Linus27

I'm really struggling to think of someone musical who I regard as a genius. I can think of some great songwriters, drummers, guitarists, bass players even who are amazingly talented in there chosen field but a genius I really can't. I guess it depends of ones definition of a genius.

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='816567' date='Apr 23 2010, 07:02 PM']By the time Mozart was my age ... he'd been dead for 18 years.[/quote] Is that right? I thought you were close to Seventy

Well my powers of deduction has worked out that the venue is The Sea Breeze café at Anjuna flea market. Is that right?

Yes but only for a bit of fun. In all seriousness, the Fender Jazz is known as the Fender, the Warwick Corvette is know as the Corvette and the Musicman Stingray is known as the Stingray. The ESP Jazz is known as the ESP and the Squire Fretless is known as the Fretless.

My Fender MIA 75 Re-issue jazz is just pure heaven to play. Just so easy and I don't have to think about what I'm doing. I can play it blind. My Stingray is very similar. Very easy and easy to play but not quite as natural. Very close though. My Warwick Corvette is a little harder as it has a very thin neck, a longer neck and smaller body. However, it does feel great to play and looks stunning. I just want its older dirtier sister, the Streamer What I will say though, is the Corvette is my first introduction to Warwicks and I love them to bits. Probably my favourite bass company ever. The quality is outstanding, the bass is just beautiful and I am over the moon with it.

Yeah, really been struggling to find a band to join to do original stuff with. Driving me a bit bonkers to be honest. I really know what I want to do which is some kind of acoustic folk pop with female vocals and a slight jazzy feel at time. Like hell if I can find anything like that.

[quote name='deathpanda' post='817574' date='Apr 24 2010, 08:55 PM']meh. for the sake of not being an anti-social prick I have really tried and tried to listen to stuff like this, but by the end I always feel unmoved and uninspired. I then look to stuff like this in complete awe: the dynamics of the drums, the way the bass is completely locked in and the way everyone's feeling what they play really does move and inspire me. and that's only a video I found the other day.. I know stuff like that isn't appreciated by the masses, but I listened to stuff like that before I started studying music and it really ponders the question why other people won't spend some time to appreciate what these guys are doing compared to people like Britney. over producing music like that just takes anyway any "life" the music had, and to me just sounds as dull as the drone of a refrigerator. sorry for the angry tone, just giving my honest opinion.[/quote] The clip you posted was great and the musicianship was superb. However, after about a minute, the bass just sounded like he was soloing, fret w***ing and just playing any old sh*t that comes into his head. It did not seem to have any reason, direction or melody to it. A song like Toxic on the other hand is total throw away pop. Three minutes of sweet honey to your ears, a quick fix but nothing that should be taken seriously or looked at as a masterful piece of music. As a pop product it might well be a masterful piece of production but as a piece of music, its very simple and very repetitive but thats its purpose. Look at a lot of songs by the Police. Blimey, how much vocal reportition can you get. How many times does Sting sing I Can't Stand Losing, Roxanne (Put On The Red Light) or So Loney. It seems eternal but it's what you end up singing all bloody day and lets face it, The Police were all very good musicians, they just wrote great pop songs. This is the reason why more people don't get the music in your clip. Its easier to swallow a sweet honey over to fine vintage wine. However, once you get the taste of the vintage wine, honey just don't cut it any longer

[quote name='thunderbird13' post='798416' date='Apr 7 2010, 10:04 AM']Ahh bands – no comment personally I’d rather have haemorrhoids than go through the email/ phone call/ audition process only to find yourself in a room with 4 idiots who all think their so gifted that they don’t need to listen to each other to play music Just out of curiosity is your Bono as big a nob as the real one Never really got the hostility towards doing covers if your playing music that you enjoy whats the problem - at least your out their playing with other people - perhaps its because I’m not creative More seriously I really don’t see the point in voicing an opinion as to whether you should pack it in only you know your circumstance But I do remember you posting before about not being happy with your job and feeling run down – do you think these things are connected ? perhaps its stress which is making the already difficult job of finding decent people to play music with seem that much harder – just a thought[/quote] HEHE no, in fact Bono is quite laid back and total opposite to his real life counter part. My wife also thinks the work issue is the key to all this. She thinks that as I am not in a band, work is playing a bigger influence on my personality. When I was in a band she said I was totally different. Happier, full of life and energy and less stressed. In fact, she said work had no inpact at all on me when in a band where as at the moment it is quite considerably despite it being better now than it was before. This is why I think I need to give it another shot in a band and see how it works out.

