Ashweb

Well done and well played, thanks for posting the link.

Don't have Sky, or even a TV at present, but good luck! Let us all know how it went.

The current drawn by a device is worked out by the formula I=P/V where 'I' is the current (in Amps), 'P' is the power (in Watts) and 'V' is the voltage (in Volts). So in the case of the OP the amplifier is 250W at 240V which means it draws just over 1 Amp (250/240 = 1.04A) current. Depending on the inrush of the amp when it is first turned on, I would suggest either a 3A or 5A fuse would be adequate. These should do most equipment as you need to remember two things; one is the amp will probably already have a factory fitted on-board fuse to protect from any overcurrent due to an internal short circuit etc and the second is the fuse in the plug protects the cable and not the device as commonly thought. The cable will almost certainly be capable of handling up to 13A continuously so by using a better matched fuse, any surge on your electrical system will be cleared by the plug fuse long before the power cable starts to get stressed and potentially overheat. Hope this helps.

So far, the only video that has turned up is courtesy of my Dad who is not the greatest cameraman it has to be said, but the sound is OK if not great. I managed to wrestle the footage off him only this weekend and have stitched the clips he made together into one short 'montage'. The clips show the very start of Blockbuster, the end of Blockbuster and the start of Ballroom Blitz with a final short snatch of the improvised ending to Ballroom Blitz. FYI, the guy doing the Northern Soul routine on the dance floor is my Son bustin' his moves... 🙂 and I'm the really nervous looking fella on the right. Enjoy the chaos...

Thanks for all the kind words - much appreciated. I'm going to look into doing more things like this - maybe look up some local jams or open mic nights and even form a band and start to rehearse a few tracks - currently working in Bristol so should be a few around. Thinking back, I couldn't have made this much harder for myself if I'd tried and definitely learnt some good lessons from it; in fact, I even enjoyed the chaos of organising the event which almost became a full time job in itself. I'm sure you'll nail it SM. The reason I was on such a heavy repeat system of practice is advice I had from my tutor which was to not practice until you can get it right, but practice until you can't get it wrong. Massive repetition of the three tracks fuelled by the fear of failure really payed dividends when nerves basically shut me down at the start as I was able to go into auto pilot and not stand there like an idiot, and again when things went a bit off script I was able to find a way back as I knew the tracks so well. Having said that, I am enjoying the break from not playing those three tracks multiple times every night... 😎

Thanks for all the comments and the support - much appreciated; and you were all right - it did go by in a flash and I went from terrified to hooked within the first track. I got called up and was very nervous - the sound check took a little longer than we had hoped as they tried to set up the in house PA and by the time everything was ready, people had started to arrive, so me going up for a play through would have blown the gag. So when I was called up I hadn't played at all so was cold, hadn't had the chance to iron out any wrinkles and I really should have discussed a few points before hand; to say I was nervous was an understatement - as I picked up my bass, I noticed my hands were visibly shaking and I tried to play Seven Nation Army riff to get everything moving and quick warm up and totally blanked (I can normally play that one in my sleep) - quick change for Hootchie Cootchie Man which worked then heard the singer and others asking if I was ready; which meant I had to be... First up Blockbuster as it's quite easy and first crash course in playing live. I'm waiting for the siren effect and drum to effectively count me in and the band jump straight in leaving me dead - jumped in on second bar and not too bad after that although the big drum solo went a bit wrong from my point of view (one of the things I should have discussed on how to handle) although the rest took it all in their stride. Second track Ballroom Blitz and I started to enjoy myself more although totally missed the start again. Drummer started great and I was then waiting for the singer to come round the band 'Ready Lawrence? Ready Ted? Ready Ash? Alright fellas, let's goooooo!' that sort of thing but again they jumped straight in. Caught up by bar two again and did ok - I moved on to one bit as per the track I had played to but the band extended this bit and I'm pleased to say I just went back to the previous line and joined in. Had to scramble a bit on on or two of the runs but did OK, then I got a bit too into the groove and timing of the main riff towards the end and totally missed the change in to the outro so just kept going with the ball-room-blitz riff I'd been playing until I could work out where and how to jump in; then realised the guitar player, Lawrence, was playing an absolutely incredible solo over the top of this and the drummer had locked in too. I just thought to myself 'Ok, I'll be the rhythm then' and carried on until I heard the guitar join in my Ball-room-blitz riff which I took to mean we were about to finish. Looked up when I heard some shouting on stage and the singer was holding up one finger (polite way round) so I'm thinking 'Finish after this riff? ... Yes we did! PHEW!' Final track 20th Century Boy - Nailed the start for once, absolutely loved playing along although I messed up some of my well rehearsed improvised fills 😉 but as many have said, I don't think anyone noticed. I even had time to look out and see my Son busting some moves on the dance floor during this one which was a nice moment. The ending of this one is a bit odd on the track and again the band did a fantastic job of relaying how to do it the way they normally do it (very different to the track but really effective) and we all nailed the stop. That was my 15 minutes over and all too soon too, but I will definitely be doing it again. Not sure if anyone videoed it but if any turns up, I'll post it. When you're related to most of the women in the room - and married to one - that WOULD be a problem!

