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thebassist

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    The cost of a Fodera. Worth it?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1459780667' post='3019524']
    Off topic and for a political debate, and I am not by any means ANY kind of expert on this matter, but isn't the majority (apparently almost 98.8%) of the NHS funds sought from general taxation and National Insurance.

    I've had mainly positive experiences with the NHS, most of the time. I think its a fantastic part of our culture, and I applaud those who work long hours within it.

    However, if the above stands true, we are in fact paying for our own healthcare, in a sense (even if it is just a small percentage of it), by working and contributing to the economy. My recent tax and National Insurance payments are insane. We also pay into a system that helps others.

    It is not for me to comment on the USA. I haven't spoken to anyone about it in years, but when I did, they just say those that had the means would buy their own insurance.

    If I could afford to (house saving denies this!) I would go private myself.

    I don't personally think that stating they provide for healthcare is helpful for anyone in the UK who also pays for their own healthcare by working.

    Sorry - no idea where that came from!
    [/quote]

    This is actually a subject I'm quite passionate about - I think A&E is superb but I don't think a lot of the NHS works well overall generally.

    Both my grandfathers, my wife's dad and my dad died from horrible illnesses and I don't think the NHS helped very much. Both my grandfathers died of organ failure after a few months of treatment due to the damage caused by chemotherapy - I think they both probably would have lived longer and more comfortably without it.

    My dad was back and forth to the GP telling them something was wrong and after about a year of doing this constantly, they finally agreed to send him for tests. By the time the results came back there was nothing that could be done to save him and my wife's dad had a similar situation - he was bleeding for 18 months and they kept on cancelling his appointments and putting them back.

    They've helped a lot of people of course but if given a choice I'd probably prefer to keep my taxation and pay for private insurance.

    Cut Iowa Network plays Paris 2 April - DONE

    in Gigs

    Posted

    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]We were kindly invited to play a live event in Paris on Saturday night - we agreed and then about a month ago our regular drummer said he couldn't make it because he was moving house the weekend of the gig. Not wanting to let people down just a month before the show after the promotion that had already been done, we made contact with a Parisian drummer, had a bit of dialogue, sent him a live recording of the set and decided to press ahead acknowledging the risks associated...[/font][/color]

    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]So on Saturday, the guitarist and I got up at 2am, drove to the airport for a 7:10 flight with all our gear, did all the customs/passport stuff, landed at Orly 9:35, did all the customs/passport stuff again, got out of the airport at 10:30, arrived at the hotel at 11:30, wasn't able to check in until 14:00 so hung around in the bar area for a couple of hours, eventually got into our room, dumped our stuff, walked 25 minutes to the venue to check it out and then had some lunch. Next up we went and met up with the promoters for a chat...and a lot of expressos - lovely people who made us feel very welcome. Then we went back to the hotel to get all the gear and travel to the venue where we met our drummer for the first time - he too was a very nice guy - then we cracked on with the soundcheck which went surprisingly well - the engineer was superb.[/font][/color]

    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]When it came to the actual show we'd been up for 20 hours and were feeling pretty jaded to be honest - meeting new English people can be tricky but not being able to speak the language (I know that is our problem and not theirs being that we're in their country of course) and meeting new foreign people is really hard - repeating yourself many times over, rearranging sentences, trying to use easier words, speaking slowly, not wanting the awkward silences, etc. - it all took its toll.[/font][/color]

    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Anyway, I'd say 50% of what we delivered was pretty rubbish, 40% of it was very, very average and 10% of it was alright.[/font][/color]

    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]We did accept the risk but the drummer didn't really pick up on the dynamics and building that we were creating for the more post-rocky parts so when we got up to a crescendo where our regular drummer would go absolutely nuts, nothing really happened here - it just kind of fizzled out and turned into a bit of free jazz![/font][/color]

    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The French folks in attendance were really lovely afterwards clapping and cheering us but in all honesty it really was a bit of a mess.[/font][/color]

    [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Still, it was an incredible experience, we met some really lovely people and, rather strangely, have been invited back to play again which is nice - next time with our regular drummer [/font][/color] :)

    [url="http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/minuspilots/media/IMG_2097-1_zpswqfyqq25.jpg.html"][/url]

    How was your gig last night?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by thebassist

    We were kindly invited to play a live event in Paris on Saturday night - we agreed and then about a month ago our regular drummer said he couldn't make it because he was moving house the weekend of the gig. Not wanting to let people down just a month before the show after the promotion that had already been done, we made contact with a Parisian drummer, had a bit of dialogue, sent him a live recording of the set and decided to press ahead acknowledging the risks associated...

