woodster

+1 on the Grolsch!!!! Put the rubber washers from the ceramic Grolsch bottle tops over the top of the strap button after the strap is attached. Cheap, effective, reliable and you get to drink the lager too!! It's a win-win!!!!

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='121533' date='Jan 16 2008, 03:56 PM']I was going to write that - but then look in the pdf specs. There appears to be support for 240v also.[/quote] Ive currently got an SWR RU-N2N on it's way from the US. According to the marketing guy from SWR, the 240V version will not be coming out for anything up to a year!! The tuner is basically a re-packaged version of the Fender tuner that they bundled with the Fender heads a while back. The blue lights are way cooler and a decent voltage converter is only about £30. My tuner is $250 with the shipping

[quote name='PaulMartin' post='133398' date='Feb 4 2008, 06:24 AM']On several occasions in the past I've tried to do just that with my local shop, which is Nevada in Portsmouth, but they always seem unwilling to get anything in specially, so I've always ended up driving halfway across the country to find something. I'm a big believer in buying locally, not just so it's easy to take it back if something goes wrong but because I like to browse around shops and try stuff and I wouldn't like to see all shops go the way of The Bass Centre, and I'm willing to pay a higher price if I can get it locally, but at the moment I feel like just ordering it from Thomann or Soundslive. At least I won't have to put up with being patronised by spotty herberts who weren't even born when I started playing.[/quote] I've also used Nevada in Portsmouth on occasions and they were my first choice when shopping for my Stingray 5. They were unwilling to order in a particular colour, instead trying to sell me an 'off the shelf' Bongo 4 string...!!! Bought my SR 5 from The USA, order time to being on my doorstep.... 4 days!!

[quote name='Leowasright' post='132085' date='Feb 1 2008, 05:30 PM']Thanks for a starting point! Where in Soton are you???? I am actually old Hedge End[/quote] I'm in Netley Abbey!!

I recently imported a Stingray 5 from the guys at Bass Central in Florida www.basscentral.com Grasshopper is a top bloke and couldn't be more helpful. They even slightly under-declared the value to save me a few quid on the charges. I couldn't rate them highly enough and will definately shop there again really soon. Chris

I use OW strings on my 7, always loved them, great sound, long life and awesome price. Call the boys at OW and the strings will be on your doormat in no time!!!!

+1 for the guys at Overwater. Broke a machine head on my J5 and Chris sent one the next day FOC. Also the strings I ordered were on the doormat virtually before I'd put the phone down. GAK in Brighton - Ordered a Markbass 104HF cab but the 4 Ohm was a special order. Mark at Gak got no help from the distributor and so hounded the factory and got one into the country in 3 days!!! John Boots Music in Hythe nr Southampton. Paul does the BEST set-ups I've ever had!!

Also, mentioned before in these forums, is the use of a Gramma pad to isolate your cabs from the stage. I bought mine from Dolphin music and it really can be quite an impressive piece of kit. The results vary from slight improvement in my sound, through to 'holy cow!!' but for £60, it can make a difference.

I'm using the front-ported 104HF. I tried both the front and rear ported cabs and, to be honest, there wasn't a lot of difference between them. There was just something a little more 'ballsy' about the HF.

[quote name='Bernmeister' post='102330' date='Dec 10 2007, 07:03 PM']Mmmm, can see the swr 750 poweramp looks like he has a signature series Mm2 pre-amp drool !!! [/quote] You know when some new gadget comes out (Wii, Iphone etc) and the news reports show loads of crazy people queuing up outside the shop at midnight to be the first to own it...? I usually shake my head in disbelief and mutter under my breath "haven't those people got anything better to do?" If SWR release a MM signiture Pre-amp, that'll be me standing in the rain outside the shop at midnight!!!! I feel so dirty and ashamed

[quote name='alexclaber' post='102123' date='Dec 10 2007, 01:17 PM']rethink your stage/FOH volume and PA usage. Also consider if the room acoustics are working for or against you. Alex[/quote] I'm with Alex on this. I run an LMII into an MB 4x10 and have never needed the master volume above about 12 o'clock. Like you, I have full PA support with monitors and play on little stages and big stages with audiences ranging from a few dozen to a few thousand. Personally, I've not noticed the compression at high volume tat I've also read about but I do find that room acoustics and stage construction (is it hollow) can have a massive affect on my on-stage sound. I'm often told my FOH engineers to turn my volume down but never up! Have you tried tilting your cabs back so they point at the back of your head? I find this can work well in some cases.

