shizznit

The covers band I am currently playing for is the only one I have ever played with and I never would ever thought I would play covers to help earn a crust. But, all the guys in the band have done it and worn the t-shirt so to speak and are all very experienced and talented. There's a high level of professionalism going on both live and in the studio and it makes the whole experience a lot more pleasurable for me. We can rely upon each other to do a good job and we all have very similar musical tastes and interests. This is probably the only time I have experienced such harmony in a band! Rehearsing covers can be a drag sometimes because you have barriers to abide by so that you can pull off the song as closely as you can to the original artist/band and is not as much fun as creating your own music, but writing your own stuff with other musicians can have its negatives too. It can be frustrating when you can't finish a song, singers are struggling with phrasing, the musicians have creative constipation, arrangements can't be remembered etc... It happens to the best of us. You will get good days and bad days, but the trick is not to be hard on yourself or the other members of the band. Rehearsing is where you are totally protected from the outside world and you can fine tune the band. You can make as many mistakes as you want, discuss issues and focus on your overall performance. Yes, going over the same 16 bars 20 times will nark you off, but you can't do that infront of an audience. Always try and treat rehearsal time with gratitude and make best use of the limited time you have.

Sure SM-57's are good for mic'ing up guitar cabs, wood and brass instruments, percussion (drums if the player is quite light)...basically anything that is loud and excitable. They don't sound too bad for bass cabs, but I prefer to use combination of an AKG C1000 (maybe a C414 depending on the type of cab) and a cheap Sure PG52 drum mic to capture the low end. I blend them together and the results a very pleasing. I generally don't mic up bass cabs if single tracking because of the unwanted hiss from the speakers, but those mics will do the job very well if you want to record a live band performance. SM-57's and SM-58's have already been suggested for vocals and they will do the job, but they are very directional and you will find if the singer moves ever so slightly out of position it will change the signal volume to the desk or get a bit foggy in tone. I always use a condenser mic that has selectable pickup patterns so you can change the dymamic field to suit the singer and the room. I absolutely love my AKG C414. Surprisingly quite warm for a non-tube mic and picks up very. I use it all the time to record acoustic guitars and piano's too and it sounds amazing. For some reason it sounds better with female vocals. I have tried it lots of times with blokes and the top end is not as present. I normally switch to a Neumann M147 which is an awesome tube mic which I have use of by kind permission from a friend over the past 18 months or so. All the mic's I have mentioned are pretty cheap, with the acception of the AKG C414. I bought mine for £700. You can get cheaper mic's, but I believe that you should invest more into getting a good vocal mic rather than an instrument mic because recording vocals can be a nightmare at times. If you start well it will help you later when mixing. Large diaphragm mic's are very useful for other instruments and depending on the quality of the mic you can probably get away with using just one mic for everything that you want to record, but be very careful with close placements up to loud speaker cabs as you will get a lot of unwanted distortion or ambient noise. I would always go for a SM-57 for things like that as it can take a bit more punishment, especially in the higher frequencies. But, as with everything musical, it all depends how serious you want to take recording and what kind of budget you have. There is no right or wrong way really. It all comes down to what sounds right to your ears and what results you want from the instruments/vocals you are recording and that takes a bit of experimentation.

[quote name='owen' timestamp='1330989054' post='1566072'] The uberhorn body is well fit! It is not often I see a "new" shape and think "that works". I fell in love with the uberhorn the first time I saw it. I owned a 33" 5 (with low for a time (waiting on a body to mate with a neck I already have) and it was just superb. You will love it. I discussed the 33" scale thing here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/130240-shuker-uberhorn/page__hl__uberhorn__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url] if it helps. [/quote] Owen - Thanks for mentioning your post about your Uberhorn. Your feedback about the 33" scale is quite interesting. A friend of mine that has a small collection of Sei basses took ownership of a 33" Flamboyant 6 string early last year and you are right that the low B does balance a bit better with the rest of the strings. I have come across a lot of players lately dropping down to 33" scales. But, I have been playing 35" scale basses for a few years now and the main benefit for me is the extra tension in the low B because I have a very agressive picking technique. It definately helps to elimate the momentary sharpeness in pitch if you pluck too hard. That said, I have gone for a 34" scale neck on this occassion simply because I am fed up of buying strings that don't fit over the nut properly. My old MTD 535 was a pain because of the added feature of the zero fret and the taper on the string quite often didn't get over the nut.

