jonnythenotes

How would you define 'Pro' ...to me it is someone who professionally plays the bass for a living, and it is their,only or main scource of income. I might be wrong, but that is what I think. They may also qualify for endorsements and freebies from manufactures etc. The above has nothing to do with how good they are, or whether their opinions count for anything, or are even correct. ....There are a tiny percentage of the overall bass playing community who are outstandingly good, and I would fall at their feet in admiration of what they have achieved, but in this 'Pro' bracket, there are also many who are probably no better, or far more incapable than most of the people reading this now. It's the same sort of thing as all these Z listers who are on these reality shows with the words Star or Celebrity pinned to them....what a load of pants ...never heard of any of em.. A real pro to me who is someone who will listen, put forward ideas and offer advice,correct mistakes, has patience, is there when you need them, and does not have to be paid, or offerd incentives to do these things. They just churn away annonimously, and are worth their weight in gold. I know thru personal contact that many of these are regulars are on basschat, and I am grateful to them for all they do. You can keep all your 'pros' and 'a' listers......I would sooner deal with real people, who do give a monkeys...

Recently pla

I am trying to dig out covers that have been given the funk treatment, with a view of putting together a band that does old and recognisable songs that have been completely 'funkyfied'. A couple of examples of what I am hoping to find are Sunshine your love by Spanky Wilson, and Alright now by Lea Roberts. I know I could funk songs up myself, but if there are a few already out there, with a structure and brass parts already written, it will save me a lot of work.... Cheers guys..

Does he also get pissed off if people buy beer in any other pub but his..... These Harvey Goldberg landlords cheese me off. If someone offers me money to play somewhere, I don't phone around asking the local pub bosses permission to see if he will let me play in the same town as a what he perceives as the opposition. I make a living playing in bands, as do a few other guys I know, and 60 or 70 quid means more to me than keeping the pubs gaffer happy...

Have a bash at Riders on the storm by The Doors if you really want to give your fingers a work out.....Same tempo and feel as Billy Jean, but much more tricky...and when you get really clever, alternate between the two.....sounds so cool...

Well said Chris.....wish a few more guitarists could try it.....Your man must be a good egg to admit it was pretty tricky....nice one...

P.S.....And If you have any sense.......share this with other bass players......

Lot of comments about bass players not existing in a bands scheme of things.... If I got shoved to the back right corner of a stage, or given a corner of a grubby boozer to stand in, I would be off. Do these so called other band members have any idea how vital the bass is to making them sound good. If the bass player puts a foot wrong, because of the huge percentage of the overall sound he is responsible for, it is instantly obvious something is wrong... If a guitar player stuffs up, he just stops playing for a few bars, is covered by the other guitarist and or keyboard player, (and yes the bass player.) Everyone thinks the guitar player is then a creative genius for 'creating that bit of space' in the song.... Talk about double standards... Just think about it, as a bass player, in a 120 bpm song, you might be making upto 240 to 480 individual hits one of four or five strings.... And everyone must be perfect or else..... A guitar player may hit maybe 20 or thirty strikes of a chord in this minute, and this is veiled behind as many pedals as he can squeeze on a stage that pushes you into a corner, and soaks up 20% of the little room there is already. WHAT !!!! If you give a guitarist 3 or 4 hundred notes to play one after the other for the duration of a song, it would be called a 'solo.'I can't believe the arrogance of some of these expert band members, who think the band revolves around them, and their very limited talent. Give em the responsibility of a bass player or the drummer, and they would crap there spandex Yfronts. With the responsibility I carry as a bass player, I want to be at the front where all the fun is... And it's a shame I can't take the drummer with me