Marcus Miller's current touring rig...... SWR are saying nothing at the moment but watch this space.......

Just had my first dealings with Absolute Music too. I ordered a Tascam MPBT1 bass trainer but received a Sure wireless system which was a customer return and should've gone to Sure for repair!! No problems with getting it sorted but doesn't fill me with confidence for shopping in the future......

"It 'aint bragging if you can back it up...." Jaco Pastorius

From various covers/function bands i'm in...... Wild Cherry - Play that funky music The Proclaimers - 500 Miles The Specials - Too much too young Bad Manners - Sally Brown Chic - Le Freak

[quote name='The Burpster' post='85273' date='Nov 8 2007, 09:46 AM']Well folks, my annual trip to sunny places for 2 weeks for sun and a major chill with the 'ole lady looms....... Things not allowed are bass and guns (obvious reasons) for me, and anything Hockey related for Sal, so we have to spend time with each other.... Actually it really does you good, no work pressure or time constriants because of time consuming pastimes. It does give us time to read, which is something that will extremely pleasent where we are going..... so ....... [b]What bass or muso related books can you recommend? [/b] No theory please, have plenty of them! Done lots of repair theory and practice! Do enjoy music history (but not heavy theory based stuff!) Do enjoy lighthearted suff too! Still got 4 weeks before we go so have time to get stuff from the US if you know of a 'must have!"[/quote] Ska'd For Life by The Special's bassist, Horace Panter, was a great read.. Documenting his time with the band for their first gigs through to the acrimonious final split. Full of nostalgia from the late 70's and early 80's.

[quote name='bassmandan' post='75737' date='Oct 17 2007, 08:18 PM']er, SWR?!? What's going on there, where's the EBS? He's still endorsing EBS accoring to his website although I can't seem to find mention of him on the EBS site! hmmmm, Fender pulling strings again maybe methinks?.......[/quote] Marcus now has an 'unofficial relationship' with EBS. He still uses it but is contractually a free agent.

Levy's UK distributor is Westside Distribution in Glasgow. Give them a call on 0141 248 4812, they should be able to help you. Chris

I played at a wedding once and we told the guests that if there were any requests, we'd see if we could play them. A bloke came to the stage and said, "Can you play That's What You Are?" We band members, aged between 18 and 50, looked at each other in confusion and the leader replied "we'll see what we can do". None of us knew the song or even recognized it so when the bloke came up again, the band leader said... "Do you know who the artist is?" "It's a man singing, that's all I know" "Can you sing a little bit of the song to see if it jogs our memory...?" "I only know the 1st line......." "Unforgetable, THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!!!" Classic

I use a Ritter double bag for most occasions but for touring I've got a 2 single Peavey bags and 2 SKB bass Safes. Even BA World couldn't break them and believe me, they tried!!!

As a pro musician, I gig 250+ times a year, record regularly and both teach clinics and 1-2-1 lessons. One of the clinics I teach is performance and rehearsal techniques as I believe that playing in a band is a seperate skill from learning an instrument. In my area, there are some very talented musicians who really struggle to fit into group situations, mainly due to an inability (or in some cases, unwillingness) to listen to what's going on around them. Conversely, there are some pretty average players who are in demand constantly because of their approach to other musicians, genres and group situations. I don't agree with the statement that only gigging players are real musicians but i do believe that gig situations greatly enhance the skills a musician may already possess. Chris

[quote name='paul, the' post='63784' date='Sep 21 2007, 07:38 PM']Oh, that's a lovely Marcus Miller![/quote] Thanks! Would've preferred a natural when i bought it but there were none available at the time. Kinda fond of it now though

I've shopped with Lathon before, they've got some great stuff. www.myspace.com/lathonbasswear Their main site seems to be temporarily offline.....

[quote name='MB1' post='58683' date='Sep 11 2007, 01:16 PM']MB1. Any news on a return to Manchester? Or maybe its too Sunny for Mr Miller in Mancunia! Just Joking!..............Or am I?.[/quote] Looks like just London this time, I'll be there, upstairs with the posh people....