shizznit

I recently switched from Elixir nickel to the stainless range and they are not only bright, but stay that way for ages. D'Addario Prosteel strings are a very good cheaper option. I use them if I can't get hold of the Elixirs if I am in a rush.

I have a Warwick Thumb BO and a Fender J and they are very different instruments in many ways. I like them both for different reasons. One engineer that I work with regularly hates my Warwick and the others I have owned in the past. He says they are "too clicky and squeak a lot". So, it's not liked by everyone that I work with, but I love it! Timber aside, two other things make Warwick's very sensitive to the touch. The brass frets have great attack and response and the MEC active circuit is very flat and clean. That's why I like Warwick's...they really respond very well to your playing. Not everyone's cup if tea, but it works for me. I can get lots of zing and grunt out of the J just as easily as I can with the Thumb, but it is not as hyperactive. The finish to the tone is much rounder and the natural mid presence is not as crazy as it can be on the Thumb. I wouldn't say either bass is less forgiving as the other as I play with a pretty flat tone no matter which instrument I am playing, so when I make a small technical mistake it's bloody obvious that I have done so!

The first time I heard Korn the first thing I thought was "What an awful bass tone!", but I saw them play for the first time supporting Orgy and Fieldy was right in front of me on stage and I watched him closely throughout the set. I actually grew to admire his playing style. Okay, there is no finese to it and he is not technically mind blowing, but I had never heard that kind of aggressive and powerful style of bass playing in metal before. It's pretty hard to stand out from the crowd and be recognised as someone distinctive, so I have respect for him for that alone. Ryan Martinie stepped in for Fieldy for a few gigs last year. Ryan is one of the most melodic and technically impressive players in the genre, but even though he played really well for Korn it wasn't the same as having Fieldy there. He does bring something quite unique. Yeah...I am a fan!

I have had a couple of audition rejections based upon not being able to click on a personal level with the other musicians. You have got to gel with each other to make it a fun experience and never take it in a negative way if you don't get the gig if they feel that you have little in common or have opposing personalities. Keep yer pecker up. The right opportunity with the right people will come your way.

Two lessons this morning, posted a few comments on BC whilst changing the strings on my J, went to the Cardiff City v Ipswich match (cold, wet, windy and boring game!) came home and recorded a job which I timed perfectly before MOTD started! Typical Saturday for me.

The first time I saw Jamiroquai play there was a Warwick Thumb NT on a stand that didn't get used in the set, so he had one of those too. You can see him play it on the When Are You Gonna Learn video.

The QC at Fender is usually pretty good and has got better over the years, though I am not dismissing that a few rotten eggs do slip through once in a while. It's the same in any high production industry. In my experience the Mexican factory is the worst culprit. I have never had a MIM bass, but I have owned guitars built there. Three in total including a modded Jimi Hendrix Tribute Strat model which I still have. All these guitars have had craftsmanship issues. The Hendrix guitar for example, does have a gap between the neck and pocket big enough to fit a 5p coin into, the nut has not been cut very well at the edges and there were a couple of blobs of lacquer (now removed) on the neck. The guitar has been heavily modded and I have been able to gloss over these issues because it now sounds and plays amazingly, but this is not the first MIM guitar I have owned with shoddy build quality. My first one had a dirty fingerprint under the lacquer on the headstock! At least I could identify the silly sod that wasn't wearing his gloves that day!

I don't play anything specific really. A few arpeggios, a couple of chords and some natural harmonics stuff. Just some basic noodling. If the bass/amp doesn't bore me within 5mins I'll spend a bit more time with it and stretch out my playing a bit more with different styles to see how flexible the bass/amp is. I'm really boring to listen to in a music shop to be honest!

Warwick Katana's are pretty minging. Warwick's are pretty odd looking at the best of times, but what on earth were they thinking of on the drawing board when they came up with that.

