Huggy and the Bears

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='221132' date='Jun 18 2008, 09:24 AM']Agreed.[/quote] I have been through similar sensations before and it is usually the fact that I have slightly strained my hand in some way. last time it was dioing a bit of DIY. I could not feel anything in normal operation, but playing was unbearable and led to getting cramp also mid song. Basically get to the quacks, and continue to play but don't push it. When i have these spells i just back off a bit with playing, and play things further up the neck so that my wrist is at a better angle. Life is not over!

[quote name='Jase' post='220627' date='Jun 17 2008, 02:45 PM']Are you serious about corrosive sweat????? I'd love my machine heads done and my control plate on my jazz basses [/quote] Yep, i have to be really carefull about touching metal! I have never put my (talent??) to a positive use but this could be a cool new way of utilising my talent! I might get a couple of components and experiment with them. This could be a new line in organic ageing of guitars. I reckon we could set up a business from it! What d'ya reckon?

[quote name='Jase' post='220615' date='Jun 17 2008, 02:36 PM']The hotter, the sweatier, the better for me....I love being in a hot steaming sweaty gig, what I hate is our singer likes to use a fan and if I go anywhere near it it dries my hands out completley which is really annoying. If I had corrosive sweat I'd sweat all over my basses and get 'em all mojo'd in no time....bottle it and sell it as relic sweat![/quote] Hey i can mojo anything overnight! thats the coolest suggestion I've ever had. Send me your gear guys and I'll have it relicked in no time! I'll throw in a set of string for free!

[quote name='Merton' post='220582' date='Jun 17 2008, 01:57 PM']Yup Unless I'm playing my Grooves, in which case it's 9V. And my new bass (see build diary) is gonna be passive. Erm. That makes my arsenal a bit of a mixed bag.[/quote] I have a passive P, and passive Jazz and an active Stingray. In their own way i think they are the best at what they do and for me it depends how I feel. A bit like - do I want to drive my new sports car or my classic sports car or the hatchback today. There isn't one size-fits-all - Oh yeah there is, It's called a Stingray!

[quote name='sam88' post='220302' date='Jun 16 2008, 11:38 PM']i dont get sweaty hands but i sweat like a mother in all other bodily regions when i play, even when its nothing challenging. just a dirty biatch i guess. and the dirt very much keeps the funk! i leave strings as long as possible to get that tone.[/quote] Some old boy told me to boil my strings and re-use them. I tried a modern day version by sticking them in the dishwasher (yep I removed them from my bass first!) but whilst it removed the dirt, it didnt fix the corrosion. The comment (above) about the acid attack of the metal is what my problem is I think because over the yeras even my CD collection has deteriorated through corrosion from where I have handled them on the edges. I guess that string manufacturers don't wan't to find a solution as I must be their best customer!

[quote name='kennyrodg' post='220313' date='Jun 17 2008, 12:13 AM']Thats pretty cool,i can see us having a use for one. heres a video of a pitch corrector.you have to wait till half way through to see the results but its very impressive to say the least. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk0Ug8VMaqY&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk0Ug8VMaqY...feature=related[/url] there's mention of the hiss or noise on one of the youtube vids,its the demo one thats split into Pt1 and Pt2 edit,its here somewhere [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS6RchEst7U&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS6RchEst7U...feature=related[/url][/quote] Great shout - good tips here. The pedal is cool as and bang-for-buck is worth the slight hiss.

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='219958' date='Jun 16 2008, 03:59 PM']Dry hands don't filth up the strings so quick , and stop your fingers getting sore. so.. have a towel hanging from your mic stand and use it wear sporty wrist bands wear less clothing when you play to keep your body temp down Bit of prevention for you to go with the cures that others have offered.[/quote] Hmmm, getting a few good tips here. I have been using the same beer towel to wipe my strings for a couple of years now so maybe it needs substituting for a clean one from the next gig! Nice to know I'm not the only one with sewaty hands. Just for the record, not that I'm developing a complex, but the rest of me is not sweaty!!!

[quote name='peted' post='219911' date='Jun 16 2008, 03:03 PM']I have very sweaty hands, especially bad during summer gigs and under stage lights. I carry a cloth in my gig bag which I use to rub down my strings after practices and shows. I have found that my strings will last for months if I take the time to give them a quick buffing after play. Well recommended, and much cheaper than constant restringing [/quote] I see, I do give them a quick wipe but I guess it's not enough. I'll try a more rigorours cleaning. Cheers.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='219915' date='Jun 16 2008, 03:05 PM']Sorry, it's commonly known as a noise gate. It's a device that will silence a it's output after the input of the gate drops below a specified threshold. So if you have 60 dB of background noise, and you set the gate to shut off at anywhere below 61dB, then there will be no noise out of the unit until the input reaches 61dB. I use a BOSS NS-2 but some people think they're crap. I would have thought the Digitech had a gate built in, like the zoom units.[/quote] I see. I'll have a read of the book and see what it says. if not, ill see about getting a gate. i assume it just goes in line somewhere?

