jonnythenotes

Those little coloured pony tail bands are perfect....you just have one of them in position around the headstock, and when you need that muted sound, just pull it forward an inch over the nut and bingo. Just make sure you get black or navy blue....yellow or pink look extremely naff...

This may be a complete myth, but someone years ago told me as sound leaves a speaker, it spreads in a way similar to the shape of an ice cream cone..and that the size of the speaker, eg a 12 inch means the sound is at its best 12 feet away, a 15inch, 15 feet away etc. so what I have read above would make sense in that the speakers nearest the floor, as the sound leaves them, the ice 'cream cone' shape would distort as the sound hits the floor, whereas the higher the speaker off the floor, the longer the 'cone' will keep its shape, ie, the sound will travel before bouncing off the floor, and changing 'the shape' of the sound. Does this make any sort of sense, or is a load of nonsense.

That....is so eye openingly useful guys...... Thanks....

Is there any difference in the sound of two cabs stacked on top of each other, or the same two cabs side by side on the floor ? I realise that I will hear more of the sound with the cabs stacked, as obviously, the top cab is much nearer my ear, but what I want to know is the will the sound in the venue, or put another way, the sound an audience hears be any different..( louder or have more bottom end,) using either of the two configurations. The cabs in question are Ashdown abm neo 4x8's, and any answers should take into account both a solid floor, and a hollow stage. Both cabs have rubber feet on each corner, but on occasion, I have even played with them (stacked) on there side so the full surface area of the side of the cab is in contact with the floor. It's a question that is bound to have been asked before,so apologies in advance for that... Thanks....

That's what I am saying Chris... I have been playing Blues, or 'The Blues' for 40 years, so I think my understanding of it, and who has come and gone in this time, is as good as most folks. It is continually evolving, and will do, but that one word which covers all...'Blues' is only enough for existing blues players, listeners or whatever you call us. To all others, it has no appeal, and actively discourages interest in the genre. I am very much aware of the hundred years blues has been about, this is why I mentioned it in the first place, but as long as I am trying to get gigs for a Blues band, I will continue to be greeted by venue owners or agents with the look of someone sucking on a lemon..

The very word 'Blues' has never been re-invented, so to speak over time. The word itself almost suggests oppressive, moody music, all to do with how you lost your job, the car, the misses etc. It still suggests 50's and 60's guitar based music, played by deep and meaningful people, who have got the blues over how tough life is. Recently, Duffy had enormous success with 'Mercy' which is out and out blues, but has been re invented by a young person, and given a modern feel... Years ago, 'heavy' music appeared...this then became 'heavy metal' then 'death metal' then ''black metal' etc... It's the same basic music, with different and extreme variations on the original theme. This is where Blues has failed miserably....not in the variations available, but the continued use of a 100 year old description of it... Call it Blue Metal or something a bit more inspiring, show a few young bands or kids playing it, and it's appeal may change. It's not that Blues music is crap, it's just that the name, and is original meaning is hopelessly outdated, and inspires nothing in today's mainstream music listeners.

