BigRedX

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1490185132' post='3262958'] That's complete nonsense Lozz ... if you want to play an original song then first you have to write the bloody thing! [/quote] From a purely personal perspective, I find it is far easier to write a new song than it is to learn anything but the simplest of covers.

I'm just a very bad driver, and unlike most I'm man enough to to admit it. The roads are a much safer place without me behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

[quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1490174559' post='3262769'] I just acquired a 1984 Jazz Sound from Bass Direct and it is marvellous. The Tokai stuff is consistently very fine up to the present day. [/quote] Not my experience at all. The MiJ instruments continue to be excellent. The others are no better or worse than any other budget Korean or Chinese instruments.

The popular songs like "Sex On Fire" are what a covers band audience wants. Music they know and can drunkenly dance and shout along to. It's all very well playing a more individual set, but unless these songs are also well known by your audience then you might as well still be playing stuff you wrote yourselves. IMO playing covers isn't the easy ride it is often made out to be. From my brief stint, I found that learning 20 songs meant having to play and think like 20 different bass players, and that some were far easier to "get" than others and it was by no means obvious which were which until I actually got around to working out what I needed to play on each song. Also playing covers has ruined several songs for me that I used to like a lot when I was just listening to them, to the point where I never want to hear them again for the rest of my life.

I've made it to my mid 50s without needing to own a car and have been in many bands that gigged extensively all over the country. In each case the band had a "band van" or similar usually with a soundman/roadie/driver, so not having my own transport has never been an issue. For local gigs we'd make do with a one or two taxis (depending on how much of our own gear we need to bring and how much was being supplied by the venue or other bands on the bill) but then again originals bands don't have to bother carting a PA and lighting rig around. From my brief stint in a covers band, it seemed to me that each band member using their own can didn't really make economic sense compared with the single van especially for any gigs any distance away from our home town.

Signex do a [url=http://www.signex.com/cpu16.html]modular patch panel[/url] like the one in the photo, where you get a blank 1U panel with 16 pre-drilled holes to fit a large range of individual sockets (and blanking plates for the unused locations if your OCD demands it). In the days when the band I was in took most of our studio on stage with us to be able to play our songs all our racks were fitted with one or more of these panels. Not only did it make patching everything together much easier, but it allowed us to use suitably rugged connectors like XLRs and Speakons for all the patch cables and keep the less robust plugs like jacks and DIN safely out of the way inside the rack. The only issue I can see with wanting to get everything in the patch strip is the mains connection. You would need to box in the back to make it safe. I have [url=http://www.emosystems.co.uk/Products/Power_Distribution_System.html]one of these[/url] in the back of each of my racks to do the mains. If you get one of the models with sockets both sides you can daisy-chain additional equipment not in the rack to them.

Business

Two Boss FS5U foot switches and a suitable cable - stereo to 2 x mono jacks - will do the job if you can't find a replacement TE switch.

[quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1490096325' post='3262090'] thanks for all the responses I think a lot of he touring thing is im petrified of flying as well as the playing to no-one.plus u get back knackered and need a holiday.I can do that and have done that hear multiple times I love nothing better then at the weekend driving up north in a sh*tty van playing in a dingy club then crashing on a hotel floor. But spending money paying for an album to sit on my shelf when I could have a week in the county with the mrs just aint for me Im either getting old or im turning into a miserable old git lol [/quote] From this your ambitions seem very much at odds with the rest of your band. IMO you really ought to do the honourable thing and quit to make way for someone who really does want to do the same as the other band members.

Get a passive DI box like [url=http://www.emosystems.co.uk/Products/Passive_Direct_Injection_Boxes.html]one of these[/url]

Cheap because it's collection in person only.

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1490104364' post='3262176'] Bass Surgery made at least one 6 string Rickenbaker >> More here - [url="http://www.3dentourage.com/425/6-string-ric.htm"]http://www.3dentoura...-string-ric.htm[/url] I have a feeling they're out of business now though... Eude [/quote] That's very conventional for a Bass Surgery instrument. And yes they have gone out of business now.

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1490102709' post='3262165'] When you're young it's your duty to be young and foolish. If you don't you'll regret it. There's nothing good about being in the 2nd half of your life and have no stupid times to look back on. But once you have the "steady job" (if that actually exists, ever), the mortgage, the family/spouse, et al, you're tied down to grind-stone by commitments. [/quote] But of course once you emerge on the other side of all that responsibility with the mortgage paid off there's no reason why you can't indulge all over again. I joined The Terrortones 6 months before my 50th birthday. I haven't had so much fun musically since I was in my early 20s... [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1490102709' post='3262165'] The daunting fact is that with all the "media explosion" there's less chance of making it big now than there was in the past. Today singers get booked by the media moguls. The band is replaceable by the staff musos; with a few exceptions. [/quote] Which is why I keep saying it's more important to work on your songwriting skills than it is on your instrumental "chops". Take an active part in crafting the songs and make sure that you get a credit, then even if you do get replaced in the band, you'll still be making some money out of it - potentially a lot more if the songs are successful than you would if you were just the bass player in the band.

[quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1490081493' post='3261925'] i have no desire to pay £2000+ to record albums I have no desire to pay £3000+ to tour abroad to play to 50 odd people I have no desire to sit in a pub ad talk about my band like were metallica I want to rehearse with a set of guys on my level pay gig and just enjoy the music. is that so wrong ? [/quote] Not necessarily, but at the risk of being unsympathetic... [quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1490081493' post='3261925'] i have no desire to pay £2000+ to record albums [/quote] TBH £2000 isn't a bad figure for recording an album. Unless you are so well rehearsed that you can record with the whole band playing together and get each track down in less than 5 takes, or you are doing it all at home (in which case you've probably spent considerably more than £2000 on equipment to make the recording) I'd say this is probably the entry level for a good quality representation of 40 -60 minutes worth of songs. Also when you split that figure between all the band members it's not such a bad investment IMO, and if your band are sufficiently entertaining when you play live, and you have the time and energy to do the required promotion you shouldn't have any difficulty making the money back. However... Do you really need to do a whole album? Like it or not most of your listeners are going to consume your album a track or two at a time, and for every person who claims to only listen to whole albums there are plenty more who will cherry pick their favourite track(s) and ignore the rest. Why not break up your recorded output into 3-4 track EPs? That way you can concentrate on your very best songs. You are still getting your music out there to promote your band and have recorded product to sell at gigs, but IME you are getting a lot more value for money and so are your fans. [quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1490081493' post='3261925'] I have no desire to pay £3000+ to tour abroad to play to 50 odd people [/quote] IMO if you can't at least break even on a European tour then your band is doing something wrong. Every band I know who has gone abroad to gig, so long as they have been well organised, picked the right gigs to play and had a list of alternative venues to fill in if any gig gets cancelled at the last moment, and have had plenty of merchandise to sell afterwards to the people who have enjoyed your gig, have made at least enough to cover the cost of getting out there and doing the tour in the first place. Of course organising all of this takes time and effort, but there is absolutely no reason why you should be out of pocket at the end of the tour. [quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1490081493' post='3261925'] I have no desire to sit in a pub ad talk about my band like were metallica [/quote] I'm completely and utterly with you on this one. I doubt whether any of your friends want to hear this either unless of course you have some entertaining stories to tell. [quote name='christhammer666' timestamp='1490081493' post='3261925'] I want to rehearse with a set of guys on my level pay gig and just enjoy the music. [/quote] And here's where I think you've got it wrong. Even if it is only unconsciously in your wording, it sounds to me as though you've put musicianship above the music. IMO the music should always come first. Everything else is subservient to that. Your audience will always appreciate a really good song over technical ability on your instruments, even if your are playing Prog, Math Rock or Technical Metal. The thing is that in order not to keep having to pay out money to keep the band going you need to be really well organised, and also just being a good bassist is no longer enough (even if it ever was at any time). You need to spend the time and put in a lot of effort doing all the non-musical things required to keep the band going, and ideally you need to have a lot of those skills within the band itself. However don't despair if you or your band mates don't have the ability to do all of those other things, because IME if you look hard enough there are always friends of the band with the abilities you can tap into for free (or at least at a discount rate) when you really can't do it your selves. OtOH, if the things in the OP are what the rest of your band want to do, but you really don't, then I hate to break it to you, but you probably are not in the right band for you, and you should probably do your band mates a favour and at least tell them how you feel, or step aside and make way for a bass player who is more in tune with what the rest of the band wants.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1490041269' post='3261716'] I would like a company which prints down arms and stuff. I would like a large print running down arms which was only legible when both arms are held straight out. Am I dreaming or is this do-able? [/quote] This would be on long-sleeved shirts and just on the arms, visible from the front rather than the sides as usual? In theory this would be possible. In practice because most small volume T-shirt printers are set up with a standard printing carousel for printing on the body of the shirt, it probably won't be cost effective unless you are ordering several thousands of shirts. I've just done a quick search and there are a couple of firms who claim to be able to do this but they are all custom orders and they are located in the US. I would suggest searching for local T-shirt printers and contacting them directly by phone to see if they can accommodate your needs. Be prepared for it to be expensive.

