TrevorR

Nothing but "Show Don't Tell" from Rush's Presto album is lodged firmly in my brain for some reason...

You might want to check out Bassjaymi's YouTube channel. He's a real Jaydee fan and has a number of different models among his bass review videos. https://www.youtube.com/user/bassjaymi Never had one myself but I suspect that the strong Mark King connections explains why you see so many folks just demoing them as slap basses. This video suggests they may have more tone in them than just thwackety-ploing thwackety-pling! http://youtu.be/oWB-QHIp4MA

Had one on a Squier project bass years ago and loved it. Keep thinking about getting one fitted to my Wal but have never quite got round to it. If I ever get my Frankenjazz back from the chum I loaned it to it will be having one added forthwith. Once you'd got new strings settled in the d-tuning worked like a dream.

These discussions do make me chuckle when they come up. My first amp was a 75W Laney Linebacker 1x15 combo. "As much as you'll ever need for a good few years and will see you right when you are playing in bands." said the guy in the shop (who was a mate of my brothers and in his band so we pretty much trusted his advice. And so it did, struggling manfully against drummers and guitarists. A few years later I upgraded to a 200w TE 1215 combo when they first came out. Didn't go for the 80 or 150w combos as they had the 7 band graphic and (for no good reason other than wanting it) I wanted the 12 band... More watts than I could ever dream of needing and, sure enough for 20 something years it worked on all sorts stages and settings and I don't think I ever had the volume past 50%. Back then 200w was more than anyone ever needed in real life and beyond the dreams of headroom. 500w amps were for people who played the local Enormodome and had roadies, and artic lorries... OK I never played death metal but played with a few loud drummers. The guitar player in Threshold even borrowed it off me for a couple of side project gigs where he was playing bass. All agreed, great sounding amp and more than you would ever realistically need. Reading all these threads about how I couldn't possibly play the Dog n Scratchett without a 500w rig at least does make me smile about the good old days. Sometimes I wonder how come the design and efficiency of bass gear has gone so badly backward over the last 20 or so years that 200w is barely considered a practice amp these days. ;-) Today I have a 500w amp - coz I liked the sounds the look not for a volume upgrade - (TE RIP) and it barely goes over about 30%! Always set up an amp in the same way. Play as hard as you will ever play in a gig. Input gain up until clipping just starts. Back off a smidgen. Master volume to taste. Sorted. Funny how times and attitudes change over time. 200w used to be a truly aspirational spec. Mind you, there will be some around here who remember when 17 and 30w were truly aspirational and more than anyone could ever realistically need! #oldfogeyme

[quote name='Lo-E' timestamp='1447115250' post='2905076'] Her condition was undoubtedly a contributing factor to her behavior. Perhaps, had she been sober, she might have been more apologetic. It's a sad reality that, as entertainers, we often owe repeat bookings to the same sloppy drunks who trip over our gear from time to time. While she was wrecking your PA, some other, equally soused person may have been slurring to the person who booked you "These guys are amazing!" Happy drunks can get us a lot of work. I think your handling of the situation was the right approach. It's all just part of the game. [/quote] This... We once did a wedding gig in a little village in Oxfordshire and ended up getting 4 other paying gigs on the basis of the mother of the bride and some guests gushing to friends about both the band and our lovely friendly attitude. That kind of good vibe can be undercut so easily with a few unthinking words.

I'll say this. By the 1:45 mark I wanted to weld shut his hi hat! PS not a euphemism

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1446824344' post='2902700'] I quite like it... [/quote] Me too. It looks pretty cool!

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1446749183' post='2902076'] I am certain someone said this before me but "don't meet your heroes" you will be disappointed on most occasions, I asked a cousin of mine who was the most disappointing person she ever interviewed, she said Billy Joe from Greenday, she had always been a huge fan but he sat through the interview and behaved like a sullen 4 year old throughout! [/quote] I think I've been really lucky over the years. I've met and/or interviewed quite a few of my musical heroes/artists I've enjoyed or admired over the years and all have been really nice and decent. For the benefit of others I'm happy to do whatever the opposite of naming and shaming... Phil Lynott, Gordon Giltrap, The Indigo Girls, Moyà Brennan from Clannad, Herbie Flowers, Nanci Griffith, Abigail Washburn and the other girls from Uncle Earl, John G Perry (of Caravan and Quantum Jump), Ian Bairnson (Pilot, Kate Bush, Alan Parsons), Steve Lawson, Shelly Poole (Alisha's Attic) and her hubby Ally Mcerlaine (Texas)... All top people when I met them... Counting myself blessed, I guess!