Thanks for the comments - much appreciated. I've had a play through with the guitar player (and a track in the background) which has been useful, but not with the full band. Hopefully we can do a run through before the event after they've set up and sound checked, but it depends on how much time there is available. We've worked out a way of springing this as most of my family and friends don't know I play bass as it's been something I've been doing / learning while working away; so I suppose it's a bit like a coming out party 🙂 I'd hate to be up front practising and people start to turn up...

I'm going to be playing live for the first time ever this weekend, and I'm sure I'll love it once I'm done - but right now I'm brickin very nervous about the whole thing. I turned the big 5-0 last week and have organised a bit of a get together for family and friends to 'celebrate' lasting this long without too many bits falling off. My bass tutor is in a band and she's bringing them along to play and very kindly offered if I'd like to sit in on some tracks. Seemed a great idea at the time and I'm only doing three tracks from when I first got into music (Blockbuster and Ballroom Blitz by Sweet and 20th Century Boy by T-Rex), but as it gets closer three things keep springing to mind; 1- I've never played in a band before (only to tracks), 2- I've never played in front of a crowd and 3- The crowd will be made up entirely of family and friends. What could possibly go wrong? I've been on a heavy repeat system of practising and can now play them in my sleep (in fact, I think I may actually do that - certainly they are pretty much always bouncing round in my head) so hopefully I can just go with the flow - just need to get there and get it done, then I'll probably enjoy it a lot more. I'll let you all know how it goes. Wish me luck, I feel like I may need it! 🙂

And he's definitely been an Englishman in New York, visiting his friend Miss Gradenko (who was Born in the fifties); she was having a bit of trouble with a Demolition Man and had nearly been Driven to Tears...

I see a Netflix Original series in this:- 'Ring Sting - The Pain That Won't Go Away' 🙂

Just in case, here's my WAV file from the original track. osmonds-Crazy-Horses.wav

I've managed to download an mp3 file of the whole song and edit in Audacity - can only save as a WAV file though and there are drums in there too, any good?

I'm not an expert in these matters by a long way, but with a quick dig on Google, I found this... http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2126414/Crazy_Horses_Osmonds_keyboard_ There's a lot of chaff in there, but maybe some wheat too. Hope it helps.

...or Jo Whiley 😬 I'll be tuning in this evening as something usually surprises me such as Imelda May the other year; but if Jools does step aside (and I think he'll have to before they change the host - I rather think it's his show / production company that supplies the show to the BBC) who would you like to see take over and what changes do you think they'd bring in terms of musical focus? I think the basic idea of getting groups / musicians in a room and recording a show of them playing live music is a great one. Having been to a recording of one of these shows (the 25th anniversary show at RAH) I can vouch for how good the format is, or can be. It was also the first gig my Son had been to and he'd never seen a top rock band in full flight. Foo Fighters were the headline act that night and they definitely had a new fan by the end of the evening! Jamie Cullum has been mentioned above as a serious alternative - could be a good shout in my opinion, although an honourable mention should go to Mark Radcliffe