And FWIW I've used both Awesome Merchandise and Shirty Something for T-shirt printing (100 T-shirts). Quality of both was excellent (print and T-shirts themselves). Awesome Merchandise were slightly cheaper and very slightly quicker in their turnaround.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1490022427' post='3261514'] Two of my basses are strung thru so I could try the red label on those then BRX? [/quote] Depends which part of the string you like on the saddle. I like the thinner part, as I it gives me a better feeling low B. However on the StarBass the taper seems to be solely for getting the ball-end to fit in the Warwick tailpiece. On my Gus it sits nicely with the full thickness of the string starting just after it has passed over the saddle.

If you get a MiJ model then they are great. I've owned a Talbo bass and still own a Talbo Jr Guitar, both of which are exceptional instruments. However I do have to say that I've been less than impressed with the UK distributers for Tokai, and ended up buying both of mine direct from Japan. All from what I've seen recently none of the more budget bass models are made in japan, and consequently they aren't really worthy of the reputation of the Tokais of the 80s.

[quote name='6feet7' timestamp='1489943239' post='3260987'] I had DR Sunbeams on my Warwick Starbass V (in the for sale section at the moment but wasn't getting the sound I wanted, so put some red labels on. It took a few days for the feel to 'feel right' but I can see no reason to go back to £30 - £50 strings as the Warwicks sound brilliant [/quote] The StarBass supposedly comes with Red Labels and the strings fitted to mine when I bought it were great. I tried Black Label, but didn't notice and significant improvement, so I went back to the Reds. One thing to note if you are looking at 5 string sets is that the low B is tapered, but the taper ends 50mm from the ball-end so it might not sit on the saddle (which is what you want ideally).

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1489783024' post='3259891'] 10 t-shirts, 1 colour print front & back, £120.00! �� [/quote] The thing with T-shirt printing is that you pay a lot for the first print - usually around £40 per colour per side - and after that the unit price is relatively low. So you need to order a decent quantity - ideally 100 minimum and then you start getting more sensible prices of around £350-400 for a single colour print front and back. The tricky part is working out how many of each size you need to order. IME no matter how many skinny hipsters make up your audience, the people who buy T-shirts tend to be on the lager side, so bias your order towards L, XL and even XXL sizes.

Personally I think that the synth comparison is vey valid. As a synth player from an era where programmability was only for those with record contracts, I couldn't wait long enough for the technology to become affordable for the ordinary player. And I'm not talking about the complex synths of today but something simple with a single oscillator and envelope generator. There's probably more controls on a relatively modest 4 pedal set up then there is on a Roland Juno 60, but no-one in their right minds would have picked the original Juno 6 over the Juno 60 with it's programmable memories unless they they really couldn't afford the small extra amount the 60 cost. For me it's the same with effects. As soon as you have more than a couple, it's a complex system and programmability is a boon. I couldn't see myself ever going back to individual pedals unless I had a dedicated road crew to move the extra gear I would need. Before I got my Roland GP8, my individual non-programmable effects collection required a 14U rack to hold them all, and a chunky cable snake for all the foot pedals to control them. The other thing to bear in mind is that sound is completely and utterly subjective. The OC-2 might be technically better on paper to the octaver on the Zoom, but in the end it's what they both sound like to OP's ears that matters. I've made the mistake in the past and upgraded to something with a supposedly superior sound quality only to find what I really liked was the "grunginess" the inferior model gave the sound. Sound-wise there is no right answer, so I'll stick with programmability because of the convenience it adds.

If they don't have actual recordings of the songs they are playing for you to listen to (and as a new band there's a good chance that they won't have anything recorded), then I would suggest that ask them for a list of similar bands that they consider to be their influences and spend the week impressing yourself in the music so that you can get a feel for how the bass guitar works in that particular genre.

Start by getting a quote from [url=http://www.awesomemerchandise.com]Awesome Merchandise[/url], and then Google local T-shirt printers in your area and see if any of them can beat it.

If I was to be starting a new originals band my process would be: 1. Pick a genre that I like that also has a dedicated ready-made following. 2. Sort out enough musical ideas for about 25-30 minutes worth of songs (enough for a supporting set) and get them down in a form to play to prospective band members. 3. Advertise and audition for a singer/lyricist. I don't sing or write words very well, so I need someone who can do these things so that we can get a songwriting partnership going and turn my musical ideas into finished songs. Record a decent quality demo. 4. Once that is done decide what other instruments we need to perform these songs live, and advertise for musicians to play them. 5. Get some gigs booked and get rehearsing.

For me highest is definitely Ziggy Stardust. It was the first album I owned so I got to know it inside out. I can say I've really been taken with very much that he's done since Scary Monsters, with the exception of Tin Machine which I rather like.