pietruszka

I've always been keen on the OLPs. Great basses for the money. But yes, if you can push to a SUB then do so, they are excellent. Even James Brown's bass player had one, so they can't be that bad! Dan

I think contribution points are in order for TRBboy! Either that or you have shares in Sandberg. I have to admit I'd love the jigsaw bass they have on the custom page. Keep 'em coming! Dan

[quote name='jackhammer' timestamp='1335181750' post='1626739'] I have a Fleabass, and as much as I love flea, don't bother, nice looking bass, but hard to play and doesn't really have much of a sound, I imagine with a new pickup it would be ok however [/quote] Says it all really. When I first heard about them I thought "Great! That's an excellent idea, they'll fly off the shelves". The problem ended up being the bass them selves and the fact they were about £450 when they first hit the shops. Way over priced! Dan

Thanks Hector! That certainly gives me something to work with, I'll have a play around in the next few days with what you've suggested. Could I PM you if I have any questions about it please? Dan

I have had the misfortune to play a flea bass and it was the most appalling excuse of a bass I have ever played. Badly built and finished with a mediocre sound. From someone (Flea) who is the reason most people including myself have started playing bass, I personally find it unacceptable. As a few others have said, Yamaha make great basses in the lower budget. I'll admit they're not the best things out there but their quality control is extremely consistant. Browse the for sale section and see whats out there for your money. Play as many as you can in shops, friends basses, even find basschatters near you and see if you can try what they have. Hope you find something you can settle on. Dan p.s Sorry the brutal response! They really are bad though!

Cheers! I thought thats what would happen but as I said, I'm by no means a solo'er. That's also what I have been doing as well, playing the groove then I play each chord as stabs in 3 with the drummer. Thanks again for the answer. Dan

Hi, I had a gig with my function band and we usually finish on 'Sing It Back' by Moloko, cheesy I know. We do part of the track where every one takes turn to solo as the singer introduces the audience to who's been playing for them. My question is this, Im not by any means a player who can solo but I do it when its needed and at times struggle. Whats the rule, if you like, for soloing over something like this? Do I stay on the Eb or move with the chords? Thank you! Dan

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1334933040' post='1623712'] i've played a couple of open air gigs on large stages with the same amp as you and I two Markbass 2 x 10"'s. Didn't go through the P.A. Infact it was all pretty much our standard gig set up, ( can't recall what the P.A. was) Anyway volume wasn't a problem. The problem I encountered was with my amp cutting out. It was a momentary thing but happened a number of times during the gig. I thought at first that the amp was playing up but realised after a while that it was something to do with the generator. The amp has never missed a beat on any other occassion, indoors or out, just that one gig with the generator. Sorry can't tell you why it happened, although I suspect the supply was just not consistent enough. I suppose the advice would be look for a high spec generator, if there is such a beast. [/quote] Good call on the generator issue! I wouldn't have thought of that! I feel I must add that my cab was more than loud enough, and coped perfectly well, infact it seemed to enjoy being pushed that much and sounded incredible! It was MarkBass 410 to. Dan

I can't tell you much about PA's for that kind of thing, but all backline WILL be DI'd/mic'd. You can't expect your amp to hold itself in that situation. It will used as stage monitoring effectively. Don't be surprised to crank your amp a bit more than what you normally have to, I've done it before just to hear myself but it really does depend on the size of the stage you're playing on. The last outdoor gig I did I had my amp on about 2 o'clock instead of the more usual 11 o'clock ish, and that was an 800watt 410 cab and to 8,000 people. If the organisers are asking you for the equipment list, ring a pro PA hire place and ask them what size PA you'll need to hire for that size of crowd and of course size of outdoor space. Hope you get sorted! Dan

[quote name='mistermark' timestamp='1334852313' post='1622410'] Dan, I'll see if I can scrounge up some recordings I've done with this bass. Might take a while... -Mark [/quote] Nice one! I'll keep checking back. I look forward to it! Dan

Ha! I briefly played for mark in the victors. Awesome guitarist! Dan

My country blues band are supporting Ahab on the 9th May at the Cluny 2 in Newcastle, Im looking forward to it and it'll be an awesome gig! Check us out at [url="http://www.facebook.com/chloeandthehightides"]http://www.facebook.com/chloeandthehightides[/url] and ahab at [url="http://www.ahabofficial.com"]http://www.ahabofficial.com[/url] Hope to see and meet some of you there! Dan

Is Mark Stamper your guitar player? Dan

[quote name='mistermark' timestamp='1334816226' post='1621613'] Have had my Stingray since the early 90's and although I loved the feel, playability and over all construction of the bass I always found myself disliking the metallic high end rattle this bass seemed to inherently have. I always like the sound of a Fender Precision bass so I took out the active electronics and had the body and a custom pick guard routed for P-bass pickups (quarter pounders). I call it the P-Ray and it gives me the best of both worlds... I still get the amazing playability of the Stingray while having a warmer woodier tone from the passive P-bass pickups (which are moved forward a bit from the orignal block pickup). -Mark [/quote] Woh! I've never seen anything like it. Please put some sound clips of it up. Dan

