tauzero

[quote name='queenofthedepths' post='115042' date='Jan 6 2008, 10:09 PM'][quote name='tauzero' post='115040' date='Jan 6 2008, 10:07 PM'] On the club circuit in the Midlands, we're on about £200 for a 4.5 piece.[/quote] A 4.5 piece?? Is one of your members only half-human (the guitarist?)? Or just less than reliable? [/quote] If you look at [url="http://www.break-away.org.uk/index.html"]this lot[/url], you'll see the one in the middle is a chapess, who in fact plays the keyboards. As the keyboards aren't necessary for all of the songs, we economise by not having her standing on the stage when she's not playing.

[quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='115018' date='Jan 6 2008, 09:43 PM']1) How good do you need to be to get into one[/quote] Competent. Unless you're doing stuff with very complex basslines, but there aren't that many songs like that around. Bluff your way through the ones you're not that familiar with, there's only half a dozen bass lines in the world that people will notice you're playing wrong. [quote name='Cantdosleepy' post='115018' date='Jan 6 2008, 09:43 PM']2) Is it worth doing, from a financial point of view? I'm not talking about thousands of pounds a night - if I could come away from a gig with fifty quid in my pocket every time that would be smashing. Are those the big leagues? I've got good enough equipment, I reckon.[/quote] On the club circuit in the Midlands, we're on about £200 for a 4.5 piece.

About half a dozen ceilidhs (missed a couple as both bands were playing some nights) and 20-30 with the covers band. Did two or three acoustic duo ones. Also played in the house band and in the acoustic duo most Thursdays at the Roadhouse open mic nights.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='112433' date='Jan 2 2008, 05:20 PM']I defend your right to dislike the Streamer entirely but I find it a strange comment that a Warwick or a Spector is 'clunky' or 'thick' around the top horn compared to a Fender as the latter is way thicker (front to back) than the former! I could be misinterpreting your definition of the thickness to mean the width but even then I think the Fender would be wider...[/quote] I mean the top to bottom thickness rather than the depth (front to back). The Streamer doesn't have a taper on the top horn which the Fender does - in fact, it gets thicker. [attachment=4486:composite.gif] Top - the sexy Thumb. Middle - the awkward Streamer. Bottom - the half-a-dinosaur-like Precision ("thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end" - Anne Elk). Note - I'm not saying that Fenders have thin top horns (far from it) but that they taper in a natural way rather than getting thicker and then thinner. Still, the poll results so far put the Streamer ahead of the Thumb, which just shows what a poorly evolved sense of aesthetics most bass players possess. No dinosaurs were harmed in the making of this post.

The Squier Special 5 I bought for £100 or so was a pretty good buy (neck was a bit chunky for me and so I sold it when I got the Tsai). I think it's the same model (metallic black, not sunburst): [attachment=4485:S6000137.JPG] Nothing outstandingly good or bad, just grey porridge.

I'm a bit biased as I've got two Thumbs. Must admit that I didn't take to the shape immediately though. The Streamer I find rather clunky around the top horn area, as I do Spectors. I think it's because it's so thick and without the taper of something like a Fender or the additional featuring of a Rick.

NYE do for us in a social club in Brum. Three different people telling us different things about times (one of them expecting us to do till the bar closed at 1.30, which wasn't the agreement at all), the club had a crap DJ in the other ground floor room and karaoke upstairs and charged £8 for us and were surprised there weren't more in, and we finished up doing 3 x 1hr sets with a break for the bongs in the third set (and I was just returning from the toilet after we'd stopped and switched the radio on when I heard the DJ next door unleash the bongs, two minutes early). Took the Trace 1x15 cab I bought recently plus the racked up Ashdown Superfly/Lexicon MPX100/Audio Technica wireless kit - must do some more work to get a better sound, had some clipping at various points in the chain. And I took the upright out for its first covers band excursion for a few months (it was fun playing Wonderful Tonight on it).

