KingBollock

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348691913' post='1817084'] Surely, *SURELY* you asked him how he knew i.e. what he recognised in you? Go on, spill the beans.... [/quote] I didn't, sorry! I was dressed like this, but without the sweatbands: Perhaps it was the Bass I was carrying that gave it away? Oh no, I'd left that at home...

In the summer I was in a Guitar shop somewhere on the Welsh coast. I looked around and commented to my wife (quite quietly but there was only her, me and the shop owner in there) that there was only one Bass in the whole place. The shop owner nodded and said "Bass player, I knew it! I thought when you came in that you looked like a Bass player.". I took it as a complement.

I quite often manage to get exactly the sound I want. The trouble is that the next time I play through the same rig, with the same Bass, in the same place, playing the same tunes, absolutely nothing different, it's no longer the sound I am after and I have to start again. I've been doing this for over 20 years, I just can't settle on one sound. I do know what sounds I don't like, which is a start.

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348601274' post='1815888'] Ah, now, that's interesting. Are you thinking some kind of electro-magnetic feedback of some kind? The answer is - I don't know! I will check it out in the morning and report back... funnily enough, I didn't think to experiment with that.... [/quote] I'll be honest, I have no idea... It happens to me but all my amps and Basses are squashed together with 2 running PCs and their monitors, and a bunch of different kinds of lighting, including strip lights. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some kind of buzz in here.

This might sound strange, but I'm curious... Does this happen no matter what orientation you are in to your amp? As in, if it happens when you are facing your amp, or the amp is right behind you, does it stop, or get quieter, when you turn so you are at a right angle to your amp?

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348513027' post='1814641'] surely this doesn't just depend on the length of your strap but the length of your *cough* as well ...? [/quote] I've got a bit of a chest infection, I can *cough* for hours.

When I played in band when I was young, I always had my Bass covering my gentleman's area, which is where I wear it while sitting down, I don't have it on my lap I let it hang down between my legs. After 16 years of not being in bands, so not having to stand up, and getting bigger and bigger as the years went by, I was surprised to find that when I stand up I can no longer have my Bass that low because my belly shoves the top of the Bass away from me so that the strings are almost parallel with the floor. So when standing, I have to have it over my bellybutton.

I once jumped to the wrong conclusion after I had bought a brand new 15" speaker. If I played anything below G# on the E string it farted really badly. I was gutted because I'd had to save up to buy the speaker. I went on a different Bass forum (didn't know this place existed) and complained, just for the sake of ranting. Someone suggested that it was the cab I had put it in but I said it wasn't (it wasn't). When I came back later that day there were 4 pages of people calling me an idiot and a liar! (despite the fact that there was absolutely no way for them to know what size cab I'd put it in). It turned out to be a hidden gain setting on my V-Amp Pro, it was set too high and was causing the DDT protection in my Peavey amp to cut in. I was very relieved when I worked it out. I gave up on that forum (I'd only just started visiting there anyway) and while searching for a new Bass forum I found this place, so it all worked out for the better in the end!

I think my assumption has been that the extra downward force on the bridge would create a better connection to the body of the Bass, allowing for better sustain by helping eliminate errant vibrations which would dampen sustain. I would worry about the break angle though, I think having the strings run from the end of the Bass, instead of from the back, would be better.

I know it's not a Bass, but I love this: Would love to get a Bass done in this design. Half my clothes have this pattern, be cool to have a matching Bass!

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1347622267' post='1803121'] unless the aim of the helium was to make it lighter and ive got the wrong end of the stick! [/quote] That's what I assumed, that it was to make them lighter, but I was wondering about other, unplanned for effects.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1347618542' post='1803063'] A sealed 8x10 filled with helium ;-) [/quote] It would be interesting to hear what effect the Helium would have considering sound travels faster through it then normal air. Even in a sealed cab it's got to make a difference I would imagine.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1347619301' post='1803072'] Is the the topic question limited to bass gear? If not, I want to know about those hover bike things they had in Star Wars. [/quote] http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2012/aug/23/star-wars-hover-bike-float-video

[quote name='MarkWJenkins' timestamp='1347458005' post='1801080'] Diolch yn fawr =) Not from the Valleys butty, Llanelli area [/quote] Welcome! (I'm an Englishman in Wales...) Not far from you, I'm in Cross Hands.

[quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1347482620' post='1801558'] It's just about the most fun you can have playing a bass! Freedom to do you own thing from pounding root to playing insane harmonies. No-one to complain that "you didn't play that Entwhistle" or whoever. Folk music is such a wide field that you can find kindred spirits to play just about anything in any style. Steve [/quote] To be honest, I'd rather grab my Banjo, Penny Whistle or Bodhran than my Bass for Folk or Country. Which is a bit odd as I love both genres and I also love the Bass. Bass is my first and main instrument, it's what I'm best at and I love playing it.