Just finished a call with Jon and placed an order for a custom Uberhorn 5 string! We are still discussing the electronics package whilst I do some research, but the following specs are set in stone... Swamp Ash body (with a burl top of some description 2mm) gloss lacquered Bolt-on 24 fret Maple neck with birds eye maple fingerboard (burl matching headstock) no fingerboard markers Reverse Headstock - 1u/4d (shape 1 on website) Brass nut 34" scale Medium frets Single Delano FE MM pickup (bridge) [i]provisional[/i] Seymour Duncan 3 band active/passive EQ[i]provisional[/i] Schaller 2000 bridge black (17.5mm spacing) Schaller BML machineheads I have left Jon to his own devices to pick out a burl top. Not really bothered if it's maple, walnut or whatever...it will be so thin it won't really affect the tone of the swamp ash, but Jon is going to have a dig around to find a really gnarly looking burl top! The Uberhorn body has the least mass compared to the other models, but we are going for swamp ash to cut down on weight as this will be my dedicated live instrument (look after your backs kids!). So excited about this build! I'll post photo's of the build when in flow as and when I get them. Much respect and appreciation to Dood for helping me get this build off the ground. You're a legend bud!

This has been bugging me for a few years now. I can confidently pick up a mic and happily sing away to be hearts content. I quite often do acoustic gigs on my own in small bars and I also record my voice for private projects and record BV's for my band. As soon as I pick up a bass I can't put two lyrics together! When I see players such as Mark King I think "Git!!" How does he do it? It's hard enough to play his lines as it is, but he never drops a note and sings in perfect time and pitch. Does anyone struggle to sing whilst playing bass? If not, tell me your secret!

I can't answer this question. There isn't a category for "I'm just in it for the chicks!"

I just placed an order with Fodera for a custom blue pick. Expensive, but so excited! Should take about 12 months to be built. I'll post a build diary with photos!

I always try to keep an open mind when I am testing a bass in a shop. Some shops will set up an instrument as soon as it is delivered and others will just throw it up on the wall as soon as it comes out of the box. The guys at my local sometimes giggle when I try out basses because I either play very basic stuff or play badly because of the lousy set up. Try not to guess if you can live with it or not if you buy it and then set it up to your taste. If you pick up an instrument that sounds great but plays rubbish don't be afraid to ask the staff to set it up to how you like it and come back to it the next day and try again. Also, don't be afraid to ask the staff if you can bring in your own amp to test a bass. If you are used to playing through a Genz amp on stage and find yourself using a 20w Starfire practice amp in the shop...stop! Come back with your own amp if there isn't a decent one there and try again. Tip - always take a strap with you (or ask the shop for one) so that you can play and get a feel for the bass stood up.

If you don't get on with blue picks you can always try purple ones. In the middle of blue and red and is very versatile for all styles.

[quote name='SteveK' timestamp='1330691447' post='1561639'] Unless you're in a covers/tribute band and are trying to replicate the original record or in a band plays every song to a strict format, then I would say (and do), avoid clicks and pre programmed stuff at all costs... IME clicks and the like seriously restrict your ability to actually play music. [/quote] [quote name='silddx' timestamp='1330691794' post='1561656'] Oh come on, Steve. You need to justify comments like that. [/quote] +1

[quote name='Oopsdabassist' timestamp='1330690490' post='1561610'] WTF??? Am I missing something here? [/quote] [quote name='mike257' timestamp='1330690726' post='1561616'] PVC + spare hair = instant chest rug! [/quote] The guy was really into bondage stuff, which I found out at Salzburg airport when his bags were accidentally tagged with mine I got asked to empty the contents of one of his suitcases infront of customs! Anyway, that's another story which I am not going to furnish BC with anytime soon! That's his business and I don't judge him for it, but I refused to be dragged into that world! He once asked me to wear a collar that was garnished with 10x 6" chrome spikes, asked me to wear a gimp mask one time and suggested that I would look good in a black PVC one-piece! Vans (clothing brand) saved our bacon though. They gave us a shed load clothes to wear on stage, so he backed off a little after that.

