Greg Edwards69

IME the biggest technique factor in bringing out the mwah, (or restricting it in this case) is how you press the strings down on the finger board. Using the pad of the fingers brings out the mwah more than finger tips.

I accidentally trod on and pulled out my lead at rehearsal last week. We’ve been learning a raft of new songs so we’ve been concentrating on our own parts more than listening exclusively to everyone else. One of my band mates said it wasn’t until I accidentally unplugged my bass and plugged it back in that he really started to pay attention to what I was playing and how well it slotted into the mix.

Gaffa tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side and binds the universe together.

Sounds like your keyboardist need an hpf. On of my guitarists doubles on keys. Both his keyboard and helix for his guitar go into his Yamaha DXR10 frfr speaker on stage and then a mix out to FOH. Cruicially, he engages the hpf on the DXR10 and it's low cut again on the FOH mixer. I have no problems being hear down the low end.

the only thing I've seen that comes even close to this is the guitar to short-scale bass conversion necks by Retovibe. But these are for converting strats and teles etc to shortscale basses, not for long scale to short scale bass.

Awesome. I completely forgot about that feature. It does use up an effect block though. I kind of wish I had kept one of mine now (I had two of them). It would make a great backup if my helix ever failed.

IIRC I don't believe the MS60b is capable of doing what you want. You can either use it in stompbox mode, where you can only switch the displayed effect on/off, or in preset mode, where the footswitch will scroll up through a specified list of presets. The only way I can think of to do what you want it to have duplicate presets with the same effects, one with the specific effect engaged and one without them engaged and switch between them in preset mode. I used to do a similar thing when I had mine and cycle through them. Having duplicates of my main, clean patch between each effected patch work like an on/off. For example A - main patch B - duplicate main patch + chorus C - duplicate main patch D - duplicate main patch + drive Otherwise, an upgrade my be in order. I believer the B3n and new B6 have the same effect and are more geared up for switching mutiple effect on and off within a patch. Or if you want to get your hands dirty, I believe some enterprising users manage to work out a way to use and external usb midi swticher to give more control over the MS60b.

Just to experiment, I dialled the Stadium Stack settings into the SVT4 Pro model on my Helix. Whilst I usually go for a more neutral eq on amps, paired with a judicious low cut* this sounded fantastic through headphones so far - a lot cleaner than the Origin pedal, but still had that big ballsy, plummy girth you expect from an ampeg amp with a little top end sizzle. I was expecting it to be way too bassy and scooped for my taste but it sat in a mix very nicely whilst I jammed along to some familiar tunes. I need to test it at gig volume at this weekends rehearsal, but I think with a little tweak here and there, particularly the mid range, this may well become my new default patch. *I've been an advocate of hpf for bass guitar for some time to clean up extraneous low end flub. But this is making me rethink my approach. A judicious low cut with a shelf boost at the same frequency appears to get the low end punch I've been looking for without getting mucky.

Being a bassist who is now 60 years old, Martin Kemp could have stood in.

I just kept thinking of Vic Reeves singing "in the club style" on Shooting Stars. That said, I think they all did a great job and it would have been less entertaining and risky if they were all stellar musicians. I take my hat of to them all. I hope I still have that energy and passion for playing and performing when I'm in my seventies.

It’s not just at the cheap end of the market that this trend is happening though. american ultra series 4 string jazz. 4 colours and maple board https://www.fender.com/en-GB/electric-basses/jazz-bass/american-ultra-jazz-bass/0199022790.html american ultra series 5 string jazz. 3 colours (only 2 of which are the same as the 4 string) and rosewood board. https://www.fender.com/en-GB/electric-basses/jazz-bass/american-ultra-jazz-bass-v/0199030712.html

It's not just me then! In the case of the Charvel's I mentioned, I'd much rather have a 4 string in the deep red or racing green the 5 string JJ comes in rather than the lurid lime green or blue. I have to say, I also prefer maple fretboards these days, which limits one's choice even further. When I bought my G&L Tribute JB-2, they offered 4 finished, but only 2 with maple and the other 2 with rosewood - luckily I like the sunburst option. It would be great if manufacturers offered an online or in store configurator of stock parts to make your own, even on the cheaper lines. I'm sure many people would pay a small premium for the facility.

