Grassie

Love all your replies chaps, you really are a nice bunch aren't you? We might have a replacement already, but it's far to early to tell if it's going to work. I will certainly consider giving it a go myself, but I've tried it before and I couldn't bear to hear myself, seriously, I have a real problem with hearing my own voice... It's weird. Thanks again!

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1344873315' post='1770455'] Respect to your thread as an individual thing but it's a common story round here - someone already mentioned to get ready for a flood of similar storie. Yes , you have to be a certain type of individual. The type that gets sick of being at the bottom end of a power struggle that hampers their opportunities to make music and decides to get to the top of that food chain because the end result justifies the means. I assure you - all that takes is practise - but for some reason many of us think practising bass for 2 hrs a day for years is worth the trouble - but practising singing isn;t. We expect to be able to sing or not straight off the bat and the journey ends if we can't. Confidence?? Front man skills?? All can be learned and all can be bluffed during the learning process. If we don't want to sing - fine. But let's not tell ourselves we can't. This weekend I'll be out playing while many musicians wish they were but were let down by a singer. I'll be playing and singing not because I'm gifted but because I believe in myself and I practised. [/quote] That's quite inspirational actually... seriously. Perhaps not such a pointless thread? Thanks man... like i said, something to think about.

[quote name='thumperbob 2002' timestamp='1344873140' post='1770450'] Anyone can front a band- all it takes ( at the start ) is a person who is comfortable being out of their comfort zone. Very easy to get into. I used to front a band or two, whilst playing bass simply because the singer we had wouldnt do anything interesting, and also kept losing their voices on the day of a gig. Its just practice, like anything. Would never class myself as a real singer though. They are a different breed. [/quote] Mmmm.... something to think about I suppose, although the reason we wanted a singer in the first place was because I had a go at it when we started, and it wasn't pretty....In my head I thought I sounded awesome, reality bit me on the arse!

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1344872230' post='1770427'] My answer has always been to learn to sing. Become the singer yourself. All it takes is the same degree of practise that other musicians put in. [/quote] We've been there. But it takes more than you've mentioned. You have to be a certain type of individual to have the confidence to front a band. If it was just about technique and being able to hold a tune then I'm sure a lot more musicians would be doing it. I get your point though. Although i disagree with your idea that this is "another pointless thread". It's neither "pointless" or "another". It's mine.

[quote name='pietruszka' timestamp='1344871994' post='1770418'] Going through it now mate. The singer in one of my bands seems to get the impression her ideas and thoughts aren't welcome all the time. She can be very difficult, I won't go into details on a public forum, but trust me it's a headache not worth having. I feel for you I really do. Dan [/quote] Been there with the female singer... too much red wine during gigs, that was her problem.

So, after what seems like an eternity rehearsing, and finally we're ready for gigs, the singer bails out on us. Cheers then, great timing... He also sings in an originals folky type duo, and recently did a local gig at a mini-festival down here. I think it may have gone to his head. He was the singer in my last band and when we were hunting for a vocalist for this new band his name came up because he is pretty good at fronting a rock band (albeit a covers band). So we got him in. Now, there has been a bit of a break for four weeks because two of us have taken time out for family holidays, plus the rehearsals have to revolve around mine and the drummers shift patterns (not an easy thing to sort). Singerboy has been aware of this but has spat the dummy cos no-one has phoned him to tell him when the next rehearsal is. I sent him a text today to let him know that we would be reconvening on Thursday, and received his resignation in return. Nice of him to wait until I've booked the rehearsal room before he decides to tell me he can't be bothered anymore... I think communication works both ways though... we've not heard anything from him either. Dare I ask if any of you lovely people have had similar experiences....?

How about this? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA6ykQMVP3Y"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA6ykQMVP3Y[/url]

Can you tell me more about the priming/topcoat? How many coats of primer do you use? What grade of sandpaper do you use? How many topcoats? What type of paint? Sorry for all the questions, but there is an Aria jazz in my local cash converter and I fancy having a go at a re-fin meself...

How does it sound? Surely you lose something tone-wise by having a bass covered in leather...