I am in a funk influenced band, and In our set, we do a few blues songs that we have kept pretty much to the original format, and they are going down a storm. What I am trying to say is that to push blues out as still being an still extremely valid part of modern music, sometimes you have to mask it with smoke and mirrors. If we even mentioned the word 'Blues' in our advertising, most of the non instrument playing public would instantly think Hoochie Coochie man, and promptly discount the band. It's just a preconception that most people who were born, I would say sort of 70's, that blues is boring, repetitive, played by old guys, and has a compulsory guitar and harmonica solo in every song. However.....once you have got an audience in front of you, the visual excitement of blues comes into play. If you are playing a pretty much mainstream set, and then fire into an up tempo bluesy format number, and by this I mean the 12 bar,3 chord formula, even something as simple as Route 66, My Babe, or Little By little, you will get a great response, and a lot of the time, this is to songs people would never normally listen to, or have never heard before. I am certain that people respond to the visual of a band giving it big licks, just as much as they respond to the safe and familiar feeling they get from songs they know all the lyrics to. Some venues thrive on pure blues, or very blues influenced music....check out The Blues Bar in Harrogate..... but by and large, you won't get a look in at a lot of venues, private parties, weddings etc if you smell remotely of blues...you have to sneak it in the back door. Then it's a simple case of dropping in a few more of the right songs that lean it a bit more towards a R n B set list. This might not appeal to the purist blues players among you, but when you are whacking the blues out, you have got to make it visually appealing and exciting, just as much as it must be played well, and sound good. And at the end of the day, the most used and abused loved/ hated song of recent years, that never fails to drive a crowd nuts...( one way or another) is Mustang Sally.. In the past, it was the artists and their personalities who made Blues a huge part of music culture, but it seems now its Joe Public who justifies its existence, which is a shame as they are quite happy to digest processed and studio engineered crap that they are force fed by commercial TV, radio and advertising, yet are unaware the real stuff is still out there. Blues still sits perfectly in this day and age, but an hour and a half of it spred over two sets is still a bit much for some folks...It's a case of all things in moderation, unless you run a Blues Bar..

Why am I thinking ' Kangaroo Courts....' I have no other reason for this, other than this current thread is making me think there are unmarked police cars patrolling Basschat, ready to pull over folks who have overstepped whatever marks should not be overstepped, and very quicky dispense the justice or punishment the offender deserves...in there opinion..... or is there a vote of some sort....Is this the way it works ? I genuinely don't know, but would like to. Can I be pounced on for thinking like this. I was wonderfully oblivious to it all until this thread appeared, and now I am wondering, probably like many others, about how much control is being exerted behind the scenes,( if any.) Its the ole can of worms big style eh....

Skankdelvar....you mentioned in your last but one sentence something about 'members being pulled off by other members' ...Wow....sounds great. How naughty do you have to be to get pulled off. I can be very bad...... Hope this counts as gaiety, which is also something you mentioned in your last post.

Hi icastle....and we'll said. What I was trying to say in a pretty sarcastic way about this ' good posters' thing was 'so what' ......let them go....I don't know who they are, and don't care. I am pretty new to this site, and enjoy a lot of what is on here. I have asked for advice, and help....and got it, without checking to see who was giving it to me. I was just glad of it when I needed it. What has become apparent in this thread is there is some sort of a pecking order with 'newbies' at the bottom of the heap, and the ' good posters' at the top. What a load of claptrap. We are all contributors, all have opinions, and all should be seen as equal within this forum.... The very fact that the thread is titled 'Where have all the good posters gone' (whoever they may be) makes me feel a bit second best. Who is to say I am not a good poster, or someone finds my stuff interesting. If Basschat disappeared in a puff of smoke, my life would not collapse...it's just a bunch of bass players talking bass type things and having a bit of fun. Leave it like that and enjoy it.

What were 'good posters' before they were good ? We're they 'fairly good' posters, or ' posters showing promise,' or were they at some stage, 'newbies,' to use that awful word.... Perhaps one day some of us 'newbies' might turn into ' mega posters' and write interesting things, and be full of wisdom, and have people mourn us when we are gone.

Waheyyy Mikesbass.......It's one of those tunes I have been playing in my Funk band for years..... Another absolute corker to have a bash at is Girl I wanna dance with you, by Wolfman Washington.. but only the studio version, and then there is Barefootin....These three allow any bass player to see the crossover point between Blues and Funk.... Of all the funky tunes I play, these are the ones I enjoy most...and they are not originally funky tunes. Give them a try and see what you reckon...and let me know...

Yeah.....Sorry Mykebass...getting my BB's and Albrts mixed up....thanks for spotting that.....

Mustang Sally would do a great job of showing off nothing but half a dozen notes on the E A and D string. Come on..... That's not a demo...it's showing you can play the most kicked to death, sing a long song of all time. You need to go past the 5th fret to show a bass off. I think we both have a completely different concept of what demonstrating the potential, and capabilities of a bass guitar are...