tauzero

Hofner violin bass which I could have had for £75. However, I played it, and it was such a pile of sh*t that I didn't buy it. Shame, I could have made a lot of money on that.

I do wish I could like the look of SCs, but I just don't. I've played urb's Sei at a Northampton bass bash, and it was jolly nice, and I've played mcgraham's W&T Cronos 5, and that was extremely jolly nice (the nicest 5-string neck I've encountered) but I can't afford one anyway, but I just don't like the looks. Ah, forgot to say this - I think the Les Paul shape works better than other singlecuts because it started with a symmetrical body and then a chunk got cut out of it, rather than starting with an asymmetrical body and sticking a chunk back into it.

[quote name='lanark' post='1277708' date='Jun 21 2011, 08:44 PM']But that's just nomenclature, why isn't it also an Extended Range Guitar? A guitar with its range extended downwards, rather than a bass extended upwards?[/quote] Perhaps because the first people to have them built were bassists.

[quote name='Johnston' post='1283273' date='Jun 26 2011, 07:46 PM']Company gets cheap products in Cheap factory A over the years with experience the workmanship gets quite good. Then for economic reasons parent company shifts production to cheap Country B. Lack of experience and the first run of instruments are a bit rough. Over time experience is built up and the products get better. Unfortunately by the that time Internet gossip has took off from the first run and Country A will always be better than Country B.[/quote] Although Country B will put together a few instruments as a prover to show that they can do the job, and those instruments will be extremely good. The best Squier Strat I ever played was one of the pre-production models built in Korea IIRC - I think Machines' dad bought it.

In 20 years, when it comes up on ebay again, there will be an outbreak of keening from the Fender massif, saying "why oh why has someone cut big holes in this to put in another pickup?".

Barn dance in Norton, near Daventry, on Saturday. The pub landlord had rather optimistically organised it for the pub car park. We unloaded and set up between showers on a raised stage which was covered by a couple of folding marquees - they had pivoting arms stretching fore and aft which were perfectly placed to bang my head on, so I did most of the gig sitting down. The weather stayed reasonably clear, with just one shower briefly interrupting proceedings. At 9.45, as it was getting very cold, we took down the gear, decamped into the pub and did the rest indoors acoustically (I'm the only one that needs an amp). Our timing proved impeccable - just after we'd got the gear offstage and loaded into the cars, it tipped down for an hour or so.

Hard case - not up to Hiscox standard but good enough to withstand anything that might fall on the case doing so. As I see no point in the extra faff of putting the bass into a different case/bag for going to rehearsal when there's nothing in the car that will fall on it, it stays in the hard case. Incidentally, from my observations at rehearsal studio, a significant portion of the bass playing community is being disenfranchised in this poll as the option "None/black bin bag" has been omitted.

Sometimes I go about ten times in the twenty minutes before going on stage and then feel a desperate need to go again two songs in (which I manage to control until the end of the set), other times I have no issues. A former band used to incorporate a drum solo into the end of Johnny B Goode, which on a couple of occasions was my opportunity to head offstage at a great rate of knots. The ceilidh band is great for toilet opportunities - Mrs Zero spends a few minutes prior to each dance explaining how it works, giving me the opportunity to head off for swift relief.

[quote name='mrtcat' post='1272087' date='Jun 16 2011, 08:40 PM']Fenders are like marmite and lets face it that's one of the most recognisable brands there is.[/quote] Does that mean you can't buy Fenders in Denmark, even though you can get them in Denmark Street?

Isn't it an SX?

Could I go on the waiting list too please?

[quote name='51m0n' post='1260558' date='Jun 8 2011, 12:04 AM']Next point, a compressor without a limiter as well is nigh on useless in a live context.[/quote] Can a dual compressor (I have a dbx 266xl to hand) be used as a compressor in stage 1 and a limiter in stage 2?

[quote name='Clarky' post='1265590' date='Jun 12 2011, 12:16 AM']50MB deleted. Unfortunately that includes just about all my Gear Porn pics (the picture downsizing website just froze on me so I gave up with that). If anyone wants pics I will email them[/quote] For resizing, you could try [url="http://irfanview.com"]Irfanview's[/url] Batch Conversion/Rename option.

