uk_lefty

My Mrs laughs at me for always having a dhansak but as hot as a madras. That with a peshwari naan is heaven

Have gone ampless a few times on vocal PAs using some of the older generation zoom BFX boxes. It works pretty well for what I was doing which was alternating between bass and guitar in duo and trio stuff with no drums. I wouldn't want to rely on that set up with my current band unless we were firing the full PA with subs and even then I'd want a good monitor in front of me. My guitarist who is also the sound tech guy has recently gone FRFR "ampless" despite owning some seriously nice amps, he is a convert and he is trying to persuade me to go the same way. I think I'd just feel a bit "naked" without a rig behind me when with a full band rather than doing duo/ trio stuff

Hartke did a good bass chorus, was very cheap new and should be a steal second hand. They're supposed to be the same guts as some Chinese brand pedals you can get on ebay but if forget the name. I've had the Boss bass chorus, Hartke, Behringer (always broke), and a few others I can't remember. The Hartke was the best. I like the sound of chorus on a scooped bass, the kind of sound you can imagine accompanying an 80's cop movie scene where a car with lights that flip up out the bonnet pulls in to a murder scene at night... And it sounds good on fretless too

I'm a bit kack handed with this stuff but here goes... I had a Hartke VXL which was a great pre amp pedal for my precision bass. I went from individual pedals to a boss GT10-B. Yes, it's old technology but modern enough for me and does far more stuff than I will ever need. I have played around with the amp sims, which include a Trace Elliot sound, as well as others you'd expect such as Ampeg and a guitar amp sound too. I was using this a lot at first with a Sire jazz bass and disabling the eq on my Ashdown amp and going straight to the input, I've never heard of going straight to the fx return but will give it a go. That may have been a case of me playing with two new toys that had arrived at a similar time though!! There was a "super flat" amp sound I absolutely loved using with that bass. Playing live now I rarely play with the amp sims, in fact I'll turn it off on some effects to avoid cluttering things up. It's useful to get the clean amp sound and the eq effects it kicks in for when I want a slappy type sound but now I'm playing a USA Stingray I love the sound so much I can get by with just the bass and Ashdown amp and no effects whatsoever. I want to do some recording soon and will be using the amp sims a lot as I experiment with tone. When it goes to the detail of different types of mics on cabs though I get a bit lost, it's impressive detail but it's a layer of detail too far for me.

Just watched Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes on iplayer. Saw a bit of them at Download 2016 but not quite enough before we had to go to see whoever else on the main stagw, that's more my kind of thing for a live band. Heart and soul in the performance, huge guitar sound.

I loved my Hartke kickback, really good solid amp with all the tone you need and a good amount of presence. It was more a cost decision that took me to Ashdown but if they fell off the earth tomorrow I'd be looking at Hartke next. Only heard good things about the previous generation of amp heads (LH series I think?).

Firstly, the dhansak is the daddy of all curries, I salute your choice there. Royal Blood. I think one song is OK, but they don't grab me. 1975... I tried listening to them once. Loads of young'uns love em, I read some really positive news about them... But they are just dreadfully forgettable. And annoying. They're like a crappy fashion phase that shouldn't last more than a summer. But somehow they're still here. Puzzling isn't it?! I mean, it's not Paul Young.

We have t shirts that we try to sell. A handful have sold... We will wear them on stage sometimes, I dont think it's naff but I can see how some would, especially in originals bands... We are a covers band, so lots of people think that's naff in itself. There's a motor racing event we've done a few times where the sponsor of the event makes a t shirt and puts our logo on it but it is definitely a motor racing t shirt that you might find our logo on. We wear those more than most.

Hi Sven. I have used the ABM amps a bit but own and gig an RM. I think if you want big, natural drive it's the AMB. I find the ABM is absolute perfection for a precision bass with flats rock sound. You can get there with the RM but the ABM is naturally weightier in sound (I didn't say heft but I kinda meant it). However I personally find the ABM hard to get different sounds from, like something a bit more suited to a fretless sound. That could be my lack of patience in the rehearsal room though. I just find the RM easier to manage the EQ but as I said I own the RM I just have occasional use of an ABM. Also when I use the ABM it is with ABM cabs so they will be contributing to the overall sound. Given unlimited time and money I'd like to experiment more with an ABM as I think it's got more of a gutsy sound which could suit the sound of a new band I'm putting together, but for me as a covers band player who goes through a whole range of styles I find the RM more flexible.

