uk_lefty

Depends. When it's the fourth song about the same girl ignoring you at high school in the same key then it is self indulgent. Something I find a lot of solo acts suffer from.

Damnit I was learning that... Because our guitarist now has an Egyptian girlfriend..... Oh yeah, and we play lots of 80's songs. But mainly because of the guitarist.

My last audition was almost three years ago, still in the band now and enjoying it. What I brought: Knew almost all the songs on their list for the audition, Was warming up in reception playing scales, Had both Fender jazz and Fender P, A firm handshake, Similar aims to the rest of the guys, Backing vocals not great but better than the guitarist, Honesty - in terms of commitment, what I want out of the band, how much of a part of my life I'm prepared to let it be.

There's five in my band... Our set list would be a lot shorter if nobody had to play a song they don't like. I don't mind the odd one or two as long as the audience likes it. If a guitarist wants to play another flipping twelve bar blues so he can have three more boring solos when our audience loves our 80's song-and-dance along numbers then I put my foot down.

I understand the OP's reservations on those songs, but I hope you are pleasantly surprised. Slither is a massive song, it's one that anyone who likes rock music should recognise. Whole Lotta Rosie is probably in the set for the crowd participation "Angus! Angus!" In the intro. Lenny Kravitz goes down well, it's not just a guitar womble people will dance to it if it's played well. That's just my opinion, of course they have to fit the rest of the set, the general vibe of the band and the venue/ audience... But they're good songs that I hope go down well for you.

I have to play Parklife by Blur. I hate it but the audience sing along and seem to like it. I have no idea why. I get paid and go home.

But it does say "in Birmingham they love the governor. BOO BOO BOO" which doesn't sound very supportive of the governor to me. I'm happy playing it every gig and if I felt it racist (or enough people pointed out racist things I wasn't aware of) I'd go nowhere near it.

Just listened to You Oughtta Know. Wow. My memory of that song made me think "no way has that got flea and Dave Navarro on" but when you listen to it it's unmistakably Dave Navarro but Flea is let loose to play with a different style and tone to his RHCP work but keep it funky. It works really well and there's a female fronted band I sometimes play with, I want to play this with them!

Agree it's the way things are put sometimes. There's five in my band. We all feel free to be brutal with the lead guitarist because he's thick skinned and he takes it in, and he is usually better off for listening. For the singer we need to tread on eggshells. I got criticized for my timing in the intro of one song a few months back, I didn't even know it was a problem but the singer must have been fuming for months because he's so non-confrontational but he made a joke of it and at the next gig when we played that song he whispered "f'ing perfect" to me I guess as his way of saying 'thanks for listening'. I really don't like being criticized but I think if it's done in the right way everyone should listen and try what the other person is saying before they dismiss it.

I think they're rare because of the scale length. And I think it's someone from the forum selling...

Has anyone got one of these yet?? How is it going?? I'm really, really keen...

Thanks to everyone who mentioned the Mars Volta. Decided to buy de-loused last night and am really enjoying it. All round good music, I like the guitar style, the feel of the songs, and of course the bass... Decent album. It's a band I'd never have given much thought to if not for this thread. Thank you all

Thanks to everyone who mentioned the Mars Volta. Decided to buy de-loused last night and am really enjoying it. All round good music, I like the guitar style, the feel of the songs, and of course the bass... Decent album.

Flea is a huge inspiration and BSSM is, for me, untouchable as an inspired bass album. In 2012 I saw the Red Hots live in Knebworth and it was.... Dreadful, boring, hollow... Nothing like what I expected. So disappointing.

I know nothing. But it looks awesome!

I sincerely hope he has not done any of these things, that he was just the innocent childlike person he portrayed. That would mean that no children were harmed.

No idea but there's an eBay seller has been trying for best part of six months to sell a five string Corvette (lefty) and has dropped to £400, I think he's now opened up to offers. It's a lot of bass for that money, sadly not one that I would play or have room to store just in case I suddenly start to get on with their necks.

