Bottle

Sounds like you guys had an awesome time. Sorry I couldn't make this one due to church commitments (full day of practice on Saturday and then playing Sunday morning). Hope to make the next one, and get to meet a few more local bassists. Cheers, Ian

Another church-type event. Saw in the New Year at Michael-House Cafe in Cambridge with the church and the P&W band. Much food and merriment was had at the chiming in of the New Year etc. Nice glass of bubbly then packed down and pootled back to the car with the trolley and all my gear (just took the Line 6 combo with me, but a fair distance from the car to the venue) Good times! Roll on the rest of 2011 in the same vein, please!!! Ian

As other posters have pointed out, it's doable with the right strings, and if you're confident with being able to file the nut slots appropriately and adjust the trussrod if required, then should be a breeze. I've done it on me Squier P-special without any real difficulties, and I would second the other comments regarding doing it on a cheaper bass to start with. HTH, Ian

Hey Bass Guardian I'll add my £0.02 to the mix as well - I didn't even pick up the bass and play properly until I was in my 30's so don't worry about finding people of your own age-group! I've gone down a similar route to you. I'm one of two bassists in our church P&W band (and there's several more multi-instrumentalists in the team as well). Age-range is late teens to pensioners, but most are in late 20's / early 30's . Recently started going to a regular jam night in Cambridge (last one of the year was last night...funked the place out!!). I probably play twice a month for the church, on average, plus maybe two jams a month as well, just enough to stop me going rusty Practice is king, but nothing beats playing with other folk and learning some new stuff - find some folks nearby and see what pops up. I know it's done me and my playing no end of good. I was pretty nervous the first time I went up and jammed, but you'll soon get used to it, and dare I say it, even enjoy it! After all, it's all about having fun. Punters won't care than you missed the chord change from an Em to a Gm, especially if you make the transition sound convincing (ghost notes all the way!!) Anyway, just a few thoughts and experiences. Good luck in your search HTH, Ian

Can't believe I missed out on this thread before! First/Giggable rig: Bass: Ibanez GSR-180 (unmodded) Amp: Line 6 Lowdown 110 Still have it, gig with it and use it for home practice when attempting to keep the volume low Went through a transition to five-strings, then back to four again with the Squier Current rig: (link in the siggy) Bass: Ibanez GSR-180 with series/parallel mod switch Amp: GK MB-500 into EBS 4x10 (with supporting cabs, see link) Here's a piccie Ian

I've played and owned both over the last two or three years. Still sticking with 4-stringers for the time being, although my Squier is strung BEAD (actually tuned down a whole step to ADGC). Had an Ibanez 5-stringer up until last year, was OK, just didn't tick all the boxes (I've discussed this one at length in other threads ). I've recently tried a five-string Cort (GB35A), as I was interested in getting another four-banger (the GB34A) and it was all they had in stock. Sounded really nice, so might just be tempted to say 'sod it!' and get the fiver Anyhoo, can't see myself going away from four's in the [i]very[/i] near future, unless Santa is very nice to me at Christmas! I can see a fretless purchase coming up in 2011 as well......damn you, GAS! Ian

Unless you count a smidge of drive from the SansAmp to thicken/warm up the stack a bit, then no effects for me either (having just sold the ODB-3 and BSW), and generally it's only if I use the full stack (4x10, 1x15, two 1x12's) Can see myself using maybe a chorus with a fretless, if I get one, and I currently do have room for an OD/distortion of some description, but generally my signal chain is relatively uncluttered: Bass > (tuner) > lead > head > cab Job done. Ian

[quote name='algmusic' post='1054045' date='Dec 10 2010, 02:09 PM']what gear do you in this senario?[/quote] Bass > TU-2 > SansAmp > straight into desk > direct out into left channel of IEM transmitter, then aux out of desk with mix-minus-bass into right channel of IEM tx. IEM beltpack has a balance knob so I can adjust the relative level of each channel in the 'cans. That's basically it! HTH Ian

I've started relying more on the monitor mix, as it's sometimes inconvenient or inappropriate to bring my full stack (or even just some of it), one of the main reasons why I tend to use my SansAmp direct into the PA and use the headphone or IEM mix. I've also found a way of setting the PA desk to send my bass-only signal into one side of my 'cans and the mix-minus-bass into the other side. Works a treat, and is easy enough to balance the relative volumes either on the desk or at the IEM pack. Don't think it will cause me to retire the amp+cab setup, but makes get-ins and get-outs an awful lot simpler and quicker. I can get everything I need into my gigbag, and only have to make one trip in from the car, which is a godsend. I'll still use the stack for bigger gigs, where there's limited PA support or where we're outdoors HTH, Ian

[quote name='Big Mick' post='1050046' date='Dec 6 2010, 11:25 PM'] I think I may have overdone it with the speaker cable!!!!!!!!!![/quote] Hehehe Not at all - I've made all my own Speakon patch cables for my bass cabs with 2 core 4mm[sup]2[/sup] cable from Canford Audio. Also got a good deal on 4 core 4mm[sup]2[/sup] when I made up some longer lengths (for subwoofers), only 'cos they didn't have any of the two-core left! Four-core can be a bugger to wire up to the plugs, though. Nice job with the build so far, fella Ian

Well, I've recently changed the strings on my Ibby - went from the original strings (which were two-and-a-half years old) to some DR Hi-beams - this'll be the first string change on it...ever! I'm just letting the strings bed in now - bit twangy still. I'm also looking at getting a new bass in the next couple of weeks, will probably leave the stock strings on for the first few months, and then maybe go for Hi-beams on that as well - we'll see.... Ian

Played my usual Sunday morning slot for church, but we were in the cafeteria rather than the main hall, which was a shame. Couldn't use the mahoosive rig, so made do with my Line 6 Lowdown and SansAmp into the PA desk. Still, played a blinding set first off (with our lovely new worship leader - all the way from Spain - so some of the songs are in Spanish ). Then we all got up to do an impromptu couple of songs at the end of the service, which was a nice way to round off the morning. Ian PS Oh, and going to the resurrected 'Funk Jam' in Cambridge on Wednesday evening Result!