Made a special trip from my home town of Lichfield a few weeks ago to the fabled Denmark Street in London. Within an hour I had been into every shop, and was only to glad to leave the place behind. I think I expected an awe inspiring range of shops, full of the latest musical goodies, being second to none in the UK. What I found was a handful of shops on a back street, some of which felt as if they were ready to collapse at any moment. I was hoping to find something different, but it seemed each shop was 'playing it safe' sticking to the usual Fenders, Gibsons, Marshall etc. It felt like a case of monkey see, monkey, do as each shop stuck with the same ole' safe route that worked for all the other shops doing the same thing. I was trying to find some Sandberg, Yamaha BB and Mike Lull stuff to look at, and at the time, not one of the shops had any of these in stock,and it's not as if they are a rare commodity. Am I being cynical, or is it just because it's London that I expected far more. I live fairly close to Bass Direct in Warwick, and that is a place that really does impress...it's how it should be done. I know Mark Stickley pretty well, and could spend a day in his place, compared to the 60 mins I was on Denmark street. Completely underwhelming... Next time I fancy seeing something different and impressive, perhaps a train to Manchester might be money better spent.... And then there is always the 40 minute spin to Bass direct again..

Jam nights!!!!! So often is just another way of saying 'Groundhog Day'....

Hiya Big Red......I am not suggesting have a similar number of songs from the 6 decades, just maybe one or two songs to show recognition of the fact he has been around for as long as he has. If I was to buy a ' best of Soul ' album, I would end up with the 40 most commercial and overplayed songs ever.....Midnight Hour, Mustang Sally, Dock of the bay, Hard to handle etc. These are not bad songs, they have just been overdone over the last 40 years, although play them in front of a completely bladdered crowd at a wedding, and they will think you are better than The Beatles. A good Bowie tribute band could pull in a crowd with an age ranging from teenagers up to folks well into their sixties....(as the man himself is,) and this may require a good knowledge of his songs other than his 70's and 80's period. For me,learn his biggest sellers in terms of sales, and use these in set one and two, and then learn a further 10 or so of his less 'Top of the Pops' type songs for requests, or a more targeted Bowie crowd...... Chuck one or two of these in occasionally, and the bands credibility goes way up.

If your doing a Bowie tribute, I think you must reflect the fact he has a presence in music for six decades......60's to present. Easy just to focus on, for example, the 70's and and or eighties, but that is only a small percentage of both his career and his catalogue. Also, if you are show casing him, don't forget his involvement with dozens of other artists...... Mott The Hoople and All The Young Dudes to name but one. If you look at his time with us, and his total portfolio of songs, you could start a dozen Bowie tribute bands, and still not repeat each others material..

Camden Rob.....my current rig.... ( see first post of this thread on page 1 ) is a replacement for a disastrous attempt at creating my ' best rig ever'. Upto 3 months ago, I was using an Orange terror sp 2x12 combo with the sp 2x12 extension cab. Purchased new,the two cost me £1400....this was 2 years ago. I bought it mainly with portability in mind, and for a short time as I was in a rock covers band, it was sort of ok. The problem was it was all bottom to mids, with no top end at all....to coin a phrase, a 'one trick pony'. Entirely my fault as like a fool, I failed to consider the most important thing of the lot....will this do what I want it too... And it didn't, so I cut my losses and replaced it. So your statement ....' Best rig you ever had is the one you have now'.......a few months ago mine was one of the worst, as it was not fit for purpose. What I have now is the best, simply because with the knowledge I have now about gear that is out there currently, the budget I have had to work to, and the music I am involved with at present makes it suitable. However, If I joined a metal, country, rock, or thrash band in the foreseeable future, my rig would suddenly NOT be the best..

The fact you are aspiring to something or someone is a credit to you.....People will always try and put you down, but just ignore them....I sure Jack Bruce, Pino Paladino, and Jaco Pastorius said early in their careers, ' how can I get that sound ' after hearing a song that appealed to them. The way to continually improve is constantly ask questions, try things....fail, and then try again untill you get what your after...

Some real drool inducing rigs being mentioned here guys......if we get a load of replies, I will try and see if there is some gear that keeps popping up.

