chris_b

How can you say some key changes are OK and some aren't. IME the singer's limitations will always be worked around at the expense of the other musicians. That's the way of the world. Our job is to make it work. I feel your pain, but I wouldn't quit just because of this. I'd think of it as a different song and work out a different bass line that approximated the record. But I'd have to do that anyway as I don't slap. On the other hand, I am at an advantage because I play a 5 string bass, so I could drop down (to Eb I believe) without problem.

If this is a restriction on what was previously the norm, and if this change is reducing the earnings of photographers, then I'm on the side of the photographers. Corporate bullying from Apple, Tesco, Taylor Swift Inc or anyone else is never justified or acceptable.

If you have a separate battery compartment this doesn't apply to you: if your battery is in with the preamp, always keep a small screwdriver in your case for getting the cover off when you need to change the battery. Work out if the bass has a passive mode and what controls will work if active mode goes west for any reason.

Many years ago I saw Ry Cooder and David Lindley at the Hammersmith Odeon. Great night of guitar picking, but they must have had 50 guitars on stands on stage, and then they only played a small number of them. I thought that was a tad excessive and just showing off really. My thoughts on this as a player who not only uses 1 bass per night, but usually 1 bass per decade; if you find yourself playing 2 or more basses on a gig, you're playing the wrong songs and probably in the wrong band.

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1434977130' post='2804300'] you will try but you ain't gonna sound like him, well, ok, maybe a bit like him [/quote] No, you were right first time.

I bet the prick that's running Apple didn't work a 3 month trial period and without pay.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1434964667' post='2804129'] I thought it was rather dishonest of Apple to decide to pass on the "loss" bit of their loss leader to others rather than taking it on themselves. [/quote] Standard business model these days. All the "offers" in your supermarket are funded by the manufacturers, not Tesco, ASDA etc. "Free music" is never free. Someone has paid for it.

The bottom line is; you as a player will make the most difference to the sound you get from an instrument. Another player will easily sound different on the same bass. That is your technique making the difference to your sound. Your style of playing underpins the contribution any EQ or gear makes. You can see this in action at every Bass Bash. The shorthand for this is, "The tone is in your fingers". My experience is when I rocked up to the first gig with my Lull. I asked the guitarist what he thought of my new bass. He said, "It sounded good, but it sounded like you". Believe it or not, you will sound like [i]you[/i] on an SX bass or Alembic, P bass or Jazz. Of course those instruments will sound different but you will sound the same on them. The gear will sound good or bad, depending on what it is and what you do with it, but take lessons and practice. . . . a lot. That's the only way of significantly improving the sound you make on your instrument.

It's a short hand for; the important thing being the player and what and how he plays, and not the gear.

[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1434707345' post='2801998'] There's really no excuse for it, all it takes is a diary and a pencil [/quote] No excuse at all. They wouldn't book in 2 beer deliveries on the same day, double up on the staff rotas or book in 2 quiz nights at the same time. Shows you how much some of these guys care about the band nights they put on.

Lardy, buy a couple of Wals to take with you. They fetch a good price in the US. Bring several all original, custom colour, pre CBS Fenders with you when you come home.

[quote name='grandad' timestamp='1434523187' post='2800324'] [url="http://www.vulture.com/2015/04/brown-sugar-still-tastes-good.html"]http://www.vulture.c...astes-good.html[/url] [/quote] This is the downside of the internet. Anyone can put up the most ridiculous and fanciful bullshit and people will believe it. Edit. . . just re read that .. . . Vulture not Grandad

It seems you sound check at a different volume level to the gig.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1434353044' post='2798761'] But a pub running bands once a week is investing £13,000 in a year. they wouldn't do this without thinking it through in any other area of their work [/quote] We got dropped by a pub last year. The landlord said he spent £40,000 a year on entertainment and needed to put bums on seats, and we didn't bring enough. Several of his bands didn't. IME cover bands generally don't bring a ready audience, especially when they are doing 80+ gigs a year, but he wanted young local bands who would pack the place with their mates. I really don't see that happening twice a week for 52 weeks of the year. These places need to generate their own audience for band/music nights who will be loyal to the venue and turn out to see the bands, week after week. The guy liked us, we did several of his private parties, but his town center pub didn't hold on to the punters for very long. The band is an easy scape goat.

Leo Fender must have thought it made a difference, as even after it had been removed on Fender basses, through body stringing was included in the final design of MusicMan basses. I think he left it out on G&L though. I can string through the body on all my basses and I've tried on 2 of them. I didn't notice much difference in sound or feel, but then my senses aren't that finely tuned. There are no down sides to through body stringing and only you can decide if you discover any benefits.

I was flat broke, desperate, and went for a job at Wall's the ice cream company. The bloke behind the desk told me he wouldn't give me a job unless I cut my hair. Apparently I wasn't hygienic with long hair. I thought he was going to hit me when I asked if the women were as unhygienic. The landlord in a pub in Mayfair refused to serve me because of my hair; "You come into my establishment, in Mayfair, and expect to be served....!" . We were treated very badly. You kids can wear just about any fashion you like today because of us [i]pioneers[/i].

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1434233357' post='2797905'] Is there a point in a man's life where he should give up long hair? [/quote] More power to them. No comments these days can match the sh*t we got for having long hair back then. Never give in.

Double bookings are par for the course when playing in pubs. Most landlords can't run a pub successfully so are not going to excel as live music promoters. This week we've discovered a pub and gig (a pretty crappy one at that) has closed. No one bothered to tell the bands. Our gig was in a couple of months. We send posters a month or so before the date (surprising how many "go missing" so the gig isn't properly advertised). We then phone at the start of the week to confirm the gig. Hopefully any problems are discovered then and we don't have to travel in vain. If you don't take these precautions, you have to make sure you're always the first band at the gig.

[quote name='scalpy' timestamp='1434048639' post='2796313'] You should practice without the drummer as a matter of course. Everybody in the band should be able to keep time, moreover be able to groove and get the song going without one. No machines, no shortcuts. Makes a huge difference to how tight your band is. [/quote] +1000 Sounds like the OP needs to rehearse without a drummer more often to get rid of this over reliance on a "timekeeper", improve his counting and to boost his imagination.

GB STL 9.2, sounds great with BF cabs.

3 basses and 3 3.5" wide leather straps, with Dunlop strap locks. I'll always arrive at a gig with the strap because I never take them off, and I never take the gigging bass out of the bag at home. Years ago I broke a strap so now I carry a spare in the accessories bag, just in case it happens again. I've not needed to use it, but once I did have to lend it to a guitarist.

She's also on 2 of my all time favorites: You've lost That Loving Feeling and River Deep, Mountain High.

I don't want to play one, but I like listening to the Bach Cello Suites.

A Precision. I've owned one since 1969 and only stopped playing it in the mid 90's to move to 5 strings. It feels like coming home to be playing a 5 string P bass for the last 4 years.