BigRedX

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1465217280' post='3066169'] That was a great bit of dialogue. Good on them for leaving it in. [/quote] But it was a lazy and inaccurate dig. Most mainstream music has always been mediocre. But that's what helps the truly interesting stuff stand out. Unfortunately IMO none of the bands on this programme really captured the imagination. On the evidence of the snippets of music presented, Bombskare were the most entertaining band by a long long way - although with ska being such uplifting good-time music you have to be pretty crap not to be able to capitalise on this. Then it was just a question of which of the other bands were going to be the least dull in order to get through... Musically it all seemed to be rather predictably worthy and tedious, the sort of things that musicians rather than real audiences find interesting. I would have liked to have seen and heard more from the skiffle band, as they seemed to be a bit less obvious than the bands that did make it through.

[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1465120170' post='3065372'] Anyway, my question was how often do you introduce new material into the set, every week? Every month? Do you have a completely new set every year or do you have a few perennial favourites that you can't drop? (For us thats the usual Dad Rock stuff - Hendrix, Zepp, Cream - Yawn...) [/quote] As quickly as we can write then and get them suitably rehearsed to be able to gig. On average we write about 20 songs every year of which half will make it to a gigable state. IMO nothing is sacred. We no longer play any of the songs from our debut EP in the set, although we still practice "StickyPants" for the occasional encore.

There simply isn't such a thing as a future-proof audio interface. The only way to do it would be to stop updating any of your software including the OS.

Finally got around to changing the strings and shimming the neck. First things: the neck on mine is a very tight fit in the pocket and I managed to chip the finish on the treble side whilst removing it. Luckily I found the missing piece of finish and I'll probably be able to glue it back in place once I'm happy with the new neck angle. So far it's looking good. When fitting the LaBella round wound strings I wound more onto the machine head posts to get a better break angle - I found that I needed 8cm on the low E, 10cm on the A, D and G and 6cm on the B and high E to get what I considered a good angle and I might still consider fitting a second string tree for the D and G strings. The new strings have made a massive difference already. Aside from getting a low E string with a decent tension the LaBellas have gone a long way to evening out the tonal differences between the strings. They are also nowhere near as bright sounding as the stock strings which is better if you want to use this instrument as a "normal" bass with an extended note range but not quite so good IMO if you are more interested in Cure/New Order type sounds. However raising the bridge has made the short-comings of the design much more noticeable. Now that it is sitting higher on the pillars the tendency for it the move backwards and forwards is significantly pronounced. A Staytrem bridge with the wider pillars will fix this, but I've also read about people who simply used a metal collars of the correct internal and external dimensions to stop the bridge from moving. Also the pickups need raising (especially the one closest to the bridge) otherwise the instrument sounds really weedy compared with before. AFAICS there isn't as much scope for changing the pickup height as it stands so I might have to look at some longer screws and better springs next time I change the strings. I'm going to leave the strings to settle down and get used to the new tone before I make any more setup adjustments, so I'll report back sometime next week when I've done that. @Musicman20. Right now all I've spent money on is a new set of strings which at some point you'll need to anyway even if the supplied strings were any good. I'm probably going to try some collars around the bridge posts before deciding whether or not to invest in a Staytrem bridge. So if you think you can live with the supplied bridge and don't need to lock down the vibrato then it's definitely good value for money.

I was lucky in that I learnt the hard way, early on, the importance of carrying spares. At one of my very first proper gigs I broke a string during the opening number. I didn't even have a spare string let alone a spare bass. The bassist in the headlining band very kindly let me use his bass to allow my band to do our set. Unfortunately it was a horrible Violin bass copy on a strap so long it hung down my knees and had absolutely zero sustain. The following week I went out and bought myself a cheap back-up bass and a spare set of strings. So nowadays, like a lot of other people here, I'm organised and because I play other instruments I always have a case of spares and tools to cover the majority of non-drum-related problems. I'm happy to break this out when needed because the rest of my band are normally well organised themselves, and so it's only required in dire emergencies. However if I was to find myself in a band with some of the people described here, I'd be tempted to replace the contents of the case with things that would do the job, but not in an easy or comfortable way. For instance the only guitar strings would be a set of extra heavy flat-wound jazz guitar. The jack to jack leads would all be either 4ft or 40ft long etc. Hopefully they would get used once in emergency and then the "musician" in question would sort themselves out so that they didn't need to borrow stuff off me again.

