mingsta

Definitely don't butcher your existing basses!!! I'd get a fretless squire jazz, cheap but decent instrument, easy to move on if don't get on with it. Or there was a nice looking Godin fretless going for a good price in the for sales section last time I looked. Getting a replacement neck also works, but you're probably talking a good £200-250 so doesn't work out much cheaper than a second hand bass. If your jazz and stingray are both getting played, I'd keep them as they are and get a dedicated fretless. I was the one who bought Breedin's stingray neck and used it to convert my fretted. It worked out great, but I did it for sentimental reasons as I have 3 other fretted basses and my stringray, which I've had since I was a teenager wasn't getting played. I had some regular roundwound slinky's on at first, but have la bella flats on now. Was after a thumpy upright sound (as much as can be achieved with a 'ray, anyway) with a bit of mwah and they did the job in that respect.

I'd try the Genz Genz Shuttle 6.2 in either 1x12 or 2x10 variant. Its light and portable, has all the connections you could need (aux in, headphones, DI out, effects loop), modular (head comes off, takes extension speaker). A really good gigging amp which won't break your back. Tone wise it should cover all bases. Default tone is clean and neutral, but thickens up nicely and gradually as you increase the gain - they've designed it deliverately to do this and I love it for getting old school tones.

I'm largely self taught and my knowledge of theory is pretty minimal. Is it worth learning a bit of guitar to improve my knowledge of chords and composition etc? Or would you be better off just focussing on learning it all on the bass?

[quote name='redstriper' timestamp='1362095182' post='1995890'] The last Precision I had was in the 70s - an Aria PB that I stupidly sold to get a Wal. [/quote] Thats not stupid. Unless you then went on to sell the Wal!!!

Funnily enough I saw one of these at the shop last week while visiting my local luthier. I though it was an alembic at first.

Taio Cruz - Dynamite Everything thats sh*te about the state of current music distilled in to one track. ...but can't deny that its catchy and a real crowd pleaser...and I must confess that I have fun playing it

Yeah thats the one. Its so red and sexy, I love it. All those buttons scare me though, it keeps bringing flashbacks of the £109 quid that I wasted on a Zoom B9.1ut, which I still haven't figured out how to use. [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1361794404' post='1990829'] A player in a previous band I was in had one of these, and I have to admit it sounded amazing. She still played it as if she was suffering from a stroke though, which she may well have been, come to think of it... [size=4] [/size] [size=4][/size] [/quote]

Haha But at the same time I do sympathise with the role they play in a band. The drums and bass have very focussed roles and in a function/covers band scenario you always know what you need to do. Keys on the other hand often have to pick out an arrangement that will work out of potentially a dozen different parts while the rest of the band assumes that they can magically fill in all the gaps that their instruments can't achieve. On side note, our current keys player brought round the most GAS (or is that KAS) inducing bit of kit round to mine last night. It was this big red thing with 88 weighted keys - a Nord something or other. Weighed a frickin ton, but it had a wooden modulator gizmo - WOOD. On a keyboard!!!!

I've been inactive for well over a decade, but as of last year picked things up again and have had a number of musical projects on the go. As part of this I've worked with 3 keyboard players in 2 bands. One thing I've noticed is that all of them have been pretty loose in terms of timekeeping (rhythm not punctuality!). Compared to our lead guitarist who could probably teach me a thing or too about being tight with the drums. I know that this is a pretty small sample section, but thats my first experience of playing in bands with keys. Have I just got unlucky or is there something about the instrument...???

The problem is, it just looks like a bass version of their guitars. Not my bag. But it does bring back fond memories of my first school band. Our guitarist was a virtuoso with rich parents and had a PRS, we used to wet our pants every time he took it out of the case.

I've played a classic vibe p and was seriously impressed...the woods are not glamourous (I think the body is basswood) but the tone and playability was all there. Having said that, if you can afford it, it's always better to save up and get the American standard as its a bass for life, whilst a squire would more likely be a stepping stone.... I'd also consider the lakland skyline '51 precision. I tried a load of p-basses at guitar guitar and to me, the skyline came away the clear winner. I didn't care for the looks (though others will love the 51 style) but it sounded bloody fantastic, really fat and punchy, I couldn't believe it was a passive bass!