I used to run a trace 2x10 as an extension to a Trace 1x15 500w combo. Best amp sound I've ever had. I now run an Ashdown RM500 in to a 1x15 and a 2x10 but I personally preferred it in to two 1x15s. That's just me though.

Being told I made my band better by other band members and regular punters. I like the band I joined but feel we have grown over three and a half years. I'm allowed to play in my style, meaning I can embellish bass lines as much as I want to, and the guitarists give me the right space. We are a perfect fit for each other. The last bassist wasn't bad, he has his style and I have mine, though I think his heart is not fully in the kind of the music the band does whereas for me it's more suited.

I think I remember Brandoni selling off parts for fender type instruments and also Eko and Vox. Depends what you want.

I've had two fivers and a six that was so bad it's not worth any more... Moving on. Five string fretless Kramer Striker. A cheap bass off musicyo in the very early 2000s. I love it. It was my 18th birthday present and has been the only constant for me since. Lined rosewood board, beautiful. Upside down pointy headstock, metallic black paint... Its a good passive bass but needs decent strings and a good amp to get the best out of it. The pickups could do with upgrades, the coil tap is pretty crappy so would prefer a better single coil sound. It's part of me though and it still gets gigged. Sire vintage V7. I don't own this anymore and I'm kicking myself a bit. For a reasonable price you can get Ash body, maple neck and board, 70s pickup position, lefty, and a high quality pre amp that's dead easy to use. For a lefty that's mind blowing at the price point. I liked it a lot but felt guilty after spending so much on a new USA Stingray so I sold it to help downsize my gear and raise a few hundred quid. It had a great bright snappy zingyness to the tone and arrived set up amazingly. I tried to play this as a fiver rather than a four plus a few extra notes and was getting on well. I regret selling it but I still think my Mexican Fender jazz with bartolinis had a slightly more sophisticated tone though not the flexibility of the preamp. I'd happily have another Sire, particularly the 2nd gen with the satin necks.

I like the couriers who ask what day you will be in before setting their delivery schedules. Not foolproof but must surely be better than driving round hoping someone is in between 9 and 5 on a weekday.

Feeling your pain but with DPD. 1st August they had to collect an item I was returning to Andertons. Wife is in a ll day expecting them, sat in the living room where she can see anyone coming up the drive. I get a text "nobody was in. Want to rearrange?" So i call them and call out their BS "Oh he says he couldn't find your road" Well houses were built there from 1960 so it WILL be on even the oldest sat nav. I tell them they're having a giraffe. Within ten mins some rude oik is at my door to collect the parcel. Today DPD van hares up my cul de sac Road where children play and signs clearly warn of this. Parks ON my neighbours front garden, gives over the parcel then WHEEL SPINS off the grass and down the road. Builders filmed it all. Will ask them to upload this to DPDs Facebook and just ask them "what the actual fook?!"

My singer also hates being smashed in the back by loudness, he really needs to be able to hear himself I order to give a good performance. Sometimes boomy bass noises aren't always coming from the bass. One of my guitarists had a new amp and hadn't EQ'd it very well so it sounded like a big woolly badly EQ'd bass, and as our other guitarist who runs the PA said to him "stop playing the f'ing bass!" So it's not just the bassists responsibility, the other musos need to stay out of our sonic space.

Guitarists father?? Says it all.

Amazing how venue's hire you to do 2x sets of however many minutes which must start at a certain time but when you want them to turn off their ten year old "now" album or whatever it takes ages!!

Love a pointy headstock!! Let us know how the GZRs work out

If I had a pound for every time...!

We do it too. We don't play a single particular genre or era of music but it's all a mix of stuff we think will get people dancing. We play some disco classics, some dance songs and a few cover song ideas to see how people react. The silence or the sh!tty music supplied by the venue often clashes, far better bringing your own and as has been said before you're then providing constant entertainment rather than just the 2x band sets.

Audacity is good for editing mp3s of live performance/ rehearsals, didn't k ow I could use it to loop and slow down etc. Thanks!

You need fender tapewounds... They're black and sound amazing on a P bass. They're black too.

Lots of wise words in there! A visit from you may have saved me returning my wireless G75 to Andertons two weeks ago!