EliasMooseblaster

I'm somewhere between 2 and 3 on that list. The bass has always been, and probably always will be, my main instrument, but when I was about 16/17, my younger sister took an interest in the drums. We bought a kit from one of my friends, who had long since given up to focus on his guitar playing...at which point I had to sit down at the thing and work out how to play it, in order that I could teach her what to do. So definitely more of a bedroom drummer, but I've managed to get up at a couple of jam nights and bash the kit without embarrassing myself too much. No two ways about it, once you can relax behind the kit then the drums are great fun.

Option 3 seemed like the closest description to my current state of GAS. Currently I have no desire to buy another bass...that said, if I were to come into a large amount of money, I might be tempted to, say, - Get a backup Thunderbird - Get a genuine MIA Std Precision - Upgrade to a sw***ier fretless - Upgrade my cab(s) - Try a few longer-scale 8-strings and see how they compare to my short-scale or, ultimately - commission the strange SG/T-bird hybrid that I've been mulling over for a while. But ultimately, I'm more than happy with what I already have. Honest.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1432395091' post='2781136'] The venue we use for The Herts Bash has about 5 drum kits - people's Mum's donating them - and I thought playing Bass upset the neighbours. [/quote] I'll bring my sticks if we're allowed to use one of them!

[quote name='Muzz' timestamp='1432305093' post='2780264'] I'm probably in a huge minority, but visually I just can't be arsed with them. That much more than the tones (and there are plenty in there, I agree) puts me off completely. [/quote] [quote name='ras52' timestamp='1432305441' post='2780270'] I feel your pain. I think I've narrowed my annoyance down to the metal control plate. That's why I've got a G&L JB-2. [/quote] For me, it's the offset body that I find off-putting. Certainly not a deal-breaker - I mean, I certainly wouldn't say no if somebody offered me a Jazz bass - but I just prefer the traditional Precision body. I actually think the separate control plate is a very handy idea, much more convenient than having to unscrew the entire scratchplate like I have to with my P clone!

Unless it's tuned using that screw sticking out of the bridge...which presumably also doubles up as a strap pin, making me wonder whether the string is therefore tuned by how high you wear the bass.

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1432232797' post='2779565'] Always fancied being a drummer - well as a kid anyway - I could never figure out what to hit when though - dabbled with Saxophone for a few years but transposing is a real nightmare - no "just slide up the fretboard a bit" - you have to learn every scale for every key separately...in comparison playing bass is relatively easy [i](taking cover from incoming abuse..)[/i] [/quote] Plus we get to play in concert pitch - no extra level of thought when the bandleader says, "right, this one's in C," forces us to think, "ok, so that means I'm playing in A...oh no, crap, D, I'm playing tenor on this one!"

Good afternoon, BC, Cherry White's next outing will be back in my old hometown of Kingston upon Thames. As the thread title suggests, we'll be playing at [b]The Fighting Cocks [/b]on [b]Friday 29th May.[/b] Latest news is that the lineup will include (running order tbc): [b]Cherry White[/b] https://soundcloud.com/cherrywhitemusic [b]Subset[/b] [b]Rivals & Idols[/b] [b]Cute Cute Death[/b] The official FB event thing can be found at https://www.facebook.com/events/1605744903005388/ (More links to follow shortly!)

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1432067657' post='2777907'] And when does he expect this bid? [/quote] After a sudden wave of localised hyperinflation reduces the Pound Stirling to about the same value as the late Italian Lire.

[quote name='mazdah' timestamp='1431683078' post='2773883'] I would say: all valve! Ashdown LB30 or CTM30 with VS212 or 112 cab. This bass needs valves! [/quote] +1 I have a long-scale Epi SG - so a bit of a different beast, but it drives both my LB30 and my CTM100 rather nicely (going into a Laney 1x15). This assumes you're happy with a certain amount of thick valve grit, of course!

...and one from last Friday (15th May), taken at The Spice of Life (Soho) by somebody in the crowd [attachment=192204:SpiceOfLife.jpg]

A couple of gigs to catch up on...firstly a shot from The Royal Park in Leeds (8th May): [attachment=192200:liveRoyalPark.jpg] This one was taken by Jessie Leong ([url="http://www.jessieleong.com/"]http://www.jessieleong.com/[/url]) a professional photographer who's started working with bands more recently, and was absolutely excellent to work with!

Has nobody taken them to one side and quietly told them that VE Day was last week?

Just a quick bump as this one's tomorrow night - I'll probably be loitering around the Spice from around 6.30 in case anyone fancies a pint before the gig starts!

[quote name='Heket' timestamp='1431509620' post='2771973'] No one else use volume control to control the level of distortion? I only play at home but that's what I use the volume on my SUB for, it being super hot and keen to distort. Or is that just a left over relic from my heady metal guitar days? [/quote] Me too! [quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1431358011' post='2770422'] Onboard volume generally on full - the only exception, normally, is when I'm using the Tube Screamer, as it does respond very nicely to changes in input level. The Screamer generally only gets used when I'm soloing, however, so I'll be on '10' for the majority of a set. [/quote] As I say, it's generally just for when I'm soloing, but the TS-9B does respond really nicely to changes in input volume, especially if it's run out into a tube amp.

[quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1431522183' post='2772176'] I really liked the Grey Horse pub, was one of the few 'pubs' left in Kingston. The main 'support' for the bands as far as I know was that they could play for free and keep all the takings if they decided to charge. Anyway, thanks to this thread I have Sophie Alloway coming to give my daughter a lesson tomorrow eve. I have lots of other contacts too, female and male, who I may still contact so a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has been in touch. [/quote] I did a dep gig with her once, years ago. Doubt she'd remember me, but I can assure you she's a superb drummer!

It would be nice if it were to carry on as a venue - though most of the rumours I hear contain the horrifying word "gastropub." Seems all the refugees from the Horse are drifting over to the Cavern in Raynes Park - went there myself last Sunday for the first time, not a bad little place!

I've found out that I can actually get to this relatively easily, so put me down as a tentative "yes" for the time being! I can bring a Hagstrom 8-string if anybody's interested in trying one...?

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1431382694' post='2770817'] Ditto- a friend of mine and world class drummer is in Kingston, just a bloke.... (Throughly top bloke too) [/quote] [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1431367860' post='2770597'] I know a great drum tutor in New Malden. Do they really have to be a she? [/quote] If you chaps wouldn't mind sharing these gentlemen's details with me as well, my other half could be in the market for a new drum teacher fairly soon!

Any basschatters twiddling their thumbs this Friday could do a lot worse than this night of music at the Spice of Life, just off Charing Cross Road: http://substancegigs.com/showdetails.php?sid=487&vid=&pa=1 Featuring [b]Dr Lockhart's Midnight Soul Train (http://www.midnightsoultrain.com/)[/b] [b]Various Guises (https://www.facebook.com/variousguises)[/b] [b]Cherry White (https://soundcloud.com/cherrywhitemusic)[/b] [b]Dancehall Days (https://www.facebook.com/dancehalldayspdx)[/b] All for the eminently reasonable sum of just £6 - the Spice is on Moor Street, just behind the Cambridge Theatre, and proceedings kick off around 7.

Onboard volume generally on full - the only exception, normally, is when I'm using the Tube Screamer, as it does respond very nicely to changes in input level. The Screamer generally only gets used when I'm soloing, however, so I'll be on '10' for the majority of a set. I do, however, find myself rolling off the tone a fair bit, even on the Gibson-type basses. It may just be that our music suits a slightly darker bass sound.

Just a quick update to say the lineup has been updated (it's not Cherry White, Lost Trends, Wildlife and Johnny B. ), we finally have the official poster for the event and, perhaps most importantly: IT'S TONIGHT! [attachment=191499:RoyalPark.jpg]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1430999314' post='2766704'] [b]I haven't heard any of their stuff. [/b]Guess I'm just too old, but Scouting for girls really irritates me. It sounds too jimmy saville/ Rolf Harris . Repulsive . Are there any band names you hate , regardless of whether you like them or not? [/quote] You are a very fortunate man. Trust me, if you think the band name's bad, the music is utterly contemptible.

I'll also freely put my hand up as another one who doesn't "get" rap/hip-hop, though it doesn't get up my nose in the same way it used to. To be honest, most things don't get up my nose to the same extent they used to. There's still a number of very popular artists whose music I can't stand (The Beatles and David Bowie being two more controversial examples) but they don't inspire the same burning hatred that I reserve for, e.g., certain politicians! Whilst this suggests I have, generally, mellowed, there are still a few artists and songs who/which bring to the "hurl the radio out the window" level of dislike. Par exemple: Scouting for Girls Snow Patrol [i]Teenage Kicks [/i]by The Undertones I also have it in for The Proclaimers, though it's not necessarily their fault: during a car journey back down south from the Peak District, the first CD the driver put on was [i]Sunshine on Leith: the best of the Proclaimers[/i]. 20-odd songs, and bugger me, every one of them was awful. I can't remember the last time I've been quite so glad to hear someone say, "oh, I think that's the end of that disc..."

I'm sure there are plenty of people who will be able to give you a more informed and detailed response than I can, but a decent mastering job will add that certain "fairy dust" element that can often make your record sound like a "proper" album rather than a demo. Which is odd, given that it mainly seems to involve compressing and EQ'ing certain frequency bands and making sure the overall level doesn't change too much between tracks. They may also ask whether you'd like your record to keep some dynamic range, or whether you'd prefer that it was compressed to buggery to compete in the ongoing "loudness war." I'd be inclined to send your mixed tracks away to somebody else for mastering - mainly because most of the recording engineers we've worked with have recommended the same! I can't remember how many of them offered it as an additional service, but at least one of them stated quite emphatically that he preferred to master tracks he hadn't mixed himself.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1430495190' post='2762070'] Rare? Huh! It don't mean a t'ing if it ain't got dat "Vintage". Rare & vintage, rare & vintage, go together like a ... like a ... like something that rhymes with "vintage". [/quote] [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1430495523' post='2762078'] Squinted? Appendage? Inches? [/quote] Rare and vintage, rare and vintage, falling off you like diseased appendage?