Happy Jack

A number of pubs I play in have instruments hanging on the wall, usually a Strat and a P-bass, maybe an old trumpet, etc. They're not there to be played, it's more "look, look, this is a music pub". I can't be the only person who checks to see if any of them are actually cool and valuable vintage instruments that have been hanging there since before they were cool and valuable ...

[size=4][i][color=#000000][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"This bass was purchased for collectors purpose only."[/font][/color][/i] [color=#000000][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If he bought it for £1800 in 2004 and manages to sell it 10 years later for £5000, then he might as well have purchased it for investment purposes only.[/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Remind me, what is a collector's purpose?[/font][/color][/size]

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1389552652' post='2335467'] ad200b snagged on ebay for a pretty penny, should arrive tuesday when I conveniently have the day off [/quote] [url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/70kg-folding-trolley-n48jq"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/70kg-folding-trolley-n48jq[/url]

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1389555750' post='2335518'] There hasn't been a bass bash in the East Midlands since I've been a member :-( [/quote] [Blindingly Obvious] So organise one. [/Blindingly Obvious]

No problem. It's the other way around that's a problem, i.e. running an 8-Ohm head into a 4-Ohm cab. Running a 4-Ohm head into an 8-Ohm cab simply means that your head won't be putting out all the power it's capable of. If (like me) you're fond of headroom, you won't even notice.

Actually quite surprised at how many regulars have met only a few other Basschatters face to face. You're missing out, guys. I must have met at least 50 other regulars here, plenty of them on many occasions, and it has always, without exception, been a complete pleasure. If you have access to some sort of rehearsal space, you could do a lot worse than to PM half a dozen who are local to you and invite them round for a mini-BassBash.

Hagstrom were making a well-regarded 8-string back in the late 60s.

[quote name='bengreen49' timestamp='1389352920' post='2333106'] I can't imagine I'd ever have the balls to get up in front of a crowd. [/quote] You don't start by playing the O2. You don't even start by playing the Dog & Duck. You start by playing a simple 12-bar blues at a jam session where nobody is even vaguely interested in your technique. Little steps. Lots of little steps.

[url="http://www.gumtree.com/search?q=bass+player&search_location=london&category=all"]http://www.gumtree.com/search?q=bass+player&search_location=london&category=all[/url] Nothing to do with me, and too far outside my comfort zone to put myself forward, but that's not bad money for a Thursday night in Central London ...

That looks quite cunning. I'll see if they do a non-Apple version for normal people ...

http://www.gumtree.com/p/community/female-double-bass-players-sought-for-photography-and-interview/1044165568

I've not tried AT and perhaps I should, but if you'll forgive a slightly OT diversion I've learned a lot from Pilates over the last 18 months. Playing any bass, but especially DB, involves twisting things - left shoulder and left forearm in particular - in ways unplanned by Mother Nature. Many of the exercises I now do are designed to ease things before I play, and then to undo some of the damage afterwards.

Intrigued at the notion of using 2 x CR2032 batteries. Wonder how long they'll last?

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1389101163' post='2329867'] I wasn't concerned with melodic instruments; more the percussive side. Although there is a whole art form to certain oriental rhythms, passed from generation to generation by vocalism, modern drumming lends itself poorly to this, ime. [/quote] You just walk round the park (in French, that's [i]parc[/i]) going "Doof, tish, da-doof doof tish, [i][b]boom [/b][/i]shagga-lagga-lagga [i][b]boom [/b][/i]shagga-lagga-lagga [i][b]boom [/b][/i]shagga-lagga-lagga [b]BOOM[/b]". Or whatever.

There's no point in jumping to conclusions slowly ...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389093371' post='2329712'] When I see covers bands who deviate from the 'originals' I just think that they haven't put the work in and am generally disappointed. I know some bands like to imagine they are being 'creative' by doing their own 'versions' - but my view is that if you want to do that then why not write your own bloody songs and have hits with them yourself?? [/quote] This. Absolutely this. It's not just[i] Alright Now[/i] and [i]Money [/i]... there are so many songs where a particular bass lick or riff is somehow key to the overall feel of the song. Get it right, or play a song that you [u][b]can [/b][/u]get right. Don't screw it up and then claim that it was "your interpretation".

[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1389091012' post='2329683'] ... but from where I was standing (to the side of the cab and not in front so less than ideal) it was awfully woolly too and lacked definition on any individual notes I was playing. [/quote] Well boy howdy, that ain't right. The whole point of these rigs is that they fill the place with bass, and you should be able to hear yourself pretty much anywhere. As to "woolly" and "lacking definition" that sounds like a duff head to me. My Matamp is right at the other end of the spectrum from those descriptions.

Don't get obsessed with playing exactly the original bassline. In many cases it will be entirely appropriate to play a precise note-for-note reproduction, but there will also be plenty of cases where it does NOT make sense. I don't try to replicate the original bassline to [i]Don't Be Cruel[/i] (Elvis Presley) because my band has no piano. The bassline I play is a synthesis of Bill Black's double bass and the pianist's left hand. The bassline to[i] Play That Funky Music[/i] (Wild Cherry) is anything but funky, in fact it's crap. So I play a funky bassline which actually works better than the original (in my ever-so-humble opinion ) but I play the original bassline under the guitar solo just to show that I do actually know it. Etc. etc. etc.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1389084481' post='2329608'] A very specific instrument ... [/quote] Oh well, so long as you're not just buying one at random then ... ps: Really sorry about Theo BTW.

You're not really going to buy a DB from the States are you?

You gave up the chance to have your own performance poet?

There may be a reason why he has never seen another one like this ...

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Transit-left-hand-drive-/131071871830?pt=UK_Commercial_Trucks&hash=item1e847e0b56"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Transit-left-hand-drive-/131071871830?pt=UK_Commercial_Trucks&hash=item1e847e0b56[/url] "[color=#000000]This lovely Ford Transit is 1994 years old."[/color]