A few things on my wish-list (excluding basses - I've already got one in the pipeline) Boss RC-2 loop pedal (after seeing urb use one at the 'bash) Some sort of chorus pedal (again, bash-GAS) Some sort of OD/distortion (to replace my now-sold ODB-3) Re-amping box (possibly a Radial ProRMP - willing to look into it a bit more) Multi-channel FireWire audio interface for Reaper (my M-Audio FTP only supports up to four simultaneous input tracks) Multi-core stage lead (for pedal/effects I/O & power, and instrument inputs - can make this myself, just need the parts) Just for starters Ian

Li'l update time EHX Big Muff, JOYO OD's, CEB-3, Bad Monkey, Flashback and Micro POG came in. Some mods proposed, like having a series/parallel switch for the humbucker. Also defretting the P-Special - no need for [i]two[/i] fretted rosewood boards Now have a PT Nano+ and a Classic JR pedalbaord Basses - Squier Precision Special (defretted) - Walnut, Tuned D-Major7th (D,F#,A,C#) | Ibanez GSR180 - Black/Tobacco grainburst (Tuned EADG) (Modified S1) Squier has a random set on to get the Major/Minor Pentatonic tuning, 0.105" for the D, 0.100" for the F# (yes I know, its pretty tight!), then an 'A' and a 'D' from another set. Ibanez has DR Hibeams (Medium) 0.045" - 0.105". Squier and Ibanez both have rosewood fretboards and thinner Jazz-style necks. Amplification (Rack) - ProSound PS1000 Amp Mk II, ProSound PS12 (1x12) PA Cab x2, Behringer Ultra-Comp 2ch compressor, ProSound 2-way stereo crossover (with low-sum output) Amplification (Practice) - Line6 Lowdown 110 & 4W DIY Valve Amp Pedal Board A (Utility on Nano+) - Boss TU-2 > EHX MicroPOG > SansAmp Para-Driver DI & Digitech Bad Monkey OD into stereo X-over > Amp Pedal Board B (F/X on Classic JR) - Palmer D'Accapo reamp box > Joyo Ultimate Drive > EHX Bass Big Muff Pi > Boss CEB-3 > TC Electronics Flashback Delay > Amp(s) GAS - room for Mr Black Eterna Gold and Earthquaker Devices Organizer Old Pedal Stuff - Woolly Mammoth clone (DIY Build)

Somebody leave the echo pedal on?

PC at work has the company intranet page as a default (can't change it) My laptop's brwoser goes to IMDb.com, but BC is on the favourites bar (after BBC News, GMail and Facebook) Ian

If I'm using the full rig, then either my TU-2 first in the chain for muting, or my TU-80 hanging out of the heads' tuner-out. If I have my practice amp, then I have no real choice apart from TU-80 on the pre-out. Seems to work for me Ian

Just got in and unloaded - sure was cold. Enjoyed the day immensely - great to catch up with some old friends and make whole new ones - apologies if I didn't get round to everyone. Big shout out to all those who helped organise the event and also put on the workshops and jam room etc. All-in-all a good day. And I managed to restring the Ibby as well - result!! Well, time to chill in the lounge with a nice glass of vino (early start in the morning - can't be too late up) Will be planning to come to next years' event - will deffo have a go in the jam room next time!!! Laters taters Ian

Had a light dusting of snow here in rural Cambridgeshire overnight - looks passable. Will check for road holdups and then make a decision. Having a cuppa first, though Ian

Car is now loaded (minus basses) - can't believe I've got everything in so far (poor Polo ). Gonna be another cold one here, just hope no ice/snow in the morning....I'll check the forcast again before I head bedwards. See you guys tomorrow - looking forward to meeting up with you all TTFN, Ian

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1036221' date='Nov 25 2010, 12:34 PM']I have a few songs I play in drop D (just detuning the E down), but I've never tried going down to C. If you rarely use the G string then you could restring with the first 4 strings from a set of 5s (BEAD), but I'm not sure if this would require modding the nut to take a slightly wider B string (you could get the lightest gauge you can find).[/quote] I've done both - my Squier was the best platform for this, since it has bigger machine heads than the Ibby. I used the original string set (Fender 7250's) downtuned to DGCF with just a small trussrod tweak. After playing this way for a year, I decided to try using a spare set of 5'ers on it (dumping the high G), Hartke Bass Attack mediums - did have to file out the nut to take the 0.135" B string etc. Again, minor trussrod tweak and back in business. I use this downtuned as well, to ADGC (so it's still tuned in fourths). This way I can get a reasonable tone out of the fretted B and C, and further up the neck. [quote name='xgsjx' post='1036221' date='Nov 25 2010, 12:34 PM']Or, play higher up & get an octaver.[/quote] Not had much experience with using an octave-down - too 'synthy' for my tastes . I much prefer to put the correct strings on and get the full range of overtones from the string itself, rather than some electronic processing to get there. But that's just me.... HTH, Ian PS to the OP: I'll be at the SE bash with the Squier - you're welcome to give it a go, if you'd like