[quote name='artisan' post='219909' date='Jun 16 2008, 03:00 PM']i might sound daft but how about a good precision bass,i have 2 of 'em & in a band situation i find them much punchier than my jazz bass. proper kick ass tone really drives the music on. btw i just happen to have one in the for sale section [/quote] I went through a similar thing. i went from a Jazz, to another Jazz, to a P Bass (which I could have slept with it was that good) but borrowed a Stingray to play with and it does it all. I had an Ashdown setup EVOii 2x10 and 1x15 which was great for rock stuff ith the P bass but was a bit of a one-trick-pony. I bought the Stingray (3 band eq) I went onto a 2x12 Aguilar cab and a Markbass LMK head which I believe is a common combination with the Stingray. I jest not, it will do anything you want! It will out Jazz my jazz and out p my p! It's a great all rounder and if you can get the right amp combo you will never change again (In my opinion).

What do you mean by a gate?

Well, I have the sweaty-est hands known to man and I go through strings like nobody's business! After a gig, the next day they are corroding and within a week the sound has gone. I've been recently using Elixer (Nano coated doofers) which are supposed to last for ages (£30 a set!) but they are lasting about 3 weeks before they deteriorate. Is this the norm or am I an alien? Any (useful!) suggestions would be great! Also if a string manufacturer would like to experiment on me - bring it on! Si.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='219895' date='Jun 16 2008, 02:43 PM']So is the rythm guitar going through the PA as well? Couldn't you have the guitar sending an line to the digitech that isn't heard? I.e a send before the guitarist's amp? Maybe that explains the hiss? It sounds very interesting. If I had gigs to play, i'd get one![/quote] No, the guitar just feeds a signal to the pedal and does not run through it in terms of sound. Even with the guitar unplugged you get a hiss. It is definitely the pedal but I wondered if anyone had sussed how to cure it. You don't hear it when there is a bit of noise going on people chatting but I know it's there and it's bugging me.

Also, you do get a slight hiss through the PA. Anyone else sorted this yet???

[quote name='tauzero' post='215398' date='Jun 9 2008, 01:11 PM']Experiment, experiment, experiment... We're still in the early days of using ours and Kaz went through each song, working out what harmonies would sound best on each part of the song. Don't go mad with harmonies, set two adjacent patches up with possible harmonies and A-B them. What instrument will be driving it? They're jolly clever about working out the key, even from an arpeggiated guitar, but a bass might not be the optimum source and you can't (IIRC) pre-program the key along with all the other parameters if you're using preset key and not detected key.[/quote] Well I've done a few gigs now and have nailed it (I think!). I'm just using a pre set (3rd up and 3rd down) and that is enough for me. The biggest issue I have had with it though are the pedal locations. Fancy putting the harmony pedal in the middle. I play bass and am the lead singer so I'm kind of busy on stage, I accidentally repeatedly hit the up/down pedals throughout the night which was pretty funny as in the middle of 'Fire' - Jimi Hendrix, the vocals went onto Chipmonk and then Borg!!! Everyone thought it was part of the act but I was playing, singing and screaming at one of the band members to get me back to my setting. She had never seen the pedal before and started dancing the wrong direction on the pedals and I think I finished off on Gospel! You can confuse it so it stays on harmony and can't turn it off - hence the problem. Additionally I hit the tuner pedal once which cut the rhytham guitar (which is going through the VL4) and put the harmony out of key. What a night. I have now had metal covers made and attached to the unit that cover the up/down pedals and then one for the tuner pedal. They are hinged so you can lift them up for pedal access but during world war 3, you can only hit the harmony pedal. The metal covers have also given me a degree of 'feel' with my foot with out looking down. Top tip if ever there was one. Highly recommended as a serious piece of kit. I play on a Sunday night and get quite a few off-duty local muso's come down for a chat and sometimes a jam and all are blown away with it so far

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='219814' date='Jun 16 2008, 01:08 PM']I agree that many covers bands are culturally redundant in the context of pushing musical boundaries. As I've mentioned already, I think function bands help set the mood at an event, they're not culturally [i]irrelevant[/i] at all.[/quote] This is getting interesting. I think that we are all at different stages of evolution in terms of our playing. I got into playing because I was in awe of musicians I had seen (many of them doing covers) which inspired me to play. I play in my band and we do covers mainly because I do not have the ability (yet) to write my own stuff because I am not that far down the evolutionary journy. Doing covers makes live music more accessible to the public in the same way that the people that can't get to go and see the Mona Lisa, can enjoy a print of it from the local picture shop. You could argue that the print has no integrity along with the people that produce it, however, the shop keeper (whilst not an original artist) does his job in the process well along with probably the factory workers who printed the picture. They may be budding artists at some stage of the evolutionary process but don't have the skills to paint an original picture as grand as the Mona Lisa. So, my point is, it took me eight months from first picking up a guitar to performing my first gig with my own band. Looking back it was very ropey, but I was filled with integrity, playing the covers that I had learnt. It would be easy for someone to judge me for my poor performance/lack of integrity on that night, but to me, it was the performance of a lifetime. As my experience increases, so does my ability to play different and original things but I don't think that gives me more integrity - just more experience...

