Silvia Bluejay

I think I lost you. Do you mean the London Bass Guitar Show, or similar? They have stands and star guests. Or do you mean Basschat bashes? They don't usually have fully fledged stands, and may or may not have big names as guests, but they are organised all around the country. I wouldn't call the usually £10 ticket for a bash an 'arena price ticket'. In fact, I wish arena gigs were that price!

Thanks for your kind words, drTS. Marcus was referring to when he was at the beginning of his session career, when in NY producers would be happy to record the guitar sound through amps and cabs, but usually demanded bassists plug into the desk directly. As a result, he and his colleagues began to have preamps installed in their basses, so as to have some control over what reached the desk in the first place. Another point that Marcus makes, which makes me feel vindicated, is that the bass needs the mid frequencies to cut through the rest of the band's sound and avoid competing with the drums (especially the bass drum). He admits that those frequencies, in themselves, sound nasty, but have to be added to the overall sound of the bass if it is to be heard clearly in the mix. The reason why I feel vindicated by that is that I have always preferred the bass sound to be middy rather than P-Bass-style, which to my ears is far too muddy. I apply that rule to live sound too, as in, when @Happy Jack can't be heard properly out front with his bands, I will usually yell at him to up the mids rather than turn up his volume. 😎

Heh... 1. Yes, girls can play instruments too. That guy who said to you that girls should either sing onstage or do b**w j*bs off stage will remain a nobody forever, deservedly. 2. Don't allow yourself to be intimidated by the sheer size of that acoustic guitar your friends play. There *are* other instruments. 3. Don't allow yourself to be intimidated by right-handed instruments. Don't turn them upside down. Lefties do exist - look for them. 4. You will fall in love and live with a guitarist for the best part of 20 years. He will be grateful to you for knowing how to listen to him playing, being by his side, and waiting for him offstage. You will be grateful to him for getting you into music big time. You will even end up being grateful to him for eventually dumping you - that will be the trigger for you to start playing bass. 5. Regardless of point 4 above, don't wait until you're 41 before taking up bass! 😮

Complete Attendees List 1) Cetera - Spector NS2 & Legend 4X, Dingwall NG2, Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird, Yamaha BB3000, GK800RB head, Genz Benz Neox212 cab, Tech-21 Dug DP3X preamp/pedal 2) Ezbass - Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretted (J pickups), Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretless (MM pickup), Rickenbacker 4003s, Rob Allen MB2 fretless, Phil Jones Flightcase + PB300 3) Happy Jack - AliKat DB #004, Mike Lull 54P, all I need to play a doubling gig (that evening) on those two instruments 4) BlueJay - Eminence Upright (left-handed), loads of camera equipment 5) obbm - Fender Precisions, Sadowsky HPJ, Bergantino NV115, Handbox WB100 and if room Quilter BB800 + BF One10 + Nate Mendel for sale/trade  6) Nancy Johnson (Paul) - The Big One, rack (GED/poweramp), possibly the dUg DP3x. A bass. 7) MacDaddy - Shuker bass(es), Snapdragon Folding bass, Flattley Bass Poison Ivy. 8 ) prowla (Paul) - Maybe a Ric or two and fakers, maybe a couple of Statii, maybe J- & P-basses. Probably a Markbass amp & cab and a pedalboard with some FX. 9) Stingray5 - Old faithful Stingray5; Tune SWV4-BB bass; Eden EC180 1x15 combo. (I also have a gig that evening so may leave the Eden in the car but happy to bring it in if anyone asks). 10) TrevorR - Wal Pro II E, Wal Mk 1 Custom, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII and Traveler 2x10, pedalboard. 11) TheGreek - Mesa M Pulse 600 head/ Powerhouse 1x15 cab and The Psilos bass built by Andyjr1515 12) JapanAxe (Graeme) - most of the stuff in my signature! 13) Wolverinebass (Andy) - Maybe some Wounded Paw effects/signature preamp and a bass. 14) Silverfoxnik (Nik) - Roscoe Beck 5, Gibson Thunderbird, BC Rich Eagle, plus my Ampeg V4BH Rig 15) Paul The Drums of the Junkyard Dogs, with kit. 16) Frank Blank (Frankè Blanké) Rob Allen Mouse, AER Basic Performer, Fender Modern Player with modded fretless neck, Ibanez SRC6/SR500, cake.

