KingBollock

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1386590288' post='2301755'] 3mm I find anything over 1mm to thick, even for bass! Myself & both my guitarists found out that we all use the same gauge pics, .73mm. My previous guitarist liked his pics not much thicker than a ciggy paper. [/quote] Those Dunlop Primetones go up to 5mm, which looks incredibly cumbersome. I find 3mm perfect for me. I do use other gauge picks, including some very thin and soft ones, depending on what I am playing, but for the vast majority of stuff I like the 3mm. The thickness along with the tapered point allows for a lot of control, I find.

Dunno, but I'd love to get my hands on that pair of 15s.

I don't want to start a new thread for this, I thought this might be a good place to ask... Has anyone bought [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/p/919213/jim-dunlop-primetone-picks-3mm-large-pointed-player-pack-pack-of-3/"][size=4]Jim Dunlop Primetone Picks 3mm Large Pointed Player Pack (Pack of 3)[/size][/url] from Strings Direct lately? I ordered some just over 5 weeks ago and they haven't turned up yet. [i]After[/i] I ordered them a notice appeared saying they were out of stock, which stayed up for a few days and then taken down. I gave them a week or so after that and emailed them, they said that there weren't any in the country... Since then a notice saying that they would have stock in 2 days has appeared and disappeared twice, still no picks. The site says they are in stock now but I still haven't received them. My worry is that when I ordered them I ordered them with a pack of strings, the strings came quickly but the order says that both items were dispatched, but there is a hand written note on the invoice saying the picks were to follow. I am worried that because it says they were dispatched they will be forgotten. I shall give them to the end of next week and email them again if they're not here. I just wondered if anyone had ordered and received them in that time? I'm mostly pissed off because, for picks, they are bloody expensive and I agonised over buying them before deciding to treat myself. I know £7 isn't a lot to most people, but it is to me.

That's the one! Thank you! I've been wondering for years and just had absolutely no luck searching, but I hate starting threads just to ask something I should be able to find on my own. But good old BassChat comes good again. The Bass I had seen was the X-5, I believe. I didn't try it because I was looking for something that would go well with country music and moving away from metal. Still ended up with a BC Rich Warlock in the end.

Sometime in the 90s I saw a Bass that I liked the look of that had odd knobs. They were sort of sunken on the edge and were turned vertically instead of the usual horizontal, rolled rather than turned perhaps. Annoyingly, a few years ago, I saw someone reference the make of Bass as the make that had this particular knob configuration, they also referenced the knobs a certain way, too, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. For a while I thought it might be Samick, but I think the Samick might have been the make of the Bass in the shop that I actually tried that day. I have tried every configuration of words to describe them, I can think of, in Google and come up with bugger all. I'm sure someone here will know. Probably everyone bar me.

Another good reason for buying a few different types and thickness picks is that you can change the pick depending on what you are doing with it. I currently use 7 different picks depending on what I want it to do. Though I have a favourite for most things (3mm nylon Big Stubby. Though that might change if Strings Direct ever send me the picks I ordered nearly 3 weeks ago...) the others come in handy, too.

For the last few days I have had the songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show on repeat.

I don't grunt but I do hold my breath while playing, which used to freak some people out because I can hold my breath for quite a long time. I tend to do it when concentrating in general, though, as though I can't breath and think at the same time. Which seems about right.

Westone Raider I, in silver/grey. It was my first bass and I adored it. I probably wouldn't own any other basses, wouldn't have even thought of it, if I hadn't had to sell it due to financial squeesation (I think I just invented that...) through no fault of my own. I even miss the smell of its hardcase.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1383260494' post='2262443'] A quick pic for the childless: [/quote] That is even more hideous than what I first associated the name with...

I have a Cort T35 that I love, it looks cool and sounds ace. I got mine for £220 used, though the previous owner only had it for 4 months before deciding Bass wasn't for him, it still had the selophane on the cavity cover and backs of the tuners. It has 17mm string spacing. I would recommend giving one a try if you don't fancy one of the usual suggestions.

Bugger. I did that once, turned down an offer from some musicians that went on to do great things, because I wasn't aware, at the time, that you could be in more than one band, and I didn't want to be unfaithful. A few weeks later the band I was in disintegrated. But, shortly after that, I got an invite to be in another band that, while never getting big, was the most fun band I have ever played in, I absolutely loved it. So, you never know, it might just be for the best.

Another trick is to toss a coin. Assign one bass to heads and the other to tails and toss the coin. When it lands and it lands on the wrong one you will feel your heart sink a little. If it doesn't then you still have your answer.

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1382516057' post='2252982'] I had GAS for Trace gear during the 80's but only ever owned their GP11 pre amp which went into a Peavey power amp feeding a Peavey cab with (i think) 15" 10" & 6" speakers which was so heavy it spent most of it's life in a [b]big caged trolley we pinched for behind a supermarket![/b] Ended the 80's with a more sensible Peavey TNT 150 [/quote] I did that too! In my case it was for my 60s Marshall 4x12. My 13 year old self could only lift it 6 inches off the ground on my own. The local Co-Op had these really heavy duty trolleys that were exactly 6 inches high, short enough to wheel under their back gate. The damned thing squealed like crazy and I got a lot of looks as I pushed it to and from the local youth club for band rehearsals every week.

