mangotango

There's a story there, that deals with both guitar and music stand, and allows us to get back to Billy Joel. #missingthepointguys That gig, for the trumpeter/band leader's company's Summer Event, was booked for the quartet - trumpet/keys/bass/drums, playing two sets of original funk/jazz music. On the morning of the gig, the keyboards player rang up injured and unable to walk around, let alone drive there. Worse, he was going to be bringing the drummer. Two down before we started. So either we cancelled, which would not look so good for Mr. Band Leader; or the remaining two of us played it as a guitar/trumpet duo gig - we'd done that format before, so we knew that it was feasible. Clearly we weren't going to be able to replicate a 4-piece band vis-à-vis the original material, so we ended up playing jazz standards. Since I don't, off the top of my head, know hundreds of standards in enough detail for playing chord-melody jazz guitar for two 30 minute sets with zero rehearsal, I used charts from a Realbook for those I couldn't recall . Everyone seemed happy with the arrangements, we saved face and moved on without losing ground. All good. Next time I'll just crop the photo for the benefit of the more sensitive among you...…

I get Billy Joel sometimes. Sadly, it's Billy Joel now, at 70, not in his "I'm married to Christie Brinkley" phase. And yes, I know...it's a guitar.....

I don't think that you'll be "quietly" anything at all. Loud and Proud is the way to go. Yep, I had GB recommended to me by my old mate @Scoop and he wasn't wrong. In fact, given that I acquired my BC 310 from him, he hasn't steered me wrong on anything bass-ish so far. However, he does keep going on about his lovely ACG basses and I'm not sure that Mrs. Mango or the Bank Manager will approve....

Nah, "Little" refers to the overall physical size, not the wattage. So the Big Rig pairs the same amp with a GenzBenz 2-12, a chunky pedalboard and these babies....plus maybe the EUB too, depending on the music/gig. You're right though - the Streamliner is a top quality amp. Need to look around for a spare in case of issues.....

Spector Sofa.....

The Little Jazz Rig At the workshop band that I attend, Southend Jazz Co-Operative, last Saturday morning

I was just about to say that, for two reasons:- 1) I'd love a Sandberg VM with P & MM pickups myself, actually, so I totally get where you're coming from on this; and 2) It was after watching Dan's video extolling the virtues of the Spectorcore fretless that I had to have one myself...so I want to return the compliment, or the GAS, whichever! Having said that, my Spectorcore is just one of my favourite basses ever, so my gratitude is eternal on that score.

This is exactly the problem I had with my Aria EUB. Here's the story of how I solved it. https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/328425-new-ish-eub-day-and-aria-question/?tab=comments#comment-3568899

Love gigging. It's the absolute life's blood of my music making. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy studio stuff - fresh from recording a four tune CD - but getting up in front of people is generally a thing of joy for me. meeting up with mates for practice is good too - especially when you try something new and get unexpected results, that can be very satisfying. I play bass in a 4-piece funky-jazz band. It's mostly original material, some of which I write. It's definitely not mainstream music, so the reaction that we get is even more rewarding when it's people enjoying our tunes. I also play guitar in a quartet that plays jazz-y arrangements of popular tunes, or pop arrangements of jazz tunes. Much satisfaction with gigs for that outfit too, though of a different nature. It all works. Yes, admittedly the time spent setting gear up/taking it down is a bit dull, but a little bit of work has got that down almost to a fine art, so it's not as much of a chore as it might be. And there's plenty of recompense for the moments when we're up there in front of people...…

Ermmm…..never quite got round to this, did I? Well....they started with just the band playing a prog-rock style piece in 7, then Tank walked on wearing what looked like an emerald green shower curtain (and cape), and provided some tuneless vocals over a flat r & b track. This followed by two doses of formulaic hip-hop, turned out to be more than enough for me and my mates and we went in search of more interesting stuff. In a wide variety of performances, they were the only act we walked away from all day. Remarkably disappointing.

Sadly, though that was the idea, nothing in the world was ever going to make me sound like him. Maybe a bit more like a "him" version of "me", but..

I do both....though not, it has to be said, at the same time.

Jaco. The one, the only...a total re-definition of bass guitar and also bass guitar sound. As soon as I found one that I could afford, being a poverty-stricken student at the time, I bought a Fender Jazz because of him...and strung it with Rotosounds, natch.