[quote name='Moos3h' post='1261480' date='Jun 8 2011, 05:23 PM']I actually know this chap and he's a lovely guy that just enjoys fiddling with guitars as a project.[/quote] But do the guitars enjoy it?

That guitar organ might be the same as one that Richie Havens used to have. I can't find any information on it on a quick google, but I remember him being interviewed by Guitarist two or three decades ago (or maybe a little more) and he had a guitar organ using that split fret system. The interview also mentioned that it weighed a ton.

Saturday afternoon, played at a local football club for their fundraiser. Three sets, about 30 mins, 45 mins, and 20 mins. We had it vaguely setlisted but Mrs Zero said she'd call the numbers on the fly, which unlike barneyg42's experience worked well (it also helped that the rest of us could also suggest what to do next). We were set up in a small marquee just by the clubhouse, so we did have a captive audience of people waiting for refreshments. I'm now feeling a lot less stressed out about setting up the vocal PA and my bass rig now I don't have to think everything through as much. One of the other items of entertainment was a local dance school - children (almost all girls) from about 3 up to late teens or early 20s. That was pretty entertaining, especially the oldest of them, a very well-built young lady who perhaps needed a stronger sports bra. One of our band's objectives is raising money towards various aspects of MS and epilepsy, and the fundraisers quite unexpectedly gave us £50 towards our fund (it's initially aimed at buying a wheelchair for a lady with MS who's a friend of our guitarists). Which was nice. We're just hoping that the business cards that we spread around will also bear fruit.

Advert's disappeared too...

[quote name='scottkincaid' post='1254103' date='Jun 2 2011, 03:06 PM']Dude, go and check Jared Followill's Wikipedia. He learned the bass a few weeks before recording and have a look at his basslines!?[/quote] Ah yes, those cracking root notes.

[quote name='Eight' post='1254058' date='Jun 2 2011, 02:43 PM']You mean that Austrian kid who's father was a musician, and who spent his early years watching his father teach his sister, before he himself started picking out notes and intervals? Mozart was not [b]born[/b] a brilliant player/composer - he didn't sit down at the piano one day and suddenly write at his best. His early years were critical, as was his whole approach to learning. Is it rare for kids to show that discipline, motivation and clarity of thought? Absolutely. But it doesn't prove the existence of some mysterious force behind his abilities.[/quote] I'm not saying there's some mysterious force behind his abilities. I'm saying that genetically he had some predisposition towards musical ability and creativity, and as it so happened that he grew up in a musical household, he blossomed in that environment. To deny that is to deny that humans differ one from the other. Talent is relative, rather than absolute.

I predict £3275

ISTR that was a known problem with the Cirrus. Use the search function, you'll find someone had a bit of a tale of woe over his Cirrus.

The Korg AX3000B can be used in stomp box mode and can be edited from a PC (that's enough to sell it to a gadget lover like me...). I prefer the ones like this, the Zoom B9 or the Boss MExB type, where you select a bank and can then choose from four patches in the bank with a single press, as with the up/down type, it's not so easy if you want to switch between three different patches in a song.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='1253556' date='Jun 2 2011, 09:34 AM']I must find a way to slightly p*ss us all off before gigs now.[/quote] Take a portable DVD player with you and watch a recording of Jeremy Kyle.

I started on guitar. When I got to university, I hooked up with another guitarist, a multi-instrumentalist/singer, and a drummer. As the other guitarist was better (or at least had a higher opinion of himself), I finished up putting a Hayman 40/40 together out of bits from the Fender Soundhouse. After dropping out of university, my ambition to be a posing long-haired lacy-shirted leather-trousered guitarist who would put Jimi to shame returned for a little while, only to gradually fade because nobody wanted me. When I moved to Tamworth, I put up an advert in the local music shop saying I was a lead/rhythm/bass guitarist and finished up being recruited to play bass, and that's where I stayed for the next 30 years. I still play guitar as well, but I have no illusions about my ability as a lead guitarist - it's acoustic stuff now.