thisnameistaken

I've never really played the guitar. Started on bass, stuck with bass, took up trombone along the way and played drums quite a lot but never guitar. I play keys more often than guitar although I wouldn't be confident enough to gig either (unless I was just playing bass lines on the keys). Funnily enough I still know more guitar chords than our guitarist, not sure how that's happened.

Isn't the gauge of the octave strings going to be an issue? I wouldn't like to have to stop notes on two Es at once with a single fingertip with the difference in string gauge.

FWIW I use La Bella 760FLs on my Jazz to get that old soul / ska / rocksteady sound, they're brilliant for that. Tension feels good and even, nice heavy feel to them but not difficult to play. They work out well with a pick and some overdrive for grotty old punk sounds too. Best set of strings I ever bought, I've had them on my Jazz for about 2 years so far and no intention of changing them any time soon.

[quote name='EskimoBassist' post='1190126' date='Apr 6 2011, 09:34 AM']Wap it in a cheap TB loop, that'll do the trick.[/quote] Or not, depending on the cable lengths in use. If you've got 20ft of cable to the board and 20ft back to the amp a true bypass connection between them is going to leave your tone to get sucked by cable capacitance before it reaches the amp. I would recommend a bypass looper with a quality buffer in it rather than a TB box. Maybe talk to Max at SFX he's good with this sort of thing.

Columbo I ain't.

Wow, late 2008, time flies: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=32625"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=32625[/url] Is that the same bass? Can't believe it sold for £625 in the end, bargain.

Is this the same one that sold on here for about £700 last year? I liked the look of it at the time, this looks a lot like it if it's not the same bass.

Tom sold me a trombone last week, trade worked out a bit tricky due to heavy demands on his time but he still found a gap in his schedule to get it in the post and kept me up to date with PMs while he was trying to sort out it. Very much appreciated, top guy.

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1185738' date='Apr 2 2011, 01:00 PM']Oooh, tell me more. No, seriously, I'm intrigued. I've been using OS X since 10.1, and I've never come across any weirdnesses. The only problem I've ever had with Finder is the bloody name. Makes me feel like a child.[/quote] Well the main thing I've noticed that is inarguably broken is if you're using column view and ask it to create a new folder it gets created in the first visible folder in that window, not the folder you're currently viewing. But there are other irritations if you're used to the convenience of Windows, like how there's no default setting to show folders before files in a list, can't create new empty documents in Finder, there's no move option in the context-sensitive menu only "copy", ... Nothing else springs to mind at the moment but I'm sure there are other things that bother me. I haven't looked to see if there's a better file manager available, maybe there is. That's one benefit of Linux over Mac OS at least you have a lot of options if something doesn't work how you'd like. It almost seems like nobody at Apple expected their users to need to manipulate a lot of files or navigate a hierarchical file structure. Spotlight would bear this out - it's a good excuse not to use Finder so long as your data is easily selectable using very basic criteria.

My local music shop posted on Facebook on Friday that they'd got some in, and I thought it was an April fools. I didn't even respond to it because I didn't want to ruin the joke! Joke's on me, bugger.

I'm quite enjoying using my MBP for work, but the UI isn't as mature as Windows and bits of it either don't work properly (Finder in particular) or are inconsistent, which is funny when Apple are promoting it as the most advanced operating system in the world. I also enjoy sharing an office with a pair of tragic Mac fanboys and winding them up by pointing out all the parts of Snow Leopard that Windows does better in computers that cost half the price.

I've been meaning to get their album, top stuff, thanks for reminding me. I've been working in an office with an old mate the last couple of weeks listening to his playlists and I've got a huge number of albums I need to buy as a result. Then I need to send The Skints some money to finish their next album, it's all go in pop music isn't it? And people say there's no good records any more. Pfft.

I've never been excited by bass solos either. Some musicians are excellent and happen to be playing bass (like Ray Brown) but when it's your typical bass solo where the guy at the back needs to demonstrate he's got chops for a few bars before he goes back to playing two notes a bar for the rest of the night... well I'm sure it made him feel better but I could've done without it.

