uk_lefty

Just bought an Ashdown cab off Lozz. He had it all set up and ready to test and sold for a fair price. Absolute gent, would confidently buy from him again

I write and play guitars lefty, but all sports am right handed/ footed in the extreme. My first bass was a lefty tanglewood p copy in 1999. I originally wanted a righty as I thought the deep strings should be at the bottom! Then I actually learned to play and realised I'm ok with things the conventional way! Only ever had lefty instruments, but v tempted to buy a right handed bass and reverse it a la Hendrix... Or just be disgustingly 80s and have a righty neck on a lefty body

I just wedge a dish washing sponge under the strings of my p bass near the bridge. With flatwounds it gets the tone right and you can choose from a variety of colours and use it to clean your bass too.

At a recent gig where we had to fill more time than we thought we could we stretched out the intro to the first song so I could chat to the crowd and introduce the singer so he could walk on to stage to a welcome. We usually do an intro to each band member during the breakdown of a particular song. We avoid injokes with them because they're usually crap, but we do rip the p!ss on am obvious way occasionally.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1493932212' post='3292018'] But what a great choice! [/quote] It wasn't a complaint

Often thought of this as a nice to have... I'm an 84 man so suppose that's Aria SB? And it would have to be lefty also... Not a lot of choice.

My MIJ P bass is unbeatable, absolute bargain second hand too. Well worth waiting for one to come up and of course you can play around with pickups, bridge, tuners to spec it how you want.

Got sacked from a band that was going nowhere for constantly getting lost on the way to rehearsal (@rse end of nowhere with no street lighting) but never late. I don't think it was too personal, drummer and rhythm guitarist copped it too, group email from the singer. I think part of it was for suggesting songs that would work with the band, but weren't what the guitarist wanted. Also they sometimes couldn't tell when I was joking and when I was being serious... Lesson learned, gel with people first before you make "joke" song suggestions and things that you think they'll get. And if a band has a control freak with no consideration of the relative skills and styles of others in the band, get out before you get sacked.

[quote name='Kevin Dean' timestamp='1493855806' post='3291390'] In the early 80s I was in a band being interviewed on the radio ...Radio presenter " Why did you call that track "127" ?" ...lead singer " well I met a white witch & she told me that 1-2 &7 added up to ten "..........Me " I could have told you that if you had asked me".....Lead singer starts fighting with me in the Radio station during interview . well I thought it was funny . [/quote] Awesome

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.