Kiwi

Would this mean you'd have to stop playing in order to fish the remote out of your pocket? Would the remote be IR or radio? If it was IR you'd need line of sight. But maybe it would be possible to achieve something using bluetooth...?

my eyes watered involuntarily when I saw that pic. Hope its salvagable Geoff but it looks very doubtful to me. If the headstock facing had been left undamaged, it could have been transplanted onto a new neck. If you can't send the bass back to George, then I'd be inclined to appeal to him to send over a headstock facing and get someone like Martin Petersen or Jon Shuker or Chris May (or anyone else who has a reputation for crafting good necks) to take care of the rest. The one thing George won't be able to guess before sending over a new neck is how to achieve a tight neck pocket fit.

I think the Moses Steinberger necks are OK, but I would be inclined to give their jazz necks a miss. Although they've been designed to emulate maple tonally they're just not stiff enough to handle temperature changes. I had a custom jazz with fretted and fretless moses necks once and the bass needed to be kept at room temperature or given at least 48 hours for the neck to straighten out if brought in from a cold room.

[quote name='timloudon' post='349225' date='Dec 8 2008, 11:53 PM']Is there anyone here who has had this experience- moving to london and slowly working towards a career?[/quote] You can drop a line to Phil Mann, Mike Brooks, Phil Mulford, Lowdown (Gary) and Urb to start with as they are all full time pro's. Teaching or writing seems to be the regular gig when the live work isn't coming in. The other thing to consider is that even if you get tour work, the rate you typically get paid is not that much more than doing function band gigs, even for international acts like Kylie. However some of the more established artists like Rod Stewart, Elton John, Cliff Richard etc. are rumoured to pay very well indeed.

hiya steve, so does that mean you can't adjust the tempo mid song?

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='348975' date='Dec 8 2008, 07:58 PM']From the Shadows and Light gig i think. There's some awesome songs on that. Check Dry Cleaner from Des Moines, that's ace![/quote] I could murder the dickhead who edited that. Some of the finest grooves ever on Dry Cleaner and instead of showing the man's hands at work they stick in some dumb ass shots of Las Vegas lights.

...how do you synch the pedal with your drummer? Does the drummer have to lock in with the loop, or can the loop be adjusted like a tap button on a delay if the drummer speeds up/slows down? ta muchly

I'm sure others are better qualified to comment than I, but even in London you'll need to be 110% dedicated to this career choice. You'll also have to be versatile and find whatever ways to make it pay when the performance work isn't coming in. Its VERY competitive out here with so many grads coming out of the contemporary music schools. Many of the musicians I've met have very supportive partners who provide a reliable income to support them both during dry spells. It's about who you know not what you know, as well. So it pays to get out there and meet other musicians who can slip you depping gigs. After a while you'll have done so many depping gigs and met so many musicians (and possibly other industry bods) that you'll have established a network of professional contacts. As a career choice it can be extremely mercenary and even well established musicians don't have a regular income (unless you're someone who has a regular high profile gig like Dave Swift). So a thick skin is an asset. There have been a number of creative pursuits I could have turned into a career (illustration/sculpture/music) but I didn't want the insecurity, couldn't handle the rejection that I'd have to go through before I got established, and to be honest I wouldn't have gotten as much satisfaction if I was dependent on them for an income.

[quote name='Mickeyboro' post='348745' date='Dec 8 2008, 03:50 PM']'The creative process is just the start and obviously comes second to the profit imperative.'\ You missed out 'going forward...' [/quote] I'll take raincheck on that, lets interface later after I've downloaded the bigger picture.

Depending on how much wood is actually exposed, you could attempt a superglue repair. I've done it a number of times on instruments with stone chipped sized dings and you can obtain a near invisible finish repair if you buff the dried glue flush with a nail buffing pad from Boots.

[quote name='birdy' post='348285' date='Dec 8 2008, 01:25 AM']Something like Crazy in Love by Beyonce is in a 'similar' vein and could work.[/quote] Thanks Steve! Some great suggestions there and I will give a listen to today. A structure is slowly piecing together in terms of how bits of songs could link but its like a jigsaw puzzle. I won't actually get an idea of the song as a whole until I've stopped making connections between components. [quote name='Mickeyboro' post='348329' date='Dec 8 2008, 08:35 AM']I think the whole thing of basing your song on another's shows total lack of imagination (having a pop at Rihanna and her puppetmasters, not you!)[/quote] I know where you're coming from but I guess that's the industrial side of the music industry, its about shifting product however you can. The creative process is just the start and obviously comes second to the profit imperative.

Down from 10 to 6 briefly this month and then back up to 7. May yet go back to 6...

[quote name='4000' post='348119' date='Dec 7 2008, 09:09 PM']I met Ed whilst in Vegas. I kind of wish I hadn't.[/quote] Oh he didn't try and [i]sell[/i] you something, did he? He seems to try and do that a lot, but I don't know why.

This song has been a brain worm since we gave it a shot in rehearsal yesterday afternoon. Once the percussionist got his 606 bass drum sample going, it was a barn stormer! So in order that we can develop it with minimal rehearsal time I wanted to draft an initial remix structure and run a few things past the other band members to see what happens next time we're together. I've noticed there are a few other songs that could be used for a mash up including Wanna Get Something Started (which is in the original) Small Town Boy - Bronski Beat (used by another youtuber in their remix) La Isla Bonita - Madonna (mine) Whole Lotta Love - Led Zepp (mine - that song seems to go with almost anything!) Can anyone think of other songs with similar chord progressions and a pseudo latin feel that we could borrow bits from? I'd like to structure the song to introduce each mash up after the chorus and then layer over the parts to build the song into a finale.

