chris_b

I'm taking lessons. I told the guy I was bored with my rut and I wanted him to find me a new one. So far it's working really well. I'm probably tool old to carve out a completely new rut, but the current one is a lot wider and far more interesting.

Yes, but only if it is the resignation of the guy causing the problem.

No. I'm not a fan of rehearsing at high volume. If you are rehearsing at gig volumes then you should be setting up as you would on a gig. So whether the problem is the way you place the back-line, or other players, or the room, or the volume you rehearse at I can't say, but my guess would be that the plugs are working as intended and they are high-lighting problems with your rehearsal process. My experience with band rehearsals is that the gear placed around the room in a circle and you all have each others amps pointing at you. I usually had the guitar amp pointing at me! Turning up the bass just makes the guy across the room turn up and you get nowhere. Everyone playing in a loud band is going deaf. This is happening at different rates but the end will usually be the same result. I'd guess that if you thought it was worth paying this amount of money to protect your hearing you are already experiencing some "issues". You've got to give these plugs a chance. One rehearsal is too early to give up on them. You are putting a filter between you and the sound waves so everything you hear will sound different. The balance can change but you just need to acclimatise. I'm not sure how you can have a sound that disappears when you put the plugs in. Maybe your sound is one that is filtered out, but I haven't had that. When I use the plugs the bass sounds bassier and louder to me. Raising the cab will change what you hear, but I think your rehearsal is the problem. IMO taking the plugs out and carrying on without them is the last thing you should be doing.

Why is quitting the first advice that is always given in these threads. Is this guy the band leader? If he isn't then nicely tell him to stick it. If it is his band then the rules are different. I'd still try to negotiate the end of this micro managing, but either way you've got to come up with interesting parts that show you can be trusted to think for yourself. Quitting should only ever be a last resort and be way down the list.

Being "picky" about what you are willing to play is fine, but if you are sitting at home waiting for something "great" to turn up you're also getting rusty and dropping further to the back of other musicians memory banks. When playing you are meeting different players, you're networking, you're keeping match fit. There are possibilities you don't get with something like JMB. A band might be temporary and not your ultimate aim but IMO most playing is better than not playing at all and better opportunities present themselves when you are "out there" and part of a music "scene".

The last time I needed a back up amp (and I didn't have one!!) was to cover last valve amp I owned. Bloody valves!! In the late 90's I bought a new Mesa 400+ from the Bass Centre, which popped a valve the moment that Chris and me took it out of the box in the shop. Then carried on blowing valves over the next 5 months that I owned it. It went back 4 or 5 times but they never found the problem. In the end Nick (good guy) offered me a swap with an Ampeg SVT3-PRO. I lost a fortune on that deal (but not as bad as the deal Barry wanted. He tried to get me to give them the 400+ and buy the Ampeg for half price!!) but I was happy to get rid of an expensive and unreliable pile of poo. I could get great sounds out of that Ampeg, through my Mesa cabs, and I used it for the next 8 or so years. By which time the cabs, which weighed about 100lbs each, had permanently damaged my back!! I've done a couple of thousand gigs since and haven't needed a back up since moving to SS and D class amps. A great idea that went very wrong.

I'd guess the starting point is Flatwound strings. The rest might include setup and an over driven amp. Later in the song it doesn't sound like he's using any pedals, but as pedals are a black hole for me so I don't know if he's using any or not

Ask first and they should be happy for you to try the basses. They'll probably want to "supervise" and set up the amps for you. As an older gent, I've noticed that I don't get hassled so much in shops when I pick up a bass. I didn't try any last time I was at BD, but didn't I see some had locks on the hangers? I'll always say Hi first and ask if they mind me trying out the basses. I'll probably play a dozen basses but only plug in 1 or 2, or maybe none. I can tell if I'm interested without an amp.

Love this playing. . .

Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart.

Yep. If you have the gear to hand give it a run through.

Plainly you are not reading what I'm writing. I'm not bickering with you . Good-bye.

I don't think so. In this case, and apparently with some other German car manufacturers, it was illegal activity and they were just plain cheating their customers and the regulatory bodies. Of course you would care because you were getting worse fuel economy that they were being told, ie driving was costing more than they were leading you to believe. There are no parallels between this and the TC subject at all.

I wouldn't bet on that. People didn't like the tone and others wanted to kick TC about their marketing claims, but I haven't yet seen a post that says these amps were too quiet. TC sold 500 watt and 750 watt "boosted" amps. These amps stood up against all other amps in their class in terms of volume. That's why they sold and there were many happy users. Let me repeat, many happy users. I had the Staccato and RH750. They were loud enough to rattle your fillings out. Whether you like the tone or not is a preference, that they were loud enough is a fact. I sold the RH750 to fund my Thunderfunk, but this "nonsense", obviously caused by TC's marketing dept, has more to do with internet "experts" than it does TC.

