Happy Jack

So putting big arrows on the scratchplate in indelible felt-tip pen is just me then?

[quote name='AndyBass' timestamp='1421179211' post='2658175'] Don't use a Fishman as they're single channel (to my knowledge) ... [/quote] I don't follow ... why would you have a multi-channel pre-amp?

Mmmmmmmmm ... intonation.

I don't watch daytime TV. I suspect that my firm would sack me ...

[quote name='BigAlonBass' timestamp='1421144832' post='2657526'] Family will nearly always 'gang up' on an outsider. [/quote] Even worse is when each of them decides to gang up with someone else [i][b]against[/b][/i] another family member ...

How do you power it? You have three options (battery, DC, phantom) ... do you get the same problem regardless of power source?

This ^ That's a good call. If you like your current rig and all you're looking for is more volume, then get yourself a Fishman Platinum Pro or similar. Run an XLR to the PA for both signal and phantom power, and run a 1/4" jack from either the main output or from the parallel (uneffected) output, depending on whether you need different EQ for each of your amp and the PA. That will give you (in effect) unlimited headroom, PLUS it will project the sound of your bass to the back of the room far more effectively than simply buying a bigger amp.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1421077728' post='2656877'] Yes, or steadying his wizard's hat... [/quote] Nah! You want The Hobbit thread, mate. Go daaaaahn to that Off Topic and it's just there on yer left.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1421069291' post='2656736'] Not really been a problem with me, Although in a pub covers with no keys now, my real love would be to (retry) be in a prog band, and a prog band without keys isn't really working. I would say a keyboard player with a heavy left hand probably isn't that good, as the left hand should be doing something far different to what the bass is doing, and much more like the right hand is doing. [/quote] In a prog band, his left hand should be operating another synthesizer, or maybe pushing his cape out of the way ...

Incidentally, every time I think of Repertoire Musts I get a mental image of a bunch in black suits with silly names ...

Interesting to see that nobody else seems to do our closing numbers. We always finish with:[list] [*]Let's Dance [*]Whatever You Want [*]Spirit In The Sky [*]Get It On ... [i]segue [/i]into ... Only Rock'n'Roll (But I Like It) [/list] Of those five, the absolute banker (every time, every venue, every audience) is Spirit In The Sky, followed reasonably closely by Get It On.

+1 to that. The output from the Baby Bass is not particularly powerful, but run it through any preamp pedal (I've used Sansamp BDDI, Hartke VXL, MXR M81) or active DI box (I've used Fishman Platinum Pro, Radial Stage Bug) and you'll be fine. Just because it looks like an EUB doesn't mean you can't use normal electric bass pedals with it. ps: I've just noticed that, in the photo of me playing with KK at Proud Camden (above), I'm running through the Sansamp, and that's going straight to FOH with no backline at all. Unexpected extra bonus was that the band following us were a touring outfit of Australians travelling light - their bass player (Fender Jazz) was expecting to borrow someone else's backline and was a bit put out to find none there. So he borrowed my Sansamp and went through that instead. Happy as Larry, he was.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1421063659' post='2656640'] Thats a lot of time to prepare, how'd it go ? [/quote] First genuine LOL in the office for 2015 ...

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1421064548' post='2656659'] And on that basis, you're happy to label [i]all[/i] piano-based kbdists as 'NOT team players'? Okay then. [/quote] Colour me puzzled, Rich. Keyboardists are notorious for exactly this, and especially with regard to the left-hand thing. My experience is far less extensive than Mark's, and I've only played regularly with four KB players, but I have a 100% record of bloody irritating musicians (no matter how good they are technically) who will not play for the band or the song, but think that everything should revolve around them. On that basis, I'm certainly prepared to label a few of 'em ...

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1420978258' post='2655666'] Whiskey bottle No depression Satan your kingdom must fall down [/quote] Trying to tell us something, mate?

Hunt The Saddle? http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Fox-Hunt-The-Saddle-Club-Book-22-/271555055962

I was very slow to adapt to these 'touch' interfaces. In fact, my first few basses had keyboards ...

I don't remember this thread from first time around, but my first thought was to wonder why someone in Greece would buy a bass made in Bulgaria from a dealer in the USA. Has anyone looked at a map recently?

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1420646147' post='2651693'] What is this 'changing strings' thing of which you speak? [/quote] +1 Flats, dear boy, flats are the answer.

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1420792193' post='2653373'] Doesn't Shuker also run a 'build a bass' course? Not sure how comprehensive it is though. [/quote] This would be a great place to start. I think Jon runs a 3-day build-your-own-bass course which would not only give you a better idea of your abilities but also give you the chance to ask Jon's opinion. Which, I suspect, is worth having.

This one was apparently made in the toilet (you might want to give it a few minutes). http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Squizz-Fender-Jazz-Bass-Guitar-/201255396129?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2edbc1a321

I find that I use a very different technique with my Baby Bass. Rather than holding it close to me like my DB, I hold it upright, often nearly at arm's length, so that I am plucking with my right hand quite close to where it would be on a DB. I let the bass lean slightly forward, into my "fretting" fingers (you know what I mean), so that the weight of the bass supplies much of the pressure to hold the strings against the fingerboard. All this, plus the amplification, means that I don't need to either hold the neck so firmly or pluck so hard. I think of my Baby Bass as a cousin of my DB, not its brother. If I tried to play them both in the same way I'd hit the buffers pretty quickly. Incidentally, if you YouTube the Baby Bass (there are plenty of brands besides KK) you'll soon notice how differently the salsa players handle it.

"Shipping: Will ship to Guernsey." So that's alright then.

That's nonsense Mick. I was down the chip shop just the other day and ...

So much depends on the instruments in your band. The bassline I play for [i][b]Don't Be Cruel[/b][/i] bears little resemblance to that played by Bill Black ... in fact what I play is far harder (especially since I'm singing too). The reason is that my bassline has to make up for the absence of a piano in our line-up. Much/most of the "bassline" that people hear on that song is actually the pianist's left hand, so I have to introduce those notes that would otherwise be missing. If we're covering a number originally played by a line-up of two guitars, bass & drums then I'll try to replicate the original bassline. Otherwise, what matters is making it sound like the original, which may involve doing something quite different.