EliasMooseblaster

[quote name='Shonks' timestamp='1409643375' post='2541713'] 48 sets ....that's commitment! [/quote] Yeah, but if you're aiming to change once a week, that's almost a year's supply! If I may veer off-topic slightly: as a Roto devotee to a former Roto endorsee, did you ever get to try the "piano bass" strings (that I've only recently blundered across)? As I normally go for nickel Swing Bass, they sound like the kind of thing I might go for, though as you rightly point out, at £15+ a pop it's potentially quite an expensive experiment!

This made for very interesting reading: http://pickroar.com/1003/the-tone-stack-explained-in-english-for-humans/ Now, I realise that FMV tone stacks are pretty rare on bass amps these days, and generally more the preserve of guitar amps, but it makes me think that they offer a lot more control than you might initially think...provided you have the time to think through what you're doing, of course! It's certainly led to my LB30 making much more sense to me (which, I believe, has an FMV stack, correct me if I'm wrong). That said, a lot of my Laneys have had a parametric mid control (frequency sweep + midrange gain) which has always seemed like a good compromise to me between flexibility and simplicity.

Well, it was Saturday, but it was Sunday morning by the time I got home so perhaps it still counts: Cherry White at the Stag & Hounds, in Bristol. In spite of everything that went wrong, it was alright in the end - a huge thank you to Mornats and Pinball for coming down to see us, it was great to meet you both! We spent almost as much time sitting around in a side street in Chiswick as we did in Bristol itself, as the hire car's engine decided to start playing up just after we'd collected everybody. Got to the venue two hours later than planned; not a problem as it turned out to be a very relaxed affair. So relaxed, in fact, that we discovered the "house kit" was barely a kit at all - they offered us a rack tom but no way of mounting it, so our drummist had to rely on a kick and floor tom beside his snare. And then halfway through the set, all the mics cut out. We have contingencies for loss of a microphone, or our guitarist breaking a string, or even for the drumkit falling over, but losing all three vocals at once was not something we'd planned for. Thankfully it wasn't a huge crowd that watched us standing around like lemons for three minutes while the sound guy frantically ran to find another mic for our lead singer. But in spite of all that? Not bad, not bad. At least the crowd seemed to like what we were doing!

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1409211138' post='2537413'] Stormy Monday Red House [/quote] I take it you've also been hanging round the Spice of Life on Tuesday nights then?

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1409216367' post='2537509'] Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember any of the original announcements saying anything along the lines of "Kate Bush has announced she is to play a series of concert dates in the UK later this year, [i]and will definitely be playing all of her earliest hits[/i]"..? As far as I am aware, buying a gig ticket doesn't give anyone the right to dictate the set list. [size=2]Flameproof underwear is now in place.[/size] [/quote] This, in spades. Sure, I can understand people being disappointed that she didn't play their particular favourite song, but you can't please absolutely everybody. I was a tad disappointed that John Fogerty didn't play [i]Bad Moon Rising[/i] when I saw him, but I wasn't going to march up to the box office and demand a refund! As it happens, I know at least one person who would have been deliriously happy to see Ms Bush perform [i]Ninth Wave [/i]in concert, even if it meant missing out a couple of early hits - as I say, you can't please everyone!

Almost forgot: the promoters have put up a FB event deelie if anyone wants to scour for extra info! See [url="https://www.facebook.com/events/898533250174072/"]https://www.facebook.com/events/898533250174072/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming[/url]