So you guys are saying that it doesn't matter how good an amp sounds, the only thing that matters is the design spec? Pull the other one! TC were selling a 250 watt amp that was as loud as a 500 watt amp. The only "problem" you've got is they called it 500 watts. As it was as loud as a 500 watt amp then is anyone really going to feel short changed when they start gigging and find it is as loud as all the other 500 watt amps? As I say the "noise" came from internet armchair experts. The guys who gigged those TC amps were happy their amps were performing well.

You say that as if what an amp sounds like doesn't matter! The loudest noise and most condemnation came from people who had never seen or heard a TC amp. Sadly, what TC didn't say was their amp was equivalent to a 500 watt amp etc. If they'd done that then there wouldn't have been a problem. The assumption most of the people who joined in to the Talkbass thread made was that a 246 watt amp couldn't possibly be as loud as any one else's 500 watt amp. If these people had used their ears rather than what ever else they were using they would have heard 250 watts sounding as loud as 500 watts. The mature response should have been, how are they doing that? Unfortunately the subject quickly descended into abuse and got nowhere. It's still getting nowhere.

RMS is a standard that applies to amps and cabs. Apparently doesn't mean much due to the nature of power, sound and volume, but RMS is an indicator that seems to be understood by most. SPL works well for cabs, but not for amps. I believe AES is the coming thing and a more accurate standard than RMS.

CK was a jazz guitarist, which accounts for the pick. She started on bass when a bass player failed to show up for a session so she played the studio bass. Back then most studio players would have used foam to even out the notes, damp the strings and take some dynamics out of the sound.

You want good bass lines? Start at the beginning of Motown and work forwards. Same with Stax. Same with Aretha Franklin, Chic, Keb Mo, Incognito, Steely Dan, Little Feat, the list of good bass lines goes on. . . . .

And I saw a program on the TV the other week about curing type 2 diabetes where they proved that for some a placebo actually does work, even when they know they're taking a placebo! How weird is that? My logic has always been, if I have good gear then the rest is up to me and if I play badly at least I'm not going to sound bad as well. I think I've got the gear sussed out. Now my 80-20 rule has turned around to technique first then sound. On Saturday I had several confirmations. The drummer said he thought he could hear the lessons I've been taking coming out in my playing. That's the best comment I've had in years. Then the drummer complimented me on my sound and the band leader complimented the drummer and me on how well we played together. Then several members of the audience came up and complimented the band and me as the bass player and as a member of a great rhythm section. It was a good gig, but maybe it wasn't your average audience! What is the split between people who hear your sound and people who hear your playing? If I sound good and play well enough to please the band then I know that'll be good enough for the audience. If the lessons sound like they're working, then I'm really satisfied.

Check out Joe on the original Clapton Crossroads concert. With a fantastic MG's as his band. So nearly a rock and roll casualty but still playing and sounding great with the Eagles.

The simple answer is, yes. The longer and more complicated answer is. . . to my ear the sound from the SM added a nice bit of mid range and top end to my SC and I did prefer this to my SC + SC, but I'd say it's a small margin of preference. I can't afford the SM at the moment so I've recently been adding more top on the bass which I think has improved my sound. IMO this isn't comparing apples and pears, it's more Pink Lady's and Jazz apples. After 2 years I'm still happily gigging both SC's and, to throw a spanner in the works, I'm also happily gigging my 2 Two10's in a rather loud blues/rock band. If you are interested in hearing what an SM can do for your SC, give Alex a call and ask if you can borrow their demo SM and use it on a gig or 2. Maybe you'll hate it, or maybe you'll start saving.

Exactly. Do we know what version she was claiming? I think everyone knows she's not on the the Stevie Wonder song but she could easily have been on another version. Back in the 60's and 70's there were lots of versions of songs. Motown recorded some songs a dozen times. They also recorded in LA (CK did play on some of those recordings) and some of those tracks were shipped back to Detroit for overdubs and various parts to be rerecorded. In the end the water gets a little muddy. Jamerson himself claimed to have recorded Cool Jerk, when it was actually Bob Babbitt. And I saw Scott Edwards, on Talkbass, telling Lee Sklar off for claiming one of his tunes. A few years ago, US Session players started to get royalties for their old work, if they registered in time. Maybe this mix up came out of that.

She's on so many seminal recordings that, either directly or indirectly, she has to be an influence on anyone who's picked up a bass since. She's on 2 of my favourite songs, guitar on You've Lost That Loving Feeling and bass on River Deep Mountain High.

Buy a lighter bass. There are lots out there. With my bad back I can get through 2 hour gigs with my 9 1/2lb 5 string Jazz. . . . on a good day. My 5 string Mike Lull Precision weighs 8 1/2lbs and doesn't affect me, even at the end of a 4 hour rehearsal.