Where was this when I needed it!? I played this at a mates recital last year and it was great fun! Though I simplified the crazy fills somewhat as we only had 3 days to rehearse it. Im by no means a rush fan but I do like this track. Good find! Dan

[quote name='spinynorman' timestamp='1334788845' post='1621482'] Thanks. We're a pub band, with quite a wide range, so there will be some overlap, but some of the set could be difficult. Also the band's named after the singer, so it would be a bit odd turning up with someone else. She's a bit insecure as well, so don't know how she'd take it. If we were a function band and deps were part of it from the start it would have been easier. [/quote] Don't forget if you have a dep in, the band is still the same. They're depping for the band and it isn't a new band. As for insecurities, just reassure reassure reassure. If the dep is good then theres nothing to worry about! I've always worked on the premise that if I didn't feel the person was up to it I wouldn't put them on stage.[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1334823651' post='1621720'] We all tend to get precious over our projects. Deps is the way to go. You don't HAVE to play the complex tunes. Put together a dep band with guitarist, call it something else. My 6 piece band once got booked for a gig. I knew the sax player couldn't do it when I took the booking. But then the drummer, keys and singer all dropped out. I found a dep singer who knew about 50% of our usual tunes. She emailled me a list of hers. The week before the guitarist came round my house and we put together some tunes from her list. The first time the guitarist, singer and drummer met was at the gig. Usually the person booking you is ok if you explain the situation well enough in advance and offer them the opportunity to cancel and book someone else. Normally they happy as you've saved them the hassle. [/quote] Yep! I love those kind of gigs, they wake you up a bit and keep you on your toes! When we had the last singer/guitarist in we played a very popular professionals night club in Newcastle, but when I turned up we had a different drummer who was more a blues drummer than an everything drummer. No this wasn't unusual but it suddenly dawned on me "what are we going to play?". We had the usual "what do you know?!" before each set and managed 2 hours of on your toes fun that night! Dan

Wow! The wizard of oz as it should have been! I haven't done it and I'm not aware of any stage productions of it either. Good luck with it! I'm kinda jelous to! Dan

It's a hell of an effort, what helps is putting the 'no deps' thing to one side. It makes things very difficult as you end up cancelling and any good working band will have deps. I have deps for everyone in my band and have had to use them for all but the singer. After all most function bands (assuming thats what you do) will share a fair majority of the set so learning new tracks tends to be minimal and quick and painless. Hope you get sorted! Dan

[quote name='Bassmekanik' timestamp='1334673437' post='1619498'] My main playing bass is a Ric 4003SPC. I recently acquired a MM Stingray 2EQ (through this here forum in fact) and I love it. Ive never been a fan of Fenders, just never got on with them. They felt unwieldy on me so I wasnt sure what to expect from the MM. Happily I can say that my MM is great and i am glad I bought one. Originally it was just to be a back up but it will probably be used a lot more now that ive decided to semi-retire my Ric to the house because i like the MM so much (the Ric is rare and I dont like heaving it all about for rehearsals/gigs so much). [/quote] I know exactly what you mean about Fenders, I've only ever played one good one, and I've tried a lot! I just can't get on with them. When I learnt that Music Man is essentially Fender by founder, I pretty much ate my own hat! Dan

I've never seen them before and I cant wait. Plus, it's a Tuesday so I won't have a gig, fingers crossed! I don't have a lot by them but what I have heard is great. My old ska band covered Bonin' in The Boneyard which was so much fun to play. Dan

I've just heard that Fishbone will be playing Trillians in Newcastle on November 6th. A bloke who has done 2 of my bands photos is taking photos for them. Get it in yer diaries! Dan

Hi, When my Dad was teaching in Ashmole High School we was doing the pub circuit with his best music students because they wanted gig when they were 15 ish, of course, with their parents permission. The singer ended up working for Simon Cowel on several occasions being in the live band on X-Factor for the finalists, Paul Sayer played guitar in it if I remember correctly. Theres always wedding bands if he's up to the standard, Dan Sells (The Feeling) was fronting wedding bands in his mid teens. Its easily possible for the young'ns to do it given the situation will accommodate, and should help them massively. Do their parents play? Friends of their parents? Could he take your place every now and then? Dan

They sit really well in a band, my fretless just fills and sits brilliantly in my rockabilly band. It records well to. Play a bit harder on the strings over the pick up and it really does sound Stingray esk. I was on thomann.de earlier today, they have plenty of Sandbergs and are cheap to. [quote name='Conan' timestamp='1334606502' post='1618524'] Oh? What kind? [/quote] I have a Basic fretless 4 string. in blue, 'cos blue is awesome. Dan

Just buy one! I bought a Sandberg with out trying it and haven't regretted it! They're fantastic basses and you won't be disappointed! Dan