Thanks everyone for lots of really helpful good advice. It has really helped clear my head a little and mull over things. One thing for sure is I don't want to pack my basses away or sell any gear. Far from it as I love picking the bass up and playing it every day. In fact I really want to buy another bass so its not a case of not wanting to play, just a case of if I can be bothered to get into a band or not. I think for now, I'm going to try and stick with it, find a band and see how much I enjoy it and how it works out. Its the only way forward I think and to find out for sure if its what I want or not. I'm hoping that once I get into a band that I'll start getting the motivation and drive again and things will improve. I guess time will tell.

My past has been quite good from a bass playing point of view. Been in bands from around the age of 17 and done hundreds of gigs. One band was fortunate enough to get a record deal and have a fair bit of success. Gave it all up about 10 years ago but got back into it again a few years later. Managed to get into quite a good band musically but left them after 6 months as they were a waste of time. I've now been looking for a new band and do have a couple of really good projects in the pipeline. I also dep for a U2 tribute band when the full time bassist can't make gigs. However, I'm getting to the point where I really can't be arsed with it all. I'm 40 in 2 months, I have a beautiful wife, two beautiful kids aged 7 and 17 months and I just feel that its getting harder and harder to find time and energy to fit a band in. My day job is not that hard but at the end of the day I am knackered and struggle to find the energy to do anything when I get home. Plus, one of my children is from a previous relationship so I only see him every other weekend and Wednesday's. There runs the risk of if away gigging, rehearsing etc, then I have to either arrange to not see him, see him on a different day or rely on my wife to have him. My wife is super supportive and thinks I should still get in a band and is more than happy to help with the kids etc but I still kind of feel I can't be bothered with it all and not really fair on my son. There is a chance to meet a singer/songwriter who is after a bassist tomorrow night up in London. I really can't be arsed to trundle into London from Surrey tomorrow night. Even if my wife tags along, we would then have to sort a babysitter which again is just another hassle. It does not help that I don't enjoy playing covers (U2 band is to help friends out), probably because all I have ever done is play originals and so quite fussy over how good the original material is. I do enjoy just playing along to stuff at home but its a real waste of some great basses and probably a waste for me. I would love to be out playing but I am just finding it harder and harder to find the motivation, energy, commitment and time to do it these days. Anyone else going through this or been through this?

I'm not one to fiddle with cabs and amps etc. In fact I find it all very non exciting and boring. It either sounds good or not and I sooner spend my money on basses than a couple of black boxes Old Horse Murphy was raving about the GS cabs and got me interested in them. I now have two GS 1x12's with my Shuttle 6 and they sound superb. I have never been able to get a sound out of any cab with my Stingray but the GS cabs make it sound amazing. I can't fault them and will not be changing them anytime soon.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='794628' date='Apr 2 2010, 08:42 PM']I tend to anchor on the bridge pickup a lot, it seems to be perfect for that, they don't get in the way though, whether picking or slapping etc... For the music i play, i do tend to stick to the bridge pickup 98% of the time though, but it is nice to know that you have the option of the other one.[/quote] Ok cool, thanks.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='794570' date='Apr 2 2010, 07:27 PM']Not at all, played a gig with it last night, it KILLED! [/quote] On a serious note, how do you find the two pickups in terms of size etc? Do you ever find they get in the way at all? Do you also find that you only use one or always both?

[quote name='BassJase' post='794157' date='Apr 2 2010, 12:02 PM']For selection its gotta be either the Bass Merchant in Colchester, or the Bass Cellar/Bass Gallery in London.[/quote] The bass merchant website only has a couple of Corvettes on. Do you know if they have more in the shop?