    So on Saturday, the guitarist and I got up at 2am, drove to the airport for a 7:10 flight with all our gear, did all the customs/passport stuff, landed at Orly 9:35, did all the customs/passport stuff again, got out of the airport at 10:30, arrived at the hotel at 11:30, wasn't able to check in until 14:00 so hung around in the bar area for a couple of hours, eventually got into our room, dumped our stuff, walked 25 minutes to the venue to check it out and then had some lunch. Next up we went and met up with the promoters for a chat...and a lot of expressos - lovely people who made us feel very welcome. Then we went back to the hotel to get all the gear and travel to the venue where we met our drummer for the first time - he too was a very nice guy - then we cracked on with the soundcheck which went surprisingly well - the engineer was superb.

    When it came to the actual show we'd been up for 20 hours and were feeling pretty jaded to be honest - meeting new English people can be tricky but not being able to speak the language (I know that is our problem and not theirs being that we're in their country of course) and meeting new foreign people is really hard - repeating yourself many times over, rearranging sentences, trying to use easier words, speaking slowly, not wanting the awkward silences, etc. - it all took its toll.

    Anyway, I'd say 50% of what we delivered was pretty rubbish, 40% of it was very, very average and 10% of it was alright.

    We did accept the risk but the drummer didn't really pick up on the dynamics and building that we were creating for the more post-rocky parts so when we got up to a crescendo where our regular drummer would go absolutely nuts, nothing really happened here - it just kind of fizzled out and turned into a bit of free jazz!

    The French folks in attendance were really lovely afterwards clapping and cheering us but in all honesty it really was a bit of a mess.

    Still, it was an incredible experience, we met some really lovely people and, rather strangely, have been invited back to play again which is nice - next time with our regular drummer :)

    [url="http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/minuspilots/media/IMG_2097-1_zpswqfyqq25.jpg.html"][/url]

    Badass upgrade

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    My '72 Jazz was all original but it had absolutely no sustain - I put a Badass II on it to replace the rusty original bridge and it's made a hell of a lot of difference.

    My '64 Jazz is all original but sustains just fine and the bridge on this one is rusty bridge too.

    No idea...

    Do we have a beginners corner?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [quote name='blue' timestamp='1459127583' post='3013754']


    You see this is what sucks for new young bass players.

    When I started playing in 1965, everybody was in bands. In my neighborhood you could hear bands in every garage and basement.

    You didn't have to know how to play, one if your friends or mates would say " ok your playing bass". You got a bass and you started playing. Everyone was at the same level and you learned together. Sort of like on the job training.

    It's why I'm glad I got into this in the 60s. There were just more guys interested in playing in rock bands then now.

    I don't know what to tell you.

    You could start a thread addressing issues however preface it with " For Beginers Only" I've posted "For Those Over 60" threads.

    Blue
    [/quote]

    While I started playing in 1994, Blue is bang on here. My mates Oasis wannabe band needed a bass player, I couldn't play but told him I'd like to do it, he reluctantly agreed because I was persistent (and to be fair they were having trouble finding anyone), I bought a bass and practised as much as I could between rehearsals - I know I frustrated them at the start because everybody else could play a bit but after only a month or so, I was able to play to all the tracks using roots, major/minor thirds/fifths/octaves. Simple bass lines of course but I added to them as I improved and got more confident. Try to join a band ASAP.

    The cost of a Fodera. Worth it?

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    [quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1458826946' post='3011287']
    no in the uk it helps mean we all get great and free healthcare
    [/quote]

    I definitely agree with accident and emergency but my personal experience with pretty much everything else with the NHS has been pretty poor.

    NBD - American Deluxe Fender Jazz Bass V

    in Bass Guitars

    Posted

    I think Fender Jazz Basses are incredibly hit and miss though - I've played loads of post-2012 American Standards now and I'd say the hit rate is around 1 in 5 for finding a good one and maybe 1 in 15 for one I'd actually buy. Whenever i go to Absolute Music in Poole, I always grab their US Standards and am always amazed at how Fender can make the same model bass with such big differences in feel, weight and sound.

    I played a red/RW, OW/RW, black/RW and 3TSB/RW US Standard a couple of Sunday's back and I'd personally class all four as duds.

    The OW/RW, red/RW and black/RW all sounded a bit rubbish while the 3TSB/RW sounded great but weighed 11lb 4oz. Thankfully the gent who bought my 2013 US Standard kindly agreed to sell my old bass back to me.

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