Yes, in my experience PJ kit sounds super but is not loud for the wattage stated.

Yes SIR!!

What could you fit in a double bass? ………….…..two single basses?

Tank & The Bangas on my "to see" list for Love Supreme this Saturday....

Wow, wouldn't have thought that would be my kind of thing... and yet, seeing those photos, it very definitely is. Edit: Since my original post, I had the chance at the SEBB to play this bass and I would rank it easily in the top 5 basses that I've ever played, out of a cast of thousands...Shape of it and all that, it should be way too rawk'n'roll for an old jazz guy like me; but really, I'd be willing to overlook that......

Well, let's think; Gallagher brother - check Was in Oasis - check Wishes he'd been a Beatle - hmmmm?

Well, given that I don't listen to much mainstream popular music nowadays, I nevertheless decided to dip my toe into the broadcasting of Glasto this year, not having listed to this for at least a decade. I still haven't seen everything on I-Player, so there's a lot of catch-up to do, but so far there's been some stuff that I've enjoyed and some that I haven't. So no change there, in other words. So..... Janet Jackson - inaudible vocals, though level seemed fine when shouting to the crowd? Ergo, avoiding singing at any volume as voice not what it used to be, instead relying on BV's. One-paced set, too many numbers with exactly the same drumbeat. Dull as ditchwater. Lewis Capaldi - See this, Ed Sheeran?? THIS is why you need a band, not a fecking Looper!!! Some light and shade, some rhythmic variation, dynamics.. Plenty of good songs, not a bad voice, and taking the p*** out of a Gallagher. Fine effort. Kylie Minogue - Sorry, a dairy allergy prevents my consumption of that much cheese in one sitting. Kokoroko - oh now THAT's the good stuff!! Thanks BBC for giving them a bit of a feature in a more acoustic-level setting. Fab. Liam Gallagher - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh no, really, please don't. Two Door Cinema Club - Consistently excellent set, fine singing and playing, great melodic hook-laden guitar-driven songs. Saw a bad review of their set, which I find incomprehensible. Apparently they had the nerve to play some new material, rather than being a mere Greatest Hits Festival Jukebox..... Christine & The Queens = Emperor & The New Clothes. And finally, The Cure.....I kept thinking "they can't keep this up, surely?" as they reeled off one great piece of music after another. If I had gone to that Festival, that is absolutely the kind of stuff that I'd have wanted to see. Nice that Robert Smith seemed genuinely overwhelmed by the crowd reaction. Still, I'm off to Love Supreme next week, for Sparky Yuppy, Chicory Ear, Jamie Column and the like. We'll see how that turns out...

Exactly the same here, but add guitars to the line-up, except I use a GenzBenz Streamliner 900 turned waaaay down. Rehearsals, workshops, small gigs. The only time I felt a struggle was when playing outdoors on a bandstand in a park. Then I needed the GB 2-12.

This. And - Be Patient. It's taken me time to get back into fretless, and I'm very definitely of the "I don't have time for patience!" school of thought. However, the more that you do it, the better it gets, IF you apply correct technique. Practice doesn't make perfect - it makes permanent. So practice the right stuff. There are two items on the Scott's Bass Lessons that helped me, a video on "5 reasons why fretless bass sucks" (ignore the clickbait title and it's a worthwhile watch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEnd3Szjf6c Also, try to find Steve Lawson's Fretless Bass Course on SBL Academy - pretty much everything that @Steve Lawson says on this subject is gold and if you can get to see it, I would recommend you to do so.

No I don't and no I haven't, I'm afraid; it was just something that I saw in an online review (which was quite positive) whil I was casting around for an inexpensive P-bass option; and so I thought that Thomann would be the place to check out the price. What impressed me most about the review was that the guy got all the way through it without saying "Sandberg" once...

Welcome to the board - lots of good stuff on here, will keep you busy for hours!! Plus, your fellow board-members will find lots of suggestions to help you to spend your money..... Speaking of which....If you want a Harley Benton, Lake Placid Blue, you could do worse than this kind of thing:- https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_enhanced_mp_4eb_lake_blue.htm

So it wasn't a totally wasted evening, then.