear to last and be reliable then don't skimp on it. At the end of the day its an investment so save your money until you can afford to buy something you know will be worthwhile however I know its not always that easy. I did consider another cheap cab but i figured I should push more money into it and so I'm now using Warwick Neo cabs and I've never had a problem with them in about 3 or so years. At the end of the day I'm a big believer in "you get what you pay for" so please don't hate me. Adam[/quote] I for one won't slate you - it backs up what I think about the lottery. A couple of posts back a Behringer user who'd bounced them around the desert for two years with no problems (paraphrasing I know!) and now one who's blown one up second song in. The trouble is we never know, whatever the make, until we've bought it and used it by which time it's too late!

Just played a wedding, used two Behringer cabs and as they'd only provided a vocal PA had to fill a relatively large room with bass - they held up really well and sounded great! I promise to keep you informed should anything blow up on me in the future.

[quote name='pete.young' post='10653' date='Jun 1 2007, 05:06 PM']In the interests of balanced reporting ... I'm not going to comment on the cabs, but I'd avoid the amps like the plague. My son bought one (despite me telling him not to!) and I'm less than impressed. It is incredibly noisy (loud hiss, not mains hum) and unbelievably cheaply made - pots soldered straight on to the PCB, etc. He was lifting it out of the car one day and just snagged one of the tone controls, and the knob flew off, having sheared the pot shaft clean off. This time we got lucky with superglue, but these things are so fragile that they shouldn't be taken out of the house.[/quote] Not my experience. Sorry to disagree, but I use a Behringer 4500 head which is solid as a rock and we use a powered mixer at our venue 2 -3 times a week which is also solid, and treated with anything but kid gloves. The problem is individual experiences differ. As I say my mate hates his Marshall because of the flimsy build but I know someone else who's had Marshall for donkey's years without a problem, and swears by them. I bought a Nemesis - highly recommended then I hear some people have reliability issues with them. Trace Elliot has a great rep but the one I had was noisy and kept breaking down - not in the same league as the Behringer for reliability. It's such a lottery in some ways isn't it?

[quote name='phatbassdude' post='10153' date='May 31 2007, 08:32 PM']What is the bassing contingent's view on Behringer cabs and amps??? They seem cheap and with a lot of bang for your buck - but does this affect their quality of sound? Models of interest are the BB410 or BB210 and the BB115. I would ideally have the 410 and 115 matched to my Hartke HA550. Many thanks.[/quote] They are fantastic value for money. Mine have conspicuously failed to explode or sound sh*te no matter how often people who won't use Behringer say they will. I use the BA115 and the BA410 but the 15 is 8ohm so I don't get the best out of it. I recommend the 410 more . Very big sound. I use mine either in a stereo set up with a behringer 450 amp and an eden nemesis 650 or just the two together with the nemesis. I wish I'd gone for two 410 instead now as that would suit the impedence of my amps better and they have a bigger sound. They are solid, nicely carpeted and have cunningly concealed wheel arrangement. As far as I'm concerned at the price they go for they could be as sh*t as people who never use Behringer say they are and still be worth it! Oh and while I think of it, my guitarist is so impressed with my rig that last night he said he wished he'd saved his money and tried Behringer before he spent a fortune on Marshall. For one thing the sheer solidity and build quality impressed him as he hauled his disintegrating overpriced 4X12 out of my car last night. Now missing another castor!!

[quote name='mhuk' post='9109' date='May 30 2007, 12:53 PM']Has anyone tried both the Markbass Little Mark II and either the Eden Nemesis NA650 or NA320? I need a smallish head as I've got a dodgy shoulder and a headphone socket is a nice-to-have (which the Markbass doesn't have). Comments, suggestions, advice etc. muchly appreciated. Thanks [/quote] Tell you what, I'm buying a cab from a BTer in the midlands, hopefully ready for me in early June, why don't I swing by your place and you can have a bash through the Nemesis? Unless there's a shop near you that stocks them of course?

[quote name='BassBod' post='9769' date='May 31 2007, 11:09 AM']Hi stewblack, Looks like you don't live far from me - I've got a ply "knock about" upright and the Clifton EUB, so if you want to try one out....I can certainly explain the difference/process of moving from BG to upright. It is addictive though. And expensive. BB[/quote] What a kind offer - thank you! Although ... addictive and expensive~? Hmmm, can I afford to even taste it? Where are you BTW?