grandad

The only instrument that I can recall with obvious dead spots was the one and only Jazz I owned, since sold on. I haven't noticed any on my present instruments though on all, certain notes sustain more powerfully than others to a small extent, but none are dead.

I began my bass playing with 34's, Precision, Jazz, Speakeasy, etc. I've enjoyed trying out numerous makes and models. All 4 stringers. Since about 3 years I have only short and medium scale instruments. Here's a good read regarding the merits of a shorter scale. http://www.innertainment.net/medium.html

Welcome.

Thank you arthurhenry for your input, an interesting read. I confess to know little about famous bassists. I can't put names to styles or tell you who they are and what band/s they played for. In fact I have difficulty understanding the mentality that leads to this sort of, I don't know what to call it, hero worship or some sort of fixation. And to get so het up and angry! Stay cool, learn to agree and disagree. I'm quite happy with the fact that opposite viewpoints may be stated in good faith and the point in hand may not be resolved. That makes for good discussion, with passion - yes, with vitriol - no. That's just impolite. I tend to remember particular bass lines and not who played them.

About a year ago I paid £225 for a TCE BG250-208. I now see them listed at £369 or more. Made in China and the value of the pound I guess.

Music, Dance, Drama, Poetry and Singing does much to socialise youngsters. It's a shared learning experience when so many youngsters appear to be disassociated from real life through spending to much time on computer games etc. Consider our needs; the physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual. How can we engage our children in a safe learning environment so that they can learn and express themselves at all ages/levels? I suggest that through the Arts is the way to go. Money well spent. I think I'd add gardening to the list. One of my local junior schools keeps ducks and chickens on a sort of small small-holding. The kids love it and feed and look after them. If you can bring up a well-balanced child in this crazy world then you've done a good job, and that is about giving what they need, not what they want.

A 3 year BA (Hons) in the 1970's was 9-5, 5 days a week, + every lunch time in the pub.

My first bass was a Legend Jazz, my second was a Legend P, both were excellent and in beautiful SUNBURST. The Jazz was a racehorse, the P was a carthorse. I think that both in there own way set the benchmarks by which other makes/models are measured. Now I tend to play a Squier Mustang, (sort of a small P bass), in beautiful SUNBURST.

I saw him in 1970 at the Isle of Wight. I think he came on after Hendrix. Can't remember much about it though. Used to listen to his albums in the 70's which were quite a counterbalance to much other of the the day.

Certainly when I began my working like in 1964 the term Engineer, Technician and Mechanic were applied to those educated to Degree level and those with City and Guilds or National Cert/Dip. Nowadays the distinction has become blurred. As to Sound Engineering, some of the subjects studied are most definitely in the field of engineering. The maths and physics involved are to a very high level.

Frequencies below and above 3 - 4 kHz need to be greater in amplitude to sound equally loud. An E string at 40Hz - ish would need 40dB - ish more power to sound as loud as 4kHz. So it all depends on where you use those watts, i.e. which frequencies are greater in amplitude. That, together with what has been said about the 'soft-clipping' of valves gives them an advantage regarding headroom. I certainly find manufacturer's spec's misleading or useless. A watt is a measure of the rate of energy conversion over time, (1W = 1 joule/sec), not a measure of loudness. A couple of lead guitarists at our music club bring along their prized valve amps, old Peavey and Mashalls, each 30W. I use my SS Peavey 120W. Thats a ratio of 1:4 with the volumes at 12ish. Just thought, that's comparing bass to lead not bass to bass, ah well never mind I'll post it anyway!

As you've probably concluded it's a minefield. I haven't tried all the makes but a fair few. This is interesting: http://www.shortscalebass.co.uk/short-scale-string-choice/ Not that I agree with his view on Rotosound as I have always liked their tone and tension, and price. Unfortunately the wrong choice can cost but any set you try and dislike can always be sold on on this forum and 1/2 the price recouped toward the next set to try. I have reached the point where I have a different make of flats on each bass (5) I own, e.g. La Bella 760F-MUS on the Squire Mustang and Rotosound RS77M on the Epiphone viola. My Aria has chromes I think, (on when purchased). So besides the tone, tension and feel, the instrument itself I find sort of dictates the string type/gauge. The first flat-wound I tried was a set of tape-wound on a Jazz. That was my "light-bulb" moment. But when I tried tape-wound on my Precision I wasn't happy and changed to Jazz77 which to my ears felt and sounded right. I haven't disliked any make of flat-wound I've tried only preferred the slight differences in tone and tension and feel. Good luck, hope you enjoy that flat-wound sound as much as I do.