Nice review, great piece of kit, especially if you were one of those who bagged it for £100 from GAK over xmas. You forgot to mention that you need a PhD in quantum physics to be able to work the damn thing. I've had it for a couple of months now and haven't taken it to band practice yet cos I just can't get my head round operating quickly in a live situation!

Cheers Gary. I loved my trace rig, first thing I ever bought with my own earnt money back in 92. But it weighed a frickin ton and too many knobs and gizmos that I never really got the hang of over the years. Was sad to see it go, but the genz is so much better for my needs. I think we really have things good now with all the new lightweight stuff out there now.

Here’s my initial thoughts on the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2 with 2x10 cab. I’ve had this for about 6 weeks now and it’s a keeper. [b]The brief:[/b] I purchased this online as a replacement to my venerable Trace Elliot 1215 GP12 SMX + 2x10 extension cab. I was after something that was going to be [b][i]much[/i][/b] lighter and which had all the bells and whistles for home practice (headphone, aux in, sounds good a low vol) as well as being gig-worthy. I also wanted a more simple pre-amp as I never used to make full use of the 12-band EQ, presets, hi/lo compression etc of the Trace. [b]Specs:[/b] All available here: [url="http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=detail&mid=2823&sid=715&cid=95"]http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=detail&mid=2823&sid=715&cid=95[/url] [b]Build and ergonomics:[/b] Head is tiny, cab is reasonably manageable with one hand. Anyone still lugging a 30KG kilo plus monster needs to wake up and see the light! Great build quality, feels like a quality piece of kit, controls feel precise and well engineered. The pots on the amp are notched – personally I like this though others may not. This amp’s got it all connection wise; aux-in, tuner out, effects loop in/out, headphones, 8 ohm out to 2[sup]nd[/sup] cab, footswitch. It’s a really versatile head. Really like the kickstand at the base of the amp, allows you to tilt the cab back for better on stage monitoring. [b]Sounds:[/b] I [b][i]love[/i][/b] the pre-amp gain section. There’s a gradual fattening up of the tone as you take the gain beyond 12 o’clock which is great for getting old school rock and motown tones through to moderate overdrive. Take it back to 9 o’clock and it’s clean and hi-fi. With everything set flat, it’s got a nice clean and uncoloured sound. I didn’t find it to be sterile sounding – I A/B’d it with a Streamliner 600 (Genz’s more old school head, with 3 tube pre-amp section) thinking that I’d prefer the streamliner but ended up going for the Shuttle because it can go really clean through to fat and warm (that gets quite close to the streamliner), while the Streamliner was more of a one trick pony (but a good trick nonetheless!) The tone shaping controls (Low, sweepable mid, High + seperate buttons for bass boost, mid scoop and treble boost) are all useable and give a nice range of tones without anything too extreme. My default setting is to have bass at about 2 oclock, mids fairly flat and roll off a bit of treble + gain at about 2’oclock for a nice fat vintage sound. It sounds great both at low volume and at gig/rehearsal volume. My Trace Elliot sounded slow and muffled at low volume, so it’s a big improvement for home practice. Volumewise, it’s not as loud as the Trace Elliot (what they say about Trace watts is true), but still plenty good enough for rehearsals with a loud band and small-medium gigs. [b]Niggles:[/b] The headphone socket isn’t enabled until you disconnect the speaker cable. I’d prefer it if connecting to the headphone socket bypassed the power amp automatically. Two side handles would have been better than the single top handle. The speaker cable is built in to the cab. I would have been better if this was detachable for easy replacement and greater flexibility. LEDs on the amp are blindingly bright especially on a darkened stage. [b]Overall:[/b] Love this amp. It’s much more portable than my old rig and sounds bloody fantastic. The pre-amp was a revelation, I was expecting hi-fi but some lovely fat and warm tones are available through the gain knob – wasn’t able to do this with my Trace amp. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

A clef of bassists. But other than that I like funk.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1360603071' post='1973168'] They tried to persuade me to get up and play for a couple of numbers but since I have been playing 5 string exclusive I had to decline because I just cant play a 4 string anymore [/quote] Was it for mathematical reasons? 2 in to 5 just doesn't go, right?

