uk_lefty

Duff McKagan. The bass, the sound, the attitude, the songwriting. Also comes across as a nice guy (who has learned from his past!). He is everything a bass player should aspire to be. Lines that sound simple but are made complicated by the 'feel' with which they need to be played to recreate. The energy to keep going, keep creating, after all these years. The contribution in bass and songwriting on the greatest rock album ever, Appetite for Destruction. Look no further than Duff!

Sire/ Ibanez.

That neck looks amazing!! All o Dr looks great to me, very 80's, like you'd have got it free with a Commodore 64

To be fair I wouldn't recognise their drummer of he was sat in front of me at a drum kit, playing through their "greatest" hits, nevermind his wife!

I think you can deal with it very easily. You found a drummer to form a funk/ soul band. The guitarist joined that band but brought in a mate who took everything in a completely different direction that you didn't want to go in. These guys have basically taken a shortcut to forming their own ego trip band by hijacking you and your concept. I'd chalk it up to bad experience/ sh!t happens. Maybe see of the drummer wants to keep going on the original track with you?

@Ashdown Engineering if you ever want to prototype that pedal with LED indicators on it and your massive list of endorsees are too busy, I'm available and almost local to you 😜

I had a wedding gig last week and the stage was tiny. I usually use a Boss GT10B with amp modelling on and turn off the EQ on my Ashdown RM 500 head... However the stage was so small there was no room for my pedal. So for the first time in forever I played a gig with no effects pedal, unless you count the footswitch for the Ashdown! To tune I used a Boss Tuner app on my mobile phone. I set the Ashdown EQ as I like, engaged the compressor and cranked it up a lot, and had a two button footswitch to engage drive or sub whenever needed. Have to say I was very pleased with the sound and not faffing about trying to remember if my next favourite effect is on P03 button 2 or whatever else. The sheer simplicity was great, the sub effect can get quite synthy which is nice and the drive brings out some crunch and presence when needed. I like the simplicity of it all, and using amp emulators is really not going to make a difference to most except me anyway. The only thing I'd ask Ashdown for is LEDs on the footswitch to indicate whether I've left an effect on or not! Would be handy when you're not sure if you've hit the button well enough with your foot! Anyone else using inbuilt effects on their amps? I'd always thought they'd be pants live but having used out of lack of choice I may well be using more often now!

Nevermind that, what about the double P??! 🥰

My band plays rock and soul covers. We are supposed to avoid cliches but quite a few have crept in! We recently did our first wedding. Our last two gigs have been a Thurs night in a pub with less than thirty people and a wedding paying multiples of that. We approach the gigs far differently. Thursday is our practice night so why pay for rehearsal space when we can get paid to rehearse and get live feedback? No pressure, playing the new songs that are at least eighty percent ready, but no faffing about with things like how many times a riff is played to transition from mid eight to verse, etc. just feeling our way through. It went ok, we gave a reasonable account of who we are but not great, I wish we'd done a bit better. The wedding was great fun. We were nervous, very strict on rules such as no drinking at all before and during, no "trying something" during the solos etc. And we went down a storm and have had incredible feedback. Those are two great examples of the breadth of what we will do and we do a lot in between including paid festivals, some very speedy charity festivals and free gigs, pub gigs but only in busy places that do a good job of live music. What will we not do? Play at tiny venues where the five of us would barely fit in the stage area never mind our kit. Play for less than X amount. Give a discount on the agreed fee for "exposure". Play in places renowned for trouble. Play in restaurants. Play in places where we have to chase and chase for our payment. Play in venues with bad acoustics such as a great big metal shed of a building. Take payment on the door. Long travel on a weeknight (most of us have day jobs). Won't play for people who are really sketchy on details, such as even the date(!!!!), how long we play for, etc.

It's the only Dingwall I like the look of! Glad they've found a way to keep it going

What's wrong with ties and a banner...??! 😲

Sounds like you need "the talk" with the bandmates and manager. "It's not you, it's me" is a good line... Seriously, if you don't say something you'll end up with midweek gigs too at this rate and everyone else will assume you're ok with that.