Looking at GOD ONLY KNOWS for the first time as a possible instrumental for Jazz quintet with sax and trumpet on lead with guitar, bass and drums for rhythm. The usual web sources all seem to disagree though with some similarities. This link seems to give an authoritative analysis: http://www.surfermoon.com/essays/mob1.html A better knowledge of music theory would allow for a greater understanding of what's going on and how I'm going to figure out a decent bass-line. It's been painfully slow progress to date.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1476010711' post='3150372'] For me Theory is about how music works and why... I can read music, and have done theory exams but I wish this book had been available 30 years ago.. [url="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Instinct-Works-Cant-Without/dp/0099535440"]https://www.amazon.c...t/dp/0099535440[/url] [/quote] Recently read this excellent book. I'll need to re-read it a few times, (memory not what is used to be).

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1475397153' post='3145536'] Have to agree with this, for me, its more than a hours drive to PMT but well worth it for the amount of goodies they have on offer, and I've always found the staff to be friendly and knowledgeable. About a year ago, because of my back & neck problems, I thought that maybe a short-scale bass might be the answer, so I spent a very pleasant couple of hours in PMT trying out various shorties along with a few Ibanez's because of their lightweight, anyway, because of my love for precisions, I decided that the Fender Mustang I tried was probably the closest I would get to the sound I want from a short-scale bass, but I still couldn't make up my mind, so the sales guy said, "why don't you take it home and try it out for a couple of weeks, you can pay on your card now, but if you don't like it, just bring it back unmarked, and we will refund you". So I did this, but unfortunately after just a couple of days, I could tell that it wasn't for me, so I took it back and asked for the salesman who I dealt with originally, but it was his day off, so I told the guy what the arrangement was, and without any questions, he asked for my card and refunded me, I didn't buy anything else that day, but I have bought many items since, and I always recommend PMT as the place to go if you want great service. Edited for grammar and spelling. [/quote] Now that is good customer service. I purchased a TCE BG250 208 from them earlier in the year over the phone. Whilst taking my details for postage the the member of staff said "Oh I live out in your direction, I'll drop it off for you on the way home tonight". This he duly did. PMT - highly recommended.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1475074654' post='3142839'] This is the part of the puzzle that I feel is missing... [url="https://www.amazon.com/British-Rock-Guitar-Mo-Foster/dp/0857160001/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475074300&sr=1-1&keywords=mo+foster"]British Rock Guitar ...[/url] Highly recommended, it gives invaluable insight (from one, and not the least, who 'was there'...) into the history of the British music scene, from post-war (mostly...) up to recent times. The chain of influences is clearly visible, and the immense stock of anecdotes and insights of what was happening is a delight to read (and re-read...). There is, of course, mention of The Beatles in there, at their just measure, and more, far more. A treasure of a book. Worth a look, maybe, for those seriously interested in the history of music, straight from the source..? [/quote] On my list of must read now, thank you. [url="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-semioli/british-rock-history-guitar_b_4949603.html"]http://www.huffingto..._b_4949603.html[/url] Now then Blue, most of the time folks are just funnin'. I like your posts, say what you feel. BC would be the duller without them.

I generally use 4 music shops, PMT Birmingham, The Little Guitar Shop in the jewellery quarter, Fair Deal Music and Rockstar Guitars in Blackheath. To date all have given good advice and excellent service. We appear to be well served here in the West Midlands.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1474976531' post='3141937'] Mostly riding my bike, avoiding homework and playing computer games on a Spectrum. I wouldn't pick up the bass for another 6 years. [/quote] Didn't pick up a bass for another 40 years.

Aged 11 I was listening to SLEEPWALK by Santo and Johnny and 40 MILES OF BAD ROAD by Duane Eddy on my friends gramaphone. I was also looking at pictures of these things called electric guitars. That young lad has talent.

Influences on the Beatles, I'm thinking Bert Weedon, [url="http://www.bertweedon.com/biog.htm"]http://www.bertweedon.com/biog.htm[/url] and Lonnie Donegan, [url="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/05/guardianobituaries.arts"]https://www.theguard...obituaries.arts[/url] and then The Shadows. http://www.billboard.com/artist/419084/shadows/biography But, alongside many other artistes, this could true for all aspiring groups of the time. The list of American musicians/singers that were influential/inspirational might indeed be longer. I therefore proclaim, NO BERT WEEDON - NO PUNK!