[quote name='pst62' timestamp='1382427313' post='2251876'] You can't knock him for that! If ever a flight case was justified for short journeys, putting them in a 2cv6's is it! I remember seeing one get rear ended by a milk float when I was doing me paper round in the '70's, the Fibre glass constructed milk float came off a hell of a lot better, the Citroen's arse end just folded in like it was made of kitchen foil. [/quote] Sorry to go off topic but you just reminded me of one of my favourite stories from when I was a kid. A mate of mine was doing work experience at the local milk suppliers and one day managed to run himself over with a milk float. He had been told to test it as the brakes had just been replaced. Someone stuffed up because the brakes failed while he was driving it. A lorry had pulled into the yard where he was driving and he rammed it at full speed, which, surprisingly enough, was enough to catapult him through the windscreen, where he got trapped upside down with his leg in the air between the lorry and the milk float that wouldn't stop. The float just kept ramming him and shattered his leg. Actually, I'm not quite sure why I've always laughed at this story, probably because he later turned out to be a jealous knob, but whatever.

I have the Bass I have always wanted, it cost me £250. I could happily spend £400 on upgrades for it, though. There are a couple of Basses I fancy, the most expensive of which is about £600 brand new. If money really was no object then I would build myself a fully fitted out workshop, take classes in Bass building and design and build my very own Bass from scratch. To be honest, I haven't put much more thought into it than that.

An idea for someone that wants to have the hardware for the looks, but also be able to remove them for playability, is magnets. My wife does floristry and uses these little magnets, they're 12mm across and 3mm thick, and they are incredibly strong. You're probably not going to want to do this with a prized Fender but it would be quite easy to embed a couple of these magnets into the wood of the bass, they are so strong that they would probably work just as well through a finish if you wanted to hide them when the trays aren't on the bass. Anyway, it's just a thought, there are probably many problems with the idea that I haven't thought of but there it is. Actually, one worry might be that they might effect the pick ups or something. Edit: Or Velcro.

I don't know if this will help or not. I needed some adhesive pads yesterday for something, where I needed to mount something while allowing a little clearance, only I had run out of the pads a few days before. So I made my own using double sided carpet tape (always have some of that around, it's very strong and incredibly useful. You can make it invincible by adding superglue) and some foam, I cut up some of those foam rings you get in blank CD cake tubs and applied the carpet tape to each side. I think having foam between some joints can help absorb knocks, making the join last longer.

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1382302961' post='2250502'] It's weird cos the best voices i've ever heard aren't the best, not even close, but partly cos of that they are! Infact I know most people won't agree but i just love em! [/quote] My all time favourite singer is Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation. Her voice does very physical things to my insides, if I am listening to her when my wife is in the house I actually feel guilty.... And my second favourite singer is Blackie Lawless (shame he's such a cock). I can't imagine many agreeing with either of those.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1382266038' post='2249776'] Never heard of 'em! [/quote] Neither had I. And here was me thinking I had invented that picking technique a few weeks ago...

Bass should be felt, not heard. Don't touch the truss rod, you'll break it and have to scrap the bass. You're not a real bass player if you use a pick.

I am an outstanding example of how not to go about becoming a musician... I hate being called a musician. The only time I ever went into my local guitar shop, after talking for a while the bloke was under the impression that I was a musician, his word, and because I didn't immediately correct him, because the conversation moved too quickly, I have never been back into his shop, out of guilt. I do tinker with other instruments, but Bass is my first and main instrument, so I accept the title Bass player but I'm not even a good example of that. I have various excuses, including having to take short term memory destroying medication for my whole adult life, but the main problem is that I never challenged myself. When I was a kid and playing in bands, I was able to play everything I was asked, easily. I was actually quite sought after. When I cocked things up and lost all my musician contacts I just stopped working at it. Later I had a few friends who were aspiring musicians, who were rather in awe of what I could do, which didn't help. Because I had gotten away with it for so long while not even knowing most of the notes on the fretboard, nevermind learning to read music, I just didn't bother. I always just thought that if I ever got back into a band again I would have the excuse to work at it, to challenge myself, but it has never happened, and now I worry that I just wouldn't measure up. I remember, a few months after starting to learn to play Bass, I had taken it into a music lesson at school. The teacher played a note on the piano and asked me to play it on the Bass, I just gave him a blank look. He told me that it was an F. Another blank look. He then asked me "How the hell do you play all the stuff you play without even knowing the notes?" and all I could do was shrug and say "I don't know.", and I really didn't know. To this day I can't read music, or work stuff out by ear - though, oddly, if I accidentally play something I have heard I can then work out the rest of the tune by myself without listening to the tune - and I totally regret it. The husband of a mate of my wife's has been bugging my wife to get me to teach him to play Bass and I keep turning him down, because I am not fit to teach (I did teach guitar to a mate's daughter for a while but I hated it, horrible child...). I have yielded a bit and said he can bring his Bass over for a jam and see how it goes, I might be able to help with some basics, or at least make sure his Bass is set up right. I am sort of like the homeless person that parents point out to their kids to make sure they go to school. Take heed!

Yup, the picture works. They're particularly good during sad songs for added Real Tears™.

I was rather influenced by working in a guitar shop with guitarists who thought Mr Big was the be all and end all of guitar music, so, despite not really liking his sound, I have been a fan of Billy since I was 14. Even if he is a Scientologist... However, I have never heard of most of the other Bass players that get talked about on BassChat, certainly not until I joined here, and even now I have little clue. Except Steve Harris and Lemmy, obviously.

They remind me of a band we had at our school called The March (previously Utopia). They actually had a single in the classical charts that I know got to at least 25. Though, technically, it was just a piano piece by their bass player. Most of their stuff sounded like U2 and similar.