uk_lefty

My fretless... I rehearse with it every now and then but it has no place on my gigs sadly. It was an eighteenth birthday present for me and ill never part with it. I fall in and out of love with my pedals all the time. Safest just keep them and rediscover every now and then. I have a headless Hohner I thought would be good for slap but I find the string spacing too tight so prefer my jazz bass mostly, I love the headless bass though so won't part with it... Until I buy a status!

I bought a 90's Mexican jazz in midnight wine with a pearloid pickguard. Possibly the worst era of MIM fenders this was a nice player and the previous owner had fitted a badass bridge and Schaller lightweight tuners. Now, the only original parts are the body and neck and some screws.... It now has: Jaco Pastorius monogram neck plate Bartolini j pickups Black pickguard Fender straplocks Hand made bone nut Gotoh tuners replaced the schallers for the authentic look Hipshot xtender for easy d tune Chrome knobs Replaced badass bridge with Wilkinson chrome and brass Fender pickup covers x2 It's a great bass, plays so nicely. There are so many dings and scratches by me and previous owner(s) and a quantity of filler covering some old drill holes. With a good set up and decent strings it's a great bass with a bit of a growl to it. I've had it for over five years and can't part with it. It will be worth nothing second hand but worth loads to me on stage. Sometimes it's hard to choose whether to play this or my Japanese P bass if I'm only taking one bass.

My first band was named Guantanamo after the detainment camp. Having that band name got us our first gig and was easy to remember seeing as the word was on the news and in the papers daily. I was in a band called "not the hoople" a while later. In our town it was all tribute bands with really bad pun names or a really lame attempt like "not queen" or something equally awful so we had the name just to take the p and we did have one person turn up expecting a Mott tribute band. He left perplexed but hopefully not too disappointed.

[quote name='darkandrew' timestamp='1492010746' post='3277179'] Has anybody put an Audi badge on their Skoda? [/quote] No but I did put a Metro badge on a tanglewood p bass in the j pickup position. It made a good thumb rest. And it came off my mums old car which rested at a friend's farm while waiting to be scrapped.

Got fender strap locks on my fender basses. Makes swapping basses at a gig easier but I have had them come undone a few times when using a thick leather strap. I should make a habit of tightening them by hand every now and then I guess, but a slightly longer screw thread going through the strap wouldn't harm.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1492683425' post='3282244'] That's interesting. You actually put stuff on the strings and so guarantee your strings are cleaned each session. I'd heard briefly about Fast Fret but passed over it. Is it like silicon polish or summat? I wont ask about the hair product I but can imagine how it could easily happen in some scenarios. [/quote] Fast fret is... I dunno! I rub it over my strings to get rid of any rough or sticky feeling before I play, makes it easier to slide around the strings quickly and makes them feel consistent. I don't think it cleans the strings as such though so that's what I use the alcohol based solution for which I've had for years and not needed to replace. I think it's made by planet waves but not sure, been going around ten years! I have been told not to get fast fret on the rosewood though so I keep it on the strings only. Some shops even refuse to stock it! With regards hair stuff I used to use loads of hair gel in my youth So if I had scratched my head or whatever sometimes some of the hair stuff got on the strings via my fingertips and made the strings sticky

I use an alcohol based string cleaner after each gig or rehearsal where the strings can be sticky with sweat then dry with a microfiber cloth. Hair product also gets in there too and make the strings feel sticky. I use fast fret before playing to make sure the strings don't feel rough. I do this for both flat and round wounds. I don't take the strings off to clean them, never really had the need. I have been told recently by a luthier they don't go back up to correct tension when back on the bass... Sure lots of people do this anyway...

That is very special! No wonder you were tearing your hair out, you aren't going to find many of them around! Well done

I started in a three piece with an amazing drummer and excellent guitarist, I grew loads as a player with those guys. You learn when to be busy and when to rest, dynamics, etc. I later played in a group with one guitar and no drummer, that changes your playing too. Always been sceptical about two guitar bands. My current band is two guitars and we really have to work on dynamics and get everyone comfortable with space... Not easy when there's one more good quality player being asked not to play for a bar or so. In a three piece organising gigs and rehearsals is easier, agreeing everything like set lists is easier and managing dynamics in a song is easier because there's one less opinion/ ego.

Great album. Heard it at school and part 1 was one of the first CDs I ever owned. Might have to give it a download. You've got "start all over again" and "ooooh laaahhhh" going round in my head now!

Sorry to hijack but I would love to try one of these. If any left handed aerodyne players are reading pls contact me.

[quote name='Ba55me15ter' timestamp='1490696989' post='3267092'] I found the new Hartke 12" kickback seriously under-powered when next to a real drum kit. I think the cab was just too small, maybe the 15" would work better. [/quote] Never used the new range but the old kickbacks were excellent, though unfortunately not small or lightweight. I found the old kickback 15 a nightmare to move about, really awkward to get through doors

You need salts too. So water, eat something salty... Prevention always better than cure

Is your drummer still with the band? Yes he's still very much with the band. No risk of him going, I only raise the question because now he's mentioned it I don't want it to become a problem later. Being in a covers band of five we always have loads of new suggestions floating around, which is great, but it's hard to cover everyone's wants while ensuring we satisfy our core audience.

I was going to audition for an originals band a few years back. Great songs online, pro recorded with nice basslines. I learned their songs and we never actually set a firm date to audition. I chased them up and heard nothing. A few months later I got asked, hey do you want to audition? So I said yes, learned more of their songs and nothing... Then another few months later, hey do you want to audition? No thank you, I learned your songs for the last two that didn't ever get booked. My current band were great for auditioning. I sat and waited while another player packed up then went in, set up, had a meet n greet then launched in to some well known covers. I had "researched" them and seen on their Facebook there was anew cover they wanted to do so learned the basics of that song and suggested we play it. I wasn't sure how it was going so I relaxed in to it and put my own flavour to a few songs and they loved it. They told me that night I had the gig. They were honest too, the bassist before me was a note-for-note replica of the original songs and a properly trained musician, maybe lacking a bit of feel, but I gather a superior player technically, though he wanted more regular and higher paying gigs than they could offer. Also he was a teenager who was being driven around by his dad. I played "worse" but fit better musically and socially. A year on and I'm loving it, the gigs are fun and the guys are all good friends.

Done - well done on creating a good quality survey! Lots of my "professional" colleagues send out surveys that basically invite opinion rather than collecting qualitative data. Two things to call out for the business plan, if your app is hosting personal data you need to ensure you have very secure hosting, and if you are taking payment card info you need to be compliant to the new legislation, think it's called PCI (not sure if PayPal avoids this issue or if this compliance applies to Paypal being used as a means of sending and receiving funds)

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1490810103' post='3268276'] Yep, it was a Hoppus with QP that won - by a mile I might add. I`ve recently got a bass with a Steve Harris SPB4 in it and that is a very nice sounding pickup. Still have to put my regular strings on the bass, but am tempted to put these in all my basses, it really is very nice, just depends on the highs really. [/quote] +1 for the Steve Harris it just sounds huge with loads of presence. I use the sig strings too, they take some getting used to but the sound cuts like nothing else.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1490444960' post='3265179'] I was surprised how good the GK Backline 110 (70w) was when I bought one. So much so that even after parting with a ton of gear I still have this...saw one on eBay recently for £80 (well underpriced). [/quote] These amps are excellent! Gutted I sold one a few years back. Far more portable than the old hartke kickbacks and similar in sound quality.