Happy Jack

I run my GT120 through a 69er. The word you seek is "righteous".

Dood knew there was something wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it ... [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Sundry/Valve_zps329a2c58.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Just%20Stuff/Sundry/Valve_zps329a2c58.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

As always, tell us more ... What venues do you play? What sort of band is it? How loud do you like to be? Do you expect to have PA support?

If you were putting it on eBay, then I'd guess that it would be a prototype, or possibly a rare transitional version ...

Bought one of Neil's pedals. He kept me properly informed as to posting etc. and it arrived very securely packaged and working fine. No worries.

Partly driven by idle curiosity, but also by my experiences over the last 10 years. And this is multiple choice, i.e. you can tick more than one box if you want.

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1423577035' post='2686526'] I would try and get your sets up to 2 hours total if possible. Anything less is a bit risky. Even if you tell the landlord you can only do 2 x 45 he will quickly forget when he tells you on the night to play from 9pm till 12am [/quote] [quote name='lojo' timestamp='1423581846' post='2686598'] 2x45 should be ok, don't play too much fillers that aren't up to your best standard [/quote] Sorry Lojo, I'm with Bonzodog on this one. JTUK is also spot on with the 'bring a crowd' bit, which begs the question ... can you? And not just for the very firstest gig ever, but also for repeat gigs? Never oversell yourself to a pub; they have long memories. Be as straight as you can, and when some pubs then shaft you don't react. On the charging thing, never perform for nowt if it's at all avoidable (or if it's liderally for charidee), but don't expect to start at £250 a night. Offer a LL a package of three gigs, charging (say) £50 for the first, £150 for the second, and then £250 for the third and following gigs. You can tell him that, if you're crap at the first gig, he'll just cancel the remainder anyway. And no, I'm not trying to be funny.

http://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/Student-4-4-Full-Size-Double-Bass-by-Gear4music/1O5 Yup, why pay £500 for a brand new one when you could pay £600 for a broken, second-hand one?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1423517998' post='2685909'] Well I think it does no harm to get out there regardless. You might embarrass yourself but nobody's going to die and it is by far the quickest way to improve. Isn't that what punk was all about? Anyone can pick up an instrument and have a go? [/quote] And that's how we got Sid Vicious!

[quote name='Froggy' timestamp='1423429191' post='2684701'] Thanks for all the replies guys, I guess I'm about to embark on a search for a band. I'll have to learn how to go about that now too Unfortunately jam/open mic nights are out for me, they all seem to be midweek and as I said before, my job keeps me away. [/quote] I may have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, but I got the impression that you're a long-distance driver? In that case, your job may keep you away from any regular jams near home, but it takes you close to loads of regular jams in other places. The internet is your friend. At many/most jams, you don't even necessarily have to bring a bass. It's pretty much the tradition that the house band will lend an instrument to anyone who needs it. Incidentally, I started playing nine years ago, which is recent enough that I can remember the timescales.[list] [*]3 months in, starting to jam with CDs designed for the novice bass player to play along with [*]6 months in, starting to jam with individual guitarists, most at the same stage of development as me [*]8 months in, attending a local jam session and just starting to get up [*]11 months in, joined my first band [*]16 months in, played my first gig in front of a genuine audience [/list]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1423501806' post='2685598'] Well, that certainly beats hanging about outside an infants school trying to befriend a young stranger. [/quote] With a ball end.

Fair play to the seller though. There's nothing wrong about that description that I can see.

[quote name='Japhet' timestamp='1423405024' post='2684371'] Although the sound is usually great on the big stages it always seems a bit impersonal and a bit lonely being 15 ft away from the nearest person. [/quote] I've played plenty of pub gigs where it felt like I was 15 ft away from the nearest person ...

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1423501133' post='2685584'] Can I say lots of Led Zeppelin: The best plagiarism videos on youtube have had all the audio removed for copyright infringements... kinda ironic really... [/quote] Hmmmm ... a lot of these are more-or-less straight covers. Even they went uncredited on the original albums (I haven't checked whether that was the case) I'm not sure that counts as "Songs that sound like other songs". They are, after all, the same song. In fact, one could almost argue that The Song Remains The Same.

