Muzz

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1470939660' post='3109528'] If there HAS to be a fifth member, I'd like him/her to play the washboard. [/quote] I'd have liked to see a theremin player, who went 'woooooOOOOoooooo' every time Bono approached the mic...

Yup, I've an old Celebrity, and it's a very nice acoustic. Never played a 'real' one, though, so I'm afraid I can't give you anything more definitive.

Actually got to lay hands on one last night, (it was a sunburst P5), and the build quality was exemplary: certainly as good as a good example of the real thing from the US, if not better, and delightfully, erm, light. Wasn't too keen on the Delanos, but that's just me. Have just spend waaaayyyyyy too much time going through every pic on the site, and unfortunately there's nothing that appeals visually, but again that's just me, so I can say as someone who won't own one (and therefore without axe to grind) that I was very impressed by the quality of the one I played.

I can't be: I checked with everyone on here first...

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1470834647' post='3108803'] To most Jazz aficionados, this is like calling Europe's 'the Final Countdown' a Heavy Metal classic or 'Rockin' All Over the World' a Rock anthem. It shows a lack of idiomatic awareness. That's all. [/quote] Except that both those tunes are just that. For a given value of 'classic' or 'anthem'. In the same way that, to an awful, awful lot of people, Moondance is Jazz. For a given value of 'Jazz'. Lord save us all from a lack of idiomatic awareness...

I paid £1600 for a brand new Rickenbacker which went back the next day. I'd had a 4001 years ago (my first 'proper' bass) and rose-tinted glasses prompted the purchase, but I just hated it. Still a stunning looking thing, though. I'd bought it from a retailer with a returns policy just in case (they're a very Marmite bass), but if I'd tried it in a shop I'd have known straight away I wasn't going to like it.

Sooo, I have a friend who wants to acquire a 5er (sounds like a confession, I know, but it really isn't me ) for a studio project. He's a 7-string guitard and wants to play around in drop tunings, specifically down to A/Ab. He's asked if I can recommend a budget (£300 or so secondhand) 5er that would suit, and my first thought was that if he can find a 35 scale he might have a better shot at detuning the B without it basically falling off the bass... Sooo, any budget 35" scale 5ers worth recommending? Any 34" scale basses that'd suit a detuned B? All suggestions welcomed...

So much to enjoy there, but I particularly liked the sentence that makes it sound like an unwise decision at ten to two in a nightclub: "[color=#333333][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]Moreover, this bass guitar adopts superb wood and synthetic material, so you can trustingly take it back home for entertaining!"[/size][/font][/color] [color=#333333][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3] [/size][/font][/color][color=#333333][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3] [/size][/font][/color]

Our singist has an entirely arbitrary approach to whether he's gonna do a song in the original half step flat or not, so I end up playing a good half dozen songs in one or the other, depending. None of them are exactly Rhythm Stick, so it's pretty easy to transpose on the fly. The main challenge is finding out on the gig which one he's gonna launch into. To quote the wonderful Victoria Wood in the persona of Stacey Leann Page, cruise liner singer extraordinaire "My accompanist is wonderful: I can start a song in any key, and eventually he'll, you know, hunt me down..."

Yep, gotta be good-looking (to me), otherwise it'll go. I might well miss out on some lovely basses to hear and play, but if they don't appeal visually, nope. I'm dreadfully shallow. Possibly

Ooooo, any pics? I love a Thunderbird/Fenderbird... I've replaced a standard MM pickup in a bass not too long ago with a Nordstrand Bigman, which is basically two Big Singles in one casing. I've got a three-way switch which allows either single separately, or both in parallel, and I find this gives a surprising range of sounds from one pickup.

Hilarious. Glad you liked it.

Very rare: that's akin to the definition of a gentleman as someone who can play the accordion...but doesn't. Oddly, some of the more remote country house hotels seem to have the most, erm, problematic neighbours: one we went to, the manager took us outside and said "There's the problem - him over there: he always complains, and the police always listen to him" and pointed to a converted farm about half a mile away...

While I'd like to think venues like the one we played has the best interests of all partygoers at heart, I know that his particular venue (and many others I've played) has issues with external noise disturbance from their marquees, which are pretty much acoustically transparent compared to a proper indoor venue. Doesn't stop them going ahead, of course, and they look lovely on the website, etc... We invariably play quieter at weddings (venue dictating) than elsewhere, and nobody would need earplugs at any of our gigs, but when you can hear people chatting on the dancefloor, and shoes squeaking, it just isn't loud enough, given the broad range of music we play.

It's been 'reliced'...I'm surprised he isn't asking more for it...

Yeah, in theory I guess better than complete cutoffs, and at a reasonable limit it'd possibly work better, but because we could barely hear the speakers, with them being 15ft away at the front of the dance floor and down-pointing (and the band had to set up at 90 degrees to them, effectively down the side of the dance floor), I had to keep walking out in the crowd and under the speakers, only to find the vocals and acoustic (we couldn't put anything else through it) sounded like a very badly tuned AM radio. Much more potential for the band to be blamed for a rubbish sound... It was a very badly implemented version of a possibly workable concept, and at those levels, it simply wasn't a venue for live music beyond an acoustic duo...

We encountered a new one (to us) last week - a compresser limiter: crappy down-pointing speakers over the dancefloor, and a PA set to squish and compress into mush anything over 90db. We made sure the B&G were aware of the limitations before we started, so they weren't upset with us, but it was a tiptoeing nightmare. Why some venues advertise as a live venue is beyond me...well, the money, obviously, but no-one enjoys it...

See my reply to the other thread -

Yes please - I'm just running round trying to find two for me and my lad for Saturday

Oh, I've no doubt it's the way forward, it's just some of us aren't there yet... Having said that, I doubt Ampeg are quaking in their boots just yet...they still seem to be selling plenty of SVT stacks...

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1469654537' post='3100158'] Muzz how is it not practical for some situations? Do you use different PAs depending on the gig size? We have got our PA that we use in all our gigs. Might be overkill for some, but it looks the part, and that's what a volume slider is for right [/quote] Yeah, we play a range of gigs, from acoustic duo and trio to three and four piece setups, some with keyboards, some not, so we use more or less PA depending. We also use a range of deps, and getting everyone on board and sorted out can be more hassle than it's frankly worth. With a stable band lineup (hah!) and a more fixed infrastructure it'd be great, but that's just not where we (I) am at the moment. To reiterate, though, it's a great way to play, and if you can get the technology ducks in a row, it's very good indeed.

Yep, I think that'll do you fine - as has been said, the fact that it's a matching cab from the same manufacturer will be the biggest advantage.

Yup, I had the same bass (a BB3000a) from new in 87-88 until a few years ago when I discovered this place. I've since had dozens, and dozens of amps/cabs. What I've also had is fantastic fun buying and trying every sort and make of bass and amp and cab I fancied (and even some I initially didn't) - it's been a great hobby and a journey. And I'm a much better player than I ever was. What's not to like?

I've got an in-ears setup, and it's a very very good solution, but, like an SVT and 810, not practical for an awful lot of my bands/gigs. If you've got all the angles covered, great, go for it, but even when we've used the X18, there's always been a faff somewhere along the line: it takes the whole band to be onboard (hah) with it, and with us there always seems to be some compromise somewhere, so I've always taken my rig 'just in case'... It might just be the people I play with...:/

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1469641195' post='3099998'] Just to be clear, the TRBX 30 is the 304. The label in the shop said 30, not 304. [/quote] The 304 is the 4 string, the 305 is the 5 string. 30 seconds on Google. They're a good bass for their price range. £290 new, £150 secondhand on here. Go for it.