For most of my playing life I have always played with a full stack behind me. At one point I played with 4x 410's. So, when I joined a covers band for the first time I quickly realised that my current full rig (600w amp / 410 / 212) is overkill for most pubs and small clubs. The only time I will take the 410 and 212 is for an open air gig or if we play in larger venues with more room on stage separating the musicians. I always gauge my backline requirements according to venue capacity... below 100 - 210 100-200 - 212 or 410 201-400 - 210 / 212 400+ - 410 / 212 We sometimes play with up to 9 musicians on stage, so I am usually very close to my rig because I have no choice! With that many musicians kicking off we do try very hard to keep the stage volume down as much as possible to minimise stage spill and to save our ears. So, a massive rig behind me is pointless if we are in a pub or small club. Most folks will use the 'drum volume = backline volume' rule if only the vocals are going through the PA. One cab is suitable in most pub setups. Some drummers obviously hit like Bonham, but if you start cranking up in toe then you will be peeling the punters off the walls at the end of the evening. Filling out a small venue with huge stage volumes are very harsh and brutal for the listeners despite of your enjoyment. It might be fun hitting over 90db's, but most folks will say to you "Cracking band down the Fox & Horses last night, but bloody hell they were loud!". It does spoil their enjoyment. Be careful and use kit that is fit for purpose.

Envelope filter, octave, synth and a bit of fuzz. I get a lot of mileage from those pedals

I have played dozens, owned only two over 16yrs and I have still haven't 'the one'. I like the Fender Deluxe I have right now, but its still not hitting the mark for me. I really don't know why I haven't found one that will stand the test of time with me. I love J basses...I really do and it bugs me that one hasn't lasted more than a year in my collection. Shuker has already been mentioned and I am still on the verge on ordering a J from him myself.

Across a few different genres... Carter Beauford / Stephan Lessard - Dave Matthews Band Derek McKenzie / Stuart Zender - Jamiroquai Matt McDonough / Ryan Martinie - Mudvayne Keith Moon / John Entwistle - The Who Tim Alexander / Les Claypool - Primus Francesco Mendolia / Francis Hylton - Incognito Dominic Howard / Chris Wolstenholme - Muse Jerome Brailey / Bootsy Collins - Parliament Funkadelic Sean Kinney / Mike Starr - Alice In Chains Peter Erskine / Jaco Pastorius - Weather Report

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1357412549' post='1922392'] It's all about who you know & more importantly who knows you. Thats the difficult bit. [/quote] +1 Most of my time away from the bass is focused on building my profile in the business. I have only been full-time for over a year now and it's pretty hard going. I'm just above surviving through referrals, but there is so much I could be doing to get my name out there and network. I desperately need to invest money into uploading my own website, record more demos, work on my SoundCloud more, upload some vids on YouTube...lots of other stuff. But, when I first attempted to go pro years ago networking meant placing ads in studios, music shops, sending demos to labels...it was quite restrictive looking back at it. I got some work from an agent and I did a couple of jobs for the Beeb, but nothing that paid the mortgage. I gave up very quickly and went back to working for the man. MySpace, FB, YouTube, SoundCloud etc...weren't around back then, but even though those sites make it easier to promote yourself it has raised the competition too. You have just got to keep pushing until the break happens. (I'm kinda talking to myself there too). I am nowhere near where I want to be yet (realistically), but I know it will take time and hard work to plug anything I play on and networking with the right folks.

I hate Pino even more now (with much envy!). Nah, just kidding...Pino is one of the best amongst us and has been for a long time. Nailed that song with taste. Really enjoyed that.

They had the same effect in me when I first tried them. Haven't used another brand for yonks now. The new stainless sets are incredible.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1357407903' post='1922289'] When playing in a covers band situation I will play fingers, slap, pick and thumb with a palm mute techniques all of which will make a more noticeable difference to the audience than the type of bass I am using [/quote] Bang on! Playing in covers band is a relatively new experience for me and I notice that how being able to change my technique affects the tonality to suit the song we are playing. Otherwise, I would be switching over to multiple basses and waste needless time tweaking the EQ on my backline during after each song in the set. It's never going to be 100% accurate to the original bass player for sure and sometimes I just prefer using my personal 'go-to' tone anyway, but the ultimate shortcut for me is being able to adapt my playing technique for each song. It's not easy by any means, but it focussing more on my dexterity across different genres and styles helps to minismise the amount of gear that I need every time I leave the house.

During the bands infant years he used Trace amps then moved onto Mesa amps whilst they were touring the Travelling Without Moving album. I saw them play 3 times before that album and I always saw a Trace backline. Twice with a AH amp (possibly 600w 12 band, but I'm not sure) and a 410/410 cab setup and once with a V8 amp into a Classic 810T cab. I was never that keen on his Mesa tone. He went for a warmer, fluffier tone which I didn't like very much. I have never seen him use Warwick amps. The last time he was regularly performing live was with Mark Ronson and I distinctively remember him using Ampeg amps when I saw him play at V festival. That was a while back though, so I have no idea what he is using now. He could be using Warwick right now, but I haven't seen him on a stage using their amps yet.