The one that usually gets a mention (quite reasonably IMHO) is this: http://youtu.be/Sb5aq5HcS1A http://youtu.be/L5pHM-o2_Dk

Has anyone mentioned My Sweet Lord?

Mind you, sometimes brand snobbery does make sense ... [URL=http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Sundry/MyOtherLife.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/h4ppyjack/Just%20Stuff/Sundry/MyOtherLife.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Yup, you definitely need a volunteer with very small hands.

Still waiting for the stupid bit ... What you've said there is spot on, you're using your amp (partly) as a DI box. If that's working for you then you're sorted. Having a separate DI box can be used in loads of ways and with loads of applications, but that doesn't mean you need to dash out and buy one.

My 3-year-old memory is that the reason I sold my Tonebone was that it was purely a "tone shaper", something they don't exactly make a secret of so it was my failure that I didn't think that through. It couldn't be used to add any significant boost, still less any drive, and at that time I felt I needed those options. Like all Radial kit, the Tonebone is absolutely superb and I'm certainly not criticising it. Just make sure that it actually does what you need it to.

Generic were a good band back in the day. Always liked a bit of prog.

The Chinese-made Hofners have a "central sustain block", i.e. a lump of wood down the middle to make them cheaper & easier to build. That alters the tone of course, but from a playing point of view it means that the bass weighs about 2lbs more (which still makes it lightweight of course, but is a 30% increase) and the balance is very different. If you normally play a Precision or a Warwick, and you just want a Hofner for occasional messing-about, then there's really no good reason to go German-made. If you're seriously into the Hofner vibe and this is going to be a front-line bass for you, then the extra is probably worth spending.

[quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1423235801' post='2682608'] 6. The energy lost into the fretting finger is gone for good, whilst that going into the nut/fret travels down the neck and sets the body resonating. I always say that when bass shopping, play it unplugged. A bass that sounds great unplugged can always be made to sound great plugged in with the right pickups. A bass that sounds mediocre unplugged will never sound better than mediocre plugged in, whatever you do. It is an acoustic instrument first - just a very quiet one! [/quote] On your point 6, Alex, I once bought a lovely vintage Precision but whenever I played it there was the most Godawful droning buzz coming from somewhere up the neck. It sounded to me like a major problem with the trussrod and I was not a happy bunny. I took the bass to my regular guy and he laughed and put a dab of superglue on one of the elephant ears where it met the shaft of the tuner. That was all it was, a loose tuner. BUT it got through to me how much of the vibration travels UP the neck and how much the headstock vibrates. On your 'play acoustically before you buy' point, I haven't done this enough (too many bought through eBay or Basschat) but when I [i][b]have [/b][/i]done it I've certainly noticed what you're talking about.

Steve, I know this isn't what you asked but I've read your post several times and I'm not convinced that Multi-FX is the way to go. Bin there, dun that, sold it. In an effort to make their product stand out from the herd, each manufacturer loads their Multi-FX unit with a staggering range of knobs, dials, functions, parameters, etc. and - like most people you only actually need a couple of effects in a whole gig. It's overkill. I'd suggest you try and find a Pedaltrain Nano and mount on it a decent pedal tuner, an octaver pedal, and a simple synth pedal or maybe envelope filter. Bought new, those four items will cost a fair bit more than a Multi-FX unit ... so don't buy new! The marketplace on Basschat routinely has half a dozen people having a ***HUGE PEDAL CLEAR-OUT !!! *** so you shouldn't struggle to find what you need. That will give you a small, light, modular, and above all [i][b]targeted [/b][/i]pedal board which does exactly what you need, no more and no less. Being modular, if you later decide that you really need a chorus pedal rather than a synth, or you're desperate to try out a different Octaver, then you can re-configure as you please. Good luck.