jonny-lad

Not sure why some people book bands for their weddings, but it's worth bearing in mind that if you've played in wedding bands, you've had far more experience with what does and doesn't work than the bride and groom would...You can advise them, but they'll want things according to what they have always imagined their wedding would be like (however unrealistic this may be), so there will still be plenty of wedding gigs where the band plays to an empty room! I'd much rather play weddings than work a boring day-job though, even if they aren't the most exciting gigs in the world!

I was shocked at how good my Peavey TNT sounded the other night when I used it instead of my Little Mark II and Warwick 411 Pro, as I suspected I'd be expected to let the other band use my amp. Having thought about it though, I remember that the only reason that I upgraded was because I needed more volume at the time, and the Peavey is a loud amp anyway! I think it's the 15inch speaker that I like the sound of, so I'll have to have a think about a new cabinet for the Little Mark II sometime in the future when I have the funds to pay for one...doesn't have to be an expensive one though!

I played through my Peavey TNT last night - first time I've used it with the covers band I was playing with. It's my back-up to a Little Mark II and a Warwick 411PRO and I took it because there was a band on before us who we thought might be expecting to use our backline. IME, and from what I've heard, Peavey's are rock solid and reliable so I took it knowing that I wouldn't need to worry too much about the other band. My sound onstage was awesome - full and smooth with plenty of bottom end, with the amp set completely flat...Now I remember why I'm so unwilling to ever part with the Peavey! The only reason I got the other rig was because I wanted a backup and needed a bit more power for the (far too) loud band I was playing with at the time. That's not to say that the Peavey isn't loud - it's plenty loud for any gigging situation that I can think of, unless you're playing against a really loud drummer, or playing big gigs without PA support. Both were a problem when I demoted my Peavey to backup (due to arrogant band members), but that's not a problem now, so I'm sure it'll be out on the road with me a lot more from now on!

I'd like to try some of the new Acoustic Amps, but as far as I know, there's no sign of them being available in the UK yet!

[quote name='TheButler' post='555101' date='Jul 29 2009, 02:11 PM']I've played guitar for a number of years and so have been able to take on bassing duties[/quote] Yeah, because if you play guitar that means you can play bass too because it has only four strings!!?....NOT! They sound pretty pathetic to me and clearly don't have much understanding of the role of a bass in a band. Furthermore, their use of e-mails is, IMO, a cowardly way to deal with the issue - I'd like to see if they'd say all of those things to your face...probably not! I think in these situations, you can really get a good understanding of what some people are really like and as far as I can tell, you've had a lucky escape! It always takes a while to find the perfect band, but once you go through some rubbish like this a few times, you'll find something good - just got to keep trying! It always gives you the opportunity to try something new aswell, so it's never as bad as it first seems. Good luck with finding something new!

+1 for the MXR M80. I like mine!

My Peavey TNT sounds great, has never let me down, and although it doesn't get too much use, I'd be very reluctant to ever get rid!

I'd assume it would be played in D with all strings tuned down a semi-tone, although I play it in Db with standard tuning. There's nothing in there that strikes me as needing open strings so get by fine with standard tuning.

I tend to write some kind of chart or lead sheet for most songs I learn, and then I annotate them as the band leader changes the arrangements. I think the way I write the charts with really clearly defined sections helps me to remember the songs well once I'm playing without the charts. I also pay attention to the underlying chord changes to help me remember - if I know these well, I'll always be able to play a bass line that fits, even if it's not exactly the same every time. Not sure my techniques would work equally as well for everyone, but they work well for me. I think writing things down helps me to remember things as I'm learning the songs as I write the parts. I also think that the visual aspect helps me a lot in that I can picture the structure based on how I wrote it out. As for the second question, I tend to be okay playing the songs without mistakes and without playing to the tracks. I always commit a lot of time to making sure that I know things inside out though, even if I've only got a week to learn it in, and I've found a method of learning that really works well for me.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='533043' date='Jul 5 2009, 02:35 PM']Yes, indeedy. A golden age for bass players. OTOH, RIP Shergold, H&H, Acoustic and other deceased 70's brands.[/quote] The Acoustic brand is back, although there's no sign of it coming to the UK as far as I've heard! [url="http://www.acousticamplification.com/"]http://www.acousticamplification.com/[/url]

Maybe it would be worth building a separate cabinet for just the amp, so you could use it as just a head into any cabinet you fancy...keep the combo cabinet as it is so you can just put the amp back in if or when you decide to sell it on.

I heard that the D'addario preludes are quite good for a student budget string, although I've never tried them. They're £72.42 for a set at the string zone. [url="http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/d-addario-prelude-double-bass-strings-set"]http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/d-addario-p...ass-strings-set[/url]

It's difficult to judge how you play without seeing you play, but hearing that you don't use your middle finger would lead me to expect to see a way of playing that could potentially lead to problems in the future, even if you find it comfortable to play now...I could be wrong, but that's what I'd expect to see. I think it's worth bearing in mind that people who develop conditions like tendonitis and RSI haven't developed them because they've always played in a way that put them in pain or caused constant discomfort...I've known and worked closely with at least two people who have developed these kinds of problems and in both cases it has been subtle elements of their technique and posture that has caused them, and of course, this has caught them out when the problems have arisen. I consider myself lucky to have never developed any issues, despite always being well aware of them (my guitar teacher had tendonitis) and working hard to develop good technique and posture, and I sometimes find it difficult to understand the arguement that if it works for you, it's okay. I agree with that arguement in a sense, but anyone who loves to play bass and wants to play bass in the long run could do a lot worse than re-evaluate technique to make sure that they always will be able to play, even if they are comfortable at the moment.

