chris_b

Didn't he come up to the required standard then.

Strings wear out and can lose their intonation.

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1441033437' post='2855503'] Surely you mean 1+ and 1- ? [/quote] Throw em all away and get OBBM to make you a new set.

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441313907' post='2857922'] I find this "I sound great, therefore I play better" attitude quite hard to understand. [/quote] I don't understand why you can't understand. I guess you need to try harder.

Do your cables get stood/walked on, or does anyone else put them away? That could be the reason for the twist between the inner core and outer layers.

So theory gets in the way of creativity? it's a good job no one told Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

Firstly, I don't think anything in the classical world is at all unclear. It is a very focussed world for one good reason, they take musical excellence to levels we can never understand. Secondly, I think we have to allow "weekend warriors" to make their own choices. Some of which might look strange but no worse than my old next door neighbour taking the kids to school and then doing the Tesco run in her husbands brand new 911. I don't think she ever got out of second gear. I would be very interested to see how raids on gigs to enforce a musical equivalent of the Sumptuary laws would pan out.

An [i]artiste[/i] wouldn't be asking this question. I've never had a lesson and I do reasonably well. Would I have done even better after some lessons? Of course. I know I would have done a [u]lot[/u] better as a player if I knew more. No question about that.

Nice stuff makes me play better. Sounding better than the next guy is part of the competition and the striving for success that is making music and playing to an audience. Sounding good increases you confidence, which improves your groove and note choices. Now that really [i]does[/i] matter to others. Who are you going to offer the gig to, a guy who sounds crap and plays well or a guy who sounds good and plays better?

I agree. And the real stinger is that Aguilar amps will be discounted and Mesa amps won't. So you're looking at £739 compared to £629. There are people who will always buy a name or the latest fad, but my £110 has to buy that amount of better tone.

The list price for my Aguilar TH500 is £749. I fail to see what the issue is if the list price for the Subway turns out to be £739. Never mind rip off Britain. . . glass half full Britain more like.

Mesa have their pricing structure and it has always been high in comparison to the competition. Nothing new there. In this country we are regularly ripped off over prices and services. Nothing new there either. As long as our choices of leader are always between the likes of Cameron and Corbyn there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. Anyway. . . . I'm wondering if it sounds better than the amps I currently use.

All I can say is always have a good supply of batteries and a lead laid out as a backup.

Like Bergantino, Mesa tightly manage their RRP in all countries, ie discounts have to be run by them first. I can't see Westside having any say in that. The final price is made up of many components some of which are not under Mesa's control. As no one here knows any of the details involved in the manufacture, distribution and tax and regulation regimes involved, comparing prices around the world is a wast of time. If this thing sounds good then you decide if it's worth it or not.

There might not be many of them about, but a good teacher is worth their weight in gold. The OP has been playing for 5 months and knows what he "wants" and "doesn't think he's getting much from lessons". I'd suggest that's the problem right there. After 5 months you know what you [i]want[/i] but don't know what you [i]need[/i]. Find a good teacher who is following one of the recognised teaching plans and have faith in him to be teaching you what [i]need[/i] to know.

I don't mind that the wattage is the same at 4 ohms and 2 ohms. At the moment I only use 2 ohms for the flexibility of the cab config. I use a 4 ohm and 8 ohm cab for bigger gigs. I'm waiting to see what the early reviews say about the tone. I don't like amps with a pillowy and hard to control low end. Some Mesa amps seem to wallow in the low end. I use 2 different amps at the moment, so I'd be happy if I could get that down to 1 amp. Less boxes in the front room would get me some brownie points.

We play I Am The Walrus as a 4 piece with keys and Stax classics without a horn in sight. Be realistic and don't touch anything that is plainly beyond your playing abilities. As has been said take the essence of the song. Do that bit properly and you'll have a good cover.

I'd vote never again for Spanish Eyes. Over the years I've played most of the numbers listed so far. IME, play them well and the audience will think we are great and that gets us rebooked. If that happens I'll happily carry on playing them and others like them for as long as I can. The cover band set is there for a specific purpose, which is to make us as popular and successful as we can be. I also play in Blues, Soul and originals bands. The sets for all of these bands have a different job to do. You make your choices when you pick the repetoire, then the main criteria for any song is only did we play it as well as we could.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1441060247' post='2855830'] Macca played his 5-string live through the 90s. [/quote] Sounds better than that Hofner he usually plays.

Light and loud 2 ohm amps are always interesting.

I gigged all the time with my 5 string Custom Mk3 Wal (even in grotty pubs) but I didn't think it was the best fit for the Blues and Soul bands I started playing with, so I bought a Lakland. After that I used the Wal in the studio, where its sounded fantastic, and gigging in several originals bands, where I thought it's fat and warm sound worked better than the Lakland did. The sound of one bass over another is a judgement and preference call. It's just finding the right tools for the job.

Your sound can be fixed. Money and good choices will do that for you. If you want to up your game and play in a band I'd concentrate on your technique and playing stamina. Work on your timing and get it spot on. The worse thing anyone can do in a band is have bad timing.

This is guesswork, but your problem might be your EQ settings. Sounds like you've got the high mids and mids boosted. You'll need a different sound for live band work. Try boosting the low mids. Your bad sound might just be due to your amp. What are you using? You'll probably need more and better gear when playing in a band. Most string noises will be drowned out by the band but your technique could probably be improved. Don't drag your fingers on the strings. Lift and place. You could also try flatwound strings.

I'm not good with "labels". Does Brian Culbertson qualify? I hope so. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJujuETSnI&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9&index=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJujuETSnI&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9&index=1[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEYr1dXjro&index=3&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEYr1dXjro&index=3&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9[/url]