We're coming back to Bristol! This Saturday, I shall be bringing "the elegant sound of contemporary classic rock, steeped in a barrel of blues," aka [b]Cherry White, [/b]back to Bristol, where we shall be playing at [b]The Stag & Hounds [/b]on Old Market Street. I should probably mention that this gig is FREE, kicks off at 8pm and puts us on the bill with a delightfully diverse range of bands: [url="https://www.facebook.com/tfpilot"]TIE Fighter Pilot[/url] (11.00pm downstairs) We are TIE Fighter Pilot, DIY Punk Rock from Bristol UK. [url="https://www.facebook.com/tfpilot/timeline"]https://www.facebook.com/tfpilot/timeline[/url] [url="https://www.facebook.com/cherrywhitemusic"]Cherry White[/url] (10.30pm upstairs) Contemporary classic rock steeped in blues and attitude. [url="https://www.facebook.com/cherrywhitemusic"]https://www.facebook.com/cherrywhitemusic[/url] [url="https://www.facebook.com/ghoulssoundz"]GHOULS[/url] (10.00pm downstairs) Three piece Kraut/Psychedelic/Pop band from Belfast. [url="https://www.facebook.com/ghoulssoundz"]https://www.facebook.com/ghoulssoundz[/url] [url="https://www.facebook.com/GhostsAsAlibis"]Ghosts As Alibis[/url] (9.30pm upstairs) Cardiff's newest purveyors of avant-garde ost-hardcore death-pop with a story to tell. [url="https://www.facebook.com/GhostsAsAlibis"]https://www.facebook.com/GhostsAsAlibis[/url] [url="https://www.facebook.com/newcowboybuilders"]New Cowboy Builders[/url] (9.00.pm downstairs) Undercooked music [url="https://www.facebook.com/newcowboybuilders"]https://www.facebook.com/newcowboybuilders[/url] [url="https://www.facebook.com/sparkthesail"]Spark the Sail[/url] (acoustic) (8.30pm upstairs) A pop-rock/Alternative band [url="https://www.facebook.com/sparkthesail/timeline"]https://www.facebook.com/sparkthesail/timeline[/url] A couple of Bristol-based BC'ers have already expressed an interest...anybody else?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1408644664' post='2532204'] What is it with the Hitler Youth hair cuts? They make kids look like evangelical Mormons. That can't be right!! [/quote] I believe they would tell you they're "doing it ironically, yah?" Which, ignoring the woeful misinterpretation of the concept of irony in the first place, makes you wonder: surely it stops being "ironic" if you look like that [i]every chuffing day?[/i]

Well, it was the night before last; in my negligence I chose to stay in bed a bit longer and shirked my BC reporting duties so didn't have time to post yesterday! But yes: cracking gig. Off to a bit of a bad start as I got there to be told the headliners has had to cancel following a car accident - fortunately nobody was seriously hurt, but I think their guitarist's car is probably a write-off. Fortunately we were able to extend our set a bit and do justice to the headlining slot...I shall half-inch a couple of photos to stick up in the Cherry White thread a bit later on!

A quick bump to say: It's tonight! You know, in case anyone's at a loose end...

Just an update, with apologies: owing to some less-than-ideal circumstances, we've had to cancel our appearance at the Oxford Foodies Festival this Sunday. Sorry to those of you who were interested in coming to see us. We'll keep you posted when we finally manage to get something else up that way!

What would these young oiks have played if you hadn't been good enough to leave your bass onstage? (And not been good enough not to give them a flea in their ear for grabbing your bass?)

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1408449598' post='2530212'] As long as you have the chops and don't look a bit sad, there is no reason to stop. [/quote] Yep, just compare and contrast how well, say, Pino is standing the test of time when compared with Gene Simmons...

[size=4]"THIS GUITAR WORKS FINE! IT HAS A COUPLE OF PAINT CHIPS ON THE REAR OF NECK AND ONE ON THE BOTTOM CORNER OF REAR BODY"[/size] [size=4]...how would you tell?[/size]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1408436425' post='2530027'] I really do think that listening to music is less important to kids today mainly because they have so much more to occupy themselves with. All of the lads aged between 18-25 that i worked with over the last 10 years had an interest in music but nowhere near the interest that i and my contemporaries had at that age. Gadgets to them are king. Queuing all night for a new iphone/ipad was not unusual. [/quote] I have shared a flat with a guy who admitted he "wasn't really interested in music" and just listened to "whatever's popular." Somebody on a different thread here coined a wonderful phrase of "music for people who aren't interested in music," to describe most of the current chart incumbents, that my former flatmate is now doubt listening to. Presumably such people must have existed in the past? There was certainly plenty of music marketed to people who would buy a s**te novelty single throughout the '60s - and as musicians, we come from an inherently different perspective. The question is to what extent things have changed...it's a bit of a hackneyed theory that popular music has become increasingly cosseted by the industry ("The Man"), but at the same time I'm having to go down increasingly obscure avenues to find new artists I genuinely enjoy. But then is that actually a result of artists being forced to toe a line laid down by "The Man," or is it down to me not knowing where to look and/or becoming increasingly cantankerous in my tastes?

Nice one, would be lovely to meet you!