The Acoustic 360 always springs to my mind when people mention the 70s. Phil Lynott used one with a precision, aswell as using ampeg amps.

[quote name='hubrad' post='522756' date='Jun 24 2009, 05:27 PM']How about a new forum for Other Related Musical Personnel Wanted and Available? It strikes me there are quite a few multi-instrumentalists on here, plus most of us will know of other players.[/quote] +1 Couldn't agree more!

Even if you can get away with not using your middle finger, it would be worth getting used to it just to make sure that you don't have to completely relearn your technique to play something that would require it in the future. I'd take on board any criticism from guitar teachers too and learn from it - if it's noticeable enough for people to comment on it then it's probably worth considering the potential problems with it...there are long term problems that can be caused by certain stresses through floors in technique, so I'd aim to get everything as perfect as possible so you keep playing for years and years. The one finger per fret technique works best for me. I couldn't play like that straight away but it's definately been beneficial persevering and getting used to using it all the time.

I got my thumb bitten by a dog - a real snappy little patterdale terrier that really hated me...it has since been put down for biting so many people. The only reason it managed to get my thumb was because I was shielding the family jewels and forgot to keep my thumbs tucked in!!...it wasn't bad but I had it checked out anyway and got the usual anti-biotics for a dog bite. The stupid thing is that it belonged to the singer with whom I had plenty of gigs booked at the time - he didn't seem to realise that letting his bezerk dog around someone it hates, who needs their hands to play in his band, was a bad idea...and still didn't seem to understand the potential problems after it had bitten me! I don't take my chances with that sort of thing anymore! I don't, however, believe that stopping doing things you love because of the potential risks is a particulalry fulfilling way to live your life either...I played in a band where I'd be critised if I did anything that required the use of my hands outside the band - that incudes any exercise, lifting, DIY, work in general!...it went a long way to expaining the health of the rest of the band and quickly got beyond reasonable when being part of the band meant that I wasn't allowed to have a life! I still take plenty of care though to minimise any risk of damage to my hands.

I played a half-size stentor that I thought was quite nice! +1 for factoring in the price of set-up and strings aswell!

+1 for the MXR M80 - I got one last week and it sounds great to me! The blend feature is great too to help keep some bottom end to your tone by blending the distortion with a clean signal. Very useful with the D.I. too!

[quote name='BassBus' post='423500' date='Mar 2 2009, 07:33 PM']£73 for four files from Allparts you might only use once, unless you have them already. It might not cost much more to have the job done professionally. [/quote] I got a set of small files from Focus DIY for around a tenner and lowered my double bass nut no problems...just take your time and accept that if you do mess it up you'll have to have it done professionally.

I love my Spector Rebop 5-string! It cuts through really well, great variety of tones on offer, good low-B, I like the tone pump pre-amp aswell. I was impressed with the build quality and the neck feels great! Every time I've seen anyone else using a spector, I've been impressed by the tone. Mine's the only spector I've played and I haven't really played many other 5-strings, so I can't really comment on string spacing and their lower models, but it feels good to me, and when I've heard others with lower-end models, they've always sounded great!

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='511338' date='Jun 11 2009, 03:49 PM']Flippancy aside, that is actually not true. If you go back to the origins of be-bop, most Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker solos were one, two or, less common, a maximum of 3 choruses long. The epic solos of John Coltrane came much later in modal and free jazz both of which came out of be-bop but are not, in fact, the same thing. Be-bop solos only sound long becasue most music nowadays doesn't contain any soloing as the industry has deemed any form of soloing to be 'self indulgent'. Unlike adolescent poetry about getting the elbow set to music which is, of course, art. [/quote] Weren't there certain limitations to how long a recording of a song could be due to limitations in the technology at the time? Magnetic tape recording reached America in 1945, but it wasn't used by everyone until the 50s onwards. The Bebop recordings, like Charlie Parker's, tend to be quite short, suggesting that the new technology of tape recording, which had a capacity of 20mins, came a bit too late for bebop to benefit. Bit before my time, but I'd expect to hear some longer solos live from the bebop players in those days than I would on a recording from that time. Still, I doubt they'd be anywhere near as long as some of the epic Coltrane solos! I totally agree with your last statement about the music industry deeming soloing to be 'self-indulgent'...although I don't think that attitude is at the worst it has ever been. I think it's also worth bearing in mind that Coltrane was interesting throughout his long solos (IMO), but alot of other musicians aren't, which i think is where the self-indulgence comes in, which I'm sure lots of us have been guilty of at one point or another!

I have a K&K bass max. Sounds quite good to me, although I've never used anything else. Also works well without a preamp - worked well into my Little Mark II when I tried it but I tend to use my Roland DB-500 for it, as I've only got a 4x10 for the Little Mark II.

I've just started playing this with a covers band. Never used any fuzz or overdrive on bass before so i just cranked the overdrive up on my roland DB-500 and it sounded quite good with the bridge pickup on my spector...not perfect though! I'm planning on getting an MXR bass d.i.+ and using the distortion on that as it has the blend feature and I could do with a good DI preamp to get a consistent tone to the PA when using different amps.