I think there's a difference between playing covers for an audience who mostly wants to sing along, dance and have fun, say at a private party or in a pub, and recording cover versions for an audience who is more interested in the music, such as fans of a band buying their CDs or going to their shows. I'd say the former should try and sound as much like the original as is feasible, depending on the number of musicians available, while the latter should offer their own take on the song. There are, obviously, limits to how much you can make a song your own without ruining it...

Correct.

Assuming there is a Herts bash, of course it will.

Attendees list 1) Cetera - Spector NS2 & Legend 4X, Dingwall NG2, Epiphone Vintage Pro Thunderbird, Yamaha BB3000, GK800RB head, Genz Benz Neox212 cab, Tech-21 Dug DP3X preamp/pedal 2) Ezbass - Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretted (J pickups), Maruszczyk Elwood L 4 string fretless (MM pickup), Rickenbacker 4003s, Rob Allen MB2 fretless, Phil Jones Flightcase + PB300 3) Happy Jack - AliKat DB #004, Mike Lull 54P, all I need to play a doubling gig (that evening) on those two instruments 4) BlueJay - Eminence Upright (left-handed), loads of camera equipment 5) obbm - TBA  6) Nancy Johnson (Paul) - The Big One, rack (GED/poweramp), possibly the dUg DP3x. A bass. 7) MacDaddy - Shuker bass(es), Snapdragon Folding bass, Flattley Bass Poison Ivy. 8 ) prowla (Paul) - Maybe a Ric or two and fakers, maybe a couple of Statii, maybe J- & P-basses. Probably a Markbass amp & cab and a pedalboard with some FX. 9) Stingray5 - Old faithful Stingray5; Tune SWV4-BB bass; Eden EC180 1x15 combo. (I also have a gig that evening so may leave the Eden in the car but happy to bring it in if anyone asks). 10) TrevorR - Wal Pro II E, Wal Mk 1 Custom, Aria SB700, MarkBass LMII and Traveler 2x10, pedalboard. 11) TheGreek - Mesa M Pulse 600 head/ Powerhouse 1x15 cab and The Psilos bass built by Andyjr1515 12) JapanAxe (Graeme) - most of the stuff in my signature! 13) Wolverinebass (Andy) - Maybe some Wounded Paw effects/signature preamp and a bass. 14) Silverfoxnik (Nik) - Roscoe Beck 5, Gibson Thunderbird, BC Rich Eagle, plus my Ampeg V4BH Rig 15) Paul The Drums of the Junkyard Dogs, with kit.

Don't forget that edited versions of the talks' audio, together with the results of any tests, may well end up on Basschat's podcast!

Have you got pics or vids?

Feel free to share my pics, vids, blogs and what not on IG, guys. The ones I post here usually also appear on my FB, on the Warwick forum, etc. so they are certainly not private. Thanks for your work on BC's Insta.

Just ogle and try everyone else's! The bash is a unique opportunity to do that, and talk to the owners and hear their opinion.

Thanks Linus! As the band's 'pair of ears in the audience', my opinion is that the Crazy 8, luscious as it sounds, will only be adequate for smaller venues. For larger venues or outdoors, you may have to go modular, as in, have two cabs you can use together if needed; otherwise add some bass feed to the PA as reinforcement to your backline. (For the tech details I'll have to refer to @Happy Jack again as he's done that, and I haven't! )

Paging @Happy Jack (currently busy rehearsing). We have the Crazy 8 (and 88), and the Elf, and Jack has a very nice uke bass, so he might have something to add to this thread.

Fingerboard.

Pics! Close-up of fingerboard in next post.

No, the fingerboard dots are again different! Let me get the bass from the studio and take a few decent pics of it. Back soon.

Looks very similar, minus the dots *on* the actual fingerboard, which this one lacks and Jack's one has (in the wrong places).

And yes, pics *will* follow. We're well and truly scratching our heads on this.

Mine's just over 12 years old, an entry-level student bass, and still pristine. I will never get rid of it! The headstock reads 'Cruiser by Crafter'.

Yup, 'cos ironing board makers believe people who iron are a. usually female, and b. devoid of any taste... Haven't found a decent ironing board cover in the correct size for mine...

No prob - I've also Facebooked it, both as Basschat.

I imagine the LEDs will decrease in brightness progressively as the battery's charge diminishes.

Tweeted. Hope you recover it.