colgraff

I would say that a sound is musical if it fulfils these two criteria: 1: It carries meaning. 2: It's method of delivery is not simply speech and provokes an emotional response.

I use ACS ER20s. I don't specifically use them to compensate for hearing loss, but as they lower volume across the frequency range then I feel that I am hear at least as much as I am when 'un-plugged'.

Enjoy the Ampeg. There really is nothing else quite like it. Don't forget to save up for the osteopath when your back gives way, though!

I bet that he is bidding against himself.

Jean-Paul Sartre famously said that “Hell is other people.” and the internet brings a lot of other people far too close for my liking.

I've just noticed that it does have strap locks. Instead it has heavy duty wall eyelets things.

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1445021498' post='2888294'] Bass Relay with it would be hilarious. Every custodian has to perform a pointless modification to the instrument. [/quote] Now that is a great idea!!!

At the risk of opening up another avenue.... O played briefly with a function band whose drummer had a state of the art electric kit and he knew how to use it. Every song was as the record whether it was hand claps, 80s sounding bass drum and snare, the works. I hadn't appreciated how much production and dubbing had happened on drum tracks until that band. The sound was magical.

It would be worth buying and making a new Bass Relay Thread. Maybe some sort of prize for people who can play a recognisable tune with it.

I haven't used either, but for me Darkglass Duality is perfect. A lovely rich fuzz that can be as bassy or trebly as you want.

Tiger Feet by Mud. It is relentlessly upbeat and has a busy, but undemanding bass line.

I can see that being very popular with bass players in their teens/20s. I don't mean that in a pejorative way, but in the sense that they are more likely to experiment with such things (as I did in the 80s, but with less cool stuff!)

Do you change your strings all at the same time? If so do you do it regularly, or when they go lumpy and a funny colour? Do you just change one when it breaks and leave the others? Personally, I change my entire set at the same time and give my bass a good clean and polish when the strings are off, too. This happens every month or two these days, but when I wasn't gigging very often it would only happen before a recording or every six months, whichever was sooner. I also auditioned with a band whose guitarist was proud of having never changed the low E on his guitar which he had had since he was at school (some 15 years previously.) I didn't take the job!

A lot of the accessories (leads, straplocks, etc.) are pricey, especially when compared to dedicated internet sellers but that is often the case.

That is fabulous. Not sure if I could sit through a full concert, though.

Like Muzz, I try to find a sound that is reasonably close to the original and also to play on the style of the original bassist. It can be as little as using a certain pedal or using a pick rather than fingers because that is how the original artist played. I started doing this after playing with a band where the guitarist had created / downloaded the guitar style for each track we played and the change in the quality of the song was subtle but also noticeable and it really raised out game. They are little differences but every little helps.

At least they all seem to be 'manual' A full mechanical Motorhead vibrator (a Motor-head?) would be scary. How fast would it go?

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1444837698' post='2886562'] Not all deps have notice. I have had many calls along the lines of.... 'Gig'? 'When'? 'Now'. [/quote] I've had a few of them. The scariest was when I was called up to play for a musical pantomime with all original music as the bassist had broken his arm. I had only been playing a couple of years and I didn't really have time to get scared about what had committed to. On the bus ride into town, I had convinced myself that there wouldn't be many people there. Full house!

I've depped for a good few function bands over the years and 80% of the material is familiar and, as a rule, the drummer broadcasts the endings and changes clearly enough to make up for any idiosyncrasies that may have crept in. I'm happy enough to learn the songs that I don't know because this is my hobby and I do it for the enjoyment rather than the pay but also, I'm bound to be asked to play those songs again in the future so there is an element of investment of time, too. Having said that, I take Bilbo's point up to a point and people should also be cautious about getting a dep who is outwith their usual milieu. I say this next bit and then run for my flame-retardant overalls, there are some jazz bassists who have a slightly condescending approach to non-jazz music and have the (mistaken) attitude that because they can play jazz, they can play anything. That can grate.

<Get's fire extinguishers ready for the imminent flame war>