For you Blue. Think USA = The Ventures, UK = The Shadows. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3tBzYcl7-8"]https://www.youtube....h?v=o3tBzYcl7-8[/url] Incidently, one group I play with still have a couple of dozen Shadows and Ventures numbers in our reportoire. Hank Marvin introduced the 1st Stratocaster to the UK and Jet, (the original Bassman), probably the 1st Precision. They were instrumental in firing up my generation into wanting to learn guitar and play in a band, and that includes just about every Brit lead guitarist you can name - Mark Knofler, Brian May etc, etc. This was my 1st LP, Xmas 1961, I still have it. [attachment=228717:Unknown.jpeg] You had to be there to appreciate the impact Hank Marvin's sound had. Can you imagine hearing a Strat' through a Vox AC30, with tape echo and a trem' bar having never heard anything like it before. You just had to be there!

After a diet of such post-WWII gems like The Billy Cotton Band Show, 2 way Family Favourites and Workers Playtime, baby-boomers like myself looked/listened at/to the USA and just loved the clothes, the music, the films etc. (rose-tinted glasses). We romanticisied a landscape where teenagers, (then a new word), were having fun at drive in movies, (wow), and jumping and jiving. Girls were glamorous pastiches of their film star idols. The guys were cool with hair-styles and panache. And they had COFFEE to drink and something called COCA-COLA! and wore JEANS. I wanted all those exotic things. We had little money and a bomb-site to play on. GB was broke and in debt. It took us 50 years to pay off the war loans to the USA. My parents generation were stalwart. As a youngster the UK seemed "[i]grey"[/i]. But the promise of adventure and excitement fuelled by a diet of glossy magazines, the cinema and Radio Luxemburg kindled a desire to break out of the conformity and servitude that got us through 2 world wars. The late 50's to the early 70's saw Jazz, Skiffle and Rock'n'Roll, Beatniks, Teddy-boys and Mods. The questioning of the status quo. The breaking down of old barriers and boundarys. Just thinking differently in discovering that we didn't have to just accept '[i]things[/i]' as they were and that you could be at odds with convention and that can be a good thing. The Beatles were the epitomy of my generation. In music and words and it seemed gave voice to our aspirations. Every Beatles LP was different to the previous and eagerly awaited. If not the first to try something new, musically, they brought attention to whatever. [i]"You had to be there"[/i] - to experience it, yes of course that's true. Since retiring I've taken to reading books on any/all aspects of music and in particular autobiographies. It has certainly changed my perspective, taste and tolerance for the better. Should I discourage utterances from a limited perspective as is so often the case. No, just to say ones tastes/point of view change over time as we revisit old musical favourites. And I keep discovering new things in many including the Beatles. So I've suggested 'Here There And Everywhere' as a new tune to learn for my Jazz quintet. I think it would make a great instrumental for us, I'm pretty sure Chet Atkins did a version. Maybe 'Gotta Get You Into My Life' would sound good too with the horn and sax?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0mLoKlqVbE Maybe some of things articulated here are what BLUE is trying to say about his experience in context, at that time. I get it, but then I have the benefit of being 15 years old in 1963. And maybe some of the more learned BC'ers might feel able to that expand on the 'common experience' thing that's mentioned. One of my favourite clips is of McCartney singing 'Back In The USSR' in the USSR some years later. The crowd loved it - the power of music! Can't wait for the DVD.

Congratulations - many happy returns.

I bought a Yamaha Stagepas 600i earlier this year. Well worth consideration. I also have 2 x Yamaha DBR 10's for foldback & a MG10XU mixer as a 'never required' back up . Have a look at the Yamaha lineup. I've never had a fault over 10+ years with any Yamaha PA and I've used all the EMX powered mixers and still have an EMX 5015cf for bigger gigs. Alongside the wattage and portability consider the number of inputs and outputs you need. The 1 button feedback control works effectively. Compression is also built in. I've used other makes but find the Yamaha EQ to be "musical" for the want of better term. Like myself, folk tend to recommend the PA they have used and become comfortable with. In my case it is Yamaha. The manual is very well written too. Good luck, it's an important decision so do take time to make the right one for you.