gary mac

Thanks chaps. Gave him his second lesson last night. Concentrating on his left hand techique, including using the little pinkie. Showed him a simple 12 bar and a Fratellis tune, that he will tormenting his folks with over the next weeek. I'm actually enjoying it. All the best Gary.

Thanks again mate.

What a depressing sight, hate to see guitars with these sort of injuries. One of the many guitarists in the band that I'm playing with, was playing an epiphone with the same sort of damage the other night. He had carried out what seemed a very effective repair. Let me know if you want me to get his number for you.

Thanks for the tips chaps, much appreciated.

Hi. I'm after some advice concerning tuitoring a bass novice. I have been asked by a family friend to help her son with some lessons. I am not a teacher, although I have been giving my daughter some lessons, but she has always been around musicians and has played drums from a young age, so she picked up things quite quickly. I met the lad a couple of days back and showed him some warm up exercises and the major and minor scales. What next? Would some simple tunes be the best approach, a basic twelve bar maybe,or more in the way of scales etc. He is a very shy lad and its not easy prying info out of him, as to his musical influences and what he is interested in learning. Any advice would be appreciated, I so want to get it right and ensure that he doesn't get either bored or overwhelmed. Thanks, all the best Gary.

Thanks for the info, just what I was looking for and much appreciated. Might have a try this afternoon and will let you know the results. Yes it is a deluxe. Got it about ten years ago from the bass centre. Never actually gigged it and its lived in its case most of the time, as I have been afraid of it getting damaged. I recently decided that it's no life for a bass, living in its case and never seeing the light of day. So I have used it for the last couple of band rehearsals and plan on using it for the next gig in February, hence the desire to sort the string/pickup problem. All the best Gary.

[attachment=5174:musical_009.jpg][attachment=5174:musical_009.jpg]Hi chaps. My Fender seems to be suffering varying string volume, the E and A strings being louder than the D and G. I was thinking of attempting some pick up adjustment today, as I suspect that might be the prob. Just thought I would ask for any tips prior to wielding the screwdriver. I think its the neck pick up that wants raising under the[attachment=5174:musical_009.jpg] D and G strings, is there a recommended height for clearance between the pick up and strings? Thanks any advice would be much appreciated Gary

Ronnie Lane on Maggie May. Still a class bass line though.

Awesome indeed. If I play for another 30 years I know I won't be that good. Makes me realise that my enthusiasm outshines my talent by a long way. But maybe that's not such a bad thing. All the best, Gary.

Enjoy. And keep us posted. I really fancy the idea of some lighter more manageable kit, really struggle these days to lift my trace combo. All the best Gary.

Yesterday I was learning two very different numbers: The Kaizers, Everything is average nowadays, The Shadows, Apache. My daughter requested the Kaizers. She has taken up the bass recently and I'm attempting to teach her. The band I'm currently playing with are planning to rehearse Apache tonight. Although I'm a bit ancient I've never actually played any shadows stuff and don't have any recordings. Last night I happened upon BBC 4 and there were the Shadows doing the very number, so a bit of frantic remote sorting and I managed to record most of it. Just hope I don't have to do the moves.

Impressive, got to admire them. Don't think my band mates would be too impressed if I tried it to Brown Eyed Girl though, not that I've got that sort of talent anyway. Enjoyed viewing though, cheers Gary.

Hi Al. I have a warwick combo purchased new a few years back from the bass centre. It's not actually one of the ones that you are asking about, but thought I would reply anyway. I am actually using this amp again lately as its so much lighter than my trace elliot, which I struggle to lift these days. The build quality is very good and over the years has been very reliable. I've always found it easy to get a decent sound from the available controls. The model I have is fitted with a 15" speaker, which on it's own does a good enough job, although on occassions I felt it struggled a bit. I think this is the case with a lot of combos of this rating (150 watts)> the addition of a 2 x 10" extension cab allowed a huge improvement. I was planning to sell the warwick and extension cab a while back, but so glad that I didn't as it's so easy to lift and set up, provides a good sound and is loud enough. All the best Gary.

My own bass related pressie this year was the Guy Pratt book. About 50 pages in so far and really enjoying. All the bes to you all, gary

+ 4 = 176

Hello mate from one of the newbies (friendly variety). Gary

Thought I would add a pic..

I've gone and done what I told myself I would never do..... bought a bass on ebay. It was my wifes fault. She was away at the weekend and I spent too much time looking at ebay. I put in a bid within a few minutes of the end time, thinking that I wouldn't really be sucessful and that someone else would sneak in at the end. But they didn't. So, all in a panic I rang wife to tell her, expecting a rollicking, but she was pleased. Although she did ask which one of my other basses I would sell. Anyway, it all turned out ok. The seller personally delivered it the next day and the bass was exactly as described, totally immaculate as far as I can tell. It's a Yamaha semi acoustic. I thought it might be a bit of a one trick pony in the sound department, but I was wrong it's got plenty of punch and a good variety of sounds on offer. I'll post up a pic or two later, although I guess some of you probably spotted it on ebay. I had forgotten that feeling that a new bass brings, I'm still not able to walk past it without picking it up for a play. All the best Gary.

Hi mate, You've found a busy and friendly forum. I only joined a few days back myself and I'm thoroughly enjoying. All the best Gary.

Bit of a glum old day today, I was spending too much time checking out bass stuff on Ebay and at risk of buying something else that I can't afford, decided I should have a bass workout as a distraction. I couldn't decide what to play, but wanted a challenge, so loaded up the cd with fragile by Yes. Perhaps not that sensible without a few warm up exercises. That Chris Squire came up with some busy bass lines and I've now got a seriously uncomfortable arm! Enjoyed it though, but wish I knew what the chord progression is, particularly the fast passages. Cheers Gary

I think it was back in 1972 or thereabouts, went to stay at a mates house for a few days and got introduced to Led Zepp two. Soon as I got back home I started bugging mum and dad for a bass. It took a few months and then one day my dad came home from work with a guitar shaped box. It was so exciting opening that case for the first time. My first bass an Epiphone semi acoustic. I recall being a tad disappointed that I didn't sound like John Paul Jones (all these years later, I still don't). I think the first bass line that I learnt all the way through was The Beatles, Let it Be. Gary

thanks for your time and advice chaps. The fuse I replaced with is of the slow blow variety so hopefully all will be well. Cheers. Gary.

This may not even be a problem, but just thought I would ask. I switched on my Trace combo a few nights back and nowt happened. After a bit of fiddling about I discovered that the the fuse in the amp had blown. I fitted a replacement, which did the trick. My question is: do fuses sometimes blow for no apparent reason, or is it a sign of a potential fault? The replacement has not blown, but I'm just wary now and worried about the same happening mid gig or rehearsal. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. All the best Gary.

hi sparkl. Hope you find the site as enjoyable as I am. Cheers Gary