Happy Jack

But I like it runny ...

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1441890873' post='2862646'] I do understand - I went to Florida last year for two weeks and got stuck. For two months - saw a whole new side to the U.S. [/quote] So you're out on parole then?

And on it goes. Spotted a Harley Benton Kahuna fretless U-bass listed as "deko" for €49 instead of the usual €129 list. I really like my fretted Kahuna but I can hardly justify buying the fretless at full price. Bought the "deko" version, and I've just spent 30 minutes trying to figure out why it's 62% off. Nope. No idea.

http://youtu.be/FCARADb9asE

Load of tosh. I was a regular gig-goer from 1974 - 89 (entirely in London) and I never saw any violence of any sort at any gig. That was partly because I avoided the relatively small number of bands whose gigs were known to attract violence - Sham 69, The Clash, The Specials (because of their deliberately provocative anti-racist stance which attracted hostile skinheads), etc. Punk was mainly mock-violent. I saw the Pistols, The Damned, Siouxsie, yadda yadda yadda. Loads of pogoing and gobbing, loads of shy kids hiding behind the outrageous look and pretending to be hard. Punch ups? None that I saw. Tribes? Oh they existed alright. But we all shared the same tube carriage on the last train home. There might be an embarrassed silence, or there might be some banter. But no violence.

Google is your friend. Grant Fox is genuine, and can be reached through Facebook / Twitter / etc. etc. etc. If in doubt, contact him through one of those channels and ask him if this is legit.

Damn! Rehearsing that night for a short-notice party gig on Saturday. I'll try to get along to the next one.

I'm more interested in that vintage car/truck in the background ...

OK, change of location, change of backdrop, change of camera angle, and a fair bit of Photoshopping, but Bluejay managed to represent the 'true' colour of the bass: [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20almost%20real%20colour_zps6ngsuueh.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20almost%20real%20colour_zps6ngsuueh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[quote name='silverfoxnik' timestamp='1371748764' post='2117726'] Great thread this.. Must post some pics of my BC Rich Eagle later.. [/quote] So over a year after Nik posted this, I finally got to play his Eagle. I spent the next year scouring eBay and Gumtree on the look-out for one. Then this happened: [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20almost%20real%20colour_zps6ngsuueh.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20almost%20real%20colour_zps6ngsuueh.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/NBD%20BC%20Rich%20-%20full%202_zpswgabtmwq.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/NBD%20BC%20Rich%20-%20full%202_zpswgabtmwq.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/Some%20Beauties%202_zpsfa66pw38.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Basses%20CURRENT/BC%20Rich%20Mockingbird%20NJ%201983%20CURRENT/Some%20Beauties%202_zpsfa66pw38.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

An excellent slew of advice here which I can't really add anything to, so I'll offer a new perspective. Buy a Zoom H2 or similar and start recording your band. Rather than relying on opinions (the singer's, your own, comments from punters) you can actually listen to how you sound. It's not a black & white thing and recorders often struggle to capture the true sound of the bass, but it's way better than nothing.

Just looked up your condition - Jesus, that's horrible. Really sorry to hear that. For all my gigs I take along http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kinsman-KGS-Guitarists-Dual-Stool/dp/B0030GIGW0 Cheap, cheerful, doubles up as my bass stand, and a more comfortable perch than my amp. At gigs where I have been experiencing serious back trouble, on a couple of occasions I take this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Koing-and-Meyer-14045-000-55-Musicians/dp/B003ERX2UQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441529832&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=k%26m+performance+stool from my studio. I always sit on this when rehearsing. You need both the backrest and the built-in foot rest to really make it work. This stool has the advantage that you can actually play double bass while sitting on it. On the other hand, you'll need a roadie to carry it for you ...

[quote name='the boy' timestamp='1441380440' post='2858501'] It depends very much on the organiser. The best type of open mic night I've come across is where a certain area or venue is a hive of talent and it attracts like minded musicians, artists etc and a natural entity is born. [/quote] Absolutely true, but IME the "hive of talent" is attracted by a well-run event, which in turn requires a really good organiser. For those Basschatters of the West London persuasion, I was lucky enough that the first jam I got involved with was that run by Andy Falconer, initially at the King's Head in Acton, then at the Drayton Court in Hanwell. Andy died a few years back, a great loss. He was a superb blues guitarist and a luthier, very firm but very fair in the way he ran his jams, and totally supportive of newbies like me. I owe him a lot. If you turned up and signed in, you would get to play. He didn't play favourites, but he was very good at selecting which combination of players to put on stage together - a great skill if you're going to run a jam session!

There's nothing wrong with yet another 35-minute version of Little Wing ...

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1441369727' post='2858340'] My Rounds are pretty unbearable from about 6 weeks on... [/quote] Have you tried washing your hands occasionally?

I prefer to think of it as "dynamics" ...

Some of the pros who have been regulars at the jam sessions I used to do (e.g. Sam Kelly, Chester Kamen) were not only superb in any setting but also hugely supportive to the newbies. Playing bass alongside Sam on drums remains the living proof (to me) that any really good drummer can make a mediocre bass player sound great.

Don't go there.

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1441361280' post='2858221'] Place i go there is one guitarist who describes himself as "good on a bad day and f&&@ing awesome on a good day" ... [/quote] This is why the word "delusional" exists.

[quote name='Mr Arkadin' timestamp='1441358068' post='2858175'] I'll probably need a small mixer ... [/quote] Jam Organiser: "[i]OK Mr. Arkadin, you're next up[/i]." Mr. Arkadin: "[i]Great. I have a bass, two pedals and my own mixer, all of which will need to be plugged through whatever PA you're using tonight, and I'll need a spare 13A socket to plug this 4-way extension into[/i]." Jam Organiser: "[i]Next bass player please[/i]." If nothing else, I admire your ambition. [quote name='Mr Arkadin' timestamp='1441358068' post='2858175'] I would try and be first on so that I could already have the pedals on stage. [/quote] I think you'll find that the house band are first on ... Seriously, if you want to go this route then you need to square it [i][b]in advance[/b][/i] with the jam organiser. Go along the first time with just your bass, join in, have fun, buy him a beer and ask if you can do something a bit special next time. Chances are he'll be perfectly happy about it, so long as he knows about it [i][b]in advance[/b][/i].

http://youtu.be/wiMk-Ybc2hI

[quote name='SmoothHoundChris' timestamp='1441314732' post='2857941'] Says the man who [i]deliberately[/i] lets his batteries run out [i]during[/i] a gig? [/quote] Living life at the ragged edge since ... erm ... [size=2]mumble mumble mumble[/size].

[quote name='Mr Arkadin' timestamp='1441350481' post='2858087'] ... as I'd like to use my Taurus 3 bass pedals and RC-300 looper for some fun. [/quote] It's all good, but do be aware that few open mic sessions will be keen to grind to a halt for 20 minutes while you set up your toys! The ideal jammer walks on stage as soon as his name is called, his bass already tuned, plugs the lead into his bass and starts playing. I've seen any number of guitarists infuriate the entire room by spending ages kneeling down, plugging and re-plugging various pedals, looking for power supplies, asking if the PA has a parallel output busbar with its own aux and slider, and does anyone have a spare patch cable? Damn! Forgot to bring the tuner.

Flats, time to move to the dark side and abandon your foolish round wound notions ...

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1441298303' post='2857739'] Correct. If you play a "wrong" note it's called "an approach note". They're used a lot in walking. "Any [i]wrong [/i]note is only a half-tone away from a [i]right [/i]note" - Victor Wooten [/quote] This. Absolutely this.