I'm not that much of a fan of it. Sure there's a bit of technical fluff but it doesn't really get down on the One like the original bass line, the fancy bits compete with the songs hooks and his timing is off. I know its a jam but I don't see the point of it, it definitely doesn't make the song sound better and isn't that what its all about at the end of the day?

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='347774' date='Dec 7 2008, 11:39 AM']Flea - Modulus Flea signature. Arguably their take on a MM Cutlass, but his choices, tailored to his sound and style[/quote] Its probably worth pointing out that the "Flea Bass" was formerly known as the Sonic Hammer and had a more Quantum-like shape. So perhaps not quite designed from scratch in the same way as some of the other instruments. [attachment=16939:sonic_hammer.jpg] This was mine. A superb instrument but it didn't take prisoners.

[i]"Hmmph! Show me da graphite!"[/i]

AM, your choice of bass should probably be guided by the music you intend to play. The strength of the jazz bass is that its a very versatile instrument and more or less an industry standard. If you intend to play a wide variety of pop/soul/funk/rock covers the jazz will probably allow you to get closer to nailing the sounds on the CD's. Most session musicians have a jazz bass in their arsenal of instruments. The Warwick sounds more distinctive and more a matter of personal taste. Probably a better bass to have if you're planning on playing more originals or a lot of music that was originally recorded using a Warwick.

Mines set so the height is consisent regardless of whether Im standing or sitting. In reality, that means quite a bit of variation in actual neck height as I have different instruments with different body widths.

Tonight we did a posh private wedding at a large Edward Luyten designed property in Haywards Heath. I'm not actually sure whether we were playing at one property with three houses or three separate properties because there were no fences or boundaries marked between them, driveways all seemed to share the parking for the event and the properties all shared variations on the same address name. Anyways, tonight I took the Spector Euro 6 as usual and I thought I'd leave the stingray at home so I could take the red Celinder I bought recently from the Gallery. Before the gig we had a rehearsal at Pease Pottage and ran through some potential songs for the set list. One song went well enough for us to give a go tonight too - Estelle's American Boy. We were all in marquee in the garden and had to set up in front of the guests as well as haul all the gear through the kitchen who were getting ready to serve the main course! Possibly the worst logistics yet, this year. Anyway we managed a super quick set up but there was no opportunity for a sound check so the first song was a bit wobbly levels wise but we worked through it. Personally I like playing marquees because the acoustics are usually deader than a dead thing and that means we can all hear ourselves which also means we can play really tight. The Spector usually handles most of the songs and I use it with the mid scoop on the shuttle turned on to remove a little of the aggression and I use the bass boost to fatten it up a little too. I turned off the mid scoop for the jazz because jazz basses are normally already mid scooped enough, but I did use it when using the neck pickup to get a nice round p-bass tone. Both basses sounded great tonight. The Spector was its usual growly self although a little boomy towards the low end but it was shoving a lot of bass out there into the audience under the rest of the mix. I've found my EBS 212 neo cab doesn't really throw super low end into the crowd very well which is good for me because it means I can turn it up on stage a little more with the Spector. I've been listening to a lot of gospel since the last gig and I managed to incorporate more bluesy style riffs in the songs that were blues based (like the motown stuff) and generally played with a lot more confidence when I tried pushing the boat out a little musically. That was really satisfying, I think my playing overall was a lot fresher after a 4 week break too. The gig seemed to go really well, we got to help ourselves to christmas dinner each to eat and the booze was free (although we didn't indulge). Have to say I'm now head over heels with this red Celinder. Although it sounded good in the shop, I was a little disappointed with it when I got it home and tried it at practice levels, it didn't seem to have the warmth and growl that I heard in the shop and I more or less put it down to the colouring of the Mark Bass head. However at stage volumes it was... ...gorgeous. I don't think I've ever said that about a bass I've ever owned before, but that's how I feel about it. Its the perfect jazz tone for me. Full, sweet high end, crisp and growly with any pickup combination, the instrument has a little 5th fret/G string dead spot but the rest of the bass responds very smoothly and evenly across the neck and I could hear it very clearly in the mix all the way through both our sets. Oh and the growl, did I mention the growl? Sweet mother of god, this thing growls like junkyard dog. It handled almost all of the songs I used it for superbly. I even used it on the Chic stuff and it did OK, but still couldn't quite replace the stingray. (I play the stingray differently to how I play the jazz so the sound and feel was all different.) It growls as much as the Stingray if not more, I couldn't believe that I was finally hearing the jazz tone in my head that I'd been searching for all these years. So I'm besotted with this instrument at the moment, it looks like a junkyard dog too with all the scratches and bumps and other cosmetic faults but its definitely a keeper. We did American Boy and I tried the standard riff to begin with, quietened down for the verses, did a bit of latin/house disco variation under the rap section and finished off with some full on solid slap. It was dreamy! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, smooth, warm, growly, funky jazz bass! Yet again the presence of a load of player wear has proved to be the sign to watch for! PS: I also put round wounds on the Celinder P-bass at last just to see what it sounded like and, after lowering the action quite a bit, its a really lovely bass too. Maybe sounds a little less substantial and heavyweight than a well played in 70's Fender P but very growly and (unlike a 70's P) super fast to play. Its very easy for me to get around on. I'm going to have a lot of fun exploring this one too.

Speaking of Mark King, there was an interesting discrepancy a while back over the situation with his Alembics. Alembic at one point claimed that they'd never given basses away while Mark King claimed he'd been subject to an unsolicited approach by Alembic in 1987 while on a Madonna tour (the implication being that he'd never had to actually pay Alembic for the instruments they offered to build for him.) Mica has stayed very schtum on that issue from what I'm aware. There was also a similar situation when Alembic presented Stanley Clarke with his birthday bass too. But its just two basses, I know Fodera players don't get their instruments for free by any means. Far from it.