mike257

I always try and learn how to set up everyone else's gear too, because mine's only a 2 minute job. I can do the drummer's kit just as quick as him now, and the guitar stuff is a breeze to do. It brings the set-up time right down, and saves the day if there's any problems or one person is held up. Well worth doing.

All the best mate, hope it works out for you. I'm only [i]slightly[/i] jealous!!

When I mounted mine, I bought a generic rack shelf like this one, but a 1U version: [attachment=23961:1ushelf.jpg] I sat the receiver on top of it, and used a cunning combination of cable ties and electrical tape through the vent holes to hold it in place. It's sat happily in the top of my rack for 3 years and never once thought about coming loose. It also gives you a handy place to anchor cable ties etc to keep the back of your rack tidy, or a space to stick a DI box or other gadgets that take your fancy. Mike

[quote name='funkypenguin' post='464630' date='Apr 17 2009, 02:16 AM']There, in my opinion, lies part of the problem. many people who play a 'popular instrument', guitar, bass etc. dont play the instrument to practice and progress to be as good as they can be, they practice till they are good enough to play and sound how they know producers are going to want them to sound (with the aim of getting a deal). i know there are exceptions, and i am generalising to a degree, but by and large IMHO this is what happens. Popular musicians coming through nowdays have very little (if any) grounding in music theory. they get set patterns, tabs and basic progressions and utilise those as the staple ingredients in their music, rather than trying out new ideas and moving outside the 'box'.[/quote] I've been playing for ten years, and play to a pretty decent standard, but my goal has [i]never[/i] been to play to a 'virtuoso' standard, or to work every scale, chord and mode into my bass playing. I love music, and I love it because of the emotional impact a great song can have on a person (or a room full of people). In my head, it's always been about songs first and foremost. The comparison between Oasis and Extreme is a perfect case in point. I'm not a massive fan of either band, but I can respect both of them. Certainly nobody in Oasis is half as capable on their instrument as Nuno and co, but you won't see 60,000 people in a field singing their hearts out because they feel so uplifted by 'Get The Funk Out'. There will always be bands that are full of super-gifted players, but the music industry wants bands that people - ordinary non musician people off the street - can connect with.

I swear by Cali JM4, it's done everything I've asked it to so far. When I first picked it up, I was playing fast, heavy rock music, and it displaced my Stingray no problem. Got a nice blend between the MM and J pickup, and it had grind and depth to spare. I'm playing in an Americana/Alt-Country type band now, with 3 singing guitarists and a slide player. Thrown a set of flats on, roll off the treble, and stick to the neck pickup, and it's massive. I couldn't imagine using anything else now. I'm seriously considering trading my 'ray for another Sandberg, and if you'd suggested that to me 12 months ago I'd have laughed you out of town. I'm with the angry mob on the heavy relicing though, ruins a gorgeous bass!

I've always loved the sound, more so the T-birds and the Grabber/Ripper/G3 than the EB stuff. I've heard some great dirty aggressive rock tones out of them. The bass sound on Cave In's Antenna album is fantastic, I think that's a Ripper. I'd have one in a heartbeat. Always been intrigued by the Les Paul basses, because you hardly ever see anybody playing them. I've only ever heard good things about them though.

I've just made a similar move - 'downsized' my Ampeg 410 and 115 to an SVT610. I'm over the moon with it, loving the sound. All science aside, it seems to have the low-end extension I previously felt was missing from my setup. The big tiltback wheels are a winner for moving it around too, it's dead easy. Dood's Epifani looks great, I'd have tried something like that if my budget stretched to it. If you're wondering about size, it's about 8 inches shorter than my 410/15 stack was. If you can pick one up second hand, you're onto a winner, I'd say go for it.

[quote name='OldGit' post='458101' date='Apr 9 2009, 09:08 AM']OT but Jesus loves an SG, specially a triple PU white one with Bigsby ..[/quote] Love it! Coincidentally, also my favourite lookin' SG.... one day, one day. I'd have to say Jazz, based on what I'm using every day right now, but I've got a sneaking feeling a P might sound ace with the new band, so I'm keen to try one. That Sandberg PM4 in the for sale is giving me sleepless nights!

It's something that plays on my mind, I've always said I'd do it in a heartbeat, but as the years roll on (ripe old age of 24, rapidly approaching my quarter century!!) there's more and more to lose. I'd be leaving behind my band, a comfortable career with (allegedly) prospects, and most significantly, my girlfriend, who has told me in no uncertain terms that if I was spending x amount of months gallavanting round on tour while she stayed home alone, that'd be the end of the relationship, no questions asked. Two years ago, I'd have said yes with utmost confidence. Now I'm not so sure

I've just picked up an Ampeg SVT610 for a touch under £500 second hand, and I'm absolutely over the moon with it. I used to be of the mind that big bottom meant big speakers, but I've seen the error of my ways now!! I think they're about £800 brand new, but if you can spot a second hand one anywhere I'd recommend trying it out, been using mine for a few weeks with my SVT3 and it's the happiest I've ever been with my sound.

I went for number 4. If it feels good it doesn't matter. My number one bass now is a Sandberg, which is hand-made in a small workshop, and the quality of it absolutely blows away anything else I own - but I'll still happily get on stage with my modded Squier too, and the 'Extreme' Jazz bass I won in the basschat raffle has come out great after a few tweaks to the hardware. I think it's hard to find a genuinely bad instrument now, with the quailty of manufacturing having been cranked right up in the likes of Korea and Indonesia. The recent SX love-in on here showed that a well made cheap instrument can find a home amongst the most boutique collections.

