derrenleepoole

Yolanda is an amazing bassist with a personality to match! I've met her a couple of times and she's always approachable and gracious and has great patience for people who want to ask questions. She even lets you play her gear

Well, just done an afternoon gig at the first Darwen Jazz & Blues festival, and the little Promethean performed brilliantly. The venue was the new 3 in 1 Bar, dedicated to live music etc. The room was for about 80-110 people absolute maximum, ended up with about 50 in the room I think. Not a massive venue, but big enough. The room was quite lively, not the easiest to hear yourself in. I propped the Promethean up against the back wall and used a Trace Elliot BLX extension speaker just for a bit more headroom. Played the gig with my shortie SX J-bass fretless, and the tone absolutely kicked! The amp had no noise at all, and volume in buckets with a strong and punchy tone as you'd expect for a 2x10 setup. The J-bass has a quiet output, so I drove the input and master gains at about 5.30 ish. The EQ was the real life saver here, as I pushed the lower and mid mids to get a much louder and direct tone that really cut through. There was no distortion, no hiss, no performance issues at all - interestingly the guitarist and keyboardist had issues with their amps phasing! All were running from the same feed and the Promethean didn't bat an eyelid. The real bonus was that at the end of gig I had someone coming over to see just what was the little amp was that was filling the whole room with bass! It was a nice compliment really, because on stage the sound was difficult to make out. But from the admirers point of view, he said the bass really was bassy, loud, articulate and easy to hear! I think I persuaded him to buy one I've recorded the gig, so it will interesting to hear how the bass sounded from out front.

[quote name='jasethebass' post='932092' date='Aug 21 2010, 06:20 PM']I understand that to play Jazz well takes a lot of musicianship but everytime I hear an album or see a jazz gig it just leaves me cold. Ive been playing bass for 22 years, all genres all styles but I just dont get it! Im not askin for negatives about jazz, I just need help to hear what everyone else hears from jazz. As Ive said no "Jazz Haters" comments just help me understand. Thanks. J [/quote] Just out of curiosity, what music do you like or aspire towards as a musician? 'Jazz' is a loaded term, and as a 'genre' is incredibly diverse. I bet I could name a few groups and acts that you'd love that come under the banner jazz, but to other peoples ears might be more akin to rock etc!

Sounds great mate! A very good way to start One trick I was taught is this: when mixing and you want to check the overall balance of the mix etc, turn the level right down until it's really quiet, almost inaudible... this helps to identify if anything in the mix is too loud by comparison to anything else as it will jump out and will be noticeable more when quiet. Mixing is a tricky thing, but I've enjoyed it when I've done it. I guess as long as it's audible and isn't too harsh on the ears then in my book it's a good mix. All I would say is you need to get the output level of the mix up significantly.

+1 to the above. If you're thinking of the Trace route though, and you don't need masses of volume, the small bit mighty BLX combo range are great - these are the ones that have the rectangular slit down the front. There's an 80 watt and 130 watt version. The 130 watt version is much more adaptable as it can take an extension speaker and has DI out. This is the 80 watt version with no balanced DI:

An absolute no to Behringer! A lot of bang for the buck, but poor reliability issues etc. You get what you pay for basically! In that price range, I'd be looking at a used Trace Elliot combo or even head and separates. Built like tanks, great tone, plenty of volume for your needs and will last a life time. There's one for sale on BC at the moment and bang on your price range: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=99482"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=99482[/url] Failing that, maybe a used Ashdown combo system - quite a few come in or around that price range and will work just as well.

Purchased a used Gotoh bridge. In perfect condition and posted very quickly. Superb stuff and very happy

I had a P-Lyte and really, really regret getting rid of mine! The weight is excellent, and the necks play really nicely. The J-P pup arrangement should be really nice on yours. A nice instrument to upgrade too if you feel you want to change or mod the pickups. Great buy, you'll love it

[quote name='twowheeledwriter' post='929545' date='Aug 19 2010, 11:08 AM']Tonight our band is playing at the local naturist camp at Cap d'Agde on the south-east French coast. The venue is a bar at a naturist camp site. Cap d'Agde is well-known for it's naturist facilities and attracts people from all over Europe, especially Germans. I'm guessing that concentrating on playing the bass might be difficult when confronted with a naked/semi-naked audience. To answer the most obvious question, no, I will not be hiding naked behind my bass as I expect to be dressed, as will the rest of the band.[/quote] Just sling your bass low and away you go

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='929362' date='Aug 19 2010, 08:50 AM']I posted a 50w practice combo the other day and was amazed at just how bad the postage was - £25 on Parcel Force 48. I kind of knew when I saw this, it was just his way of saying "Buyer collects". He is new to the site and doesn't realise you can just select that option. I'd love to know how to get the prices down. I always seem to spend a fortune on postage costs & would love to get it down.[/quote] I use work's courier service, and quite often don't pay more than £17.00 on most items. If you can do this, that's the way to go. Everything is insured, and if it goes tits up you have work to back you up on a claim! I recently sent an Ashdown Little Giant fully boxed to Holland, Royal Mail wanted £45 to post it, the courier cost me £13 in the end!

