uk_lefty

I don't think I paid anything like that for my Roqsolid amp cover. Think it was 30-40. Or you could buy a polythene dust sheet from B&Q for a quid.

The Best Disco Album in the World Ever! I had it on cassette. It's bass heaven. Blood Sugar Sex Magic by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Any Hot Chocolate songs. Some of the disco type songs that really groove sound complex then you realise they're only a couple of notes, so should be easy... Then you try to get the feel and timing and you discover where the magic is, it's not easy to recreate that timing and feel!

Pearl Jam, Ten. Melodic fretless bass in rock. It's a game changer, or it was for me, I got a fretless after that convinced me it was useable in rock.

Guns n Roses live era CD. Some language you don't want the kids repeating but some basslines you will want to repeat.

Thanks Al. At the moment I use a flanger occasionally. A bit of chorus, moreso when playing fretless. For the fretless I use the enhancer on my LMB-3 too. I use bass wah every now and then, it's only for certain songs. I use a pre amp pedal with my passive basses, that has some drive and EQ to it, I also can use it to boost volume when I need to come to the front (once per gig!). That's it. I would like a more gnarly distortion but it's not essential. I'd like an envelope filter on tap too. Neither of which are essential. I'm not a big effects user, I could very easily go without. I like using effects and I like the ability to boost the bass every now and then and to thicken out or change the sound for maximum impact when I absolutely have to. We gigged as a three piece on Saturday and I found myself using effects more to fill out the sound through solos.

Thanks for all the input. The main aim for me I guess is to have a handful of overdrive/ distortion in one place instead of buying pedals to only find they don't do what I want. I'm not that bothered about amp Sims, though I do have a Fender Bronco modelling amp and I do rate the quality of the amp Sims on that. I play in a busy covers band, I use some effects for just the mid eight of a song and never for anything else, so a multi will help when we add to the set then drop stuff out. I don't need to be at the cutting edge of tech, but something easy to edit and so on would be helpful. I gave up too easily with editing multis in the past but something Windows based drag n drop type thing would help a tech idiot like me. The Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live looks like my kinda thing, so does the bigger zoom unit. I think I've been Boss brainwashed though... Aaaargh

Hmmm lots of Zooms! I had a BFX708 for years and the only thing I worked out to do with it was make it so I could scroll through the effects silently to select the one I want, so I could do it mid song. I never worked out how to edit patches and stuff, but I expect that's easier these days? I see not many have the xlr out, I could save my Hartke VXL for that. I suppose you'll all say yes, but are there more useable sounds on the zooms these days? I only ever used two or three EQ type effects and the driven wah on my 708. No love for the Boss units? I like the idea of the older style one as it looks like three pedals plus an expression, and I'd expect it to be good quality. The newer Boss unit I've heard is great for studio and home use but not live...? Am I missing any brands or even older models like the older Line 6 stuff?

So it's come to a point where I just want to stop buying pedals that I end up selling on. I use effects sparingly: chorus, flanger, bass wah, I have recently bypassed my Hartke VXL as the tone quality from my active bass is excellent with nothing in between it and the amp. I barely use my LMB-3 anyway. I carry all this, probably a good amount of moneys worth, in a heavy pedal bag. I've got an amp footswitch to engage drive and sub octave. So for all the other effects I am thinking of replacing the lot with a multi. Ideally a multi effect would have an expression pedal, DI output (XLR) and should not require a lot of faffing about to learn to program. Current thinking is the Boss ME50-B, but I like the look of the Boss GT1-B. Then everyone here loves Zoom.... Last zoom pedal I bought was nearly twenty years ago so no doubt they have improved but not sure how they compare to Boss. I am not paying out for the Helix thingy. Are there any I've missed?

Update. Shortly after buying the Batallion I pulled the trigger on a Sire bass and was using that with nothing else in the chain, not even the amp EQ and it quickly became my go to. A few weeks back I depped for the band supporting mine and used my passive P bass. The Batallion was excellent for getting the right tone and giving me some dirty distortion when needed. I can't seem to find a way to use it with my active Sire though, but I haven't invested the time. I considered keeping it on the board for when I bring out a passive bass, but I've decided to stick with my Hartke. I can use the Hartke with the Sire to give me the punch I really appreciate from that pedal and I can get it working better with the active bass. I also used to have the Hartke "always on" for my passive basses. The Batallion is a cracking pedal, it gives you three in one with the EQ/DI distortion and compression but I like to stick to what I know with the Hartke. The Batallion is back on the marketplace if anyone is interested.

My new job description

My band won't take a gig if I'm unavailable. Same for the drummer and singer though On Saturday night we are gigging without one of the two guitarists. So the band knows the value of bass being played properly... The two guitarists and the singer all own basses but won't play to replace me on a gig. I think the audience want me to lock in with the drummer, keep the beat moving, and not mess up so many times! If anyone ever says anything after the gig they either enjoyed the band as a whole unit or they're trying to impress someone else by talking to me about "bass" thereby demonstrating a level of knowledge of how a rock band works beyond the average man in the street.

Unbelievable that ignorance like that ever existed.

Big mid-March: Dizzie Rascal supporting red hot Chilli's in 2012. All Dizzie's stuff is set up on stage being relentlessly bottled before he comes on, loads of people moaning. He came out and absolutely won the crowd, he was brilliant. But it wasn't a logical match at all.

