uk_lefty

I LOVE those Steve Harris strings! Does it have his sig pickup in there too? I have the sig pup and (did have, will have again!!) The sig strings on my Japanese P. It's the ultimate gigging bass. The sound is just so big and clear!

No idea what it is, if it really is a "custom" bass you'd think it was worth over 200. Could it just be a can of white spray paint taken to an old Samik? Can't think of any other bass with that pickup placement in lefty.

It sold before I could even go and look at it, sadly.

If you were in my band we'd be doing our best to make things as easy as possible for you and make sure you weren't overstretching yourself. Health and family comes first every time. My band tolerate my lack of availability and so on due to having a baby. Most the others have kids so they know it's not fair on the other half to Galavant off with the band and leave her to deal with everything. I feel bad about it but at the same time it's a way of making everything work. If the band were going to be nobs about it I'd have to leave.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/custom-white-gold-left-handed-4-string-bass-guitar/1283463935 For the Larry Graham fans

Isn't that the art though? Finding a band that has promise, signing them and working on them... If they were already the finished article they'd have been singed by someone else somewhere along the journey. I guess a lot of acts get signed then drop by the wayside if they can't develop, in fact I know someone who has been there and done that a few times. I expect very few "make it" but Oasis did. There weren't many other guitar bands around and most music at the time was dance tripe with repetitive inane lyrics, so there was an opening.

I couldn't tell if it was rosewood or maple at first!!

20% ?!?! Not in Yorkshire.

I enjoy the private gigs, they're as hit and miss as the pub/ bar gigs can be though! I just find the heckling more polite at a private function. My band plays covers, we mainly do private functions for people we know, friends of friends and so on. We also play "festivals" where pubs or local organisations do a day or two of live music. We occasionally do pub gigs but our set is tailored to getting forty-somethings dancing rather than entertaining angry town centre drunks. We played one pub gig last year and our singer lost focus on one song while he watched a fight in the smoking area. The rest of us couldn't see it and wondered what he was up to.

I'm no fan of theirs, only ever bought their records as nostalgic presents for my brother who now lives abroad, but the documentary is a good watch. If you hate their personalities, and I can't blame you for that, you still can't help but admire the hard work, determination, song writing and seizing of the moment. It really shows the band as a group of mates who tried to start a band and just stuck their neck out for one gig where a chance encounter got them a record deal. It's in BBC iPlayer at the moment, worth an hour and a half. Some great 90's pop songs from the days before the internet ruined everything

I have been put off keys players for life by one guy who took an hour to set up his Rik Wakeman stuff, banged on about playing big festivals and needing all kinds of complicated sound equipment. Could barely string two notes together. Had never heard of most popular music from the last forty years (and he was about forty so age was no excuse!). He also got sacked at the second rehearsal then went to pack away his gear and had lost his car keys. Had all of us turn out our gear, I'd got bored and driven half an hour towards home when I got the call to go through my kit to see if o picked up his keys... Anyway after two hours of searching for his car keys he found them in his pocket. Never again.

It's not always like that... I joined a five piece who lost their bass player and rhythm guitarist. New rhythm player is already pals with the drummer. I've been in the band nearly two years and can hand on heart say they are really good friends as well as being a kick donkey band.

You could look at it another way... I'm assuming that you and the guitarist don't sing. Find a singer or maybe a singer songwriter and be their backing. Get some gigs doing acoustic sets. If you do sing, don't look for a singer, but do the acoustic sets! Then get a drummer. Then do bigger gigs. Open mic nights can be good to polish things and inject some momentum and urgency to rehearsal, if there's something to aim for people pull their socks up. Did it myself where there was a singer and guitarist who were flatmates, I played bass for them and we did some open mics while looking for a drummer. A good drummer will want to know you're moving in some direction and not being yet another load of dreamers, so it helps.

Personally I use a hartke preamp pedal with an optional di out so if I'm not happy with the backline I can go straight from the pedal. I also have a di out on my amp head I could use or I now have a fender bronco 40 modelling amp with a di. The lightest and easiest would be di out from the pedal board but that would take some rearranging of the pedals.

A good pickup. I have it on my Japanese P Bass (could be basswood body) 1970 reissue. Getting the best out of that pickup for me involves using rotosounds Steve Harris strings. There is just a presence, power and clarity that fits perfectly live. I've got thomastik flats on now and they don't get the best from the pickup, sadly, though I think they'd sound great on my jazz or with a more vintage voiced p pickup.

I did think it odd to put that logo on if making a fake... But couldn't search the serial number anywhere. Puzzling. Price seems a bit strong for a squier, even though it is "fender" logo'd

You can do some clever stuff with a boss Ls-2 (??) I think splitting the low and high signal and sending them through different effects. Something like that may help you, but you would be best asking in the effects topic area for specific advice like that and getting a more knowledgeable response than I can give. I can recommend the Hartke VXL DI pedal for some drive (not dirty), can be found cheap second hand.

I can't find the serial number anywhere either... Shame, looked like a good start price.

Oops. Senior moment

Hofner and the copies of the Hofner bass can be had around that cost and they're short scale. Have a look at your favourite second hand sites if nothing in the forum. Or import an Ibanez Talman from the US.

Lana Del Ray is just awful, I don't understand how that rubbish exists. Not a legal viewpoint. The melody of the song, the inflection in the vocals, the misery, it's a "tribute" to Creep undoubtedly. I would rather Radiohead issued a complete cease and desist against her career.

I had seen that. Was aware of the link with Mayones but have never seen a Fame in the flesh so no idea how good they are. Was a bit out off by the note saying a pickup screw had gone all the way through the bass!

I can't stress enough how important strings are to the overall sound but the feel too! As a beginner I had the cheapest rubbishest steep strings and they just shred your fingers. I'm still experimenting 19years in to bass playing by buying my first tapewounds set last week. For me, my jazz bass is best with Ernie Ball slinky's if I want it to zing and they last far longer than I was expecting but it's great with fender flats when you want that kind of tone from the J. My fretless 5 loves Ernie Ball flats but currently has cobalt rounds just for a change and they sound magnificent. My p bass loves Steve Harris signature rotosounds, isn't keen on thomastik flats, sadly though these could go over to.my jazz soon. I used GHS boomers on my hohner headless and it sounded great, got a set for my jazz bass and not so great...

They look just at home on the bass