JellyKnees

[quote name='ben604' timestamp='1345043866' post='1772784'] We do covers. We're called The Lowtones. Playing The Swinging Arm on the 31st in Brokenhead! [/quote] TBH I kinda guessed as much. Each to their own, but playing covers is just not my thing...we've found it nigh on impossible getting gigs round Wirral as an original outfit, they've almost all been in Liverpool. Still, I'd rather do 10 original gigs a year than 50 cover gigs, but then I'm not tring to make a living out of it

[quote name='philwood' timestamp='1345040773' post='1772741'] Likewise I've never been busier in the North West! [/quote] Out of interest, would that be doing originals or covers?

[quote] Getting gigs is easy if your band is any good. [/quote] 'Good' is a highly subjective term. I've seen some real dross that seems to go down pretty well and some really good bands that bomb. Often it's more about being the right band for that particular venue/night/event. I also think it depends on the area. I've said this before, but back in the 80's when I started playing, there were plenty of places around my home town of Birkenhead and the suburbs where you could get gigs doing original stuff, hell we even got paid for most of them too. Now there aren't (covers only seems to be the policy) and the only gigs my current band has had locally have been charity things...all the others have been over in Liverpool. That's fine to a point - it's not exactly far away, but some of the venues can be a bit cliquey, and we've been let down on a few gigs because the promoter decided to change the line up at the last minute so he could put his mate's band on instead. So yeah, broadly agree with the OP, dealing with venues, promoters etc is a huge pain in the derriere. A bit more courtesy would be nice, even if it's to say no thanks, you haven't got the gig.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1344602815' post='1766957'] Have you tried the Status dbe strings? I've got those on the headless and I think I'll be continuing with them. I use Elites for just about everything with a head though. Guitar - I use D'Addario 10s and because I like a nice low action I get Mark D Phillips to file my nuts. [/quote] Tried the status dbe's and wasn't overly impressed tbh, they were ok but just not quite as good as the elites.

I think it entirely depends on the style of music. There are definitely things that you can't do with a plec that you can with fingers, but the reverse is also true to some extent. If it sounds good and works with the music, ultimately, who cares what people think. I haven't played bass with a plec for at least 25 years btw, but thats just personal preference. I grew up listening to JJ Burnel and still love his playing on those early stranglers albums...

I've experimented with most of the major brand and overall I like d'addario best in terms of range/quality/value for money. Got their nylon tapewounds on my fretless (smooooooth) and their nickels on my 5 string.. if they did double ball end steels in my prefered guage I'd probably have them on my headless too, but they don't so I'm sticking with Elites on that for now as I haven't found a better dbe string. For guitar, i like Ernie Ball slinkies, but that's out of years of habit more than anything else.

This bit gets me... [size="2"]'A MULTI PURPOSE ELECTRIC FRETLESS BASS !' ...yeah, I can think of a few other 'purposes' for it too...weapon, door stop, cricket bat, back scratcher, boot scraper, pooper scooper, firewood...[/size] [size="2"]'INTERCHANGABLE' ...with what exactly, some cat sick?[/size] [size="2"]'(the only one i know thats ever been built)' ...No really? I wonder why that is? [/size] [size="2"]And some poor sod parted with a ton for it...lordy. I'm clearly in the wrong job.[/size]

Uncle frank being ultra nasty... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_kjCZXdV90"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_kjCZXdV90[/url]

I recently bought a second hand SR505 which came with the factory fitted elixirs 45- 130, which I really didn't like the tone or feel of - they sort of sounded hollow, like a whole chunk of the midrange was missing or something. I then tried some elites 40 - 125 guage, these having being my string of choice on my headless 4 string for the last 20 odd years. These were better, but a bit flabby compared to the elite dbe sets and I wasn't totally happy with the B string... I'm currently trying my own hybrid guage of d'addario XL singles - 40, 60, 85, 105, 125. This gives me a nice snappy, easily pluckable top end with a really solid well rounded bottom end, and the instrument sounds much better than it did with the elites.I may end up dropping the E/A down to 80/100 for resons of economy, as I can then buy the EADG strings as a set, rather than buying singles. But at the moment I'm a happy bunny with these, and the B string is loads better without being too heavy.

When you'd rather stick needles in your eyes than watch an episode of the x factor?

No you don't, but they open up a wealth of creative possibilities, so why not? I probably use effects on about 60% of our stuff. I can play all our songs without any effects, but some of them were specifically written with effects, so they wouldn't sound the same (or as good imo) without them. Bass guitar is an electric instrument, so make use of the opportunities that affords you. As soon change the tone settings on your amp, you've already 'processed' the sound...