That book sounds good. Jeff is certainly a very vocal advocate of bass education (that gets him into deep water sometimes). My sight reading used to be very good, with treble clef, which I used to play the clarinet and keyboards. These days, not so much. I bought an electric piano last year with the intent of improving my sight reading and keyboard skills again. I think my reading was worse than my playing as I haven't done so for around 25 years since I started playing bass guitar as my primary instrument. I did get a couple of cello books a number of years ago with the intent of improving bass clef reading, but they quickly ended up on a shelf. I really ought to get back into it properly.

The owners manuals are now available, for this who are interested in such things, like I am. https://www.boss.info/global/products/katana-210_bass/support/

I'm not sure if this is a new thing or whether I've simply not noticed it before. But lately, I've noticed there's a trend for offering different finishes depending on the number of strings. For example, on Squier's new contemporary range, the 4 string jazz comes in either Sky Burst Metallic and Shoreline Gold, whilst the 5 string comes in Gunmetal Metallic. https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/squier_expands_contemporary_series_with_two_new_guitars_and_four_new_bass_models.html I saw a similar thing recently when Charvel, released the San Dimas basses. They go a step further and change the finish depending on the pickups too. PJIV black, white, lime green or blue. PJV black or white JJV red or dark green. https://www.charvel.com/gear/shape/san-dimas-bass Like I say, it may be something I've never noticed, and there's likely a financial reason for it. But I'm sure it could be source of frustration where finish options are limited to the number of strings, and vice versa.

I refer thee to the Rt Hon Alex Claber - it would appear that it's the power supply that make the most difference.

There's nearly a joke there.

And just a top handle too, it would seem. That's quite a lot of weight to carry in one hand.

With this and the new Postive Grid Spark Mini there's certainly some great practice amp options to be had. If the Katana has a pitch shifter, I'll be very, very interested. It'll save me having to set my helix up just practice a couple of tunes with dropped tuning. If it has a completely flat "FRFR" mode, then even better.

Thank the audience and venue, and ask people to visit your social media channels or website. It feels a bit tacky to do so, but many venues are booking bands based on their following. Plus a bit of free video footage is always nice. Carry business cards, and maybe get a popup banner made with links to your website. Set up a shared band calendar and make sure everyone uses it to mark their availability. It's a lot easier to respond to booking requests. Oh, and don't eat pie and chips, or a curry before the gig.

Lately it’s wearing a back support belt when I’m setting up and packing up. First gig coming out of lockdown after months of working from home, not gigging and sedentary lifestyle majorly messed my back up for a few week after, more-so as it was one of those ones up a large flight of fire escape stairs and we were a couple of people down (inc soundman) which meant more gear humping. look after your health folks.

"What's your best price" is also a pet peeve, regardless of whether I've said "offers accepted" or not. It's as if haggling is a dying art form. The best price is the one I advertised it at. If you want to make an offer, then make one. Don't expect me to make an offer against myself for you.

My common one tend to be. "Will you take £xxx (low ball offer) because I need to get the train from London to collect it?" No, becuase I am not compensating for your travel expenses. "Will you take £xxx (low ball offer) if I collect it today?" No, you're not doing me a favour by paying me less when I'm in no rush to sell.

I've done the same thing as well. I was over zealous with a trussrod that was seemingly made out of butter. Ruined the neck. I was able to track down a replacement and was as good as new. A neck through or even set neck would have been far more expensive to fix.

Yamaha came up with variation on this for the Attitude basses. Mr Sheehan certainly doesn't seem to have issues reaching the high notes. That said, personally, I don't find heel construction to be the main hinderance to upper fret access. It's the low cutout that usually determines how high I can play comfortably.