tauzero

[quote name='mewsie' post='396887' date='Feb 1 2009, 03:06 PM']finally i can contribute to this thread! well... first gig last night... and the main reason i've been a bit quiet over the last few weeks. in a moment of sheer madness three weeks ago i agreed to stand in for a bass player who was on his stag do last night. which left me with 3 weeks and 33 songs to learn.[/quote] Congratulations, and welcome to the start of your addiction.

Agatha Christie must have written the script for this. For background, a couple of years ago I left the band I was with because it didn't seem to be progressing beyond rehearsals. They recruited the former bassist back again, and then one of the original guitarists had to leave through work commitments so he was also replaced. On Monday I got a call from the drummer of aid band. Their bassist had disappeared and they had a gig this Saturday that they didn't want to cancel - I said I should be able to, and asked him to email me a set list. The guitarist emailed me the set list - and in the email, he told me that the reason for the bassist disappearing (which they didn't know at the time) was that he'd died. They weren't sure whether to go ahead, but eventually decided it would have been what Ian the departed bassist wanted. So we arranged that I'd rehearse with them on Thursday. Cue snowfalls, which fortunately didn't cause any travel disruption on Thursday night, and all went well. The gig was at the Holiday Inn in Bromsgrove. Went down the M42, turned off for Bromsgrove, and found the A38 closed. After following a diversion I eventually got there, and found out that the road had been [url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7877648.stm"]closed due to a murder[/url]. The gig itself went well and I managed not to make too many glaring errors, aided by numerous crib sheets littering the floor (because I'd forgotten my music stand but luckily put everything in large enough type to read it). I'll be doing at least one more stand-in, as they want to do a memorial gig for Ian and asked me to play for that, whenever it is. The gig, incidentally, was for a club which the departed guitarist was involved in the running of and he was also got a guest slot at the end. So the entire band from a couple of years ago was briefly reunited, which was nice.

[quote name='hubrad' post='395690' date='Jan 30 2009, 07:59 PM']Hmm. I'm stuck with IE6 as I use Win2000 Prof - nice and stable but lost support from MS. They're pulling support from WinXP in a while.. anyone think that'll give them time to iron out all the Vista incompatibilities?[/quote] I think they'll have a job pulling support from XP. A lot of organisations are going to be reluctant to move off it. In business terms, there's no advantage moving forwards (in fact, there was probably no advantage in moving to XP from 2k) as all the flashy bits don't actually enhance productivity.

[quote name='Jimbo' post='395054' date='Jan 29 2009, 11:31 PM']Drum Key Radiator Key (???????)[/quote] One and the same, surely? I'm trying to rationalise what I carry things in but it's all a bit up in the air. Generally use an aluminium case and in it is Leads (instrument x2 at least and mains x2) Music stand light which I never use because the guitarist's got my music stand 9v battery 2B|!2B box Cable tester, unless it's on my desk Last 5-string set that I took off What I need to add are Crosshead screwdriver so I can actually change the battery on the Tsai if it goes flat Tuner, because I haven't quite got enough for one per guitar case and I have been known to turn up at gigs with two basses, neither of them with a tuner in the case Towel

I play the blues on a fretless Warwick Thumb, mostly above the 5th fret. But then I'm awkward. When playing duo I play melodic bass lines with fills to compensate for the absence of a lead instrument. Playing in a trio+ with the guys I normally do this with, we tend to weave what we're doing around each other.

[quote name='Buzz' post='394613' date='Jan 29 2009, 02:49 PM']I suspect it's IE8 being sh*t quite frankly, as there's a number of standards compliant browsers (FF, Opera, Safari I think, etc...) that work just fine with the boards. Sounds like a return to the days when you had to have two sets of code in a webpage, one to handle IE and it's quirks and another for everyone else.[/quote] Only now it will be three, one for IE7, one for IE8, and one for proper browsers.

[quote name='Fliplowe' post='392784' date='Jan 27 2009, 02:57 PM']I'm 28, go figure [/quote] You're their perfect age then.

"Mustang Sally". It's the law. I generally just have a little play around acoustically to see how they feel. Bear in mind that I'm not actually looking to buy anything these days (unless just the perfect 5-string fretless comes along for ten bob) but I'm open to checking stuff out anyway. I don't have anything as a normal piece to play and find myself struggling to think what to do, though it often finishes up being "Toccata".

[quote name='spacecowboy' post='390981' date='Jan 25 2009, 02:46 PM']anybody else got what i suppose you could call a [b][/b]wife[b][/b] bass? did you have the one and then let another in? How did it go? and are you still with her?[/quote] I'm quite happy to play other basses. I've never found one to touch my JD Thumb (which I've had for 21 years) or my JDised fretless Thumb in 4-strings, and ditto my first 5-string Tsai. I'm still looking for my ideal fretless 5-string.

Band 1: right-hand side because the guitarist and drummer were the founder members and the guitarist goes on the left. Band 2: no drummer. Band 3: next to the MIDI file player that does the drummer's job. Open mic nights: on the right, whether there's a drummer or not, so I can see the guitarist's left hand. I'm not bothered which side I go. I can play equally badly on either side.

Is this the Brunel chap you're all on about?

