Kiwi

[quote name='OldGit' post='225548' date='Jun 24 2008, 12:40 AM']+1 Then rehearse your set without him. Make sure you rehearse well and for a [i]gig performance[/i] not to learn the songs, that's different. Include the set intro, "last" song ending, encore and talky bits (minimise these). Choose your strongest 25 minutes and focus on it from now 'til then. Record and/or video your dress rehearsals and change the things that don't work. Set up in your rehearsal space as if it was a gig stage ie the front person performs [i]away[/i] from the drummer and rest of the band, not facing them. That way you'll have to have cues other than eye contact. Your front person, at least, should be looking at the audience and not the other band members. Time your set accurately so you have time for the encore you will get (as you'll be taking 20 mates to cheers their heads off and to demand an encore, won't you?). Have at least one song in teh set you can drop if you start late but have to finish on time. Play the "last" tune well before your scheduled end time to leave time for the encore. Have a strong song for the encore. That's the lasting impression people will take away with them. Take 3 tunes out to an open mic night beforehand to see what it feels like. And make sure you have fun ... [/quote] +1 Sound advice, we do this also and it works well. There's no substitute for playing the songs live though. We played Mercy by Duffy at Sunday's gig after two run throughs at soundcheck having never played it together before. It wasn't perfect but we placed it mid-first set and it went down well. Next time we play it, we'll do it perfectly.

[quote name='uptonmark' post='224036' date='Jun 22 2008, 11:08 AM']i remember a thread a while back about players who do or dont use their little finger (i do) i dont use my middle finger, anyone else the same?[/quote] er... ...don't use your middle finger for playing bass or doing something else?

[quote name='Smash' post='225482' date='Jun 23 2008, 11:01 PM']Wonder why he took it bits I probably would have had it as it was looked very nice, shame.[/quote] I expect he thought he could get more money for them as parts than as a whole bass. Based on my own bitter experience, I don't blame him.

Body [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musicman-1986-Sabre-body-Music-man_W0QQitemZ170231353381QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170231353381&_trkparms=72%3A638%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musicman-1986-Sabre-...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url] Pickups, you should be able to get replacement covers from Andy at Wizard. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musicman-1986-Sabre-pickups-Music-man_W0QQitemZ170231353101QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170231353101&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musicman-1986-Sabre-...id=p3911.c0.m14[/url] Control plate, preamp and knobs [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musicman-1983-Sabre-controls-pre-Ernie-Ball-Music-man_W0QQitemZ170231352991QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170231352991&_trkparms=72%3A638%7C39%3A1%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Musicman-1983-Sabre-...id=p3286.c0.m14[/url] The only fly in the ointment is finding the correct bridge although it might be worth seeing if G&L makes one that fits?

is this in the right forum?

[url="http://www.seetickets.com/jazzcafe/price.asp?code=309808&filler3=id1jcafe"]http://www.seetickets.com/jazzcafe/price.a...iller3=id1jcafe[/url] Julian Crampton is back on bass!! Woooohooo! This is going to be a sell out. Who wants to come?

[quote name='cheddatom' post='223092' date='Jun 20 2008, 04:51 PM']It wasn't meant as a real dig CK. However, if I said I was "bloody charming in fact and very professional", would you think I was being "up myself" or starkly honest, or humble and modest?[/quote] I'm too shocked that my opinion of your band would have such significance to say anything at this point in time!

[quote name='cheddatom' post='222669' date='Jun 20 2008, 09:32 AM']Modest too![/quote] You'll never know one way or another.

The trick I find is to adjust my focus in and out on the various aspects of my playing. For example, instead of focussing on the notes, focuss on the timing of the notes. Then relax and see how far I can go before your playing starts to loosen up. Before too long the song has finished!

lovely result! Otherwise I would have gone round there and stuck pins in their heads for you.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='222793' date='Jun 20 2008, 11:56 AM']I'm going to drive by and start tooting my horn!! Dood - don't forget to wear your cap and tracksuit.[/quote] Lets do this properly and get some Channel 4 Racing programme lurkers in. You know the ones, they stand in the background looking permanently distracted by something over the shoulder of the cameraman, but whenever the camera moves, they track it to the millimetre to ensure they stay in shot.

[quote name='ahpook' post='222727' date='Jun 20 2008, 10:43 AM']you're losing me here folks...is this an example of their attitude ? i miss living in newcastle and having howard on my doorstep.[/quote] Nah, they're OK. I was taking the piss a bit. But Martin is a very busy chap most of the time, however he does good quality work. In my personal experience he's not been so hot on time lines because of suppliers but if the work you need done doesn't involve external suppliers he might be able to fit a quick bit of routing work in without jepoardising other projects. You could also ask Paul_c on this forum, he's in Northants, there's a luthier that OBBM uses in Surrey as well. I think we had a thread somewhere on this forum for recommended luthiers too... ...EDIT: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=253&hl=recommended+luthiers"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mended+luthiers[/url]

[quote name='Toasted' post='222702' date='Jun 20 2008, 10:08 AM']The Bass Gallery [/quote] *sucks teeth* Could be tricky...

Mmmm, interesting!

