uk_lefty

A lad I knew who was a very good bass player and even tried to make a living as a musician for a bit used to play the fretted version. It was very unfashionable because of the brand name but sounded fantastic and had us discussing "why buy a Warwick?"

Looking for advice on envelope filters... I've had a few in the past, DOD FX25B (very good), EHX DR Q (not good), EHX Micro Q Tron (very good), Digitech bass synth wah (not good), all the options on the HX Stomp... I no longer have any of those pedals. What I am looking for is an envelope filter where I can really slow down the attack and release to give a nice swell to a note. This is for combining with a subtle fuzz (Darkglass Duality, which is amazing for it's sheer range of sounds), and maybe chorus and Boss OC-2 to emulate some synth tones. I'm not looking for the Bootsy style super squelch, just something flexible that will work well with other pedals. Budget is an issue, I'm happy to go second hand but want to stay under £100 if possible. I'm not averse to going for a pedal I've had before and liked. Grateful for any advice, thank you!

Steady!

Apologies if this has been asked before but... I've got an ABM600 head. It's awesome. Is there some kind of protective case people are using the store and transport these? I'm just carrying it naked at the moment and don't want to scuff the tolex or worse still knacker the dials or sliders. I am considering a Roqsolid order for cab covers and could get the head a cover too but wondering about other options. Thanks!

They've done it again... Fender have done the Player Plus range in left handed. PJ basses in three colours from what I've seen so far. They're on Thomann at £999.

Truly a fantastic bass. Loving mine with some good quality flatwounds on it. It just has one of those sounds to it that fits in almost every situation. I like bringing mine out if I have two gigs in consecutive nights so I'm not needing to check setups on my main bass with very little time to do so. Also, being lightweight it's great for those gigs where you're maybe not feeling 100% but can't let anyone down.

Sorry didn't see the thread you made on this but I'd recommend Gig.Ink they have made something similar for me to hide some butchering I did around a pickup route. I've also had custom guards off them etc, top notch.

Fretless 80s Wal lefty on bass direct. For £6k. To be fair, it looks fantastic.

In all seriousness, don't. I used to manage the call centre contract for a well known retailer. If you emailed the CEO your complaint went into a fast track. If you expressed yourself politely it was dealt with specially, if you just send profanity it gets binned. I expect most call centre type operations work to similar processes.

Gigged it last night. Not at all dissatisfied! I could have EQ'd better really and the style of music isn't entirely suited for fretless but I played the whole gig with it anyways. Very comfortable bass with a consistent sound. Towards the end of the gig I was maybe missing my US Stingray a little for some of the finer detail and finishing around the neck but that's only after two hours of solid playing. Really this bass is more a toy for me at home but will happily take it out to gigs or use it as a main bass in other contexts.

Decent gig despite some reticence beforehand... Playing a town centre pub, it's been in the diary for a while... We see an ad by the pub on Monday advertising a Great Gatsby themed party. I'd love to play in a swing jazz style band, but I don't. We do early 2000's covers. We were a bit nervous about what to expect but it turned out to be a great night. The party was off in the corner and people in fancy dress occasionally came forward for a dance but the usual Saturday night crowd were well up for some loud music. Somehow there was even a conga, or a "train" as the youth were calling it, a first for me, shame I wasn't wireless.

Never had a problem with the Sire I used to have and the one I have now. Shielding tape is incredibly cheap on Amazon and a very easy job to do, definitely worth giving a go. I know some people say any kind of DIY job is easy to assert some kind of alpha male thing, like "fitting a bathroom is easy, it's just Lego", but shielding a bass really is just putting some sticky tape in nearly then screwing it back together, even I can do it and I can't put up a shelf straight.

This is the answer I needed! Thank you. Weirdly my six year old is learning piano and I'm learning to read the clefs by helping her learn piano! If she sticks at it I will be recommending to learn theory when she's older. In the meantime I'll find some time to get hold of some resources. Like you, I always think of theory as like grammar. Having tired to learn foreign languages you just can't learn vocabulary because the grammar is what stitches it all together and makes it flow and make sense.

That's the thing, you've got to be damn good to do that! Loved them for twenty or so years since someone played me them doing Immigrant Song. Same guy first played me Frank Zappa too.

Just what I was thinking. If you're not a reggae band, or Dread Zep, you should not attempt reggae. My band plays Blinding Lights "straight" probably every gig. Is an ok song that most punters recognise but I don't think it's the one they're humming in the taxi home. You can play around with the baseline a lot though, so it's ok from a bassist point of view.

Just been watching Scott Devine's interview with Marcus Miller. Marcus talks about how Jaco's Donna Lee sounded like random notes until he played the piano chords over it and then understood how Jaco was using harmony. Marcus goes on to say how important it is to understand harmony. I read something similar in reading a biography of Jaco. My theory knowledge is very basic. Could anyone please point me to where I could get started in learning about harmony within this context? Thank you!

I wouldn't call it heavy, no. It's not super light but I generally don't weigh my basses. My Sire V9 five string is heavy, so I wear a good quality strap but on a long gig it can get a bit uncomfortable. This bass is ok for weight but the only strap I have spare is a big thick leather one anyway. I don't expect it to be uncomfortable at a gig. It's probably lighter than the old MIM Jazz I had.

I've been away a lot since receiving the bass and had a band practice cancelled due to illness so yesterday was the first chance I got to give the bass an extended run out. It was only through a Positive Grid Spark with it's little 4" speakers but the bass really, really sings! I'm so impressed with it. I had thought I'd need to upgrade a lot of it but I'm not going to for now. The pickups are really nice and punchy, even through a small amp, it's just pure fretless jazz sounds. The tone control isn't just an on/ off as they are on lots of cheap basses, granted it could be better but it's definitely good enough. The controls feel cheap but plastic knobs always do to me, I might stick on some chrome ones out of the spares box later. I don't know of we will get a band meet up in this week but there's a gig on Friday and this bass is playing.

Sounds like you need to clarify with these guys what the purpose of the band is: 1. Mates who met up and play a few songs together? 2. Playing a few gigs a year in the same places for an "audience" they largely already know? 3. A gigging covers band that wants x number of gigs per year and is actively looking to fill a diary and broaden their reach? There's a massive jump in mentality and approach needed from each one. And the problem with music types is often that they only have the ability or commitment for 1 but think 3 will magically just happen for them, or expect to be playing Wembley arena this time next year if they can just play their favourite Faith No More B side down the local because "everyone will love it". I'm in a band that is actively looking to fill a diary. They'd been going ten years before I joined and went through the motions and a few bassists and rhythm guitarists. I knew what I was getting into. I play a lot of songs I really, really don't like to listen to. Some songs I do like don't go down well with the audience so reluctantly I have to suggest we drop them. But we have a full diary and it's giving me gigs I'd never have got before with previous bands, and it's fun!

Been there so many times... A good gigging covers band that wants to get more gigs needs to keep adding new songs. We make sure when we go back to a venue three months after playing there we mix up the set and add some new stuff in, I feel like we are cheating them if we don't. Our band is pretty clear on what type of songs we will and won't do though. When it's not so clear what songs should or shouldn't be considered a quick way round it would be something like: "Walk this way" goes down well, what other Aerosmith song could we do to mix it up a bit? That way you keep in with the style and genre, so you know your audience will like it and you appease the person who first suggested it/ loves it more than anything.

Still on offer if anyone needs

Awesome! I've had mine just over a year and love it. It's great for unplugged practice and regularly gets played on gigs. Also recently got an Epi Casino guitar too, persuaded by the quality of the JC Bass. Enjoy the bass!!