Oh my! I went passed 3.30!

How about a lovely [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Peterson-150W-Bass-Amplifier-Combo-/220652953433?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL#ht_500wt_1154"]Peterson 150w combo[/url] - a great bit of kit, and only £250! This are fab amps Or, what about the [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EBS-CLASSIC-SESSION-60-BASS-GUITAR-COMBO-AMPLIFIER-AMP-/320553640615?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL#ht_1668wt_913"]EBS session 60 combo[/url] for £270 - they seem to get good reviews.

I'm famous for being an idiot and over opinionated, and I own all my own basses... does that count?

[quote name='Clarky' post='928314' date='Aug 18 2010, 08:05 AM']Seems to me that there's a big confusion in this thread between technical ability and musicality. I would have thought an awful bassist is someone who has no empathy/fit/vibe with the band he/she plays in.[/quote] Nail on the head for me there! I think that's what I was trying to say in my earlier posts, but it came out as possibly arrogant or misconstrued! I have little time for technical bassists (who are undoubtedly brilliant in their own regard) but aren't necessarily musical with it. This in turn pushes the argument towards perceptions of taste, and as we all know, everyone differs on this. An interesting thread nonetheless.

I think I might of been heading in the direction of becoming a gear snob - read basschat doesn't help But more recently I've mellowed out a lot, and while it would be lovely to own a really top end custom job, I'm happy with my lot. As a result, my playing isn't suffering

[quote name='henry norton' post='927420' date='Aug 17 2010, 12:06 PM']If you feel you must spend big money on portable amps I still rate the Gallien Krueger MB150, which will be plenty loud enough for your needs and just about meets your budget.[/quote] +1 on this amp too...

[quote name='Killstarz' post='927396' date='Aug 17 2010, 11:45 AM']What sort of Wattage will i need? I was thinking something around about 150w? am i right?[/quote] That power would be fine. The more power you have just gives you more headroom really, but isn't needed. The Phil Jones Briefcase would be ideal for you. But any amp in that power range would work fine. Some amps will produce better tone compared with others, some will be lighter or heavier etc. Will you be playing acoustic upright bass, or acoustic hollow bodied bass, or just good old electric?

There's been plenty of discussion and praise recently for the Ibanez Promethean 10" combo amp, of which I'm a user. A little bit more expensive than your price range, but it's a very versatile performer and the head is removable for use with other cabs. They go for just under £500 now. In that price range you may get a Phil Jones Briefcase second hand. Not massively powerful at 100 watts, but absolute quality of tone etc is guaranteed and very portable. Alternative, there are some second hand SWR Workingman pro 12" combo's knocking about on eBay for under £400 - quite a bit less in some cases, and they are very good for the money. Small and portable, yet powerful enough for your needs. Or, if you want to save some money but still have a good tone, the little Gallien Krueger Backline combo amps have always impressed me. Then there are the new range of Hartke Hydrive combos too. Lots to choose from

I'm gigging mine again on Sunday at a jazz/blues festival in Darwen, small to medium sized room I think. I'll try to take note of the sound properly and write up my experiences. I usually use mine with a Trace Elliot BLX 10" extension speaker too, just to give a bit more umph and headroom and don't DI We don't play loud anyway, but it's nice to have that extra speaker for a fuller tone.

This pops up every couple of weeks or so, still bloody funny though

[quote name='KevB' post='926650' date='Aug 16 2010, 04:34 PM'] [/quote] The Boosh are just pure genius, that just brought a huge smile to my face

You know, if you're ever feeling charitable

Great review mate, I love PJB stuff also and that setup looks superb.

[quote name='Clarky' post='926546' date='Aug 16 2010, 03:16 PM']At the risk of turning you into a purple, vein-busting Hulk-type creature, Bilbo, what is so bad about the bassline of Moondance - sounds like (an admittedly pop-inflected) take on a standard Jazz walking bass line to me???? Would have thought that anything that brought Jazz closer to mainstream consciousness would be appreciated by you, rather than vilified??? Genuinely curious here, not trying to rattle cages[/quote] *Popcorn time*