A correction to my last post: it's now the [b]Stag and Hounds[/b] we'll be playing, though the date ([b]30th August)[/b] remains correct! And apparently it's free entry. Things are always better when they're free. There's even a facebook-event-thingy here now: https://www.facebook.com/events/898533250174072/

I've seen Clarky playing bass with All the Queen's Ravens ([url="http://allthequeensravens.bandcamp.com/"]http://allthequeensr...s.bandcamp.com/[/url]) and by curious coincidence, shared a bill with Happy Jack while he was playing for Dani Molino ([url="http://danimolino.com/"]http://danimolino.com/[/url]). Both were doing a sterling job on upright bass, which simply furthered my long-standing desire to learn upright bass! I seem to remember Clarky was playing his Ampeg bass which smelt of cheese, and Jack was playing a KK Baby Bass. [i]Incidentally, [/i](*cough cough*) I'll be playing at the Spice of Life (Central London / Soho), this Friday, with Cherry White, just on the off-chance anyone's hoping to tick another BC'er off their list. Better still we're supporting a prog/psychedelic band from Birmingham who sound pretty damn good - more info at [url="http://hotvox.co.uk/events/exploding-sound-machine-plus-support-0"]http://hotvox.co.uk/...-plus-support-0[/url]

I suppose I should probably report the results of my experimentation thus far: Bass --> Pitchblack+ --> TS-9B --> Big Muff --> Ashdown LB-30 seems to work well. I did take a bit of inspiration from the guitarist friend who gave me the muff, who uses his TS-9 to add some grit and boost to the sound, and then a Keeley distortion to thicken up the whole thing if he desires. Key differences being that the Muff is a much dirtier pedal than his Keeley, and my T-bird pickups are considerably hotter than his Strat pickups. So if I run the TS-9B and the Muff together, I get a truly immense amount of mid-focused filth that can drown out even Cherry White's guitarist. So the order probably isn't too important for the time being, as I can't see myself using them together very often! Good news is, though, the Muff gives me a very good approximation to the bass sound I ended up with on the recording for our last single http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n4I0qYrdXo ...that was my 'bird into an enormous Hughes&Kettner head via a Rat. And it's remarkable how close that little Ashdown sounds to the H&K when I kick in the fuzz!

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1407180712' post='2518146'] I meant mine goes into flight mode or I turn it off ("flight mode or off") - I wasn't 100% clear with that Sometimes I may want to grab a quick photo of he band set up on stage so I tend to use flight mode more often. [/quote] Or do what I do: take the precaution of having no friends, so the thing never rings while I'm on stage!

This is what I initially had in mind - the Tube Screamer's a great boost for soloing just for the way it pushes the mids, so I was thinking I could use a (relatively) clean sound from that and have the Muff before it in case I decide extra filth is necessary, and for when I need filth without the boost.

I've also kept the pedals to a minimum in my bass setup, but now one of my friends - a very generous complete b**t**d - has thrown a spanner in the works and given me a Bass Big Muff Pi. Things are still pretty simple: the Pi is only joining a Pitchblack Plus (tuner + A/B switch) and a TS-9B. My dilemma is: overdrive before fuzz, or fuzz before overdrive?

Well, that's stage lighting for you! But thank you, glad you like it!

[quote name='miles'tone' timestamp='1407164792' post='2517941'] Disclaimer... This vid does not contain any virtuoso bass playing at all. [/quote] Maybe not virtuoso, but that's some very solid bass playing, and her tone is to die for!

The promoters were sufficiently impressed last time they invited us back! [b]Hot Vox presents The Exploding Sound Machine at the Spice of Life[/b] with support from [b]Cherry White[/b] [b]Nick Varey's Bad Moon Band[/b] [b]Zulu Dynasty[/b] [b]Jonny Downie[/b] See [b][url="http://hotvox.co.uk/events/exploding-sound-machine-plus-support-0"]http://hotvox.co.uk/...-plus-support-0[/url][/b] for full details and tickets. As well as being treated to a half-hour of London's tastiest blues/classic rock, courtesy of yours truly, Exploding Sound Machine are a really marvellous-sounding prog/psychedelic outfit who will have travelled all the way from Brum to be there. Would be lovely to see some of you, partly because we've been pencilled in for "bigger and better things" if this one goes well - and partly just because you're all lovely. Links: ESM: [url="http://theexplodingsoundmachine.bandcamp.com/"]http://theexplodings...e.bandcamp.com/[/url] CW: [url="http://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/"]http://cherrywhite.bandcamp.com/[/url] NV'sBMB: [url="http://www.nickvareymusic.com/"]http://www.nickvareymusic.com/[/url] ZD: [url="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zulu-Dynasty/141023636097299?fref=ts"]https://www.facebook...6097299?fref=ts[/url] JD: [url="https://www.facebook.com/jonnydowniemusic?fref=ts"]https://www.facebook...iemusic?fref=ts[/url] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n4I0qYrdXo&feature=youtu.be[/media]