I recently bought a second-hand Ibanez SR505 from crack convertors. I've never had a 5 string before, but I've been thinking about it for a while and this was a real bargain...£300, and apart from a couple of very minor scratches it looked like it had never been played! Anyhow, it came strung with what I'm guessing were the factory fitted elixirs, which I didn't particuarly like the tone of, so I order a set of Elite roundwounds (40-125). I've been using DBE Elites (40-100) on my headless KGB bass for 20 odd years, so this seemed like a sensible starting point... They sound great and are very similar to the DBEs, however they feel lower in tension, particularly on the E/A strings, which I'm guessing is possible due to the differences in construction between standard and DBE strings (the action/setup is pretty similar on the 2 basses). Has anyone got any suggestions for an alternative 5 string set of roundwounds in the same guage which have a little more tension than elites? I know I could go up a guage to get more tension, but I don't particularly like the feel of thicker strings (I've been down that road with my fretless...) Thanks...

I've had a B2.1U (the one with the built in expression pedal) for about 5 years now and thinks it's very good for the money. It's a pretty robust unit and if you spend time playing around with it you can get some great sounds. Negatives; Some of the amp modelling sounds aren't great, although I do use one or two here and there. The compressor is pretty rubbish (I ended up buying an EBS one). The expression pedal frequently need recalibrating - not hard, but a bit of a pain. Positives; Some great squelchy wah, phaser and resonance filter type effects, some of which can be programmed for use with said expression pedal. Excellent for funky, groovy, psychedelic stuff. A reasonably useful eq section, helpful when trying to balance out your patches. Nice reverb sounds, especially good with a fretless. Chorus/flanger is quite good too, although it's something I rarely use. Echo I like too. Never use the drum machine tbh as I'm usual hooked up to my PC, but it's pretty basic I think. Ok for practice if you don't have anything else I guess.

Why wouldn't you use more than one bass on an album? Joe Public isn't going to notice that the bass sounds inconsistent between tracks. If a particular bass sound suits a particular song, then use it. But I would want to have my say in the matter. If YOU don't like the bass sound, what's the point? But then I've never done that much professional studio recording... I prefer the DIY approach as I like to have CONTROL.

A true risk taking musical pioneer. I came to him by way of Joe's Garage, Sheik yerbouti and Zoot Allures. The only stuff of his I really don't like is some of the mid 80's era stuff with Steve Vai. Best band? The one with George Duke, Chester Thompson and Ruth Underwood...One Size Fits All is just sublime. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCdYI6-Uz7M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCdYI6-Uz7M[/url]

[quote name='GregBass' timestamp='1335338404' post='1629348'] Remember - ain't no such thing as a bum note in jazz. It's just a really clever minor 9th harmony. [/quote] That would certainly make me crazy...tragic beyond belief. The audience should have asked for a refund. Personally, I like the feel of rosewood or ebony over maple.

I would say as many as you will actually play on a regular basis. I've never owned more than 2 at any one time, a fretted and a frettless...I'm currently toying with getting a 5 string because I've never had one. If you want to collect stuff just to look at, collect paintings or something. The only possible exception I would make to this would be intruments with a specific history or rarity, but even then I think they should still be played.

[quote] music is a commodity [/quote] I would argue that's only the case only if someone makes money out of it. Until then, it's just the vibration of air molecules as perceived by the eardrum.

If the product in question was toilet cleaner then would Jessie J still promote it? And if not, why not? If you go down the road of using your music to advertise something, then surely it doesn't matter what the actual product is.

Personally I'd rather not compromise on what I play, which is why I have the day job to pay the bills. It means the gigs are fairly thin on the ground, but I can live with that. I get just as much of a buzz out of recording and playing around with ideas at home to be honest. How can you play stuff you don't actually like with any passion or enthusiasm? I've seen too many bands grinding their way through covers that they clearly aren't into or are bored with, and I'd rather stick needles in my eyes frankly...

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1333410102' post='1601453'] Non-standard time signatures? I'd say that 3/4 is pretty standard and common.The only other bit is the instrumental line that is simply 3 bars of 3/4 and a bar of 4. As you were. [/quote] Fair enough, although I think it's fairly unusual for a pop song to go from 3/4 to 4/4, which is kind of what I meant... In a similar vein, how about this... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMwn_hnoS5Y"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMwn_hnoS5Y[/url]

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1333386847' post='1601017'] Sounds like there's some double bass on there, unless that's what the low notes on a harpsichord sound like. Great song regardless. [/quote] Apparently not, according to Hugh Cornwell's biography.. it was their biggest selling single and JJ didn't play on it

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7R7q1lSZfs[/media] Ok, I know it doesn't actually have any bass guitar on it, but it's a great example of a pop song that manages to be slightly subversive and use non-standard time signatures

Some solo stuff, a couple of fairly recent tracks and a couple I did a few years ago... [url="http://soundcloud.com/jellyknees"]http://soundcloud.com/jellyknees[/url]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1332156018' post='1583922'] What? No Iron Maiden?! [/quote] Nope sorry, I can't stand all that bloody wailing and horrible screetching guitar. Still, each to their own I guess....