chris_b

What about on Harpchat?

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1501537642' post='3345427'] Does this end thread ?[/quote] No. . . . too soon. . . . keep it going. Go around again!

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1501426220' post='3344584'] [url="http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/h4ppyjack/media/Just%20Stuff/Music%20and%20Musicians/Cutout_zpsfk4hq2l8.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote] My wife says I don't look like this.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1501513016' post='3345167'] I'd recomment a lightweight folding sack truck. If it won't slide under your cab then just get some bigger feet fitted to lift it a little.[/quote] You can tip the cab slightly and the trolley will slide right under.

I wasn't so fond of my BB2, but one thing I'll agree on. . . . my 2 SC's start to sound much better when driven harder. I was using my Sadowsky when a guy came up and said, "The band sounds great. The bass sounds great. I'm not listening to the others, I'm just listening to that bass". Again proof of not a lot, other than; get good gear (any gear, within reason), get the best sound you can coax out of it and you will sound good. Play well and that will be the difference, the thing that makes everyone sit up and take notice.

+1000

They seem to have brought it in-house and moved into direct sales.

But that is Muzz's point. Everyone else is telling you what they think. Unless you know someone who exactly shares your taste and opinions then you can read a lot of reviews and you still won't know anything for definite. Dave Bass5 has a totally different take on Barefaced than I do. Nothing strange or unusual in that. You can start as many threads as you like but in reality the differences between most cabs is small and in the midst of the noise of a band those differences will become even smaller. Buy a good cab and gig it. What ever your first choice is it will work as well as your second choice and even your third. Get over to the Bass bash in Addlestone in September and in one place you'll hear more cabs than most bass players hear in a lifetime.

I don't know the nature of what your back injury but speaking generally, IME you can never make a bad back 100% again. The best most of us can do is to stabilise it, ie stop it getting any worse. With that in mind, going heavier is a crazy thing to do with any back problems. Firstly, the obvious. . . . bend from your knees, not your waist. I assume you already know that. Then wear a wide belt around your waist if you are lifting, like weightlifters do. Then only hoist, ie lift when your other hand/arm is supporting you on another object. So one arm on a flat surface and lift with the other. That way during the lift phase, which is the dangerous bit, you're taking the weight across your back, shoulder to shoulder and not up your spine. Move to good quality, more powerful, smaller, lighter cabs (30lbs or less), and use several of them. I've been on multiple 112 cabs for the last 10 years and as a strategy for a back injury it really works. Always use a good trolley and try Pilates. It works.

There are jam sessions on most days. Bring your bass and play.

If she wants to see some live music there's al lot of it at the Swanage Blues Festival in October. http://www.swanage-blues.org/

[quote name='SH73' timestamp='1501441368' post='3344694'] . . . the nowadays money grabbing music industry. . . . [/quote] Nowadays? There has always been a "money grabbing music industry". One that at best "uses" and at worst "shafts" the artists. From Malcolm McLaren to Simon Cowell and Colonel Tom Parker to Norman Petty, Don Arden to Alan Klein etc etc and right back to the beginning. The very next day, after that guy discovered the log sitting outside his cave made a good sound if he hit it in a particular way, an agent turned up offering to make him rich for a stupidly large percentage. Modern pop bands struggle these days because there is no music industry any more and the great public expect their music to be free. For too many of them music is just a background noise that has no relevance in their lives other than to prevent and break up the silence.

This one of many great songs that when you know what gear was used on the original you're still no closer to sounding like that yourself. 99% of that bass line is Bakithi Kumalo and the years of playing in too many crappy South African dives. I doubt he's played that Washburn since his first Paul Simon pay check. I did read that he gave it to his daughter when she expressed an interest in bass.

These days Country ranges from Jim Reeves to Jason Aldean and beyond. From 4 to 5 strings, any bass will do just fine and the same bass can cover everything. Thud and clank can work but clarity is important. But mostly it's how you play the song sound that counts, so just play good lines.

You can slap on a fretless bass. . . . or. . . . do whatBakithi Kumalo does now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev0wfe6zzi0 As the others are hinting, even he can't play the break on the record.

I was in a Chicago Blues band and the brides father booked us after seeing us on a gig. I told the rest of the band we shouldn't be playing a wedding but they insisted we do it. The wedding party gathered in the car park smoking or the bar. We played to an empty room for the whole night! I've seen a few bands fail to understand that audiences do not go to weddings. They are guests and that requires a totally different mind set.

In the early 70's I was at a gig in Manorhamilton Sligo Ireland. There were about 9 in the band when it started and this number went up and down during the night. They all played different instruments to give the others a rest or rather access to the bar. One of the guys went home in the early hours to milk the cows and came back later to finish the gig.

+1

From the start Lindy Fralin always got good reviews. I tried SD and Bartolini pickups on my P bass about 30 years ago and the Barts are still there. There are loads of Fender replacement pickups that sound amazing, but, to my ear, Fender pickups have a sound that just takes me back. Not all of them are great pickups and you'd have to do some homework to find the ones that were the best and suited you but when I plugged my Fender Jazz in for the first time and got that Fender sound again it was like a time machine back to when bass just sounded right.

Sold John my Thunderfunk amp. Great guy to talk to and deal with. Many thanks for a good sale.

Playing with dots is a skill and playing without dots is also a skill. The good players will be able to do both but it's not a given that if you can do one well and you can do the other. I've played with military trained musicians, especially drummers, and they can read fly sh*t but playing "once more with feeling" is totally beyond some of them. Still, my vote is to send her a couple of numbers to "learn" and run the audition.

The basic advice is if you have an 8 ohm cab and you just want more volume, get another of what you already have. But if you really want a 410 then the Barefaced Four10 is the one I'd suggest. You'll get great tone and they'll hear you in Newquay. On the other hand any of the BF 112's or 212's would sound seriously good too. I've had a few good nights in the Driftwood Spar in the 70's. Is it still there?

The last valve amp I owned was a Mesa 400+ and that didn't do it for me on many levels. I also go back as far as the 60's where there were many valve amps that didn't sound good at all, so after years of using great sounding non-valve amps I'm not naturally a valve fan anymore. Undecided is the best I can offer on valve amps when compared to top quality SS and D class amps. I always run my amps clean. No overdrive or distortion in any part of the signal chain. The conversation always seems to centre on what sounds better "overloaded". As I don't run amps like that I don't find a lot of relevance in these threads. So does anyone have any insights into comparisons between non-valve amps and valve amps that are not overloaded?

[quote name='progben' timestamp='1501157854' post='3342910'] For example: there's a million Ed Sheeran's out there (some far more capable than him and with better songs) and yet he's making millions and they're not. Why is that? [/quote] "Better" is such a meaningless description when applied to a song. They've got to write songs people like more than they like Ed Sheeran's songs then they'll make their millions.

So no solo's then! There's being a great musician and there's being right for the gig. Not the same thing. While she doesn't sound right for the gig she's worth an audition. Then decide.