I play to a click 100% in the studio, even when the drums are down. Until the drums are quantised I want to make sure I am bang on the beat. Some purists will hate doing that because of the fear of losing the 'feel' factor, but it's the method that works best for me. I recently worked with an artist on an acoustic side project and refused to work to a click because she wanted "natural ambience", as she put it. I always get nervous when I hear that on a job. We spent 7 days recording and the producer spent 5 weeks editing the sloppy tracks that we laid down and last week I heard that the artists label freaked out about the extra money they had to spend before it could be mastered. It's so bad that it might have to been done again. Main reason why it's so crap? The drummer/percussionist (a very good one notably) came in right at the end and couldn't play to us. If we played to a click he would have stood a better chance and the entire recording would have been more successful. The writing was on the wall as soon as we started recording this way, but I wished the engineer in the studio that tracked us grew a set and said something to the artist before we kicked off. Very often in these situations whereby I am not getting a publishing or song writers cut I just let the artists do whatever the hell they like and I am not expected to have an opinion or even get asked for one. Anyway...rant over! I play to click live when playing in church. The guitar players have Eventide delays which they use a heck of a lot, so they can dial in the bpm's spot on. We notice that the singers drag the tempo's down during breaks in the songs if we don't use a click which really winds up the other musicians. The only bummer about that is that you need the drummer to do something to keep time to ensure they have a timing reference. We tried in ear monitors for a while whereby everyone could hear the click, but guess what was everyone's reaction? "It is distracting us!" Although I prefer recording to a click it can work out when you don't use it. Just to bring balance, check this song out by Alice in Chains. The track is about 15-20bpm's quicker at the end from where it started, but somehow really works for this beautiful song. [media]http://youtu.be/N_GPxe91hWE[/media]

I'm waiting for Fender to launch the 'Roadworn' range of picks

OP - I am not joking, I had an almost identical conversation with a band I joined 14yrs ago. They told me "We're a rock band...not Level 42!". I did drop the bass down to my knees as they requested and gradually started raising the height over 12 months until it was back to being tucked into my ribs again. The singer then again asked me to drop it again and I replied "Be more concerned with the pitch of your voice before thinking about appearance". Okay, I admit that was a nasty comeback, but he never asked me to lower my bass again or allowed him to criticise my appearance after I said that. Granted, the Jimmy Page look is very cool, but I just can't play well like that. The guitar player from the same band told me one day "I think you should fit LED's to all of your basses". (He was sponsored by Maverick guitars at the time and all of his guitars were built with LED’s already installed). I refused…partly because I thought it was bad enough that we had one member of the band strutting around as if he was taxiing airplanes at Heathrow, but mostly because I played Warwick basses back then and none of them had fingerboard markers. SIM's quoted me £430 per bass to install LED markers on the side and on the fingerboard. I had 4 Warwicks...that's a total of £1720! He got on my case about why I didn’t go ahead. He’s still a great mate of mine, but goodness…I could have swung at him on several occasions. Again…from the same band! Our manager approached me back stage at a gig and asked me if I had any hair on my chest. Very apprehensively I said “Not much…why?”. He replied “Well, I bought some of this liquid PVC yesterday…”. I walked away from him and didn’t speak to him until the following morning. I really enjoyed playing with that band and have a lot of fond memories, but the amount of crap I had to put up with was unbelievable.

The first time Jamiroquai played on TOTP I thought to myself "Hey, that dude playing the ugly bass is pretty good. Oh...so that's what a bass line is? Cool! I want to be a bass player!". I think the song was Too Young To Die and Zender was playing a Warwick Thumb (not a Streamer). I thought he was so damn cool! My mate let me use one of his basses and a battered Carlsbro combo to learn on for a few months (mostly Jamiroquai songs) and I have never looked back.

Chris and Lawrence really look after their customers no matter if you are buying a guitar strap or a £4k instrument. I have a lot of respect for those guys.

My first Trace cabs were Tolex and marked (even tore) just by sneezing at them. Within a year of owning them they looked battered. The 1215 combo had the carpet covering and picked up every sweaty smell from every gig it attended, not including the fact it was a cat and dog hair magnet and a great accumilator of Rich Tea biscuit crumbs whilst working in my home studio. I don't notice any tonal difference between Tolex and carpet covered cabs.

