Simon C

On 05/10/2021 at 17:49, dmccombe7 said:

Just curious what others think.

I've recently joined a 2nd band which is a 70's Punk covers band. 

I've tried few of my basses but haven't quite managed to get the sound i was looking for.  I'm trying to cover tone from mainly from a P sound thru to the biting Ric tone used by Eddie and Hot Rods 

So far i've tried :-

Fender PJ - not enough clarity but i find that with a lot of PJ style basses. Even on full P it never sounds like a proper P bass

Sandberg VM4 - could get away with it but not quite what i was looking for

Fender Geddy CIJ -was the most comfortable to play but took me ages to get the tone close to what i was looking for.

 

Using the Mesa Mpulse head into Subway 210/115 cabs.

 

The 2 basses I'm now thinking about are Ric 4003 which might work for both bands but are expensive and a Fender Vintera P bass which i tried a few yrs ago before covid and it did feel very comfortable.

 

Just curious what others think might be most suitable for mainly the punk covers band (yes i'm that shallow)

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to 70's punk as i've always been a rock / prog bassist.

Any advice would be welcome. 

 

Dave

I think I have the definitive answer Dave @dmccombe7.  Fretless active jazz with flats 🤣:

I was brave enough, or maybe daft enough, to give the fretless a run out.  Due to the dep guitarist being unavailable we switched songs to make it easier for others to join us.  So the pub was treated to punk on a fretless.  The host band even had the good grace to have my vocal mic low in the mix at the start which gave a me a bar or 2 to (almost) find the pitch 😀. 

3 bands didn't turn up which meant a runaround for the organiser to fill those slots.  It became a Blues Jam - which was fun.    

15 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

No video. However here's a few pics. All humorous comments are welcome. Lol

 

Daryl

 

 

 

We were loud enough that the deer herd 😀

 

Jam Night on Thursday.

The host band set up the stage in a different orientation.  I think it probably worked better.  It's not really attracting a following yet - it's an out of town venue, so hardly surprising.  The stage area is bigger so it does mean I'm less concerned about whacking the singer and can thus use my long scale basses rather than the headless shortscale - my G&L L2000 got a run out.

We were asked by one of the other bands if we fancied doing a half gig with them.  Probably neither band is at the stage where we can do a full gig yet.  10 - 12 songs so I think we should be able to manage that.  The guitarist and I are keen on it, so I think there is a good chance we'll do it.

This is us doing Price Tag.  I'm not sure what happened with Vicky's voice with "Look to the Left" and "Look to the right".  Hopefully we can sort that out at the next rehearsal as I think this could be a good gig starter for us.  James' rap is good.

The mute was bottoming out on my 4003W before it engaged with the strings on the treble side.  I thought it was probably a case of the bolts needing to be reset.  The tech at GG had a look and decided it needed a new mute.  He had to take the whole bridge assembly apart to fit the new mute, which sounds like it was a bit of a job.  It was done under warranty though, so no cost to me.  It seems to be working ok now.  So hopefully that’s all the teething problems sorted out.  

I bought an MXR234 pedal from Paul.  The item was as described.  Paul communicated well and sent the item shortly after I had paid.  I’m a happy purchaser.

23 is very good - Kudos.  I think we were down to “fingers on one hand of a bloke who’d had an accident with an angle grinder” at this stage last year.

I mentioned “Canada” over on the “How was your gig last night” thread.  They sometime do the same Jam night as my band “In Progress”.  The BL plays her tele well and sings well, but in “Canada” she is the drummer (she plays the kit well too). The bass player plays well and the lead guitarist and singer has a voice that’s different enough for them to have a good shot (IMO).  He liked my Walnut Ric, so he gets a few plus points for that 😀 (and would have had a few more if he’d said the player was also good😜).

"Accidentally in Love" - it's on the Jam Night list. 

Many believe it to be by "Counting Crows", but I'm fairly sure it's by Shrek 😊. 

10 hours ago, BillyBass said:

I have a no name Strat at home that I pick up every now and again (more again) and re start my attempts to learn guitar; unfortunately, there is no love in my heart for the instrument.  

 

I have a guitar playing mate and we often go to guitar shows together.  Of all the guitars on show, I'm normally attracted to Teles and the brightly coloured guitars on sale at the PRS stand.  Your PRS is beautiful.

Yes teles are cool.

Thanks re my PRS.  It plays really well too.  It sounds pretty good with me playing it, so in the hands of someone who can actually play, I think it will sound really good.

On 15/07/2024 at 22:40, Simon C said:

Good question.  The work bonus is due to be paid with this month’s salary.  I have 4 basses (I’ve discovered the perfect number is 3.5), and enough pedals to be going with, so some of the bonus will go on a guitar.  I’ll let you know what the answer is when I’ve bought it.

A PRS SE 24-08 is the answer. NGD today. 

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Not complex, but the 'proper' bassline to Pride and Joy. I've winged it a few times, but the original is a fun walk that ocassionally steps in unexpected directions.

Oddly enough I was just listening  to a recording of "Pride and Joy" that I did a few months ago.  I agree it's a lot of fun. In the OG he does make sure he uses a lot of the neck as I recall. I didn't learn the original line, but I did enjoy walking around with it. 