For me, it was Nirvana's Come as You Are - always loved the bass line to that track and the seeming swagger that Krist Novoselic played it with. I was working away from home and looking to fill the evenings. One morning, I had the Nevermind CD playing in the car and Come as You Are came on; I just thought 'I'm going to learn how to play that' and set about finding a bass and amp on ebay. Still have that bass and amp, plus two more basses and awaiting delivery of an amp with a bit more oomph. Looks like you're stuck with me for a bit... 🙂

I'm not in a band, although recently had thoughts about starting one, but surely this should be the acid test for any band looking to go out - whether they are a covers band or original? If you wouldn't go and see you or not enjoy the set, why would you think anyone else would?

Well, someone's had a busy weekend! Site's looking great, well done indeed; looking forward to exploring more.

[quote name='pbasspecial' timestamp='1509492078' post='3399471'] Noel Gallagher - did he 'borrow heavily' from Plastic Bertrand's Ca Plane pour moi or was it just me? [/quote] [quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1509497666' post='3399500'] or Jet Boy Jet Girl [/quote] I heard some of Bowie's Diamond Dogs in there; was definitely 'influenced' by others. I think the lady on the scissors is his new girlfriend who just wants to be in on the act. They've copied the Beatles so closely in the past, now they've got their own Yoko Ono...

Nice waistcoat, though!

I use a [url="https://www.amazon.co.uk/VOX-amPlug-Bass-AP2-BS-Headphone/dp/B00NAUKJTY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8"]Vox AP2-BS[/url]. Good sound production and enough puff to run a set of cans, its about the size of a chocolate bar, runs off AAA batteries and plugs into your bass; it has jack sockets for headphones and connecting mp3 player, laptop etc if you want to play along to a track. It can also produce a rhythm track but I must admit to not using that function a lot. As for cans, I use a pair of TGI H3O. I find them comfortable and they have good sound production, my only gripe is the cable is a bit on the short side. For silent practice without upsetting family / neighbours, the VOX is hard to beat IMO. One thing to watch is that by wearing headphones and cutting out external sound, you can get engrossed in what you're doing and suddenly realise its much later than you think.

3 x 4 Strings 2 Active, 1 Passive, all fretted

[quote name='Earbrass' timestamp='1506761548' post='3380909'] Please tell me I'm not the only one to have misread this thread title! [/quote] [quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1506761961' post='3380914'] Yeah. It's still early. I thought "I wouldn't say expert, more experienced hobbyist" [/quote] [quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1506768572' post='3380973'] Me too, weekend warrior at best [/quote] Yep, I'm another one off to Specsavers in the morning... Although my own description would be I'm more the enthusiastic amateur. Used to be quite good at solos during my teenage years, but that's a whole different website

Very nice, Scannerman, let us know if your namesake replies in the future. When I goggled my name, I came back as an American TV news reporter... Not sure how to react to that

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1506554099' post='3379581'] Anyone know where Lala Land is...? [/quote] [quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1506579167' post='3379612'] Los Angeles [/quote] [quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1506590245' post='3379722'] Correct, and Stevie Wonder wrote a song about it. "La la la la la la lala la La la la la la la lala la La la la la la la lala la La la la la la la lala la". [/quote] I thought it was T-Rex... "La la la la-la-la-laaa, la la la la-la-la-laaa..."

Genuinely excited about this Thursday - Bought tickets earlier this year to see 25 Years Later with Jools Holland at RAH and they've recently announced the line up of Foo Fighters, Paul Weller, Van Morrison, Gregory Porter, Songhoy Blues, Camille, Kali Uchis, Jorja Smith and Dizzie Rascal. Been checking out the artists I don't know too much about on you tube and all seem OK, not all of them are necessarily my thing but still interesting. Of these artists, I'm really looking forward to hearing Songhoy Blues live - haven't got a scooby doo what they're singing about as they sing in their native language, but the musicianship is incredible; a definite influence from John Lee Hooker, I'd say. Anyone else on here going?