My mate and I had an acoustic duo called "Not the Hoople" around 2006. We played in a town where the big live music venue always had tribute acts on with rubbish names so we used to make fun of them saying they may as well be called "Not *insert band name*" So we were an acoustic duo doing all sorts of covers. Our poster had a photo of Mott the Hoople with a big red line through it and a strap line "Acoustic covers, originals, but definitely Not the Hoople". We thought we had made it pretty clear we were not a Mott the Hoople tribute act. Some big white haired fellar in a black Mott the Hoople t shirt and leather waistcoat watches us set up, sits really close to us and looks around to see all of our 21 year old mates. He looks a bit confused. When we started to play he looked truly baffled. At half time he got up, came over to us and said "that was ok lads, not what I was expecting, but ok" shook our hands and walked off.

I'm fairly easily pleased on amps and cabs. If weight and transport weren't an issue I'd trade in my Ashdown RM500 set up for a 500 watt trace Elliot set up. Or anything by GK. Or a nice SWR. Or a Fender Rumble 500. But thinking smaller I might just go from the RM500 to 800 for extra oomph. Guitars wise I could sacrifice my MIM Jazz, my MIJ precision and my five string Sire Vintage V7 all for a custom made Zoot or a Sandberg. That may happen in future, funds permitting. My fretless Kramer stays forever. I loved the sound from my headless Hohner with EMGs (now departed) so have a hankering for a headless just with better string spacing. Pedals wise I'm seriously considering binning all of mine for a Boss multi effect and just learning how to program the bar steward. I keep buying pedals then having to sell them on hunting for the "right" chorus/ distortion/ whatever and then they get used very rarely anyways. I don't have lofty dreams with this, it's guaranteed we will play another outdoor gig in the rain, my drummer will kick over something and dent another bass... Quite chuffed that my Sire is there because at its price I won't have kittens every time I see my drummer rise from his stool.

At one point in time there were two bands calling themselves "Bucks Fizz" on the holiday camp circuit. They tried to sue each other for exclusive use of the name. When it got to court the judge said there was no mileage left in the name and they should just do whatever they want and stop bickering, just in more eloquent language that was even more cutting, and also legally binding. Suggest you fire the lead guitarist/ founder member but only one he condition that he sets up a rival band and you have a huge rock and roll feud with local newspaper coverage.

Do whatever you want, to my eyes it's a new band, unless the original founder was appointed band leader of the original project and continues to be so now. If he quits then you really are a new and different band

Looks good! The binding on the neck sets it off really well. Hope it plays nicely too.

Potential bargain. I love mine.

I buy my CDs through Amazon with immediate download. It's often cheaper than download only! I do like to have the physical item and the cover art and notes. I like my bookshelf and CDs out on display, well organised. All guests have a nose through our books and CDs and I want my daughter to pick stuff up and have a listen when she's a bit bigger, that's how I got in to music. If she needs to wait for me to unlock my phone and supervise her then she could miss out on accidentally finding bands she may love forever.

I use my Sire exactly as it arrived. It's set up beautifully, such a low action it's effortless to play. I'm even going to use the same type of strings when I re-string it. Their standard set up, or maybe it's Thomann's, is perfect for me.

So you lot giving them hot drinks and ice creams are the ones meaning the last few deliveries don't get made!!??! It's one of those things where they pay awful money to people and so they get guys rushing it and not caring. Some of these companies pay the drivers 5p per delivered parcel, I got that for my paper round as a kid over twenty years ago! I've had a driver shout at me because it took him three goes to deliver to me (I only work from home every now and then, not my fault) and I've had Hermes actually drop a parcel through a window five and a half foot off the floor, luckily not damaging anything in my house ... And the parcel wasn't for me!!! It wasn't even for a similar address. They had no reason to be anywhere near my house, they must have just seen the open window as an opportunity to chalk off a "left with neighbour" even if that means ten minutes walk away from destination! In summary: dodgy payment practices and high pressure creates risk of low quality work. Also, we all have lots of horror stories. I guess you just cannot rely on them at all.

I would hate to see an insanely loud band. If I can't order a drink without shouting at the bar staff I won't stick around. I had our band change to a bigger rehearsal room to get the use of better kit but also because the smaller rooms created the effect of greater volume. It costs us a bit more but it's more productive and it's not ripping everyone's ears out. Interestingly (to me at least) I wore my ACS ear plugs at my gig this weekend as I always do at rehearsal but not always for gigs. I had them connected with the transparent rubber string so I could let them hang loose on my neck. I kept being told they looked "cool". No idea! Even if someone told me I looked like a twunt I'd keep them in. I don't sleep well after gigs and rehearsals if the volume is up to the point it's like there's an elephant gang bang on top of my head. Wearing the ear plugs really helps get rid of the head pounding after rehearsals.

Tough one. I guess it depends on your other commitments and priorities. I will do band one night a week, twenty-ish mins drive away. I won't do more. I have a busy work life with long travel a day or two a week which means very early mornings and tiredness. I also have a wife and a small daughter, as well as other interests and a recognition that I need to relax some nights, and should really be exercising on some nights too. I'm doing a dep tomorrow for a friend of the band, she asked if I could do it and I told her my rule, I have to be at home putting my daughter to bed at seven, then it's forty mins drive to the venue, so for me to play we need to be on at 8 or later. That's my priority now, and my choice.