oggiesnr

I would buy good quality, four string, handmade models, with good but conservative specs (not necessarily the shape but the pick-ups etc), enjoy them and keep them in good condition. It needs to have a sound that a bass player forty years down the road is going to say "I like that" and not think "God, that's so 2010s". In the mass market it's got to be something that is going to be used and wrecked by people, you can't have too many floating about in good condition. An example from the toy business, an original Corgi 007 Aston with box is worth a lot of money, the Corgi's that were sold as collectors edition a decade ago will never be worth much. The reason is the former were bought as toys, played and ruined so perfects are very rare, the latter were bought as investments, are being lovingly cared for and there will always be too many perfect ones around. The other trick is you need to buy it early in it's history with as low a serial number as possible. Number 1 will always be worth more than 101. Steve

Had a great time, thanks for organising it. Steve PS Next time I'll have a pick-up on the DB so I can mix it in the noisy room

Should be good. I know Huw from his work with June Tabor but it's a long way from Hull Steve

More years ago than I care to remember I played a gig at an Irish club near Rotherham that had chicken wire across the front of the stage. As the manager said "If they don't like yer they tend to throw stuff". Closer inspection revealed where quite big "stuff" had hit the wire. Played the first set thinking "like us you ******, like us" Fortunately they did Steve

Tone is over rated. Most of the time what you think I'm hearing in the audience isn't what I'm hearing at all because you're too close to cabs to hear it like it is out front and/or the soundman has screwed the mix. Secondly I'm much more interested in what you're playing and how it sounds in the band. If the bass line is s**t, doesn't fit the music or is too loud (or too soft) then you can have the best tone in the world and it means nothing. I find it interesting that on most instrument sites (I play too many instruments so I belong to a few) there is always more debate about equipment than music. Steve

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1359759226' post='1960145'] Well I never knew that! I thought they were either maple or pearwood. [/quote] Rosewood, ebony, palisander, African blackwood, they have about a dozen choices if you're prepared to pay for them. Sort of like bass guitar wood Steve

Sorry Ian but they have used boxwood and still do quite extensively (I was in EMS at Saltaire a couple of weeks back and had a look at a Moeck Tenor in boxwood, SWMBO over-ruled me ). It could be an old school's model, would need to see it really. Steve

All fingers off would give a slightly sharp D and at 33cm in length that would make it a soprano (in which case the bottom note is C). It looks like the Rottenburgh (4200 series) design so it's either maple or boxwood (conceivable pearwood but looks too light). The photos pitch the colour of the wood somewhere in between so I'd say maple which has aged a bit. Steve

A Dallas Tuxedo Bass from sometime in the fifties. Mahogany neck and no truss rod so the neck was the width of a box of Swan Vestas and about the same depth. It was so uncool that the band I was in at the time forced me to upgrade to an Antoria EB3 copy (which I still own ). I suspect that the Dallas might be worth more today. Steve

Sitar for me. Unfortunately I suspect I don't have enough years left to learn to play and I'm not sure that I have the mindset required to play the ragas that I love listening to. Other than that, I play too many instruments to varying degrees of incompetence as it is. Steve

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1359578591' post='1957038'] Solid Air by John Martyn and Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley. Never managed to find a guitarist with the balls to try either... [/quote] You're moving in the wrong circles, you need to come up North . Steve

You only live once, if you do it right once is enough. Steve

It's still there on iplayer, if you haven't seen it, it is well worth an hour of your time. Steve

If you like Ashdown gear why not look at one of their EVO II combos? I'm using a 180 at the moment which seems to work OK. Steve

Reading through the list of names on this thread I can only conclude that every bass player that has ever played with a band is underrated Steve

I wouldn't choose either of them until after the auditions, otherwise why waste their time (and yours). Steve

Keep calm and have fun! Steve

If it's not too late Steve Ogden, Hull, East Yorkshire

[quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1359201602' post='1951438'] If I wanted to refer to inanimate things as 'she' (or 'he') I'd move to France, Italy or Spain where they do it properly. So can you stop it please, or I'm leaving the country. [/quote] So should you leave the country and go to France you would discover that "she" is correct (for basses anyway) la guitare basse, "la" being the female definite article. Steve

Talk to a luthier and see about moving the sound post. I know that when we moved the post on my laminate it changed the way the bass spoke. Steve

From memory (it's a while since I last passed through) doesn't The Green Room do Open Mike Nights? Might get some live leads from there. Steve

Be more specific in your ad as to what type of music they will be singing and what you expect (ie basic musical knowledge and/or an instrument). May weed out some of the wannabees. Steve

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1359063331' post='1949424'] Superb! We'll be playing Sheema's solo work in July, but we won't get near Hull I don't think I had to improvise guitar on My Son John with Martin and Sheema a couple of years ago, it was a little scary but I think he enjoyed it. Lovely guy, amazing musician. His daughter's hilarious [/quote] When the dates are confirmed please send me a link, I may be in Hull but that doesn't mean I can't travel Steve

Should be good, I've seen Sheema several times with The Imagined Village. Steve PS I've sat in sessions with Martin but he's so dam good that I've listened rather than played!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1359042956' post='1948920'] Theres a slight difference between you standing a metre from your amp and somebody else standing ten metres from your amp... I can't ever recall seeing a volume switch either? Would a dial this is set at 0 or 11? [/quote] Terminology now corrected (yet another senior moment) Steve