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='389609' date='Jan 23 2009, 02:41 PM']Seems I'm in a tiny minority then. Not unknown, I must admit. Position maintained and conscience perfectly clear though. [/quote] I signed both the noise level and the arms embargo petitions. While the noise level petition is not very soundly based, noise level meters are coming into more and more venues. Anyone acquainted with the history of motorcycle regulation, specifically the helmet law and the noise level restrictions, will realise that prevalence of noise meters may well lead to their becoming mandatory, and that prosecution of offenders takes second place to tightening the restrictions so that the obedient majority are penalised by the disobedient minority.

They did reply to me, but they were after someone younger than 51.

[quote name='BassManKev' post='378507' date='Jan 13 2009, 12:21 AM']its got a certificate, so looks like it could be. As said, its now obvious why fender reinvent the same bass over and over again and never think out the box...because this happens [/quote] You'd have thought that they'd manage to do a better copy of a Warwick Streamer than that. They've got the top horn looking like a semi though, so that's a good start.

There's the Ergo bass look:

[quote name='bremen' post='386099' date='Jan 20 2009, 02:07 PM']The participating shops tend to be specialists in bassoons and cellos rather than electric/electronic instruments though. And there are limitations in what you can buy; I think computer-based instruments don't qualify, nor do amps and speakers. It's been a few years since I looked though, might have changed.[/quote] It's been revised (I think). You can buy amps now as long as it's with an instrument. The perfect opportunity to get a back-up bass, then...

[quote name='chris_b' post='384588' date='Jan 19 2009, 12:51 AM'].... and when they toured the record he couldn't play it, so had to play something else instead![/quote] He played something very similar to it. And evidently Paul Simon recognised how well that little bit went down with the audience, as he got him to play it a second time. At least he did at the NEC, 22 years ago.

1) What do you look for in a music shop? What I look for is something I very rarely see - as others have said, secondhand instruments. 2) What would you ideally like to see in a music shop? A wide range of secondhand instruments, including everything I want for a tenner. Well, I'll settle for a pre-91 5-string fretless Thumb. For a tenner. Strings, plectrums, etc are good things to hold in stock for the casual visitor. Staff who are knowledgeable, not too pushy, and psychic, so they know exactly when I'd like a bit of help. Headphone amps for the Saturday afternoon shredders. Signs saying that people are welcome to play but if someone else wants to try the same gear out, they must be prepared to take turns. 3) How far would you travel? There is actually a little second-hand instrument shop about 25 miles from me, and if I actually felt I had some disposable income (things are still a bit tight at the moment), I'd be wandering over there once a month or so (and telling him to let me know if there's anything really interesting). I used to be a regular visitor to Musical Exchange, before they became Sound Control in Brum. That's about 15 miles. 4) Am I mad to consider this? Does it matter? How much can you afford to lose?

[quote name='jake_tenfloors' post='384385' date='Jan 18 2009, 09:30 PM']I definitely agree about splitting up amps and effects. I don't see these going together. Amps & cabs i don't mind.[/quote] It makes sense as it mirrors the Gear subforums.

It works on the back of the bass, but it's too much visual clutter below the centreline on the front of the bass.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='376518' date='Jan 10 2009, 11:25 PM']Here's the link to the radius jig I copied: [url="http://home.mindspring.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://home.mindspring.com/~adhamilton/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/neck_jig_3.jpg&target=tlx_new"]Radius Jig[/url][/quote] That link just shows the one photo - this is a link to the page with the jig on it. [url="http://home.mindspring.com/~adhamilton/id13.html"]http://home.mindspring.com/~adhamilton/id13.html[/url]

My Behringer AB100 got noisy when mains-powered, so I put together the 2B|!2B box, which is two footswitches, each switching one channel on and off. Allows me to have either instrument switched on, or neither, so I can leave them on stands on a resonant stage with no fear of them feeding back halfway through the bingo. And I put LEDs on too. As I've got one 3-pole 2-way footswitch left over, I'll do a straight A-B box too.

[quote name='Beedster' post='380374' date='Jan 14 2009, 04:13 PM']So, for arguments sake, if a 1970 Fender is built entirely from components bought from 20 different sellers on ebay, and all of those parts are 100% verifiable as authentic and original Fender components from 1970, and given that the combination of neck, body and hardware on any one bass was likely a matter of chance at the Fender factory in 1970 (pauses for breath)......, is there an argument to say that the 1970 bitsa Fender in question is, to all but the most anally retentive purist, original?[/quote] Well, the neck and body won't have had 40 years of snuggling cheek by jowl. It's the neck and body I see as being of fundamental importance, other bits may need replacement because they're damaged (though I would hope that a seller would mention any changes from original if he knew about them) but the basis of the instrument is the neck and body. Of course, if you buy a proper bass with a through neck, you don't get that problem.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='380144' date='Jan 14 2009, 11:57 AM']Those Variaxes any good - that's to say, how 'realistic' do they sound?[/quote] I think they sound pretty realistic. I mainly use the acoustic models and they do sound like electroacoustics (they don't sound like an acoustic does, er, acoustically). But as I've got cloth ears, I just had a quick look for reviews on That Interweb, and there seems to be a consensus that the models are at least reasonable. Incidentally, all the Variax solid-body six-strings use the same electronics, so it's nice that the one I found suited me best was also the cheapest.