uk_lefty

Their M series basses are a bit more original. I'd be quite keen for a four string version of one.

Good quality leather guitar strap? A branded guitar co stool to sit on and play? A swanky effects pedal of some description? Four hundred square 9v batteries from the pound shop? £400 in cash?

What if it's to stick two fingers up at the drummer without interrupting your playing? I do this a lot.

What about acoustic guitar amps? Have heard these are closer to bass amps than guitar... Not sure how true that is?

Hi everyone. Looking for advice please. I've just got rid of a forty watt fender Bronco modelling amp, it weighed over 12kg and was taking up quite a bit of space. I would like to replace it with a smaller practice amp and without spending too much. I'm looking at small amps like the Harley Benton 20w or the Ashdown Tourbus, and also the sort of "desktop" amps that Blackstar, Laney and Vox do. The desktop amp would be ok if it doubles as a Bluetooth speaker but can they handle a "proper" bass, meaning okay a low b without distorting? What would be ideal also is something that could handle guitar as well as bass. I've used guitar amps for bass in the past and it's been ok, but something that's meant to cover both instruments could be good? I'm not bothered about amp modelling and so on as I have all that on my multi effect pedal. Any advice welcome! Thanks

I've had a miked up drummer do the horns part of Dude Looks Like a Lady in the past. That worked. Unless you already do loads of feeding in samples and stuff I really wouldn't bother as it's one more thing that can go wrong. Surely you've got a guitarist-who-thinks-he's-a-vocalist type who'd love the limelight of making a noise down a mic?

Not sure if these have been done here but... What? Why? Who the...? https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223346540047

Fair do's but as you say you're a muso. A non muso six pints in doesn't want a flawless version of sex on firrz they want local guys and girls playing it with sincerity. IMO.

World class musicianship won't always win over very good showmanship. Putting on a show is what people want, then they'll get in to almost anything. At big gigs I've seen the Hives get sneered at but turn it around through amazing showmanship and have the audience eating out of their hands, Dizzee Rascal the same when supporting the Red Hot Chilli's, went from having bottles of fosters thrown at him to absolutely rocking Knebworth through engaging the audience and winning them over. So in a pub, give me the world's best clarinet player sat in the corner knocking out a tune, I won't care. Give me a very good clarinet player putting heart and soul in to it while kicking over tables and stuff and I'm interested.

Yeah but you just hold the other hand underneath it. Or put it on wheels. Or make your father in law carry it so he feels like he's part of it...

They aren't heavy as such but if you've got a long trek with it you could do with side handles instead of just the one top handle. Best carried with two hands.

Also tell everyone where you're based! Sounds like whichever decision you make there will be two good drummers still available and we all know that good drummers are like rocking horse poo!

I had the 300w toneman 1x15 combo for quite a while. It's a good portable amp and you get more out of it by adding an extension cab, with the toneman cabs a good price (though I went for a great value lightweight rootmaster instead). I found it perfectly functional and gigged it quite a bit. It's got everything you need but it's not going to "wow" you on any level. It's just a good quality amp. Play a decent bass through it with good strings on it, run your effects through it and you're sorted. If it's just a backup etc you can't go wrong. Unless you're looking for lightweight. They are compact, I remember measuring mine because I couldn't believe it had a 15" speaker. The guy I sold it to was also surprised at how compact it was. While it didn't blow my socks off it did give me enough confidence to stick with Ashdown ever since despite my love for Fender, Trace Elliot, Vox, Gallien Kruger and Hartke Amps. You can see it in the background of this pic on top of a rootmaster cab.

Ha! Not really... The lad auditioning before me was about seventeen, handshake like a wet fish (immediately BL mouthed to the drummer "no") but he played everything note perfect. Then his dad picked him up. He was a good player but wanted regular functions... And a lift to them all! I have a firm handshake and was sat in reception warming up playing scales on my bass... I also didn't learn the songs note for note but played them my own way. The band liked that. I'm not a freemason. But then again, a freemason would say that...!

Allegedly I got my spot in my band based on my handshake. Hope that helps

So two gigs in and I'm LOVING this bass. Not in the way we all love something new and a bit different but I honestly don't know why it took me so long to just get a Stingray. Reasons for the deep and meaningful love: Feel of the neck - the finish makes me play faster, the profile makes me play so comfortably... I see photos from gigs and my fingers are in "correct" formation and my thumb isn't peeking over the top. Winner. The presence of the sound is huge. I loved my MIM Jazz despite its drawbacks but used to have to dig in so hard I'd badly blister my fingertips. With the Ray I played a long function gig last week and a pub gig this weekend and no blisters at all. I don't need to dig in to get that big, full sound. The EQ - I bypass the EQ on my amp now. Despite having a huge and very versatile multi FX I was seriously considering not using that either. I just get a big fat bass sound that sits perfectly, giving me lots of presence in with two guitars without mushing up anyone elses frequency. I barely adjust the EQ when I play. Weight - I never really got in to all the discussion about weight of basses bit this does feel very light compared to almost all my other basses that I've owned. It's just comfortable to play for long sets. Looks - it looks great. We were in the background of some professional photos at our last function and the bass looks great. Also with the natural finish and glossy coat I don't get greasy fingermarks like a lot of painted basses. It looks a million times better than my Sire in natural ash and black pickguard too. The fretboard - the rosewood board takes away any brittleness in the highs. I like some snappy brittleness off a maple board but can do without having to dial it in or out or tame it, so it just isn't an issue now. If I want the highs I roll them up on the EQ. Pick playing - I played with a pick this weekend a fair bit more than I usually would and I was really pleased with the output. It was a bit of an experiment but it just gave me that drive a pick can give but without being scratchy and loud and uncontrollable like it can with some basses. The only improvement? I want to add a drop D tuner. Then my five string would be out of work. Any recommendations? None of this will be news to Stingray owners, but if like me you were on the fence about them, or about the cash outlay, I hope this helps.

Seriously my instinct from your post is number 1. The questions you need to ask around commitment etc are already in the thread but I'd like to know how they react to on stage pink torpedo ups. A good band needs to recover if one member misses a cue or forgets their place. I had a disastrous gig the other week but we all know how to pull each other out of it whereas I've known people whose attitude is that they carry on regardless because they didn't mess up, which spoils things even more.

Only one way to settle it. Fight!

Right on straps! I got one from Manson's in Exeter. Leather strap, Spanish made, has a little slot for two picks at the end where you connect to the guitar body. Very comfortable, I've got it on my Stingray. Nice colours too. Mine was about £35.

Can't remember if it was Hermes or Yodel but one day I found a package for a completely different address in the middle of my living room. I'd been out. How did it get there...? Thrown in through my open living room window. Which is the horizontal type over five foot off the floor that a person can't get in through. No idea why they chose my house. They left a note for the person who it should have been for saying "left with a neighbour" and my address! She couldn't believe it either

I think this is aimed at people like me who don't have the patience to learn about midi and all that sorcery. It sounds like a good plug and play with useable sounds

I want one!!! Always hated the totally unusable synth sounds you get on multi FX pedals. My boss GT10B gets slated for it's synths. My band are doing more and more 80's covers and to have this on my board sounds like it could cover the more tasteful synth territory. I'm keen. How do you think it stacks up next to the Boss SYB? I had one of those but never had need for it so moved it on, found it too extreme...

Is there a typo in there or are you playing down a brag??