[quote name='The Legoheads' timestamp='1341790330' post='1724304'] It's odd because it looks like it's almost ready to rock and roll but when I think about it, there still shed loads of work ahead. I just need to make sure I don't jump the gun and do things in the right order. The closer you get to the end, the more critical it is not to screw something up and this being my first build, I don't have experience to guide me... [/quote] This is your[i] first [/i]bass build????? Holy cow! What are you going to come up with when you've got a few more builds under your belt? Really enjoying this thread, and I love these basses. GASsing like mad right now...

He recently opened a new charity shop here on the Island. Me, the missus and the boy went down to have a mooch and my intention was to shake his hand and have my photo taken with him. Unfortunately, I'm such a fanboy I couldn't muster the nerve! I am officially a 37 year old saddo! Mrs. Smiff has been taking the p**s ever since...

Good luck Joel. I stopped buying BGM after the last Les Claypool issue because it seemed that we were getting interviews with the same players once a year, even when they had nothing new to say. As there seems to be a new focus and drive to give us lot a decent mag again, I may well re-new my subscription.

I bought a Vintage Series SX P Bass a couple of months ago, and I have to say, my jazz hasn't had a look in since. Nice and light, tight neck pocket, great sounding bass for £159. I understand they're a bit tricky to get hold of though...

Saw Jeff playing these during Pearl Jam's set at the Isle of Wight Festival last night. The minty green one is one lovely looking bass, and has not helped my GAS at all. Mr. Lull makes some nice '51 style P-basses too, shame they're so bloody expensive!

I know that Loki (on here) did front ones on his MM Sillhouette guitar years ago, might be an idea to PM him.

I'm in...

This is gonna be good...

I seem to recall reading an Interview with Norman Watt Roy, where he went to Trevor Horn's studio to have a look at this new bit of kit he'd bought called a Fairlight sampler. To try it out TH got NWR to play his Alembic through it. The next time NWR heard his bass sound, was when either Relax or Two Tribes came out. His words were "I'd recognise the sound of my Alembic anywhere!" Or something like that anyway...

Have you still got the original pick-ups? If you have, whack 'em back in.

£200???? Are you f*****g kidding me???? I just spent £160 on an SX P bass. If i'd seen one of these for £200, I'd have snapped it up and no mistake. Bugger...

[quote name='Sean' timestamp='1336590968' post='1648149'] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Why? Because they wanted to escape from it?[/font][/color] [/quote] No, because it was very red and shiny and 80's looking...you had to be there...

I had the very same bass only a couple of years ago. I even used to use it as a back up, and it would often get a couple of songs. The other band members christened it "Spandau"...

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1336498378' post='1646507'] Nice score, that p/g looks fine in the photo. [/quote] It's brown tortoise shell but has a weird orange colour (almost flourescent) underneath the brown. I'll live with it for now, but will probably change it at some point.

[quote name='derrenleepoole' timestamp='1336491674' post='1646380'] Always nice to get a new bass. I've owned SX gear before, and they're grand bits of kit, highly recommended. I've never seen a SX bass with a proper Fender styled headstock before. Unless of course you have a very early model? I know they had to change them because of a lawsuit from Fender. Somebody more experienced I'm sure will pipe in and give the full story. [/quote] If I'm going to buy a Fender copy, it has to have the correct (or very near) shaped headstock, don't know why, it just has. Can't be doing with pointy things (unless it's one of those Schecter Model-T's) Ian also had a very nice used Squier P-Bass Special with the J pick-up for the same price as the SX but I'm a purist (kind of) and it was P only or nothing for me.

So I've been looking for a cheap(ish) precision bass for a while now, as a back up and occasional gigger. I've looked at (mainly) Fenders and Squiers on the net, but always prefer to buy "in person" if possible. So today I went down to my local guitar emporium where I tried out a VM Squier P (white with black guard) which was very nice, for £259, and then this: [attachment=107381:SX1.JPG] [attachment=107382:SX2.JPG] [attachment=107383:SX3.JPG] SX Vintage Series Precision bass in 3TSB and a rather naff colour tort pickguard (that's going...). Lighter than the Squier but sounds great, gig bag included for £159 new! Pleased I am... Thanks to Ian at Strings Guitar Centre Isle of Wight for sorting me out!