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1347437295' post='1800663'] Few good points there. The first is flaky people who don't have a great deal of drive or are busy doing life stuff. I know plenty of musicians, but tying them down to play is hard. I think if the gigs are there and you know what market to aim at you're sorted. If there is no market for the music you are into then you either have to broaden your musical aspirations or never play. I'm not sure which direction the latest project I'm in will go. It's not lacking in drive, not sure if the genre is right, not sure if all the musicians can commit to regular gigs (or even want to). Meanwhile I'm thinking time for a jam night. Although last nights rehearsal with my other band was smoking. Go figure! [/quote] I have to say, I'm not [i]quite[/i] so restrictive in what I'd like to play as I made out. I want to play Rock/Metal, but I really, really don't want to do the bog standard Rock covers band thing. I don't mind doing some covers, but I'd rather work on original stuff. To be able to do the Blackened Death Metal thing would be ace, in a 6 piece band including keyboards. But I'd quite happily do something Thrashy/Megadethy/Slayery. Or even a 3 piece type thing in a Motorheady kind of way. I never know what genre to put W.A.S.P. in, they seem to be one all by themselves, but something like that would be ace too. Other problems for me include living in the middle of nowhere and being unable to drive. We have a Mazda Bongo, which would be great for shifting gear, but my wife works odd shifts and pinning her down to a certain time each week to give me a lift to rehearsals just couldn't happen. Also, I'm not bothered if it never leaves the garage, I'm not bothered about gigging or making any money at it. I just want to get together with friendly people and write/play heavy music. There was a time when I would have considered Country or Folk music, but, while I enjoy listening to them, I don't enjoy playing them.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1347369728' post='1799859'] Its all very well if you have lived in an area for ages, and grown into the music scene there, but if you move somewhere new or are just getting started it can be quite hard to find a good band to play with! I used to live in Manchester and had no trouble getting in bands and getting gigs around the city, I had a little black book full of numbers if I needed someone too. but then I moved down to brighton and after 3 years I'm just starting to get connected with a few people. Gumtree has been good, but turning up to jam nights even just to watch at first before joining in (when you're confident enough) can work well to get you known. Lots of people turn up to these things when they need a bass player.. drummer etc. There seems to be a larger percentage of muppets down here, or maybe I was just lucky in manchester... [/quote] I know the feeling! I got into my first proper band when I was 13. After that I was never without a band for more than a fortnight, and I never had to call anyone, everyone seemed to have my number and I'd get people I'd never met turning up at my door asking if I'd be in their band. At the age of 17, after a lot of family trouble, I had to move away and I couldn't tell anyone where I was going, including the band I was in. I loved that band, it was fantastic, with talented musicians and really good people. Since then I have only had a few approaches from people who'd heard I played and got the occasional "We should totally do something, dude!", but nothing's ever worked out. 20 years later and I'd still love to play with other people. But 4 years ago I moved 160 miles away from everyone I knew (except my wife, she's the one that dragged me here), to the middle of nowhere, and I don't know anyone as I never bloomin' go out. Jam nights are no good because what I'd really like to do is Blackened Death Metal... At my age! I've got a pretty big rig sitting here in my music/computer room and it's never been used in anger, such a waste (but it [i]was[/i] cheap). There's no hope for me.

The worst is the Dean Blue Burst. This one is mine but it doesn't show the colour up so well (badly...): Unfortunately, this is what happens when you let your wife buy a Guitar...

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/186161-is-peavey-gear-any-good/

Son of a Preacher Man was Dusty Springfield, not Janis Joplin.

Just read an interesting article about piracy. Anyone who has watched a DVD since 2006 has seen that advert/warning about piracy being a crime. You know, the one that says "You wouldn't steal a Car..." etc. The man who made the music for it was told it was for a one off job for a music festival and was paid a token sum for it. Apparently the composer (Melchior Rietveldt) doesn't watch many DVDs because it wasn't until a few years later that he actually saw the ad and realised that they had used his music. He sent a collection agency to the company to get the $1.2 million that they actually owed him. He was contacted by one of the company's board members, who offered to help him get his money, as long as he paid him 33%! Rietveldt had had enough and went to court instead. It finally looks, after all this time, that he might actually get some compensation for his effort.

I've had my Peavey T-Max 500 for about 10 years, I think, I paid £165 for it second hand. It has a Tube pre-amp and a solid state preamp, which are switchable or even combinable. I adore it. Last year I bought a Peavey 410TX to go with it, which I paid £45 for. Would like to get a Peavey 2x15 one day too. They're heavy but, the way I see it, my back is already buggered, I probably couldn't lift a lightweight cab on my own anyway, without risking further damage, so if I'm going to have to have help I might as well get something that sounds just as good but is a hell of a lot cheaper.

Want one! It actually looks really nice.

I'm starting to get worried now. All but one of the Torrent sites that I use has been closed down now and I worry that they have my details. The thing is that I only really download TV programs, TV programs that we actually pay for and get on the Sky box, but, me being me, I don't record them on the TV and watch them downstairs. On the occasions that I do actually sit and watch the TV, it's to watch stuff that my wife likes. I never use the TV or even go downstairs when she's not in the house (due to health issues, so telling me to just go downstairs and watch them isn't an option), so I would never get to see those programs. It's far easier for me to download them from EZTV and watch them on my PC. EZTV has been having problems lately and I have a feeling it's not going to last much longer, what the hell am I going to do then?