oggiesnr

Alesis QX49 would be in your price range and would seem to cover what you want. I've used an older Alesis which worked fine enough and didn't feel too flimsy. At this end of the market it's always going to be a bit of a compromise on build quality (same as with basses ) Steve

Peter does all my work and he's never set me wrong yet, I dropped my bass off last night for him to reprofile the neck as it's a bit clunky for my hands. In fact I've got my eye on a bass that he's currently working on but that will depend on what the weather's like this summer (my job is weather dependent. Steve

Doesn't seem to matter, I stand, my teacher sits, not a problem. Steve

Congrats, pleased it's all worked out. Steve

Neil Tarlton - The Essentials of Sevcik. Enough bowing exercises to keep you going for years and good revision for when you think you can do it all (I can't, I'm still in the early stages). His scales book is good as well. Steve

I'm a luddite, None - 1 Steve

I try to practice half an hour a day, working on specific skills or pieces. I play a lot more than that but I don't count that as practicing. Steve

I play too many instruments and, whilst the general musicality is useful, they don't really help with bass playing or theory. What I am doing is having theory lessons (independent of my bass lessons) and then working with my double bass tutor to incorporate what I've learnt. Steve

To my way of thinking he's not an agent, he's a chancer who's used the fact that a few venues can't be a****d to do the work to style himself an agent. My personal opinion would be to drop him and then (if you think you need one) look for a reputable agent with a wide range of contacts rather than one who's persuaded a few pubs to work through him. Now decent agents used to charge more than 10% (it's been some time since I worked with one) but if the money's better you're still in pocket. Steve

Listened to both tracks and enjoyed them. Live sound could be fun, you need to make sure that the sound man knows what it (and the instruments) are meant to sound like because it's the balance between them that makes it work (recently saw half a Bellowhead gig ruined by the drums being turned up to "rock" levels and masking the acoustic instruments). Good luck on the circuit and hope to catch up with you sometime. Steve

I only dip into the competition every so often and have now made a note to visit every month. This was one of the best all round monthly collections that I have listened too which made the choice very hard, every track had something to commend it (even though I'm not usually a fan of electronica). In the end it came down to a choice between two and, as I only get one vote, one of you was unlucky. Congratulations to you all, one day I'll work up the nerve to enter. Steve

[quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1362074871' post='1995443'] I get what a lot of you are saying about a single guitarist covering anything. IMO, some guitarists are better than others at that. In all honesty, our current guitarist is good, but doesn't have what I'd call a "big" sound. He has been great at fitting into a band (with our old keyboardist), but on his own, he's not the most creative at turning a 2 guitar piece into a 1 guitar piece (I sure hope he never reads this !). Maybe that will improve with necessity over the next few weeks/months. Who knows ? [/quote] IMHO the bass player also has to carry more of the load in filling out the sound so tweaking your sound and basslines is going to be part of the answer. Steve

I can find a venue in Hull (dependent on date and time, would probably need to be a mid-week evening) but I suspect that Hull might be a bit out on a limb for most people. Steve

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1362047464' post='1994858'] But the track will likely be hard work if you approach it like this. You have no idea who is going to play what and how... as you found out. Far better to have a few notes and wing it. and be able to quickly transpose it If you get the gig, then you can worry about how close the band is capable of getting and how close you want to get [/quote] Totally agree, my normal approach would be to do it that way, the only reason I deviated was because THEY asked me too. Yes, I could quite easily have made up bass lines on the fly (done it for years) but after that I couldn't be a****d. If they'd been honest from the first I might have been inclined to try. What I didn't understand was their mentality, if you know you're not playing the original versions why ask for someone to learn them? Steve

Mind you some of those are doing the selecting can be right nobs as well. I recently learnt four songs for an audition "Learn the original versions" I was told, so I did. At the audition two songs were in different keys "Our singer can't manage the original key" and none of the rest of the arrangements (including drums) bore much of a resemblance to the originals either. Total waste of my time learning the lines. Steve