[url=http://www.rogerlinndesign.com/adrenalinn-iii.html]Linn Adrenalinn[/url]?

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1464789829' post='3062562'] Why do fans think that a band should be fixed in time and that they all should just stop playing if the band line up changes? [/quote] No, not at all, a new line-up with new material that reflects the current composition of the band is a good thing. I think what both myself and the OP object to is bands that become "Triggers Broom" and continue to just live in a past that few of the current line-up have any real connection to.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1464785817' post='3062485'] If it's a famous name that has sold a lot of records over decades then that name has a current value which can be calculated to the decimal point. No-one in their right mind is going to give that up for a moral principle or some half-baked idea of 'respect' for the brand. [/quote] No, not at all. But as an audience we can decide whether or not to go an see a band based on who is still in the line-up. I think you have to take every case on its individual merits, but IMO once the main creative force(s) and focal point(s) of the band (not always the same people) have gone the are unlikely to be worth my time as a live act any more. A case in point is one of my favourite bands - The Pretty Things. The line up has changed massively over the years and the only constant member has been singer and lyricist Phil May. The currently gigging line-up includes original guitarist Dick Taylor and three new members (although one of those has been in the live band for over 20 years now!) and consequently the set draws on the material recorded before 1969 when Taylor left the band. I was lucky enough to be able to have a brief chat with Phil May after one of their 50th Anniversary gigs and asked what the chances were of seeing them play some of their 70s material, to which he replied it would be very unlikely without a line-up containing more of the people who played on those recordings than just him. That IMO is the proper way to do it.

Or have a go at making your own. Then you'll get to see exactly how good value OBBMs are.

If you have week off you'll have plenty of time to get to all the major bass shops in the UK.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1464765049' post='3062213'] So one string will be 8.5% harder to deflect than the other. Mind you, you'll find at least that amount of variation in string tensions with string sets that aren't balanced tension (ie. almost all of them). [/quote] And you'll find almost that much variation in the balanced tension sets. That's why they are described as "balanced tension" and not "equal tension".

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1464695378' post='3061468'] Yeah but all my songs just sound like I've nicked a load of stuff from other people and fitted it together. A bit like a sonic collage. [/quote] And as I keep saying, song writing is a skill that has to be learnt just like playing a musical instrument. I bet it took a while before you were happy with your standard of bass playing and you had to do a fair bit of practicing to get there. Songwriting is no different - the more songs you write the better you become.

If I wasn't in a band and just playing at home for my own amusement, I'd mostly stick to guitar or synth.

Could be an earth loop. Try connecting the two amps with an earth lifted cable.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1464520072' post='3060009'] Just get a Hiscox! Why spend hundreds on basses to then put them in a case which a paper cup could damage... [/quote] A Hiscox case is fine so long as you don't have to carry it any great distance. Then you need a good gig bag. Also these semi rigid cases offer considerably more protection, than the average £30 gig bag.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1464364260' post='3058899'] I don't know about that,I go to see as many original bands as my schedule allows. Blue [/quote] Somewhere in this forum is a thread full of links to Basschatters original bands. If someone could be so kind as to dig it up for me (I'm on the mobile version of the site until next week now). Then go and check out the bands in it. You might not always like the music, but there's no denying the high standard.

IME it's not the sounds but how the drums are programmed and the acoustic space they are presented in that makes them sound like a real drum kit and drummer. That's why loops work so well because it's a performance coupled with the production that glues all the sounds together. Also a good programmer and producer can get a very convincing performance out of something as "unrealistic" sounding as a Roland 808, while someone without the required skills will still struggle even with the best sample library on a good DAW.

Right now late 70s Fenders are going up in value, but a lot of that is due to the fact that all the earlier basses are now stupidly expensive rather than because they are great instruments in their own right. At some point the market for Fenders from this period will reach critical mass at which point only the instruments that have everything going for them in terms of playability, tone and weight will continue to be desirable, and unfortunately the heavy instruments are going to be the hardest ones to put right to make them truly desirable. If the Stingray suits you better, then go for it. If you can get some extra cash out of the deal at the same time go for it, because AFAICS there will come a time when the Stingray will be perceived as the more valuable instrument.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1464345162' post='3058621'] I don't know... But putting a pic of Dave with Jools and then referring to him as "Jools Holland's bass player" isn't really cementing the fact that he's a name player in his own right. [/quote] But AFAICS his main gig at the moment (and for some time now) is being the bass player in Jools' band.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1464340377' post='3058546'] I think once the song is written, there's little difference between the two, but I do love the writing aspect of playing in originals bands. Even if the part I go for is just root 5ths, or just a straight drum beat, I still start with a totally blank canvas and can do whatever I want. [/quote] But there is something extra special about getting a great audience reaction to playing a song you've written yourself.