Just generally trying to sift out nutters. We often get, "can you do my wedding on x date?" Then we ask about the venue, power, whether they need lights, what time they want us on, how long to play for... When the answers are too vague or far, far, far too specific you get the idea that they will either be a nightmare in terms of giving you a list of Queen and Emerson Lake and Palmer songs to play or just "the reception is at this pub, play from errrr 7 until 1am? Whatever you like really". When you get something along the lines of an enquiry about x date to play two 45 min sets finishing no later than 11pm, or if it's a function longer sets and tighter rules, you know you're probably safe. Then again, for community stuff, always ask about backline. The best ones often have a pro sound company running the PA, though I have seen an event with two "stages" and bands from each stage trying to share a five watt guitar practice amp because the organisers thought bands just arrive with full PA etc to play for forty mins.

I get it, but I think it's probably just the wrong gigs. We have all played the shithole pubs that put on live bands and are full of knobheads shouting crap at you like "wonderwall!!!!!!!" All night. I've found in summer around my area there are loads of community events where they have live music all day, you get well looked after, pay is variable, but generally people are nice and respectful of you and your time. Often the backline is already there too which saves hassle. They also lead to private party bookings which again can be hit and miss but if you ask the right questions up front you can weed out the rubbish from the good ones. Keep plugging away and you'll get those amazing gigs that leave you and your bandmates with massive grins on your faces. You just have to put up with the odd gig with "wonderwall!!!" Being shouted at you between and during songs once in a while, it will always happen sadly.

Absolutely!! He's just pure class in the way he talks, no arrogance, not condescending, just wisdom!

I love the way Marcus Miller talks. Such absolute clarity, simplicity, makes you sit back and go "oh yeah!".

That is awesome.

Where do people put their receivers, pedal board or amp top... Or somewhere else? Also does where you have the transmitter affect things? I got a pouch for mine and might run it through my belt... Got a knock about gig on Thurs night that is likely to have less than ten punters so might fly by the seat of my pants and go wireless making sure I use the scan function .. fingers crossed.

I wouldn't buy near a live music venue unless I had no choice, I want my kids to sleep! Same as not buying a flat above a takeaway because of the smell, noise, etc. Isn't it just common sense? Or are there just loads of misguided social justice warriors who love fighting for their cause no matter what?? No wonder there's fewer venues left (other big factors also recognised here!)

Line 6 G75. Not yet confident to gig it. When using in rehearsal it has dropped out a few times but my issue is once it drops out it doesn't reconnect. I think I've not been scanning for the best channel to use first, combine that with rehearsal studios being full of electrical interference, I need to experiment more before it goes out to gig so jury's out for me.

I bought a USA Stingray brand new in December and on discussion with my drummer this weekend we agreed I probably never need another bass. The feel of the neck is the big draw for me, the shape and finish are just perfect. Then there's the kick you get from the pickups, a big full sound, moreso than you'd ever get from a P. I tried the Sterling Ray 34 a few years back and probably didn't have enough experience of active EQ to get much out of it, but the US Stingray is just instinctive to play. If cash is an issue and you're not sure I'd always encourage to buy second hand, you'll save loads. I'm not niave enough to think I'd recover half the new cost of my US Stingray if I were to sell it now... Give it twenty five years maybe

What an instrument for a 12 year old to be having a go on! And good on you letting him loose on it. I thought I'd had good quality basses with an MIJ Fender and some others but when I got a Stingray it all stepped up a gear, best basses for playing live (for my style anyway), can't imagine needing another bass for the same job.

It's more to do with where the strap buttons are and how it naturally sits on a strap it just pushed the end of the neck almost exactly two frets further away from your fretting arm than they would be compared to a fender for example, screws up the muscle memory! Am sure other brands and styles are different

They take a lot of flack but if I wanted lightweight I'd go back to a Hohner "cricket bat" B2A, just make sure you get one with the EMG pickups and get decent strings, they sound great. I think they look great too, many people don't though! They also confuse the natural playing position and you're playing an A when your muscle memory was taking you to G.

If it had an onboard tuner many people could have that as their only pedal!