shizznit

That's a nasty little injury Not as bad as Stuart Zender's 1st Streamer. He almost took the entire lower horn off! Quite an acheivement...solid maple is a very hard wood to break!

[quote name='Doctor J' timestamp='1334349786' post='1615149'] [/quote] Inez is the man!

Tidy...I'll google them in a mo. They used to repair and service my Marshall amps donkey years ago and always did a good job. I can do the pots myself, but I want them to do an all over general service. The DI out is a bit dodgy too. Cheers lads!

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1334582504' post='1617961'] Was this the Live Lounge? [/quote] No, it was O'Neils [quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1334582504' post='1617961'] It's pretty much the lowest common denominator as far as live music goes in Cardiff. [/quote] I play there quite often!

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1334582900' post='1617966'] No need to f*** about with an amp tech for that - just squirt a bit of switch cleaner in them & twiddle them about a bit. If you don't feel confident doing it yourself then Nobles in Whitchurch is possibly your best bet - their tech guy (don't know if it's still Clive Noble) is meant to be pretty good with amps. [/quote] Are they still going? I thought they folded years ago??

I haven't owned a Stingray for several years now, but it's my fav tone. I think I will always prefer a chunky, bolt-on bass with a single MM pickup. The MM tone is very much a part of ID. My Lakland 55-02 can get very close to a Stingray tone and the bass that Jon Shuker is currently building for me will have a single MM pickup loaded in the same position. So, why don't I just buy a good ol Stingray? I'm not that fussed on the necks. I never could get a setup that I liked on both of the Stingrays I have owned for some reason.

I haven't bought the album yet, but it's high on my list. You have got to see these guys live! The last time I saw them I think Julian Crampton was playing for them. Seriously good bassist!

Simon @ Cardiff Guitars is a good guy and does good guitar set ups, but doesn't work on amps much. Shame as his shop is a two min walk away from me!

Can anyone in the Cardiff area recommend a good person to go to for an amp service? My EBS HD350 has never been serviced and I have noticed that the pots have started to get a bit scratchy.

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1334360371' post='1615326'] Headphones.... [/quote] +1 Even if I place 2" of foam under my amp and play so quietly that my strings are acoustically louder I still get complaints. I practice with headphones these days. There are a few amps out there where you can plug in headphones and a stereo line in to plug your MP3 or other audio device into. I really like the EBS Classic 60 and 120 combo's.

This is a topic no doubt that has been discussed on BC many times before, but allow me to vent! I went out for a meal with my girlfriend on Saturday night and she wanted to catch some live music after we had eaten. I took her to a well known live music venue in Cardiff and as we walked in a 5-piece covers band were setting up. Sorted! Soon afterwards they started to play their first set. Apart from being horrifically loud for the size of the venue they were simply just awful. The singers voice was very weak, flat and forgot his lyrics, the drummer knew only two beat patterns for every song they played, the bass player didn’t know that he was playing the wrong notes for at least 2 bars before realising on quite a few songs and the guitar player…well…he was actually pretty good to be fair! Sometimes a band can have a bad night (we all do), but you can tell that they are simply crap anyway. I am not focussing so much on their ability or talent, but more on how much my girlfriend (along with many others) enjoyed their performance despite being so bad. I really struggled to enjoy the evening hearing so many monumental mistakes being made or lack of effort to at least play the song vaguely similar to the original. I have got to a stage whereby I am very pensive about going out to see a live band in town…covers bands to be precise. Most of my live work at the moment is with covers bands and we do put a lot of effort in to study the songs and get them sounding tight and as precise to the original song as possible. And yet, we are struggling to get into well paid venues in the area such as this one and a bunch of plebs can walk in to play a bunch of songs very poorly and get away with it. I couldn’t help but feel a bit gutted and a tad bit angry. As a musician I can be hyper critical (and often I am) about other performing musicians. But, the bigger thing for me is that punters will enjoy a poor band as equally as a good one. Most folks at the venue are not musicians and don’t pick up on the mistakes or bad musicianship. I’m fine with that…as long as they have a great night who cares really, but I go out to perform to my best ability so that the punters can enjoy their evening. Is my hard work to achieve that noticeable? As I get older and more experienced with my musical endeavours I find it harder to enjoy myself at a gig for these reasons. This kills me because above all else I am a music fan and I want to enjoy live music, but I do have a competitive nature. I think you gain that on the covers circuit after a while because you are all fighting to get the best gig in town. But, it does really vex me when I watch a band in venues with high exposure that we can’t get into that are not good enough for the fee they are paid and the punters big them up. I need to relax more and let it go over my head, but I can't help feel that the punters deserve better even though they might not know it.

I have my mid switch on all the time. It normally lives in a powered pedalboard, but I do remove it quite often so use for just one song in my set list for one of the bands I play for. Really no point taking the entire pedalboard to the gig. Anyway, I have found the battery life to be pretty good. The pedal is plugged in for about 4hrs each evening and I think I change it after about 4-5 gigs. Even though that LED is quite bright I wouldn't imagine it doesn't actually need much power. It's much smaller than the activation LED above the foot switch which can be seen from space when it's on.

*OP* +1

Surely you will also need a preamp of some sort to EQ the rig?

Some of my students play on some very impressive basses that they have paid less than £400 for. Construction, hardware and electronics quality on budget instruments are way higher now than they were 20yrs ago.

I am a member on a Gospel bass player forum and there are a lot of members using MTD Z basses to get closer to a Ken Smith tone. I really like these basses too and you get a lot of bang for your buck. The Andrew Gouche signature model is a lovely bass to play. The only snag is that they are 35" scale, which is not what you are looking for, but I would recommend test driving one if you come by them.

Mark is one of the best in the musical instrument traders in the business on so many levels. He should be knighted!

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1334221374' post='1612610'] I had an Encore P-bass for my first bass. I think it was made out of dark matter. [/quote] Mine was stupidily heavy too. I also moved onto an Aria Pro after I got shot of that...a very nice Integra that I picked up from a second hand shop for only £120! I do regret selling that one.

I sessioned for a hip-hop act a few years ago that continuosly said "That was ill!". That bugged me after a couple of weeks.

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1334150441' post='1611619'] Does it go up to 12? [/quote] It took me 6 months to notice that the controls go to 11 on my HD350 after I bought it! Felt like a right prat when my guitar player pointed it out to me!

Not one bit. My first bass was an Encore P copy. I sold it to a friend and unbelievabily still has it! I pick it up once in a while when I visit him and I can say for sure it's the worst bass I have ever owned. Plays badly, sounds even worse and very poorly constructed. Strange how I thought it was the beans when I first had it!

If you are a 5 string player and can stretch your budget by another 75 quid this BC member is selling their Spector Euro. Awesome basses for rock music and very well made. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/173097-spector-euro-5lx-l675-shipped-immaculate/page__fromsearch__1

EBS have launched an upgrade to the HD350 amp...the HD360! It has a bit more headroom and better low frequency response. You can also control the drive, filter and character controls via a footswitch...but my fav new feature is a mute switch!!! At last!!! My HD350 might appear on BC F/S very soon! http://www.bass.se/