chris_b

Don't worry. You're not getting picked on. Our politicians get more stick than this on a daily basis. So do the Royal Family.

I've been playing longer than that and I've just started taking lessons. You can always learn something new and worthwhile.

Never mind the criteria. With these numbers it's just you and Stevie, face to face. Signed Sealed Delivered Sir Duke I Wish Do I Do Master Blaster Higher Ground Another Star Did I Hear You Say I Love You I bought all these on albums when they came out and apart from I Wish I've never played or bothered to learn them. Now I'm having a great time working through the list.

Go for it. Sounds like an audition you shouldn't let slip from you grasp. Learn the songs, impress the hell out of them and get the gig.

You serious? I'd say forget it to anyone who started laying down conditions before the audition!

They are in Chapter 11. This far more serious that a few bad reviews!!

About 5 years ago my next door neighbour, a lovely German lady, decided to learn double bass. She was in he 60's. She plays jazz and her band (she already runs her own band!) is rehearsing next door right now. 3 years ago they were always out of tune and there were bum notes all over the place. These days there are hardly any and they all sound sound pretty good. They are not picking the easy songs to play either. If anyone wants to play bass be it like Adam Clayton or Charlie Mingus. . . just do it. Have fun.

I believe Orville started first and were taken over by Gibson but not managed by them. Japanese instruments made for the home market seem to be superior in many respects. Didn't Fender try to stop Japanese made Fenders being imported into the US because they were better made than the US made ones?

George W got in by accident. After screwing up so much and taking the country into an unnecessary war and getting US soldiers needlessly killed you'd have thought the US citizens would have turned around and said no more. But they didn't. . . they bloody well voted the idiot back in! Trump is a far more dangerous character because he is totally uncontrollable and seems to have no idea what effect his words have on other, equally dangerous, leaders. I can understand why he got in this time, but he's a bully, egomaniac and unconcerned by any view point other than his own. That's why he likes Putin so much. Two sides of the same thuggish coin. Trump for a second term would indicate the American people really have no idea what is the best for them. A trade deal with Trump? That is the really frightening thing. For anyone who thinks the EU exerted too much control over us, wait till the details of the UK/US trade deal emerge. We are going to be royally screwed and with no way out. Oh, and Gibson are in such a bad shape because they are badly managed and charge top prices for poorly made instruments. Talkbass have had ex Gibson employees posting that one reason for the bad QC was they were on a target of instruments to be completed each day. The target was way beyond what could be achieved in the time so the manufacturing process was rushed, corners were cut and inspections were derisory. Gibson's did make instruments that had a good reputation, they don't any more.

Sounds like a good idea to me, but don't try to do it all on your own. Get some good lessons under your belt to get you started and pointing in the right direction.

IMO it is the core Gibson business that is in serious trouble. The Gibson reputation and QC is so bad that they are not selling. Most of the guys I played with leading up to the 90's had at least one Gibson. 99% of the guitarists I've played with since have used Fender guitars, mostly Strats. The last 2 Gibson playing guitarists I was in a band with both stooped playing Gibson's several years ago. One bought a Burny and the other an Orville. These guys would rather have been playing Gibson's but they are not made as well as the competition it seems.

Sad news. He was a great guitarist. Saw him in Boilerhouse playing the Middle Earth club and that band was something else, but I could never understand why Peter Green wanted another guitar hero in FM.

Sell he bass you play the least.

What's wrong with this bass? How about just upgrading the pickups and pots?

I'd learn the songs. Knowing new songs is always a good thing. Showing that you are keen is a good thing. Telling them they are wrong before the audition is a bad thing. Most people would understand that you don't need more than 3 songs to see if someone can play and know if they are right for the band. This would be a warning sign for me and put a few question marks in my mind about the band. You say there's a band leader. Most of the band leaders I know are doing what they do because they want to, like it that way and it works for them. Some ask for ideas and comments but most don't. None of the guys I know would give a gig to someone who started off picking holes and telling them what they are doing is wrong.

If I did gigs where I was worried about the safety of my gear I'd be even more worried for my own safety. Fortunately I haven't done gigs like that in a long time.

Nope. Everything I buy is to be gigged, as often as possible.

No Treble has bass transcriptions.

No songs. I was trying to play guitar and couldn't, because it was a very badly made, cheap and rubbishy Spanish guitar with an action so high I couldn't hold down any chords. . . . but I could play bass lines. I then discovered I could play bass with my friend playing his Futurama guitar. What we played is lost in the mists, but I seem to remember some Bo Diddley songs being played at one point.

The requirement for a single cab that goes louder will reduce your choices. A Greenboy cab is a good call but they are not the lightest cabs out there. I'd suggest a Barefaced 112. Light, loud and easily transportable. Also you get a 1 month return period so you can send it back if you decide it's not for you.

These basses are custom orders. Within reason the customer can have they want on it.

If you are pushing the low end and want to be louder you'll need headroom, ie need a comfortable margin in the performance of your speakers. I'd be heading towards multiple 112 or 210 cabs. A 110 on its own won't support your sound at high volumes. What amp are you going to use?

I put Bartolini pickups and pre amp in my old P bass at the end of the 80's. Improved the sound 1000% over the original vintage Fender stuff. In active basses my favourite pre amps have been a Wal in my Wal mk3 5, Bartolini in my Fender P and Lakland 55-94, Aguilar in my Lull J5 and IMO the best of the lot a Sadowsky in my J5. I buy a bass because of the sound and feel of the whole instrument so the individual bits and whether it's active or passive doesn't interest me much. The boost only Sadowsky took some getting used to but always produces a great sound at any setting. On the other hand, my passive Lull P bass with its Lull custom SD pickups sounds better than many of the active basses I've owned.

Because that and gigging is his day job.