I have always believed that a significant portion of your tone does come from your fingers. How hard you grip the neck (finger pressure on the strings), how hard you pluck the strings, the angle that you are plucking the strings and your hand position away from the bridge. All these things do make a difference no matter what gear you are using. That's why emulating another players tone, even if you use the exact kit that they use, is not always straight forward. You can get a lot of mileage out of a desired tone by being flexible with your playing technique and changing things around on the fly. It's not always about the bass, amp, strings etc... Not saying that it doesn't help...it does, but understanding how your physical technique contributes to a particular tone for a particular style makes every asset beyond (basses, amps etc...) supportive of your playing and not be the dominant attribute. It can be a slippery slope as a player if you think that using the same gear that your musical heroes use will either make you sound like them or magically improve your playing instantly. There are a lot of other basic things about your playing to consider first before opening your wallet.

I have seen a lot of drug and alcohol abuse in music, but I have been very fortunate that most of the bands and artists I have worked with steer away from all of that. On my first experience working on tours when you are playing back to back dates it taught me lesson about my personal performance. I quickly learnt that I simply cannot play at all well with a hangover, so I never drink on the job...maybe one or two on a rare occasion, but never more than that. Certainly not drugs. The main drug of choice I have witnessed is coke. The excuse I have received from other musicians that give coke a thrashing is to pep them up for a performance....usually down to being hungover from the previous evening or just general tiredness. It's a vicious circle of both afflictions. When you are away from home for long periods you do get incredibly bored and home sick and I can understand how some musicians get sucked into drugs and booze. It's one of the ugly sides of the industry and it will always be there. I have always argued that the road manager has a responsibility to protect their musicians, but I have come across a few that are equally as bad as their band. Plus, they can't always keep their eye on them 24/7 even if they do have good intentions. Music should be a fun experience on all levels, but its not always a party and in the times that it all seems to hard thats when folks look for something else to patch up the cracks. Artists will turn to drug and alcohol abuse for a multitude of reasons. Without having to mention any names all of us can think of countless amounts of artists over the past 40yrs that have seen their lives end prematurely to drugs and alcohol. The demands on a musician on a professional level are very high, but the body and mind are fragile things. Giving both more to deal with that they simply can't cope with is a very dangerous game to play.

When I had my old Trace rig I had port mutes (I think thats what Trace Elliot called them) which were cylindrical pieces of foam about 6" long that you could pop into the ports if you wanted. I used to pop them in for a folk act that I did some work with at the time. It warmed up the mids a little and it sounded really nice with my old fretless P. Ports are designed to increase the air pressure at the front or back of the cab depending where they are placed. Rear ported gives you more low end and front ported gives you a flatter result. Some may argue that front ported cabs give a bit more volume, but I can only notice the difference when I am stood a few feet away from the cab. Any further than that and it doesn't make a huge amount of difference to me. Closed cabs obviously don't throw out the air inside when the speakers are moving so all of the air pressure happens internally and the acoustic property of the cab becomes part of the tone and sonic effect. Sealing the ports on a cab is perfectly fine and shouldn't cause aggro with the drivers. I have never had a problem doing so myself with Trace cabs. Speakers do not work in a vacuum, so don't worry about the air pressure causing damage. I have never heard of an amp manufacturer that has designed a speaker for use for a closed cab. They might be voiced differently, but not designed specifically because of the difference in air pressure.

I have the rack mount series two. I used to use it in my live rig, but now I use it as an outboard for recording. Great piece of kit. I use mine mostly for mixing drums, percussion, bass guitar and piano once in a while. Never really found a use for it with vocals though. Very useful studio tool when I am pushed for time mixing down lively instruments.

Thats a relief. The same thing happened to my Fender Deluxe 60 amp. I thought I had killed my old EBS HD350 head a while back only to find out when I took it to a tech that the power input fuse had blown. Something I could have sorted out myself very easily in less than a minute! I panic so much when any of my kit has gone pear shaped.

Nice one! The matching headstock was a great idea. Looks really sweet. Cant wait to see the finished bass with pups and hardware!

We used to play that song in our set a few years ago, but it used to empty the dance floor for some daft reason even though we made it funkier and a tad bit quicker. Philistines!