DrBike

Jagged Little Pill It just grates

No mention of specific strings but he has a [url="http://alanthomsonbass.com/equipment/"]website[/url] and Facebook page so I guess that you could ask him I saw him play with John Martyn a couple of times in the 1980's

[quote name='julesb' timestamp='1481895689' post='3196070'] Living in a box - Living in a box [/quote] Not sure why but this was the first one that sprang to my mind too!

I had the Joyo copy of a PitchBlack and it died after a couple of months, whilst it worked it was OK. I then bought a Mooer Baby Tuner and I have to say that it's much better than the Joyo (and any other tuner I've used), it reacts almost instantly, has a very clear indicator and it's nice and bright so it's visible on stage. I also have a Zoom B3 that I use (mainly for practising) but it's much slower to react than the Mooer.

Steamho

[quote name='grumpyguts' timestamp='1480756930' post='3186887'] If new a Sire Marcus Miller, I have one - it's good. [/quote] Bugger, there was me thinking that I didn't need another bass and now I've seen that you can get these for just over £300 from Thomann.

Just out of interest how much were they?

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1480666221' post='3186171'] Nashville. [/quote] That made me guffaw! Kiat - It's probably not on your list but I would definitely not look at Weston-uper-mare or it's surroundings. I moved here just over a year ago and there's practically nothing going on at all. You could try around Reading/Maidenhead/Windsor as there's quite a lot of live stuff going om (certainly compared to here).

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1480510633' post='3184943'] Maybe left-field, but I'd recommend practising with your eyes closed. Maybe tough at first, but it soon becomes natural, if one sticks at it. Just my tuppence-worth. [/quote] This^ It's tricky to get used to not looking at the frets when playing, I also used to lie on my bed/sofa with eyes closed or lights out and just do scales/practice, it pays dividends when you have to sing too cos it's nigh on impossible to sing and look at the fretboard and point your gob at the mic.

[quote name='D'AddarioUK' timestamp='1480496787' post='3184778'] For any users having trouble signing up or redeeming the points from older string sets please drop me a PM and we'll try to get you sorted out. [/quote] Is the prize the whole bundle or are these multiple prizes to be divided between several lucky punters? It's not 100%clear.

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1480185693' post='3182397'] Have you ever broken a string ? [/quote] Yes - both at practice and once mid gig. In the mid-gig occurrence I didn't have any spare stings or spare bass. We ended up taking an extended break, drove to my mates house, picked up his spare bass, then to my house to get some replacement strings. Got back to the pub about 45 mins later and started playing, no-one really noticed. [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1480185693' post='3182397'] Has your amp ever stopped working ? [/quote] Yep, mid gig couldn't hear myself any more, turned back to check amp to see smoke gently drifting out the back of it. The amp was literally toast. Just plugged straight into the desk and carried on. [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1480185693' post='3182397'] Has one of your pickups ever broken ? [/quote] Nope, but prior to playing at a NYE party last year I'd decided to give my gigging bass a strip down and clean which also involved removing the scratch plate. Plugged it in and ... nothing (I'd inadvertently broken the solder on one of the connections). Luckily I had a spare bass with me.

This always makes me chuckle [url="https://youtu.be/UHS3ci9H_Uc"]https://youtu.be/UHS3ci9H_Uc[/url]

[quote name='Wonky2' timestamp='1449185716' post='2921466'] There must be a basschat equivelant like .....errrr.... Drumchat ? Loads of talented chimps ...[/quote] Made me think of the [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem"]infinite monkey theorem[/url] although it does assume that drummers can type

Just bought an American Traditional Jazz from Grant. Can't rate him highly enough The bass is great and we agreed on a suitable price to include a case and couriering it to my workplace too.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1446818793' post='2902625'] I can sing notes accurately, trouble is I have a pitch range of about 10 semitones. [/quote] You could always sing Oasis covers (assuming that it's the right 10 semitones of course)

I guess that I "learnt" to sing as a choirboy (my parents were quire religious and the whole family sang in the church choir at one point or another). However it took me a long time to master playing bass and singing (for some reason playing guitar and singing came easier). After a while I got competent enough at playing and singing to do some backing vocals and eventually lead vocals. However ...a few years back I took some vocal coaching lessons and it was a revelation, my singing came on in leaps and bounds (shame that my playing didn't do so when I took bass lessons). Firstly you have to be able to sing/hold the melody but the main thing is "strengthening" your voice so that you're able to "project" and control it. I'd advise to take some lessons - even if it's just checking something on Youtube first.

I've used D'Addario strings for the past ten years or so and have had no issues. My only complaint is that they changed the packaging colours recently and as I always went by the colouring rather than the product name/number I had to struggle to work out which ones I needed. Maybe if I changed the strings more often I'd remember

[quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1446333848' post='2898700'] Have just retired after 30 years interviewing musicians. WZ was the most unpleasant and screwed-up individual I spoke to in that time. As a big fan of his music, and having read the book, I think this definitely fuelled his muse. [/quote] Intriguing, although (from what I understand) his muse was also fuelled by "substance abuse" for many years. [quote name='Mickeyboro' timestamp='1446333848' post='2898700'] The Excitable Boy album is still up there as unique and a classic. And Werewolves ain't even the best track, IMO. [/quote] Whilst I can appreciate the Excitable Boy album and enjoy playing W-o-L, I prefer his later works.

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1446316200' post='2898570'] Just go from that to sweet home alabama and then the kid rock thing and back to werewolves ;-) [/quote] No, no and again no

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1420800486' post='2653488'] Musical insomniacs Geoff and Maria Mulduar took up flower arranging to help relieve their symptoms. Successful it was, as it spawned the hit, "Midnight at the Oasis" [/quote] Surely you mean hydrology rather than floristry?

Well they both turned up and on time (or even a slightly bit early). There was overlap in that the 2nd one arrived before the first one had left, but at that stage we were just talking rather than playing. I won't go into too much detail, but both of them seemed relatively "normal" and there weren't any obvious personality defects. One came prepared with a mic, a vocal effect pedal (one of the TC Helicon ones) and an iPad with the lyrics on and also set lists/lyrics from other bands, the other didn't. It was a relatively easy decision for us. We managed to record them both too and the playback of the recording confirmed our initial feeling. In fact with the preferred singer we actually played some of the best versions of the songs that we've done to date (I knew that things were going well when our guitarist threw his trademark "Inspector Gadget" riff into one of the songs).