[quote name='The Funk' post='111405' date='Dec 31 2007, 11:47 AM']I agree. I've never understood mid-scooping. The mids are the best part of the sound![/quote] I love my smiley face EQ. Am I actually the only bassist in the universe who does? Cuts through the mix and gives me lots of low-end rumble. Boosted mid just sounds weak and weedy.

[quote name='BeLow' post='111205' date='Dec 30 2007, 10:29 PM']I would advise buying a book - i used this one to more or less build from scratch - you don't have to follow exactly but it helps explain things - others have different books they have used - but this worked for me [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Electric-Guitar/dp/0953104907/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199053445&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Your-Own-Elec...3445&sr=8-1[/url][/quote] Copy of [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Electric-Guitars-Hollow-body-Semi-acoustic/dp/3901314075/ref=pd_sim_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1199053445&sr=8-1"]Building electric guitars by Martin Koch[/url] - £12 or so Girlfriend's face after seeing the book - priceless

[quote name='nick' post='111803' date='Jan 1 2008, 02:44 PM']Just for info, in case anybody's interested; seller of thru-neck 4001 a-like,Item 170181713050 [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170181713050&ssPageName=STRK:MEBOFF:IT&ih=007"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...F:IT&ih=007[/url] did not accept my maximum offer of £200 - which is OK with me. [/quote] Right, who's going to offer him £150?

[quote name='Bassassin' post='111367' date='Dec 31 2007, 11:05 AM']And finally, for the lovers of the weird, esoteric, and exclusive to Woolies in the late 60s/early 70s, a Teisco EB(?) which was probably sold as a "Top Twenty":[/quote] I'd forgotten about the Woolies guitars. I bought one - the six-string semi-acoustic. I remember there being a solid-body electric and an acoustic. I'm sure my brother bought one of the range too but can't remember what. I actually have the neck and body of one of the six-string solids knocking around in my garage - maybe I should stick it up on ebay in case anyone should want to restore one of these fine examples of junk.

[quote name='jono b' post='111143' date='Dec 30 2007, 08:55 PM']I've been thinking about buying parts off of ebay such as a body/neck/pickups/hardware and assembling a fender type bass. Are there any problems associated with this? I've been told that the neck and body might not join up properly and throw off the intonation and alignment, is that true?[/quote] You could buy a kit, eg. [url="http://www.themusicking.co.uk/build-your-own-electric-guitar-kit-p-bass-style"]this P-bass kit[/url] (which has got the wrong description on it). Though bits and pieces [i]should[/i] fit together OK, as they should be made to identical standards.

[quote name='youngie' post='110936' date='Dec 30 2007, 01:35 PM']alright, am new on here. im a new player, and fancied building a bass of my own. Have many of you done it before?[/quote] I've assembled one, but not done anything more ambitious than that yet - next project is the next stage, I've got a couple of Warwick 5-string necks which will be going onto a body which I'll be making myself. Are you talking about a complete build from well-nigh raw materials, or using some pre-built parts like the neck, or a pre-cut fretboard?

Already mentioned - Money, Chain, Can't hurry love Not yet mentioned in the Queen ones are "Want to break free" (which we do segued onto the end bit of Chain). Boingy stuff - "Mr Soft" by Cockney Rebel In the heavy section, "Paranoid" - adds the variation to the song while Iommi's guitar remains invariant Disco stuff - "Just an illusion" by Imagination (Youtube has a [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPuIpPYGXMM"]live version[/url]) - discotastic! Hang on, it must be jazz, the bassist is wearing a beret... A bit longer ago - "Stand by me" by Ben E King Absolutely vital for the song - "Fever" by Peggy Lee

[quote name='Tee' post='107564' date='Dec 21 2007, 11:58 AM']eg Oasis -> The Beatles, The Enemy -> The Jam, Kaiser Chiefs -> any nursery rhyme, to name but a few.[/quote] The Kaiser Chiefs have sat down with the entire collected works of Paul Weller (although I think they've discarded the Style Council era, which can be nothing but a good thing).