Good taste? I'm not sure I'd go that far I do think the change of drummer between Crisis and the old stuff made a world of difference to them, they just sound so much better with the new guy, he's a beast!!

Saw 'em live last year - You're gonna need a P, a pick, and a dirty dirty Ampeg. Textbook, really. Love that tone, and that album too!! [b]EDIT:[/b] The internet is making a liar of me - every picture of them shows him playing a natural Jazz, but I'd have sworn he had a shiny red Precision last time they were in Manchester. Maybe old age is catching up with me, I am almost 25 after all.

[quote name='Jack' post='438608' date='Mar 18 2009, 08:05 PM']The exception is the people who EXPECT to use my rig.[/quote] Exactly the problem. I'm actually sharing my rig with someone tomorrow, but they emailed me well in advance saying their amp was in for repair, and they weren't 100% sure it'd be back in time. If someone's stuck like that, and they've bothered to ask, I don't mind so much. I remember one gig, a guy took offence because our guitarist wouldn't lend him his Orange head. He stormed off with his bandmates, calling us all kinds of a***holes, and then got back in his car, went literally half a mile back to his practice room and was back in 5 minutes with his own tasty expensive valve head. I mean, why buy nice kit, and not bother using it?? They'd brought virtually no gear along. It mystifies me. We got the evils all night off him and his band, even though we were sharing cabs and shells with them. Morrison was right, people [i]are[/i] strange!

[attachment=22295:Samuel_L.jpg] [quote]I have had enough of these mo'fuggin bass on this mo'fuggin plane![/quote] Samuel L ain't having any of it.

I've always thought they looked pretty nifty, never had the chance to try one out. [url="http://www.guitar.co.uk/guitars/bass/1747-italia_modulo_tipo_1_bass_guitar"]This[/url] one looks pretty cool, nice take on the Fender style. One pickup for each string is a pretty crazy look too!

[quote name='jonthebass' post='437120' date='Mar 17 2009, 12:29 PM']I leant my Mesa Boogie 2x15", 800W, cab to a mate once and he blew one of the speakers as he needed to 'give it some grunt' as he put it![/quote] Jesus H Christ, what was he putting through it to blow one of those? I've been on the receiving end of having gear blown up by other people, and having to pay out (a not insignificant amount) to our local rip-off amp tech for repairs myself. Consequentially, I don't do head sharing, except on very rare occasions with friends I know and trust. I'm happy to share my cabs though, when you're one of four or five bands on a gig, you don't want to be tripping over five lots of bass cabs on stage! The worst things are what we used to term 'sticks and a smile' bands - usually with an average age of seventeen, who stroll in to the venue with three gig bags, one pair of drumsticks, and a whole lot of wishful thinking! DI boxes all round then, boys!

If you wanted to go for a hardcase, there's a couple of second-hand Hiscox LiteFlites floating round the 'For Sale' section. I've just picked one up to keep a Jazz-shaped bass in and it's ace. Probably fit in your car just fine too, it's bass-shaped, not a big rectangular monstrosity. Round about the price you're after too.

[quote name='anewmusicproject' post='392048' date='Jan 26 2009, 07:38 PM']Are you a bassist looking for an interesting project? We are a fairly well known originals band based in Manchester with our own practice room. We play all our gigs to visuals with a click for timing & are trying to put together an amazing live show for a mini tour & are working on recording the last few tracks of an album. We got tons of contacts in Manc and London (PR/Lawyers/Dist etc) to release our own records on and offline. If you fancy making an impact on the international indie scene then get in touch. Influences: Radiohead, Elbow, Muse, Doves etc[/quote] As much as this looks right up my street, I'm just not available enough to do it at the moment. Have you got anything for us to listen to though, just out of curiosity? I'd love to hear it, sounds like it'll be great! I'm only up the M62, I'll put the word out if I see anybody round here who'd be up for it. Mike

I've owned a pair of EBMM 'rays, and I always found they did the job when I was playing in full on rock bands. I went from the good old 2 guitar drums and vox, to a monster band with 3 guitarists, synths, drums and two singers, and never had any trouble cutting through the mix. It's all changed now though, I'm in a much more laid back band, there's still a couple of guitarists, but very stripped back, and it's driven by the acoustic guitar and a slide player. I've got so much more 'space' for my bass sound to sit in, but the Stingray just doesn't work in it. I tried it for a rehearsal the other day, and it was like something didn't gel, but nobody could put their finger on it. As soon as I changed back to my Sandberg, everything just sounded so much more together. It's like it can cut through a claustrophobic mix, but can't fill the space in something more open sounding. I don't know if I've fallen out of love with my dream bass, or if I've finally realised why people have more than one [i]different[/i] instrument in their collection!

Yeah, it was Chunky last time I was in there! I've only just seen this thread, I'd have kept tonight free if I'd know you were in this neck of the woods, I'm only the other side (the right side ) of the Mersey! Have a good'un anyway!!

I don't think it is another new bunch, just read this on the Rose Lane website: [quote]Rose Lane Music is on the move folks... Along with being on the move, we're also changing our name! We will soon be fully and wholly known as 'GAS Factory'. Some of you in the know will already know that we have recently opened a GAS Factory store in Liverpool City Centre and the all new GAS Factory website will be up and running very soon (at www.GASFactory.co.uk).[/quote]