I was planning to put a third coil in my jazz bass, up by the neck pocket, but the consensus seemed to be that it wouldn't be worth doing - that I would need to re-think my amplification to get any benefit out of it. I might still do it anyway, it would probably improve the tracking on my synth pedals if nothing else.

I don't know if it's a Bassballs, it sounds like the resonance is peakier than you can get from a Bassballs. Most quality envelope filters will be able to make that sound, just give it a slightly dirty signal and away you go.

And the sad part is the other band were nice guys and chatty and friendly (although I didn't meet the drummer, maybe he was a twat) and they were talented too, but I've come home pissed off at them. :\

Worst gig ever. Turned up to soundcheck on time, the only band on time, got a nice relaxed check because nobody else was ready, everything sounded good, tonnes of people turned up to see us. We were opening for Neville Staple so it was going to be a fun night. We were sharing drum shells brought by the other support - we had no choice in this it's always the way, there's not enough time to change over between bands. But the drummer from the other support had brought a bass drum with a split in the head (he was using a rubber beater on a head with no pad on it) that our drummer didn't notice. Apparently their drummer had noticed it but "didn't have time" to replace it before the gig, although they'd been there from 5pm waiting for their bassist who didn't turn up until 6:30pm, there is a music shop open late a two minute walk from the venue, literally around the corner... Anyway we discovered how broken the bass drum was when our drummer put his beater through it at the end of our second song. He hadn't brought a bass drum for gear-sharing reasons, so that was us done for the night. Unpleasant. On the plus side we've been offered a main support slot with The Beat to make up for it.

I've been meaning to get someone to build me a utility box to do exactly this for ages, preferably with a blend on the return/out. Never got around to it.

Oh I usually take a laptop too, not that I need one, but it might come in handy if any of my multi-FX freak out.

I disagree, I think it's mostly (or all) the front pickup with the tone flat. Streamers sound pretty middy on both pickups but the bridge pup is much more nasal than that.

I really love the look of Stingrays and I've bought two in the past and tried to get on with them but the necks just don't agree with me. It's weird, I just have a weird thing with P-style necks they just don't feel right. And TBH I didn't even find a sound I liked on them either. I think I am just too old-school to play a Stingray. I do have an active bass I love (my Thumb) but the hi-fi Stingray sound just doesn't suit me.

The best bass Muff I've tried is the Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie 'B', but again it's a matter of ordering one and going on the waiting list. The best gated fuzz I've tried is the Chunk Systems Brown Dog. Fairly rare and a bit overpriced tbh but most gated fuzzes sound pinched and nasal and awful but the Brown Dog is a full-blooded fuzz that still manages to gate really tightly. The MXR Blowtorch is fairly unique sounding, well designed with its EQ options, and combines well with modulation effects to sound synthy, but IMO the 18v power requirement is a PITA, and it doesn't get heavy enough (or clean up enough) to be useful.

All sorts of random stuff. Yeah strings and picks and batteries, allen keys, screwdrivers, coax wire cutters / strippers, multimeter, spare mains, XLR, instrument + speaker cables, spare strap, upright bass preamp, wire coathanger, kazoo, gas soldering iron + solder + braid, SM58 clone, spare mic clips and inserts, I can do just about everything at a venue except replace frets and nuts.

I saved up and bought a lousy Laney 100W combo to do my first band when I was 15/16. I fitted castors to the bottom so I could push it around and I would take it to gigs on the bus. It wasn't great but it was an amp and it just about did the job. These days with eBay and so on you should be able to pick up a giggable and reliable rig much cheaper. Playing bass is all about being in a band, you will learn so much faster if you play with other people, register yourself on formingbands.co.uk, bandmix, etc. you will probably find you get a lot of interest, there aren't many bass players about.

I've not had any trouble with George L's. I only ever had one plug connection that didn't work, and that was the first plug I ever attached. My stuff rarely gets taken off the pedalboard though. I imagine if you chop and change pedals a lot you might see some cable failures, but then you would probably break soldered plug connections just as easily too.