What is the best combination of bass, head and speakers (or combo ) you have ever put together, or managed to buy straight off the peg. Also mention the type of music you play to give some sort of perspective to your rig. Don't include pedals or any other add ons that can change the sound of your gear..... Just the basic set up. My best to date, (and this is after 30 years of playing,) is a Wood and tronics EJ 4, Epifani PS600 head and 2 Ashdown ABM Neo 4x8 cabs. Total cost of this set up was £2700 (all pre owned items ) so not insanely expensive for what is a really modern sounding, and well balanced rig. I play a funky mix of music, so this works pretty well for me. So come on then, lets see what works for you, (and why,) and remember it's a combination of all 3 elements together, bass, amp and cab or cabs..

Slap to me is the same as wheel spinning, or pulling a handbrake turn in a car park full of loose gravel.......It grabs your attention very briefly, may look impresive for a second or two, and then you think ' what's that all about then'.

Hello Ambient.....Did he tell you it was clapped out, or did you ask him...? All I am trying to get across to whoever is interested, is by and large, most people will sound a lot better if they consider what they want to sound like before buying. It's a simple case of getting stuff that is fit for its purpose.

Hiya Plunger.... Completely agree with your comment 'if it sounds right it is right' but to a lot of people, what they hear from their kit isn't right, and determining which 'part or parts' are not right is the hard bit. For what it is worth, my kit comprises of Wood and tronics EJ 4 into a Epifani PS 600 amp, and this into 2 Ashdown ABM Neo 4x8 cabs. As you can see, the whole lot is pretty modern sounding kit, which I have deliberately put together that way piece by piece, to deliver a middle to top funky sound. With the cabs, individually, the speakers are not having to work to hard, but collectively, 8 of these are moving a lot of air compared to a to a couple of 15's... ( I have left myself wide open here for some speaker techno stuff, as I am a cave man when it comes to that sort of thing..) Over the years, I have tried the back breaking Trace Elliot and Peavey monsters. Orange, Gallien Krueger and Ampeg etc, plus an equally varied collection of basses and amps. What I have got now is ideal for my style of playing, and the type of music I play, but it would be hopelessly inadequate or unsuitable for dub reggae, metal or even a lot of pub rock. I think we both agree that spending heaps of cash on what you 'hope' will work is not as effective as spending on some well considered gear...

With or without you..... 4 chords that repeat for ever....

To light a fire, or keep a fire burning, you need 3 things....fuel, heat and oxygen. take one or more away and.....no fire. To make a bass sound good, you need four things. A decent finger or plectrum technique, a bass that suits the style of music you are playing, a reasonable quality amp, and some decent speakers. This is ' the chain' in the order that it happens, and one must drive and support the one that follows it. Many folks think by having one or two of these four requirements they will get the sound they want, and many folks are disappointed that they fall short of this elusive sound. I spent 25 years buying the best gear I could afford at the time, but never really got there, as I was buying for example ' the amp ' without considering how it would sound with the rest of the gear In the overall mix of ' the four .' Buying without thinking things through, can often result in a bass player ending up with a fantastic rig (as individual component parts,) yet it sounds crap as they are not matched to each other. I would always suggest , start at the beginning by asking a few simple questions... Do I use or prefer finger or plectrum.....this has a huge effect on the sound you will create..... Is the bass I am using capable of creating the sound I want....? Not all basses can create that funky sound, and not all are good at bone crunching low end. Amp and cabs are more of a personal choice, but some amps will start to distort and grind at lower pre amp levels, so if mid to highs are what you want, Orange gear might not be the right choice, whereas TC or Markbass might do the trick. The last thing in the chain is the cab. A 15" speaker will rearrange you intestine, whereas 8 or 10 " speakers will take the top off a boiled egg at 100yds. 15s are fantastic at low to mids, and if you stick in a horn they sound brilliant, but they just can't 'snap' back as quick as an 8 or 10 can...... I am not being a know all, or a smart arse.....far from it, as I would not have taken 25 years and spent £1000's on gear I probably didn't need.. All I am trying to say is think thru, and ask advice before you flush your hard earned cash unnecessarily round the 'S' bend...