3 hours ago, Bluewine said:

Nice groove. You guys didn't lose a beat. 

 

Daryl

Thanks Daryl. 

I was away from this thread for a while trying to keep up with, and occasionally contribute to, the UK General Election thread - I've now recovered sufficiently to start re-engaging with the Bass Chat bit of Basschat😀 .

Also I found the first night at the new Jam Night venue a little underwhelming, so wasn't inspired to write anything about it.  It didn't have the same "good live music" feel as the previous venue and several of the better bands didn't turn up.  This month's was better - the atmosphere wasn't back to the previous venue's but the bands turned up.  Except mine, so I talked a couple of members of the host band into playing with me and a new bloke on the guitar joined us.  People sang along to our set, so I guess we made a good call on the songs and I felt we played them pretty well.  Here is our version of "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" by the Georgia Satellites - a bit of a one hit wonder and I suspect not that well known in the UK - do any of your bands play it?

Good question.  The work bonus is due to be paid with this month’s salary.  I have 4 basses (I’ve discovered the perfect number is 3.5), and enough pedals to be going with, so some of the bonus will go on a guitar.  I’ll let you know what the answer is when I’ve bought it.

On 11/07/2024 at 17:21, dmckee said:

Quiet round here..... anyone seen or heard of any G&Ls making their way to the UK?  Still hankering for a lightweight CLF L1000. 

I went to Andertons a month or so ago.  They had some G&L electric guitars in, but I didn’t see any basses.

I went on Saturday night too.   3 of my (now adult) kids came with me (Mrs C isn't a fan) and they all enjoyed it, though they are all fans.  It was just amazing hearing Dookie and American Idiot played in their entirety on the same night.  Saviors has some good songs too.

At the end of the show Billie Joe just sat down on stage and took it all in.  He certainly gave the impression of having a connection with the fans.

Maid of Ace were good (but F*****g sweary), and so were Anything But Thieves (less sweary)

I think it's easy to say your best ever gig was the last one you went to.  So I need to go to a couple of others and see if I still think the same.

And the obligatory photo of me and the girls resplendent in our stadium acquired "Stash" (I'm the one in the foreground 😀)

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Oh, oh! I feel a tier 2 failure in the offing…

 

A tier 2 fail.   With the GE on Thursday that could well be viewed as a Tactical fail. 😀

…alternatively.

Last year I had numerous itches.  Various strategies were employed:

Feed the itch by looking on the marketplace and note that stuff you want keeps coming up.

Go onto the builder sites and build different basses.  You could get a SSO and put different tuners on it. (This is another feed the itch strategy).

Take it a month at a time.

i never got as far as saying the addicts prayer, but I guess that could work too.

35 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I know, but I have an itch...

Take some anti-histamines.  It will go away.😃

I bought a TC Electronics Spectradrive pre-amp pedal a year or so ago from Mike.  I’ve only just worked out how to use the feedback, hence my delay in posting the feedback.

He communicated well.  The pedal arrived promptly in good working order as described.

A recommended Bass Chatter.

I bought an Origin Effects BassRig pedal and a pedal board from James.  He communicated in a timely manner and answered my questions honestly.

The items arrived quickly and were as described with no problems.

A recommended Bass chatter.

On 07/06/2024 at 15:06, BabyBlueSound said:

Cobalt flats are so good. I don't like the flat sound but love the flat feel under my fingers, so it's perfect for me with it's round-like sound.

 

However once it gets dull, it SUCKS. I

have a new set so will do a comparison soon, but it's hard to record a bass-like sound with a used one. Lifeless thumps. Lifespan is much, much shorter than Elixirs. Sometimes the string ends can get a bit brownish rust on them, and I don't even store it in a humid environment!

 

I keep the old ones on the Sterling to practice now, so I don't wear the new ones down before recording them. They're expensive for the sound's lifespan.

I have Cobalt flats on my shortscale Ibanez (EHB1000s). I bought them for my fretless, to try something different to the D'Addario Chromes it came with. They were useless on the fretless as they were so sticky / high friction that I couldn't slide into notes. So they came off and went on the EHB. They are fine on there. I thought that as they are flats they may last a good while. To be honest though I'd quite like them to die a bit more than they have so that I get a bit more of the signature shortscale fundamental. 

18 hours ago, Merton said:

I think I’m out. Well, I know I am… I bought a new pedalboard power supply at the weekend.  It a need, more a want. It’s going back because it doesn’t bloody work but that’s a moot point.

 

Also, I may have been discussing bass specs with Mr Cringean again with a view to making things happen there.

I almost made it to 6 months 😂

Was it a replacement for an unrepairable power supply? 

Allowances in both tiers:
- Strings (sticks, skins, reeds ........ 

- If something breaks through no unusual intervention of your own, and is unable to be repaired, you may replace it.

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I was listening to Don't Bring Me Down by ELO the other day, and realised it's essentially a bastardised 12-bar blues (aside from the bridge).

I’ll have a listen.  12bar blues is good for Jam Night: the other musicians know the secret and the punters don’t so are always amazed that you can all get up on stage having not played together before and play a song that sounds good 😀.  Knowing the song so that you can contribute some vocals is a bonus.