Agree with most of the above comments. Two more picky ones... Viewing on a tablet the band title spills onto two lines - if deliberate then it seems to me to leave too much space above the band photo and looks unbalanced. So one to think about. If unintentional you need to reduce the font size slightly and check it out on a laptop, a phone and a tablet. Secondly, on my iPad only the top half of the hit counter shows - like it's been sliced in half.again, need to check the formatting on several media. Other than that it's a solid little site and seems to hit the right buttons. .

[quote name='Callumjord' timestamp='1446125263' post='2897098'] Maybe I should have read this comment before posting! Haha [/quote] I'm just putting it down to "great minds think alike"

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1446051692' post='2896544'] You should also check out the 3@1 pedal by Lehle - there's a clue in the name. Really good silent switching and two of the channels have trim knobs which allow you balance the (up to) three basses against each other and has two separate outputs should you want/need them. Used one of these for years when I was playing in covers bands with disparate basses of different output... Not cheap but brilliant and bomb proof [/quote] Oh yes, and for the keys set up... All signal paths are mono/stereo if needs be...

You should also check out the [email="3@1"]3@1[/email] pedal by Lehle - there's a clue in the name. Really good silent switching and two of the channels have trim knobs which allow you balance the (up to) three basses against each other and has two separate outputs should you want/need them. Used one of these for years when I was playing in covers bands with disparate basses of different output... Not cheap but brilliant and bomb proof. [url="http://lehle.com/EN/Lehle-3at1-SGoS"]http://lehle.com/EN/Lehle-3at1-SGoS[/url]

My pedal board is much more modest than yours will be in terms of number of pedals. However, it was really helpful to plan out the detailed layout in advance. I had decided I was going to go for a Pedaltrain board and TRex power supply so I looked at the sizes available and laid out the pedals on the carpet including dummy wiring. That gave me a couple of different options on dimensions and layouts which I photographed on my iPad. It gave me the change to properly think through the ergonomics before I pulled the trigger on the board and ordered the patch cables.

[quote name='funkydamo' timestamp='1445640578' post='2893127'] Thanks guys. I have decided that lightweight is the way to go. Markbass looks to be the likely choice but I'm not 100% decided. Should I stick with my idea of a 15 and a 2x10? Does the little mark 2 do the job... [/quote] Works for me on both PA and back line only gigs... And the LM2 + 2x10 works for rehearsals and coffee bar gigs... As it goes, I played through a TE 200W 1x15 combo for years. When it died I got an Ashdown rig and just could not get on with it (despite loving my chum's old UK built Ashdown) so switched to MB. Couldn't be happier with the sound.

Apologies for the thread resurrection but I happened across this one and thought I would share the cringiest audition I ever had. About 10 or so years ago I decided to get back into gigging after a few years off. Did a couple of auditions which went OK but by the end of the session I'd pretty much decided the respective bands weren't for me. Then I saw a card in a local guitar shop looking for a bassist in a new-country covers band. Phoned the guy up and he said that their regular player had been whinging for a while about wanting to take his playing more seriously and do some proper session playing up in town and the band was getting in the way of getting proper gigs with pros. So on that basis he'd decided that he was leaving the band. I thought, fair enough and got the names and keys of a few songs to learn for the rehearsal the following week. It was mostly stuff I had on CD and pretty straightforward to get on top of. Anyway, on the following Tuesday I set up at the local scout hut and was introduced to the rest of the band. We ran through a few songs and I did a bit of backing vocals with the two girl vocalists and all was going swimmingly. I really liked all the guys and we were all getting on like a house on fire. Anyway, after about 40 minutes this figure appears at the door lugging a bass amp and a Fender MM bass and freezes, looking at me. The band all did a double take, looked at him, looked at me and then looked at the bandleader. There was a quick huddle next to the door after which the bass player set up his amp at the opposite side of the room while shooting me daggers... We broke for a cuppa while more conflabbing happened and the bandleader's wife calmed down the stroppy looking bassist while I chatted to the drummer and other singer. It was at that point I recognised the guy. About three months before I'd seen him playing for a girl singer at a songwriter event a friend ran up in Shepherds Bush. I recalled that both he and her had been right unpleasant, sour and stroppy t*ts to all and sundry that night - organisers, crew and other acts. I decided that discretion should be the better part of valour and volunteered to pack up and toddle off, much to protest from the drummer, keyboard player and other backing vocalist. The poor bandleader just looked really embarrassed. He phoned me the next day and invited me round to his place for a chat, to explain and to apologise. Turned out that at the last time the bassist had thrown his toys out of the prom and threatened to storm off the entire band had taken him seriously and thought he'd actually left the band. So it was a bit of a shock to them when he turned up and they learned that he'd not actually meant it. The bandleader felt that he sort of owed it to the guy and so had accepted his apology. As it was he offered (as a consolation I guess, or maybe as an insurance over the guy's next strop) me a place playing rhythm acoustic with the band. Unsurprisingly I felt that might be a tad awkward and respectfully declined...