[quote name='poptart' post='216948' date='Jun 11 2008, 03:17 PM']Couldn't of put it better myself [/quote] As quoted previously I really find it difficult to differentiate between better/worse music as it is down to your own values and beliefs (in terms of integrity). If we are to take this arguement to extreme, could it be suggested then that because I didn't invent the bass guitar (or make my own) (i.e. my own musical instrument), then I have no artistic integrity? Additionally could it be said that you have more integrity to play a 6 string than a 4 string? I believe anyone who plays because they mean it has integrity!

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='215395' date='Jun 9 2008, 01:07 PM']There is intelligence and there is wisdom. My brother has written two books and has all sorts of letters after his name yet he is one of the most closed minded, concrete thinking numpties I have ever met. I have met MANY people who have natural wisdom, people who have what is sometime referred to as 'an old soul'. I know who I would rather commune with.[/quote] That is quite an accurate perception and I agree with you. I work with many Academics that sound similar to your brother in that they are almost not able to be open minded about others' views. I too know who I would rather spend time with!

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='215379' date='Jun 9 2008, 12:49 PM']I'd respectfully beg to differ on that point too. As far as I'm concerned, it truly is a testament to Basschat and it's members that this post [b]hasn't[/b] degenerated into insults and/or name calling. It is self evident that this is a subject upon which people have deeply felt and wildy differing opinions and we should be proud of ourselves that, thus far at least, everyone has behaved with dignity and - dare I say it - integrity. [/quote] In terms of true art, if we look back in history at the periods of great artists (particularly the Impressionists and Renaisance painters period), great debates (similar to this) were held (in coffee houses at the time) that were sometimes controversial, sometimes not. I think it is interesting to observe people's behaviour and I am pleased to be part of such a discussion. Also, it is not a crime to be intellectual - and you don't need a PHd behave intellectually.

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='215358' date='Jun 9 2008, 12:30 PM']Oh, I dunno. If my memory serves me correctly, there is a bassist of very high repute who is well thought of around these parts, and who worked with Mark Ronson on his covers both in the studio and live. Am I to assume that he no longer has any integrity? [/quote] If you understand integrity to mean having some consistancy between your internal values / beliefs and your actions then it is legitimate to claim musical integrity if you personally believe it to be true. Each of us will have different values and beliefs as none of us will have experienced the same things in life. I would therefore only be sacrificing my musical integrity if I believed that was indeed what I was doing. I give no credence to others judging what my beliefs are.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='213224' date='Jun 5 2008, 02:07 PM']Legitimate point but what are the criterion you are using? I was under the impression that this was a thread about function bands and integrity. I would, thus, from the comfort of my own a***, consider that, in terms of integrity, musicians that play their own music (in the broadest sense) are a cut above those who imitate others, however accurately. Those that do both are obviously compromised but I am in no way critical of them because they are living in the real world and not that of aesthetic theory. If the discussion were function bands vs staying at home a doing sod all, which it often is, function bands would win hands down. Or if it were function bands vs djs, I would vote for function bands every time. But the debate is about integrity and I don't think people who play in function bands (myself included - did I say that already?), as opposed to doing originals, can win any arguments on integrity. To attempt to do so is little more than a justification.[/quote] Hmmmm... That is one way of looking at it. Another way could be that integrity could have more than one definition. In which case, playing in a function band could mean that one has integrity.

[quote name='bassicinstinct' post='213221' date='Jun 5 2008, 02:04 PM'][b]Precisely!! [/b] [/quote] I agree entirely! Si.

[quote name='Bassmurf' post='213172' date='Jun 5 2008, 01:11 PM']Bugger! Why didn't I think of that. Cheers Bilbo, that's got me a-thinking![/quote] Gosh, this is terribly interesting from both a musical perspective and from a social science perspective. I think that the 'what is art' debate has been hammered throughout time and I doubt very much (despite us bass players potentially being super-beings) that we will all agree on a definition here. I can see a degree of musical 'class snobbery' occuring here with original & jazz stuff being perceived (by some) as being higher up the food chain than some pop. In a similar way, I could be perceived as being middle class because of my job, lifestyle etc. As a human I don't believe I am better that the next man. Musically, I have my own preference of taste, style and choice of music but I would be hard pressed to define one type/style as being 'better' than another as I think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If anyone can define a criteria that league-tables genres of music, then I believe that they would be slightly deluded and quite frankly - up their own ar#e??

[quote name='ianrunci' post='212493' date='Jun 4 2008, 02:08 PM']So where does that leave us then? we have all pop and rock music which is shallow nonsense, Classical music which is mostly people playing covers, and Jazz music which is mostly people playing covers and a few people playing out of tune nonsense and calling it aventgarde. So whats left that actually has any integrity at all?[/quote] Well regardless of what i'm singing/playing, I sincerely mean it and it is always from the heart. I think its great that we all have diverse views and opinions. The bottom line is is that it is all art, be it original or a copy. Not all of us have access to or can create original art. If we want to make out that there are degrees of being an artist then i think that is being a bit fickle and pedantic.

[quote name='Mrs Tinman' post='212438' date='Jun 4 2008, 12:56 PM']Oooh, now there's an offer :brow:[/quote] I guess it is isn't it!