It's an odd one and I really don't know which way to go on it. I don't think this new documentary changes my opinion that he more than likely did do all these things and probably a lot more. I have played Smooth Criminal and Billy Jean in the past while holding the same opinion of MJ. However there is this tendency for public outrage now more than ever and I don't want my band to be blacklisted or bad-mouthed for playing a good song written by a terrible person. All you need is a slow news day and an over ambitious local news reporter and all of a sudden a few bad Facebook comments become a story in the local rag distributed to thousands with your picture included. If we still had any MJ in our set we would be discussing dropping it, and I don't think Beat It will be back on the "to learn" list soon. So protecting myself and my band from an expected bad reaction takes away the need for me to make up my own mind on the issue - I still don't know where to go on it. Just the other day this whole "mute R Kelly" movement made me realise that Bump n Grind is probably a dodgy choice, as much as I like the sheer tackiness of the song that could make it a good cover for parties... the safest thing in my view is to stay away, regardless of how great some of MJ's tunes may have been.

There's a lot of chancers about. You'll get people selling a "rare" "custom" "handmade" bottom of the range Stagg bass asking for £300 next to the ad for a new one at £99. You'll get people who bought something for a price and want to recover that rather than take a big hit. Then you get chancers assuming someone is as stupid as them. It's not just guitars it's all kinds of stuff where people buy and sell. What skews things is when you see top quality German Warwick's struggling to sell for peanuts but bidding on shabby condition Westone Thunders go past £250 it just doesn't seem to stack up to me but I guess there are trends that go around. Link it to fashion, high street shops are selling 90's "look" clothes (they aren't exactly 90's style but inspired by I'd say). Then consider bass buyers, those with a few hundred quid to buy a third or fourth spare bass, are we mostly aged 35+ and so nostalgic about the great basses of the 70's and now 80's? Aria Superbass, headless basses, Precision Elites, etc. Just my opinion with no actual research except loo breaks spent trawling eBay.

Apologies I wasn't saying don't discuss it, thats not what I meant! Clumsy wording. Suppose what I should have said was if enough people don't think it's good value they won't buy it and then the line may change or end. I guess that it might not last very long, of it didn't have the support from those of us who buy, and discuss (!!), Basses.

Thanks everyone. Shortly after making this topic I got a promo email with big discounts on wireless systems. I've reached a bit further in to my pocket and got a Line 6 G75 on the way. My guitarist, who recently bought a G30 full price, is feeling a bit left out, bless him. I've got to the point with gear where I want to buy once and (stop laughing at the back) never again. Here's hoping!

For various reasons I'm looking for a wireless system. I can't seem to find anywhere good info on what the relative merits are for wireless systems around now for bassists. I've looked at the likes of Line 6 G30, the Samson bass unit... Then there's things like Xvive and others. I'm looking to spend around £100 and happy with second hand. Any recommendations very welcome. I play both active and passive basses so it needs to be able to take an active bass without creating hiss. I've seen all the very cheap stuff on eBay and I'm guessing they're a waste of money.

I get it! There could be so much else going on though. Whenever I rehearse through an Ampeg SVT with 8x10 I really, really struggle to hear myself at all! No volume or definition, yet it's a legendary amp. I think it's the rooms and the EQ'ing and my proximity to the amp. Am sure if I gigged one it would be a different situation. With regards active basses I never got on with 2 band actives but three bands make more sense to me.

Not sure what all the fuss is about. They aren't discontinuing the V3 and V7 for it and will probably only make a small number of V10s. If you don't think it's good value, don't buy one. I have had a Vintage V7 as my main gigging bass for a while and the bridge and tuners have held up fine. I admit they could be better but I haven't yet felt the need to upgrade.

The best drummer I ever played with was also the best all round musician I ever met. He didn't play loads of instruments, he was dedicated to his drums, but he thought in major detail about song structure and dynamics etc. We played in a three piece with an egotistical guitarist/ singer who had the ability on guitar to back up his arrogance. Me and the drummer were left to jam under his improvised solos and we got to a point where we could drop out for odd beats and come back in without even eye contact. It was magical stuff. He made me a much better bassist ... The guitarist did to, but the drummer wanted to make me betters the guitarist wanted me to keep up! What made him good? Dedication to his instrument but always in the context of the song.