chris_b

Are you still playing the first 4 string bass you bought, or, after gaining more experience and knowledge, have you found something better? Same for 5 string basses, so unless you jump straight to the Sadowsky level, for instance, you'll almost certainly be upgrading at some point.

Ah. . . yes!! In the "old days" you'd jump into your trusty ex-GPO Commer van and head off anywhere for a gig. I was picked up at about 8am to drive to Sunderland. We did the gig and headed back, getting into the morning rush hour somewhere near Hatfield at about 8 am. Sitting in the traffic jam we saw an old woman walking between the cars. Our roadie, who was a helpful chap, jumped out and asked if there was a problem and she told us she was lost and trying to find her way home, which was somewhere in Lambeth! I know, we didn't think to question that!! We were a helpful bunch so put her in the van and took her to Lambeth. We couldn't find the road, so went to the Police station to ask. They took one look at her and said "Hello Mary. So you've turned up again!" Apparently she was in a old peoples home in Hatfield and kept trying to go back to where she had lived. We left her with the Police and I was finally dropped off in West London at about 1 o'clock! A 27 hour round trip!

My school band did a series of gigs for a guy called Ron King, who worked for Don Arden. That should have rung alarm bells but what did we know? We played 5 nights in a row all over the South East finishing up somewhere in Essex. Ron then told us we had one last gig at a night club in Ashford Kent, so we'd better get going. We'd be paid for all the gigs there. Well, obviously there was no gig and we didn't get paid!! They could have just told us to get lost. The bouncers/thugs had lumps of lead taped into the palms of their hands, so we wouldn't have argued!! Instead they sent us on a 100 mile goose-chase to Kent at 12 o'clock at night! I don't know if there are as many crooks in the music business these days as there was back then, but I don't know anyone who was playing back then, who didn't get ripped off at least once.

The first thing to do is to put your 4 string basses away and don't touch them again until you are fluent in 5. The bass the original version of the song was recorded on is irrelevant. Stop thinking in terms of 4 string bass songs and 5 string bass songs. I can't be bothered to swap basses back and forth. Every song can be played on a 5, so that's what I stick to. Makes life much easier and if you get a good one, like the Sadowsky I play, you just sound so good.

The last wedding I did, the noise of the guests tripped the meter several times and the band didn't trip it once. The drummer just kept playing and when the meter reset the band started up. I'm certain no one else noticed. I have never heard of a band having to audition for the sound meter! Does this mean the venue hires you rather than the couple? I don't understand what an audition would prove to the venue. If the couple hires you then it's not the venue's problem if you trip the meter. The last time i played a gig with a meter the drummer tripped the thing over and over and was a d!ck by refusing to hit any softer!

People boost the bass so they can feel it and boost the top so they can hear it and that's how the mids get scooped.

Fender offered the choice of about 4 different necks. That is the A neck. I have the same on my 68 Precision.

I have a 68 Fender Precision which I bought new at the start of 1969. I'd have to be in a wheelchair, but even then I can't see me selling that bass.

The Word. . . . he's trying to do that D'Angelo thing of playing so far behind the beat that its almost the wrong timing. D'Angelo does it better. The bass line doesn't annoy me, but the producer does.

Don't just learn intervals without any references. Listen to them in the context of a song. Surely you can identify the components of a 12 bar blues, eq 1, 4 and 5, and 1, 2 and 5? Start with those and you are on your way.

Jaco ruined fretless for me. I was getting on just fine with my self de-fretted bass, then Jaco came along and showed what fretless could really do and moved the whole game so far out of my reach that I had to go back to frets!!

Yep. All those guys raving over James Jamerson's sound, also have to thank the Motown engineers.

My preferences for the sound of my bass haven't changed over the years. I'm still after the same thing, but with the advent of modern bass gear, I can sound the same as I did, only much, much better.

The last recording I did was for an R&B, Americana, blues band. I used my Mike Lull PJ5 with TI flats and a lump of foam, through an Aguilar TH500 DI'ed into Logic. What a great sound. Better than any of the bass sounds preloaded into Logic.

Basically, never send anything you can't afford to lose. Meet up for the really "precious" stuff. I've always used Interparcel and Fed Ex as the subcontracter. I've successfully sent several basses this way. The secret of success is in the packing. Can it survive being dropped from the back of a lorry and stood on by a 20st moron? Plan on protecting it from the staff and you'll be OK.

IMO there's no such thing as overkill when dealing with the likes of DHL, the Post Office etc. Especially with large and delicate items of bass gear. I'd put an inner layer of expanded polystyrene around the cab for extra safety, then get a couple of cardboard boxes from a bike shop and fashion a double skin box around the cab with extra protection at the edges and corners. Gaffer the lot together and you're done.

Can't we just ban E-Scooters and fix the problem that way?

If I wasn't a bass player I'd have been in trouble. I played drums at a basic level when I was a kid, maybe I would have developed that. I also tried my hand with singing, guitar and piano and was pretty crap at all of them. Basically I had to be a bass player.

I just play them. I'll change the strings and fit strap locks, but that's it. I want everything else to be handled by a professional.

Thinking about it, this was between lockdown#1 and #2. So I guess they weren't very busy! Maybe give them a call.

I guess it can vary. Last time was a week. I had them fix a jack socket at the same time.

You might roll your sleeves up and service your old Ford, but you wouldn't touch a Ferrari. Same for my basses. I drop them off at the Bass Gallery and they come back playing like a million dollars.

I've had that. The cat must have been asleep inside my Mesa Boogie 118 when I loaded up the car. At the gig I put the cab down on the pavement and was surprised to see our tabby fly out and freeze!! I managed to get a hold on a back leg and throw it into the car. No gentleness or niceties, we were on a very busy road and by that time the bloody thing had scratched my arm and hand to pieces!

Our roadie forgot to pick up the singer on one gig. He arrived at the gig with the PA and no front man. We were bass, drums and guitar, and had to scrape a couple of set lists together in 20 mins. We all sang a couple of songs (even me) and played a few instrumentals, then we asked if anyone in the audience would like to do a number. A guy in a suit got up and sang some rock and roll in the style of Johnny Rotten on speed. This was 5 years before JR. We also had a guy who was transitioning into a woman! He got up and did a strip to us playing Green Onions. He got everything out, meat and two veg and a pair of boobs!! We made it through the night and even got an encore! I wish someone had recorded it.

You mean these guys aren't on WhatsApp or Facebook?