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1445892316' post='2895173'] Lush -Ladykillers [/quote] Ha! Great minds...

Check out the band Lush on Spotify... Some great tunes like Ladykillers and Single Girl

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1445681832' post='2893331'] I...to be honest, now that I've got to grips with the pre-amp (I simply never took the time to do so in the past), it's pretty clear that there are very few sounds an active twin-PUP Wal can't do. As I've never played a fretted Wal however, I'm extremely excited! [/quote] Are you on Facebook? There's a good pinned post on the Wal Group where folks have shared some of their fave settings to try out... https://www.facebook.com/groups/2413094311/ That wenge when fretted will be a punchy beast of a bass!

Gary, impressed that you were brave enough to relic it yourself.

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1445582816' post='2892483'] I've since found Alan Spenner played on all but three tracks on Avalon and him and the Wal bass is quoted as being partially responsible for the sound of Roxy in that era. Jealous Guy was a single and it sounds like Spenner on Wal on it. [/quote] Roxy Music had a lot of Wal players through its ranks. John Gustafson played all the bass on Siren (incl Love Is The Drug) on a custom built bass that Ian built for him in pre-Wal days. Spenner, of course, though most of the YouTube vids I've found of him with Roxy have him playing a fretless P bass (maybe he didn't want to expose it to the rigors of regular touring), Gary Tibbs got a JG while he was in Roxy...

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1445547658' post='2892398'] Loads more info here if you're interested... [url="http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk"]http://walbasshistory.blogspot.co.uk[/url] They came in a floral finish too... ;-) [/quote] [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1445581780' post='2892472'] Have you ever player one Trevor? or know anyone who has one? [/quote] I've sadly never played one myself. However, I know 4 people who have had them pass through their hands. Nik, of course. Then a guy called Chris Franklin who helped Pete sell Jethro Tull's John Glascock's for his widow. Then there is the current owner of the above - John Entwistle's bass - a lovely, lovely guy from Arizona called Mike Gutierrez who is a bass fan but also an expert memorabilia appraiser in the States. He also had a refinished JG which was beat up and in a horrible state until restored and resprayed in a blue burst. He passed that on to "Bassman Jaymi" (if you know his review vids0, who passed it on soon after. Not sure where it is now. I'd love to have the chance to play one, I'd love the chance to own one - well maybe the former will happen one day... I'm absolutely sure the latter wont! :-) There's very little documentation on them but I'm pretty sure that the switches are series/parallel switches like on the passive Pro basses. Don't know how the leather would age but it's a pretty robust material and if a bass is stored it'll be away from light and airborne oxidants it would be pretty well protected. If it was in constant use I would guess that the natural skin oils and regular cleaning agents if would come into contact with would act to preserve it... No idea. Talking off the top of my head. I know that John Gustafson used his two Pro basses pretty much exclusively up until he died. So they must have been robust enough if properly looked after.

Definitely Rodders not Rog. Always liked this Rodney Matthews album cover... Nice bit of twin guitar NWOBHM from Praying Mantis

Yeah, not read The Talent Code but it sounds like a very similar premise to Malcolm Gladwell's eminently readable "Outliers" which promotes the 1000 hours theory. It uses the Beatles training in Hamburg and an example... The book does cite psychological research but digests it nicely in a pop psych manner. It's a few years old now so I guess that the neuroscience in this area has come along quite some way since then. The myelin production tie-in is an interesting twist as a physiological basis for the improvement gained from practice...

[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1445519335' post='2892085'] Beautiful artwork - it was stuff like this that first got me into music. As a little kid of around 6-7 years old I took to collecting prog-rock vinyls not because I had a clue about the music but rather because the art in the album covers just seemed amazing. In addition the YES albums the others that really stand out in my memory are On the Threshold of a Dream by The Moody Blues and TARCUS by ELP. Amazing artwork and a great conduit into the music, at least for me. [/quote] Yup, my wall at university... DSotM prism poster on one wall, Yes Drama cover poster on the other...

Oooh, what's the wood on the Mk1? Cherry?