Lets face it guys...so many jams are organised by the same bloke who wrote Groundhog Day.. The same 'house musicians' open up the night with the same songs every week. If you are a regular, a lot of mutual back slapping goes on, and then a conversation starts along the lines of ' what shall we have a bash at this week' or 'Mick and Fred are in tonight, that means we can have a go at Mustang Sally." I love jam sessions, especially if a spot of jamming actually occurs. Creating music on the spot, with people you have never met before is rewarding for the players, and entertaining for an audience,who can see and hear this music being created before there eyes. A cobbled together version of All right Now is about as interesting as a kick in the nutz. Jam nights should be places where musicians can get together and let the creative juices flow, but so many times they turn into showcases for over indulgent players who just want to show off a bit. An example of a jam session at its best is The Clarendon, in Leamington, where you turn up, express interest to the organiser, and wait untill you are invited to join whoever is already up there. It is always well attended, as both players and the audience know they are going to get something different at every session. Anyway, that's it.... Lets use Jam sessions for trying to be creative, instead of four or five people attempting songs they think they know, and sort of remember the chorus.

Hi kevin. It's a real tightrope we as bass players have to walk. Getting the balance between sounding good on stage, without being to loud, and driving everyone else up in volume, and carryIng that sound to the audience is probably our greatest challenge. In small to medium venues I always try and keep out of the PA, as I think unless you have a good quality pa, and a dedicated sound man who knows his stuff, you can do more harm than good to the sound. By this I mean trying to adjust the sound on stage as the room changes acoustically as people come and go etc is impossible for someone on stage, and standing behind the pa. Relying on a few mates in the audience shouting ' more volume' or 'too much bass' is about as insane a method of mixing a band as you can come up with. I recently went wireless, using a Stage clix system, and this is one of the best investments I ever made. Nothing to do with playing better, but purely to allow me to go anywhere in the venue, and check out how I am mixing in with the rest of the band. Once I know that my sound is right for the band and venue....(whether I am in the PA or not,) gives me a confidence as the gig progresses that is vital to putting across a good show. After years of humping massively heavy 4x10 and 15 inch cabs around....(remember Peavey and Trace gear from the80's..) I now really do believe small speakers are the answer, as long as you have got plenty of them...a little bit of work for each individual speaker, but add them together....bingo. I know I am going on a bit, but so many bass players, and people trying to give bass players advice do not understand the difference between volume, and bass. I have heard so many people say ' your to loud' but what they really mean is there is too much bass, or bottom end making up the volume. At the end of the day, at sound check, I don't let the drummer or guitarist walk all over me. I insist on getting it right, instead of the usual 2 mins the bass player usually gets, I will take as long as required to get it spot on. Without doubt, the most overlooked, but important part of a good gig to a bass player is getting it right at the sound check. all of the best gear in the world is rendered useless if its not set right, yet mid range gear can sound fantastic if a bit of thought goes into a sound check....plus you KNOW you sound good. Anyway that's it .....rant over.... All the best.

I use two of the abm neo 4x8 cabs, standing upright as opposed to lying on there side, so I always get perfect clarity in my ear as they stand pretty tall. I drive these with the Epifani ps600 head, which is just perfect for the cabs. I use either a Mike Lull 5 string or a Wood and Tronics EJ 4...both pretty modern sounding guitars. The overall effect is fantastic...With the 8 small speakers individually not having to do a lot, but collectively moving masses of air, and an instant snap back, a crystal clear amp which is tailor made for this type of cab, and good quality guitars, I have reached ...after 30 years, and thousands spent...My ideal rig. The Ashdown ABM neo range are not cheap, but compared to other gear I have either owned or tried out....including Bareface.... they are at the top of the heap. If one day I come into a small fortune, I might be tempted to start looking around again, but I am totally chuffed with what I have got at the moment..... In summary, the 4x8 neo cabs ( rated at 1000 watts each) are capable of any thing from super fat, warm bottom end stuff, to bright and sparklie funky stuff. The trick is to find an amp that will get the best out of these speakers, get a bass that will work well with the amp, and then match the whole lot to the style of music you play. ......Nice one Ashdown.....

Stuckinthepod...that s a really useful tip....did you have to cut it to size or just use as is.