I was there a few months ago to try out some Genz Benz amps. My experience was neither here nor there really, the chap in the shop made a half decent effort to get me set up with a few different combinations of cabs and amps but I ended up sorting myself out as it was taking too long in between waiting for him to finish with customers. I prefer to be be given access to what I need and then left to my own devices so that worked for me, but I can see how others would have perceived that as a lack of customer service/enthusiasm.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1360598756' post='1973061'] I once snapped an oven proof dish doing the washing up (by hand!) and sliced my right wrist enough to need suturing and strapping up for the better part of a month. We now have a dishwasher (just until the eldest man-cub gets a bit bigger...) [/quote] Haha, if hes tall enough to see the soap suds then he's old enough to wash up!!! Funnily enough, I sliced the top of my left thumb cutting veg on the very same day that I busted the knuckle!

Good man, and congrats!!! I played at my own wedding just last September and put up a few vids here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/187266-played-my-first-wedding-gig-oh-and-got-married-too/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/187266-played-my-first-wedding-gig-oh-and-got-married-too/[/url] I'd say go for it! It certainly helped to make the day more memorable for us (and I hope) our guests. However, don't lose site of the fact that tying the knot with your missus to be should be the absolute focus of the day, so I'd advise that you don't play for more than 40-50 minutes yourself and get someone to dep the 2nd set. Also you are gonna be the main event for the whole day and should be spending your time with your guests, so it really ought to be set up so that you just jump straight in to the gig, do your bit and then get back to being with your guests - so let your band take care of all of the setting up and sound checking etc. you don't want to be having to get involved with that on the day and you probably won't have the time.

+1 on the good timing With more band/gig stuff coming up, I've been looking in to covers for my GB Shuttle 6.2 210T - I think I'll go with Roqsolid if they've been getting lots of good feedback on BC>

Yup gotta take the rough with the smooth with ebay - not ideal, but thats the way it is I guess. Having said that, I've had some great luck with it over the years. Got a brand new, absolutely mint Stringray 4HH last year for £899 in exactly the color and config that was after and its now my favourite bass. Also picked up a brand new Musicman Bongo 5HH for about £550 from the states a few years ago.

Got rather angry over something last Friday and in a fit of petulance I thumped the nearest inanimate object...which happened to be a dining chair. Unfortunately the dining chair proved to be more resiliant than my picking hand, whose middle knuckle went up to the size of a golf ball over the weekend and makes the occasional alarming spasm as the tendon moves out of its usual groove. It made band practice last night a rather interesting experience, but on the plus side, I'm now perfecting my Jamerson "Hook" technique. I guess the moral of the story is that mild mannered computer people should avoid picking on anything, including inanimate objects. I think I'll recover from this one but what a [email="tw@t"]tw@t[/email] I am for risking my already limited abilities through needless injuries! Has anyone else on here been as stupid as me? Please share....

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1359376530' post='1953686'] I recommend you get him to come up with a dozen songs that have been written in the last 10 years that 'he' wants to sing. You can then learn them and everyone would be happy. If he can't be arsed to do that then you've picked the wrong guy. [/quote] +1 Putting aside the decimation of your set list and the fact that this pulls you in to a whole new musical direction...its not a good sign, is it? Sometimes its a positive thing...like where someone comes in with fresh ears, see's what the band is like and suggests a load of new stuff that plays to your strengths...but this sounds like he just wants you to all mold in to his backing band for all of his old stuff. As per above, give him a chance, but if he can't be arsed then get shot.

Ha I'll swap you a singer for a drummer! Got two great vocals in my band, but struggling to find a drummer!