uk_lefty

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.

I NEED this just to play hungry like the wolf. I also need a new car seeing as mine is knackered

My MIJ precision, 1970 reissue, has the thickest neck in the world and the Steve Harris signature pickup and strings. It's got a real focus on the low mids. Sounds like a P but less "thump" and more of a rounded presence. I'm going to put a badass bridge on it soon as I think that will accent the mids more. Would love an ash and maple P for that sharp attack though I'd recommend picking up a second hand Japanese P, can't go wrong.

We have asked for his ideas, some are ok some not so good but we are a democratic bunch who give most things a go. Maybe more funky songs gives him more licence to thrill. Our genre is rock/ soul. We go from sharp dressed man (yes, I have sent him the drummer at the wrong gig video to demonstrate you can add some flash to it) and Johnny B Goode through to soul man, Duran Duran, Bryan Adams and now some Paolo nutini. We have so many songs on our roster now it's hard for the rest of us to keep up, but we need to keep it fresh otherwise everyone will get bored of us when we come back year on year.

[quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1490205282' post='3263256'] Out of interest, what sorts of music do people think particularly suits fretless? (Asking as have absolutely zero experience of fretless). [/quote] Almost everything! I love disgusting 80s synthy fretlessy stuff, but also love Pearl Jam for rock fretless too. I played only fretless for years, you don't have to play a Pino impersonation I'm every bar of every tune. I interchange it with my fretted basses just for variety and to approach songs differently, have played fretless only for the last month because: I never play fretless in my current band so wanted to see what it can bring; I need to put my fenders in for set ups; my other basses are packed away and physically unreachable while I am redecorating. I am going to play some shorter gigs on fretless just to keep me interested and change the flavour of some songs.

We play crowd pleasers, we aren't as polished as a wedding or function band but we don't consider ourselves a pub band either. We get steady gigs doing outdoor festivals, private parties and soon weddings too. Problem is our drummer is getting bored with four to the floor. We can't venture in to obscure led zep tracks, but any suggestions for "drummers favourite" covers? We need to keep him happy, he's a great guy and a good drummer, as well as doing loads of behind the scenes stuff too.

As long as you're playing to your crowd it's ok. Saturday night crowd at the dog and duck want sex on fire, Tuesday night thrash metal devotees at the underground rock club want something else. The crowd pleaser route is what I'm doing at the minute but you'd be amazed what constitutes a crowd pleaser without going over to cliche. We played Run to You by Bryan Adams at our last gig, took ages for me to persuade the guys to even think about it... It tore the roof off!!! Sex on Fire is one we may look at, I'd rather drink cold sick personally, but we aren't putting together a set list for long journeys in my car, we are making people sing and dance along to every single song, at least that's the aim.

When I had a Warwick bass and Warwick amp I used red labels, they were ok and good for their price point but black labels were the ideal strings for sound and longevity

How are you getting on with this? I'm interested in getting either the guitarist or bass version for occasional instrument use and also as pc/ mp3 speakers. Have you had much use yet, good impressions?

It's not wrong, it's just there's a lot of dreamers out there who talk about being in a decent band without putting in the rehearsal and gig time to actually be a decent band first.

I placed a "wanted" ad but not sure whether the "right" people will see it. I'm interested in trying out a lefty fender aerodyne jazz bass, maybe buying one if it sounds and feels right. I could just buy one from Japan as a gamble but already having four lefty basses in the house I can't justify it unless it's going to be "the one". If anyone around St Albans/ Luton/ Stevenage/ north Essex has one, whether selling or not, would you be kind enough to let me have a go, supervised of course, and if any of my basses interest you I could bring them along? Just keen to get a feel for the aerodyne and see whether it would become my first choice gigging bass. Thank you

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1489067907' post='3254127'] What I meant was, you could be the most ambitious bassist alive but without the drive to practice till you bleed you will never be a top pro. Talent is not enough, you need the will to work harder than the rest. Some of the most well known pro's might not be the most gifted, but If you work at it harder than the rest a bit of talent could be enough. [/quote] True in so many areas away from just music! Sport being an obvious example.

Does this mean there'll be a batch getting knocked out cheap soon....?

It's definitely worth a try. Get a cheap set of flats like fenders own and give it a go. I used to when I was playing with a guitarist who played acoustic only, worked great.

Don't entirely get it. If Jimi was a personal friend or he gave it to me, sure it would be great. But saying to visitors, hey this is Hendrix's amp!! And there's no story behind it other than I was appallingly rich enough to buy it, it's just not so good a story.

Drummer - from black stone cherry Lead guitar - Mick Mars (motley crue) Bass - Jeff Ament (pearl jam) Rhythm guitar - Dave Mustaine Singer - Axl Rose/ Adam Ant That would be an incredible party and an incredible jam session.

After reading this thread I put more effort in to my bv at rehearsal last week. I have done lead vocals and played guitar and sung before but that was hit and miss. It's strange because I can belt out a good vocal but singing softly while playing bass seems impossible. The band want me to do more cos the guitarist loves a bit of a sing but he really isn't very good and my bv is stronger and works better with the lead singer. I got advice ages ago to work separately from the band just me and the lead singer, ideally with a vocal coach, to practice bv and harmonies. It's great just having more voices in an amateur band but having quality bv takes you up a few notches, this is what we are aiming for but it's bloody tough!

For me it's the time and ease of use and the way the manuals are written. I was eighteen I think when I bought my zoom bfx708 and never understood how to do much to change the order of the different effects, e.g. put the sound of F4 next to A1, or tweak the parameters. I kept that pedal for years and even as a graduate with some very very poor pc programming skills I couldn't work it out. I bought a decent Boss multi effect and had the same issue. I expect now you can hook them up to a pc or iPad and tweak things more easily but I'm just guessing. A good YouTube video on how to reprogramme the pedals would be a godsend and would make me think about going back to the big Boss unit. I do agree with you, a good and well programmed multi effect would be ideal live for portability and the DI out etc. but I do feel that the multi effects lack a bit of authenticity in sound. Then again if you're playing somewhere that the soundman is just giving you a subterranean and rumbling sound, as you say, who would actually notice?

[quote name='fleabag' timestamp='1489230678' post='3255307'] I would say then, that if 10 times the power for a 150 watt combo is 1500 watt to hear doubling of perceived volume, then a 300 watt head isnt going to achieve much. And since only another combo head would fit, a 300 watt head is about all i could fit. Of the classic combos by TE, i dont think they got any bigger than that So, i guess ithings are best left as they are [/quote] Don't know of they're from the same era but my old 300w trace combo could drive out another 200w through an extension speaker making 500 tracewatts. If it wasn't for the horrific weight I'd have kept that rig forever

There are some older squier pj basses in lefty. Then there's Vintage and Revelation for p's, Harley Benton, Staff pj, Court pj, tanglewood used to do basic p's, Westfield, Rondo music and their brands. There are some budget and mid range p's out there in lefty. Still rubbish there isn't an MIM Fender p in lefty but Japan fenders were good value up until the last year or so and they cater for us.

Glad someone asked. I hate having my cable length shortened by using fx loops! Never felt any benefit of them.

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1488465805' post='3249202'] And the next one please [/quote] That looks amazing! I'm itching for something a bit different.