I have instruments, she has dogs. One of the dogs is on long term medication for epilepsy. I have to buy a lot of instruments to balance out the respective costs Steve

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1361744301' post='1990276'] 8 people tried my Dingwall at a recent local (mini)bass bash, ranging from a teenager (IIRC 'just' a teenager) to a pensioner (need to confirm that the Bassdoc has his free bus pass) and not one of them couldn't play it perfectly normally in the space of minutes. The caveat being that my Super-Jazz is 32"-34" scale/fanned fret. [/quote] I'm one of those who tried it and if I'd had the money it would have gone home with me . Steve

The big problem with buying a bass at the bottom end of the market is that you end up still wanting a better bass in the £2,000 to £5,000 range which is where I'm at now . Personally I would avoid the G4M basses, if they can't be bothered to set up their shop basses properly why should the boxes they ship out be any different? I've tried a couple of other people's Thomanns which were fine enough but not a big step up from my second hand (and now fettled) Antoni purchased through this site. Steve PS The problem with going to a specialist shop is the shear number of gorgeous instruments at a price that you know you'll never afford, been there, made that mistake

Those Koi are cheap as chips, you should look at the cost of a Double Bass "If sir has to ask the price, sir cannot afford it!" Steve

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1361524435' post='1986855'] I was introduced to Jerry Donahue by Cropper a couple of years ago. I don't know how long he was in FC [b](did they have a revolving door policy?)[/b] but since he lives nearby I thought it only polite to take a few CDs that he had on him. All great stuff, especially his last release with his daughter; makes me think I'd check out FC given the right opportunity (unfortunately last night wasn't one of them). [/quote] For the first dozen years, yes. The last twenty have been a lot more stable. Steve

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1361472293' post='1986319'] If any of it was any good, the people who currently don't buy much music would be [i]buying it*[/i] by the scad-load, the music business would be thriving and we wouldn't be having this discussion. QED. [size=3]* See FF point re: Guardian survey[/size] [/quote] Not if they can get it for free they won't. Steve PS Yes I have read The Guardian piece, the catch in these studies is that they refer to music files and digital music and legal downloads not to music sales (ie CDs etc) as a whole. Digital is not yet the totality of music sales

Are cajons the new bodhrans for the non-folkie world? Are punters (and other musicians) going to run screaming as yet another non-percussionist, with no sense of rhythm, unpacks a cajon and hits away, oblivious to the actual music being played? Steve (reformed bodhran "player")

Doesn't matter how cheap you make it, some people will always prefer "free" and that is the conundrum for the business and one to which I don't see a ready answer. The creation of music has a cost, unless we want a world where all musicians are hobbyists, then that cost has to be covered. In an ideal world the answer might be more gigging but elsewhere on BC I read about music venues shutting, pay to play etc that suggests that that's not going to be the answer. Steve

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1361398939' post='1985529'] Exactly. There are plenty of examples of bands (some quite famous) giving away their music for free. Should we criminalise that? [/quote] If a band gives it's music away for free that is the decision of the band and fair enough. I know a band (Show of Hands) that actively encourages people to file share because they believe that it adds to sales. That too is their right. They may be correct or not but that's irrelevant, it is their choice. However when a band decides that it doesn't wish to give their music for free away isn't that also their right? If you then decide to take it for nothing, then no matter how good your "reasoning", you are a thief, same as if you took something for free off my market stall. The fact that you can run faster than me, are bigger than me or have your mates with you doesn't alter the fact that you are a thief. All it means is that you've found a way to get away with it and you can then justify it to yourself (and your mates) on the grounds that I should be bigger, faster or have more mates than you. Doesn't alter the fact that you have taken what was not yours, you're a thief. Steve

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1361389286' post='1985266'] See example below. And indeed, it isn't a case of should, because there is no obligation to download music, thankfully, because most music is terrible. But do you have the option to do something that is not restricted? Sure, because that is what not restricted means. [/quote] Out of interest, how do you suggest that any new music gets written and recorded? Steve