[quote name='Huge Hands' post='222101' date='Jun 19 2008, 01:14 PM']I will admit, that you do have to be able to be arsey quite often. Remember it's you (usually on your own) against several band members.[/quote] See, I think that's where it goes wrong before anyone in the band has said hello. We're a very friendly lot, bloody charming in fact and very professional. But the majority of soundmen we've encountered always manage to dredge up some contempt from somewhere. Worst we ever had was the arse who does sound at the Boston Dome in Tufnell Park. This charm vortex walks around with a stetson on and a massive bunch of keys dangling off his belt to let everyone know how important he really is. He doesn't give a flying sh*t about anything other than himself... ...sorry rant/OFF

Its the soundman job to make sure everyone is soundchecked in time for opening. If that means doing the band that isn't headlining first then that should be what common sense dictates. With about 2 exceptions (our band soundman and the bloke who does Cafe de Paris) almost every other soundman we've worked with has been a complete arse. I don't understand it, I mean, do they teach ARSE 101 at soundman school or something?

[quote name='SJA' post='216280' date='Jun 10 2008, 04:07 PM']a mini-bodied bass like the Status Streamliner or Zon Vinny would interest me. trouble is, I'd like a D-tuner on the E string, and AFAIK the only detunable headless bridges, by Steinberger and Hohner, are narrow-spaced- I'd prefer 19mm spacing.[/quote] Funnily enough, I've been digging about a bit since I last responded. Once the mechanism was designed, it would be possible to actually get something rapid prototyped via a number of potential manufacturing methods. But it might be costly as the prototypes would need to be reproduced a number of times to check the tolerances (ie. gaps between moving parts) are OK. I guess the cost and potential lack of demand might be why noone else has done it yet. But I'll add it to a list of things to investigate once I get my head around the basic 3d modelling/milling software.

Sandberg have the MM/P pickup configuration but the MM pickup is not in the MM position. However as a special order I'm sure they'd rout it in the correct place without too much fuss. I've been looking for an MM/P 5 myself and I don't know of any maker who makes MM/P basses with the MM in the stingray location, usually it seems to be put in the jazz coil position. Odd to say the least. How about bagging a used MIJ P bass and having a friendly luthier install an MM pickup for you? You could also bag a Stingray 5 and have a P-bass pickup installed but its probably going to be harder to get a P-bass pickup for a 5 string.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='221894' date='Jun 19 2008, 07:42 AM']Here's some sound samples of the new Chunk Systems Octavius synth: [url="http://www.chunksystems.com/os.htm#sounds"]http://www.chunksystems.com/os.htm#sounds[/url][/quote] On the basis of those samples alone, I won't be selling my Deep Impact any time soon. I hope it can do softer moog and oberheim type sounds too. Should do, surely?

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='220926' date='Jun 17 2008, 08:58 PM']Oxblood is your man for valves but you will have to go to finnbass to ask him. Unlike some of the others I dont think he fell out with kiwi[/quote] They do spin some Class A sh*t over where speculation about my motives are concerned.

[quote name='birdy' post='221742']Once I got the Celinder P bass I knew I had to have a jazz and I got one and then let it go so there's now another one arrived and this is a very special bass. The tone is absolutely wonderful and its super playeable. I hesitate to say this but I can't see this going anywhere for a long time. Only drawback is it's not light at 10.25 lbs but what a bass!!![/quote] Welcome to the club

In my experience and assuming everything else is equal (ie. string break angle over the saddles) it makes a difference only so far as the bridge contributes overall to the general rigidity of the instrument. In plain english that means the following points: 1) The string vibrates from the saddle, not from the anchor and the saddles are in contact with the base plate. So most of the vibrations essentially get transmitted to the body primarily through the base plate. A high mass bridge (like a badass) is less likely to vibrate in sympathy with the the strings and therefore less likely to transmit vibrations through to the body but will help with sustain. 2) The through body anchoring [u]may[/u] make a difference if the bridge lacks sufficient rigidity as an anchor. Basically this would mean that if the bridge was flimsy enough to dampen the sustain AND the wood selected and neck design was insufficiently rigid then through body anchoring could probably have some slight benefit. 3) With a high mass bridge, the wood makes less of a contribution to the tonal character and sustain of the bass. With a low mass (eg. vintage Fender) bridge the wood is likely to make more of a contribution. So in basses with low mass bridges its more important that the wood is well seasoned and rigid if sustain is desirable. To sum up, I'd suggest the role of the bridge is relative depending on how the rest of the bass has been designed. I've owned stingrays with both options and there was little difference in tonal character.

[quote name='crash' post='221406' date='Jun 18 2008, 02:42 PM']I currently use a 'Necx' bass guitar - from Necx guitars,[/quote] Yeah, not bad. OK, you can be part of the forum. Welcome! [quote name='crash' post='221406' date='Jun 18 2008, 02:42 PM']I also have a rare Jaydee Superatural Roadie series Fretless which is gorgeous that I am currently considering selling - but I don't want to it's just too beautiful! [/quote] Yeah, we've had a few of them on here for sale.

Welcome aboard.

funnily enough we had a look at doing this one for our function band but panned it because it dragged so much when we played it.