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1464338155' post='3058508'] I do believe that the copy basses create a desire to own the real thing, I think Fender know that and that is why they are not so protective of their trademarks (and I guess the sheer amount of clones out there would make any effort at protection rather futile now) I do think Rickenbacker are wrong in their aggressive pursuit of copy instruments for the same reasons given above, however, you cannot argue that a Rickenbacker bass has better residual values than the majority of Fender basses have [/quote] I think in Fender's case if they had known in the 70s what we know now they might not have been so complacent. Unfortunately for them the opportunity to do anything about it has long passed and they have to make the best of the situation as it stands. Also the Fender design ethos works against them. It's far easier to copy an instrument whose whole concept is to be produced easily and cheaply by people without any real luthiery skills.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1464336957' post='3058490'] because we are all old, jaded and wish we had the youngsters care free attitude [/quote] I'm old and still have a care-free attitude. It's not difficult you know.

@ Roger2611. And although the end result was the same for me - I chose my originals band over covers, my experience of playing with both was completely the opposite. It might be that I am lucky enough to be in a very well organised and efficient originals band, and that my covers bands were always slightly disorganised and complacent, but IME covers bands have to be pretty rubbish before the average punter starts to notice. You can get seemingly away with all sorts of unprofessional stagecraft such as excessive tuning and pauses to locate and have a swig of your beer, which would kill and originals band set stone dead. When I mentioned this to my covers bandmates they didn't really understand what the problem was. Also my originals band was getting a lot more gigs - 3 or 4 every month all paid and rarely mid-week ones - while my covers band was struggling to be playing more than a handful of times each year. Also the originals band was far more efficient when it came to gigs: All the gear and the band went in the band van (or in a hatchback for gigs where backline and drum kit were provided) and if time was short it was no problem for us to turn up at the venue and be on-stage and playing our set within 20 minutes, at worst, of our arrival. Contrast that with the covers band where everyone arrived with their gear in their individual cars. There was also the PA and lights to set up and break down, so while the covers gig might pay more, in terms of the number of hours of work both setting up and playing, the originals ended up with a better hourly rate! And that's before you even consider the relative expenses of one car/van for the whole band versus one car for each band member. In the end my choice was easy to make. I was having far more fun and ultimately making more money for a lot less effort playing music I had written myself over even a set of universally accepted well-known crowd pleasers.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1464303420' post='3058391'] Well, do what you prefer but I think it's all just bass playing. I have managed to play in both covers and originals bands (a few did both) for most of my playing career. IMO there are no downsides to either style. They are all just playing songs. [/quote] I think it depends whether you are just a player or if you write as well. If you don't write then there's probably little difference from a playing PoV.

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1464299163' post='3058352'] Love the enthusiasm and hope they make it but doomed to fail. The stumbling block being transport. If you're 18-21, it must cost a couple of grand to insure the cheapest car. Bring back the good old days with a band van full of dog-ends and vomit I say. [/quote] And that's exactly the kind of middle-aged middle-class thinking that dooms you to failure. There's nothing to stop them from finding someone who can afford the insurance and the transport to drive them about. And before you say that's impossible I've done it several times in bands I have been in over the years. IME there is very little that can't be overcome with a bit of ingenuity and the attitude that you never know what you can get for nothing (or very little) until you ask. My first band had been played on John Peel when the closest thing we'd done to a proper gig was performing 3 of our songs at our school music evening. Said recording cost less than £40 for the day in the studio including getting the band there with our gear on the bus! My next band managed to blag free recording time in the university music studio, and results got us major record label interest. Over the years the bands I've played in have made a good number of promo videos including a couple done in the 80s when it wasn't anywhere near as cheap and easy as it is nowadays. Total video production spend to date? Well under £1000. It's all doable so long as you have the right attitude and don't give up before you've even started.