RhysP

[quote name='Burrito' timestamp='1494360634' post='3295393'] (I often play Kiss' Torpedo Girl at soundcheck which was actually played by Ace Frehley not Gene Simmons). [/quote] Great bass line!

[quote name='Burrito' timestamp='1494349111' post='3295250'] The difference is that Billy is taking ownership of his own condition and I agree that is the best of what Brits do. Laughing at easy targets though isn't (not that I'm suggesting that is what YOU are saying but I think this is where some tend to get it slightly wrong). [/quote] Absolutely this.

I've got a bit of a headache now.

[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1494347568' post='3295227'] I thought sting started out as a young jazz double bassist, didn't he? [/quote] He actually started playing classical guitar at the age of ten.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1494341725' post='3295133'] I'm not sure it's worth arguing... [/quote] It's not, I'm just genuinely puzzled by the purpose of this thread & the criteria being used to decide who is & who isn't "suitable". Maybe I'm just overthinking it...

So Carole Kaye starting out on guitar & moving to bass is OK but Sting doing the same thing isn't?

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1494325783' post='3294948'] Yeah -and even then, only when you change strings! [/quote] My Zons were the same. I didn't even bother checking them 99% of the time, I just knew they'd be in tune.

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1494266896' post='3294547'] My bass was in tune when I bought it . That does me. [/quote] When I worked in a music shop in the early 80s the amount of people who were totally incapable of tuning a guitar or bass was astonishing. People would bring their instruments in for us to tune them.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1494255600' post='3294383'] Steve Lukather played bass on Michael Jackson's beat it. [/quote] And all of the guitar stuff apart from the solo.

[quote name='Jenny_Innie' timestamp='1494267716' post='3294561'] That's the other way 'round though! [/quote] I thought you might say that...

I play mandolin, don't use flats though. The strings are quite long but they wouldn't be long enough to use on a bass. Mandola or bouzouki strings might be a better choice.

Sweet!

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1494258940' post='3294445'] But I wonder...if I just left it alone, how far out it might be at the end of a set. [/quote] Unless you hammer the sh*t out of your strings when you play, or the headstock gets bashed or whatever, it'll most probably be in tune. It might show as being a few cents out on a tuner, but to everyones ears it will be fine.

When I was gigging I would check the tuning before we started & that would be it.

Use lighter and/or low tension acoustic strings. I recommend Newtone Heritage strings, been using them for a few years now & they are great.

Jimi Hendrix. Apparently he played a lot of the bass stuff on the "Experience" recordings.

Sting. Very good at both.

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1494237235' post='3294141'] It was when I finally split with my ex wife some years ago, that I realised why I was doing all the running around organising the gigs, moving the PA, putting up with muso based grief ect. It was so I could get out and away from her! [/quote] I know a few people who have been in similar situations. As soon as their relationship finally fell apart their willingness to get out of the house at every available opportunity vanished. Thinking about I actually did the majority of my gigging when I was in a really terrible relationship too.

If you don't want to spend too much the Vintage Paul Brett signature 12 string is a really nice guitar. I had one for a while & was very impressed with it.

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1494168773' post='3293743'] Yes, as per the cab being connected to the footswitch input rather than the speaker input - would this damage it that quickly though? [/quote] Quite probably. If he's lucky it will just be a fuse or something but I've seen valve amps completely f***ed after a few seconds of being switched on without a speaker load. Also, if it was used without a speaker load I'd be very surprised if the warranty will cover it.

Acoustic or electric? Depends how much you want to spend but if I was to buy any acoustic 12 string then it would probably have to be a high end Guild, they just seem to do 12 strings better than anybody else.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1494153302' post='3293636'] It's good that you keep in touch anyway. I wanted to stay on my old Triumph motorcycle forum but it was in the Yahoo groups domain. All of the consequent fluff and nonsense made visiting the bit I wanted such a chore after I had no 'bike to speak of that I dropped it. [/quote] I'm still very interested in basses & guitars, I can spend hours reading about them & tinkering with them & it gives me enormous pleasure. I've also got a lot of accumulated knowledge from 38 years of playing, gigging, recording & other stuff that hopefully can still be of use to somebody on here every now & then.

If you're having the scratchplate custom made anyway then just get it reliced how you want it.

I realised in the last 18 months that a lot of the reason I still owned gear & would give myself a hard time for not playing was more down to a perceived identity than any real desire to play. I'd been playing since I was 14 & pretty much all my friends are musicians. Even though I have hardly played for years I still kept hanging onto the "musician" tag for some reason. When I made the mental adjustment & finally stopped thinking of myself as a musician about six months ago not playing anymore stopped being a source of unhappiness for me.

I stopped gigging years ago as I just didn't enjoy it. I hung onto my gear for years until I finally sold it all (apart from one bass that I hang onto purely for "investment purposes") a year or so ago. Any playing I've done over the past few years has been on acoustic guitar but I don't even do that anymore so I'll probably sell my guitars soon too.