What I finished up looking like on my 50th birthday: [attachment=4321:Mike05.jpg] And playing on a microstage at Pickles in Brum - note use of Kirlian photography so my aura playing the double bass is visible. Also note that a headless bass would be preferable to the Tsai as the singer is less likely to get an earful of machine head (no, not Machine Head, that's a different thing altogether). [attachment=4320:S6001001a.jpg] Must work out how to get decent flash photos with that camera...

How many does a twin neck under construction count as?

I don't have stuff packed and ready to go - it's mainly large items and I don't have original packaging, so I prefer buyers collecting, and if not, I'd rather not have a box made up to send them in until I know that I'll need it, otherwise it'll be a waste of a box. I do try to keep buyers aware of when items will be sent out though.

[quote name='ARGH' post='108439' date='Dec 23 2007, 10:00 AM']Ok,this has been going on for years now,and I understand the 'What the eyes dont see ,the engineer dont judge" answer,but why spend 3k+ on a Fenderesque or straight bodystyle copy,when you could just get the real thing,and spend 2-300 quid on new guts for it,or parts replacement the lot for the same price?[/quote] I don't understand the point of buying a bass that looks like a Fender for multiples of the price - either buy a Fender for Fender prices or buy a bass that doesn't look like a Fender (so people will realise it's a bit special) for a lot more. Surely the main point of buying a copy is that you pay less than what you'd pay for an original?

I've got perpetual mild GAS for basses - I haven't got any 6-strings, I'm not entirely settled with a 5-string fretless, I'm happy with the 4-strings and the 5-string fretted. My big problem at the moment is amps. The Gallien-Krueger has served me well for 15 years but hasn't quite got the low-end oomph that I want, and the bigger stuff I've had or have got is heavier than I want. I've recently picked up an Ashdown Superfly which I'd like to keep going with, but the speaker I made to go with it isn't sensitive enough and is a little bulky (though it is excellent for range and lack of colouration) so I'm planning to make a pair of Omni 10.5s (which I could also use for PA for the acoustic duo) - but the Markbass CMD 121P and 151P both really tempt me too. Aaargh!

[quote name='Ou7shined' post='108767' date='Dec 24 2007, 01:26 AM']Yup, I take a 4 way with me as standard too (in fact my lead guitarist relies on that fact) but I also lose them. You'd have to pretty bad to lose your amp. [/quote] I use a Gallien-Krueger 200MB, the predecessor to the MB150 - it's almost exactly the same size as my mains extension.

[quote name='Buzz' post='108758' date='Dec 24 2007, 12:28 AM']It's something I've dealt with on other forums regarding the fact sarcasm doesn't come across in text at all.[/quote] It can - it does need careful wording though, and an audience that doesn't include Americans (if it does, they need the word NOT! added at appropriate places). But back on the original topic, I'm new here, and wasn't a Bassworlder. I've only recently started using web forums - I've been on email lists and newsgroups for about 15 years though, and some of them can get quite heated at times. Compared to recent stuff on alt.guitar.bass (there's a couple of pretty flaming threads about smoking bans), BC is never more than lukewarm. Self-censorship works if enough people are willing to criticise behaviour they see as unacceptable, but OTOH if only one person criticises someone's behaviour, then the implication is that that person is probably unusually thin-skinned.

I carry a reel-type extension cable with four sockets. The only drawback with it is that the sockets are 2+2 rather than four side-by-side and plugging a wall-wart in means I generally can't plug anything in to the opposite socket, but as I normally plug in two plugs and a wall-wart, that's not actually a problem.

I don't generally drink alcohol before going on. I don't totally exclude it, I may have a pint or two through the evening, but it does affect my playing to a certain extent. I've never had anything herbal before a gig and, even if I still smoked it, wouldn't want to. Our singer does drink a fair bit and although it doesn't affect his voice, he's liable to screw up the arrangement of songs, so we all have to be ready to follow him. Which is all very well if you're James Brown, but not if you're doing the club circuit.