tauzero

I started Mrs Zero singing by taking her to an open mic night. It had been many years since I did one, and the ones I'd done before had been on the folk club circuit (silence while the artiste is playing) so it was a bit different. House band didn't have a bassist so I took to doing that. Had great fun doing it, sometimes being kept busy all night with people wanting a bassist (note: this was an open mic, not a jam night). It wasn't just about music, I made quite a few friends there too, and still keep in touch with them. And in further response to the thread title, I wish I could say that Edwin Starr, who lived just up the road, had come to a local open mic, but AFAIK he didn't. He did turn up to help judge a local Battle of the Bands though.

[quote name='dand666' timestamp='1441201633' post='2856881'] I play on cruise ships normally, but do functions when I'm on land. And as long as people can hear the hook, the chorus, that's all they care about. It seems too many people are hung on getting the right sound, when in all honesty, not a lot of people care. [/quote] I keep pointing out that it's a bass, it sounds like a bass. Last night, I played the first set on a Warwick fretted bass with roundwounds on and the second set on a Sei fretless bass with flatwounds on, because I felt like it (I must be one of those against whom MiltyG rails). I'm pretty sure that the only difference that the audience noticed was that I stopped hitting the lights with the headstock.

Hamburger Concerto by Focus. Didn't have the success of its predecessors Focus 3 and Moving Waves, both of which had very successful singles (Sylvia and Hocus Pocus) - the single from Hamburger Concerto was Harem Scarem which sank without a trace.

I rather like the shape. Not so sure about the scratchplate made of the gripper plate used for stair treads and trailer bottoms.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441403715' post='2858739'] And it's not even that I'm saying that certain venues require certain gear, as somebody suggested earlier - utter hogwash. Simply that really expensive and boutique instruments simply aren't required in that setting. [/quote] Mine are, because I want to play them. Are you sure you watched that video?

I had a TC RS112 for a while - good little cab, could put out a fair volume and sounded good if a little lacking in bottom end for my taste (using a 5-string but not generally below bottom D). I did find it balanced oddly on the handle - taking the handle off and reversing it so the bar was closer to the speaker (IIRC) balanced it up much better.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1441369371' post='2858332'] so in the event of a problem you'd send it back to the USA to be fixed? [/quote] No, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place at that price.

I don't think I've ever seen a strumstick on a music video before.

I didn't play for three or four years and completely forgot which end you blow down.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1441367754' post='2858303'] That's only a valid comparison if you are buying privately from a US dealer. [/quote] I'm comparing buying privately from a US dealer with buying privately from a UK dealer.

[quote name='Toasted' timestamp='1441272999' post='2857363'] Dude. VAT. Import duty. Come on. [/quote] £500 would be a bit low, but the US price is about £460, plus about 25% VAt and duty is £575, so there's about £150 in price difference once you've accounted for shipping.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1441353126' post='2858117'] With an item that has a BIN, that's a smart strategy. But my initial bid will be for the starting price, simply to remove the BIN and declare an interest. My real bid will be made in the closing seconds of the auction. [/quote] Yes, agreed. Especially as the really unscrupulous seller could shill up an early bid to find out where it maxes out, and then retract the bid which takes it over the bidder's maximum.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1441361225' post='2858219'] A cheap bass may not sound any different but the playability is what counts. I'll select a bass on whether it feels right as well as how it sounds. [/quote] I was just about to say the same thing, seeing as absolutely no-one else has. The most playable (for me) four-string I've ever played is my Warwick JD Thumb. I bought it in 1987 for £900, because it was so good I just had to have it. I had never imagined playing that sort of money for a bass, my battered 70s Fender P had cost me something like £175 and to me back then, £500 would be a stratospheric price let alone £900. Nowadays, I play 5-strings, and gig with one of three basses, two worth a bit over a grand apiece, the other which cost me about £250 and which was my main gigging bass for a few years. Playability has always been a key point. You can (within certain limits) mess around with pickups and electronics, changing the feel of a neck, while not impossible, is a rather different ballgame.

I quite like it, but I'd be worried about it falling to bits: [font=Arial][size=1]"[/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="4"]This stunning instrument w[/size][/font][font=Arial][size=1]ould make the PERFECT Christmas gift and will not last long!"[/size][/font] And don't forget, a bass is for life [1], not just for Christmas. [1] Life, of course, can be terminated by GAS

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1440240004' post='2849263'] Only a fool bids before the last 15 seconds of an eBay auction. [/quote] There can be a tactical reason for it. If there's a BIN on an item and you're not sure whether you want to go for it or not but want to keep your options open, putting in a bid removes the BIN (meaning someone else can't buy it while you're prevaricating) and means the auction has to go to the end. Something of a gamble though.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1441148722' post='2856538'] They are talking about introducing a Table in their stores so you do not lose them, over any period. [/quote] That seems fairly elementary.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1441118595' post='2856165'] All of the below turn my stomach. I dep quite a lot and when I get pub "classic rock" bands approaching me I know that pretty much all of these will feature and it makes me sad. Oh well - think of the cash. [b]Black Night[/b] [b]Can’t Get Enough[/b] [b]Alright Now [/b] [b]Born To Be Wild[/b] [b]Paranoid[/b] [b]Doctor Doctor [/b] [b]Black Velvet[/b] [b]Brown Sugar[/b] [b]Honky Tonk Women[/b] [b]Tie Your Mother Down [/b] [b]Shook me All Night Long[/b] [b]She Sells Sanctuary[/b] [b]Whole lotta Love[/b] [b]The Chain[/b] [b]Sweet Home Alabama [/b] [b]Rock And Roll[/b] [b]You Really Got Me Going[/b] [b]Highway[/b][b] to Hell[/b] [b]Sweet Child[/b] [b]Boys Are Back[/b] [b]You Give Love A Bad Name [/b] [b]Summer of 69[/b] [b]Sex On Fire[/b] [b]Dakota[/b] [/quote] Could I have your gigs please?

Despite the fact that so many of the songs in our set appear on various people's lists, there's nothing I actually dislike playing, though I'm not terribly enthusiastic about "Summer of 69" or "All Right Now". I rather like doing "Mustang Sally". I think you're all just a bunch of miserable bastards.

Red Red Whine Dance the night away Fortunately they're in the set list from a previous band, and I can cope with doing them on the occasional dep.

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1441106878' post='2856036'] Alice Coopers' massive hit single 'Eighteen', was really about Argon. [/quote] "N-N-N-Nineteen" sounds so much better than "P-P-P-Potassium".

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1441047266' post='2855673'] I'm still firmly wedged in the 70s, maybe I should move as far south as I can without having to learn French. [/quote] That's the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. The 70s haven't made it there yet.

If the coils are in parallel, you'd need a centre-on SPDT toggle eg [url="http://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_051.htm"]http://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_051.htm[/url] (the bottom switch, 3 Position Centre ON option) and take the hot of one coil to one throw, other coil to other throw, and the pole goes to where the combination used to go to. Same as the switching on a Les Paul guitar.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1440796981' post='2854026'] Blimey! That's about the same as the Ashdown ABM 500 Combo I had. [/quote] It's about the same as my head, two 1x12 cabs, and one bass.

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1440755624' post='2853501'] Not a fan of the looks myself. More importantly interested to hear BFM's views on the Bass Array cab - it reminds me a bit of some of his designs [/quote] Doesn't sticking an array of open-back cone tweeters like that in front of another driver mean that you'll get colossal intermodulation distortion through the tweeters and on the reflected sound from the main driver?

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1440828204' post='2854124'] I'm still keeping my eye out for a fretless jazz. [/quote] Defret a fretted one?