Musical gear insurance companies don't live in the real world when it comes down to the terms of their policies, especially theft and damage during transit claims. Accidental damage terms are a complete joke and don't ever think that you will be successful claiming for that. I have only ever had to make a claim twice. Once for a smashed up Warwick that fell out of the gear trailer on the M6 and my Overwater that got stolen off the stage in Portugal. I could not claim on the Warwick because it was our fault that the shutter on the trailer was not fastened properly and most of the damage was done by cars running over it. The company wanted the drivers details to prove they did the damage (I found 4 pieces...2 still unaccounted for!), which of course was going to be impossible...so they did not pay out. Luckily, the claim on my Overwater was successful (thank the Lord!). We were playing a festival and the person that stole it did it during our performance and managed to get pass the stage security as well as the back stage security. I managed to get a written statement from the stage manager and 4 weeks later I got the payout and immediately called Mike Tobias!! On the same tour my guitar player got stitched up big time. All 6 of his guitars got damaged in Frankfurt airport. He couldn't claim through the insurers for some stupidly complicated reason and had to pursue compensation through the airport. After 12 months of legal action it led to a stalemate and gave up. During that time he got sponsored by a guitar company and all of his damaged guitars (a couple were repairable) were gradually replaced. To this day he still bitches about the whole saga

When my band was dropped by the label I sold most of my kit (had to...used to live in a private rehearsal room and I had no room in the house) and hid away for a couple of years. During that time I had absolutely no intention to join a band and work from the ground up again. I was invited to join a couple of working bands with tour commitments out of the UK, but when I started to spend more time with my family and friends going back on the road lost its appeal. I also thought that there were lots of younger, better looking and more talented lads out there doing it that can put up with a lot of the bulls**t that I couldn't...so I felt passed it (even at 27yrs old!). I even stopped going to gigs because I felt envious watching other bands being successful. I was in a bad state musically. But, I kept playing. I used the time to study and develop myself as well as teaching other guys and it kept me ticking over for a bit. A very close friend of mine who is a respected session musician took me out for a coffee one day and very bluntly told me to get my head out of my ar*e and get over it. He thought that networking by working as a session musician would lift me back up and if the right opportunity would come back around through doing that then cool. He hooked me up with a couple of the agencies he works for and over the past 7 years it has now developed into a very healthy second income for me...to the point whereby I could probably give up my day job. Okay, some of the work has been pretty crappy and nothing to sing about, but I am in the network and active. I am a hired hand at the moment and I haven't found a full time job with an artist yet, but I have found regular work with a couple of artists in the UK and over in the US. My covers band is always quite busy which also earns me a few extra quid. I am now planning to put together a new band to start writing and performing my own material which is something I never thought I would do again. In the meantime I can still teach and session for other artists. I am a very happy musician Anyway, in a nutshell...what I want to convey is that you shouldn't give up on your musical ambitions if there is a bump in the road. That small break after my deal fell through took my eye off the game and took me a long time to get back into the swing of it. Always try your best to keep the momentum going…something that you will enjoy doing and contribute to will come around if you keep trying. Bass players are always in demand.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1330437663' post='1557437'] Every sound guy I've ever worked with has spent an age EQing the bass drum and then simply checked that the bass guitar signal exists and been happy with that. Although to be fair I suppose there's not a lot to do with a bass signal until everything else is firing. [/quote] [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1330439520' post='1557484'] Which is of course utter nonsense. [/quote] I would have to agree. My sound engineer spends more time tuning the rhythm section (drums, percussion and bass) than any of the other instruments/singers. He's not the only FOH engineer I have worked with that does this. Even some monitor engineers I have worked with are just as particular. I take the same approach in the studio.

My MTD 535 was the finest instrument I have ever owned. Never owned a Sadowsky, but I have played many and also think that they are the dog's too. Tonally very different, but they are both equalled by build quality to very, very high standard. You can order pretty much anything you want with MTD as far as timbers are concerned...Mike always has some really strange tone woods hiding away in the workshop, but Sadowsky stick to the usual suspects such as alder and ash which some traditionalists prefer (Fender fans). Sadowsky are also building a lot of chambered basses which sound incredible and also cuts the weight down. It comes down to the what the player wants...I wouldn't say one is better than the other.

+1 Great post...pretty much sums up everything I wanted to say (honest!)

Living the dream! Enjoy the gig mate...all the best for the evening.

[quote name='LemonCello' timestamp='1330378637' post='1556600'] If you make it all the way to Cardiff, I'll come see ya. [/quote] +1

Switched back to Elixirs (again!). I get bored quite easily with strings, but my phases usually involve DR Hi-Beams, D-Addario Prosteels and Elixir. I love stainles steel strings...the brighter the better!