BigAlonBass

Find a good local Luthier, or even:- [url="http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/removal.htm"]http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/removal.htm[/url]

[quote name='tino' post='1158581' date='Mar 11 2011, 08:20 PM']Oh Fountain of Knowledge HELP...... VESTER..............Were all made in Korea???? I thought early ones had a MIJ link somewhere[/quote] This should answer most of your questions, Tino. [url="http://www.vesterfansite.nl/"]http://www.vesterfansite.nl/[/url]

[quote name='gub' post='1157147' date='Mar 10 2011, 08:23 PM']Its also funny how someone commentiung on it will bring more people to look at the origanal comment and comment on it . yes i do agree ![/quote] No comment!

[quote name='Spike Vincent' post='1153099' date='Mar 7 2011, 10:14 PM']Engineered The Rolling Clones (guess...) a few years back.Very competent,very entertaining.They got paid £700. More than I've made in 3 decades of trying to be original.One of the reasons I gave up 13 years ago.My dislike of tribute bands is not actually aimed at the bands (would I dress up as Bill Wyman for £250? Possibly) [b][i]but at the total lack of imagination with the audiences.[/i][/[/b][/quote] ......and there's the crux of the whole argument, right there. If you play in front of an audience, you have to play what THEY want to hear, or you don't work. I'd rather play in front of an audience than sit noodling in my bedroom for the rest of my life. If I have to slightly compromise my ideals in order to do so, so be it. A lesson that some 'musicians' could do with learning. .....or be a little more understanding of those who are willing to fulfill that need.

I was getting into the Site ok, but it slowed down the longer I stayed, and occasionally just 'froze'. Everything seems to be running at normal speed now.

The first thing you have to realise as a Bass Player is that NOBODY ELSE CARES what you sound like. As far as Sound Engineers are concerned, YOU DON'T COUNT as far as the overall sound goes. As has been mentioned before, if you aren't there for the Final Mix, and are willing to fight every inch of the way to get 'your' sound out on the recording, nobody else gives a monkey's toss. Argue with me all you want, but 99.9% of Engineers will give you the 'wooly duvet' sound, unless you are prepared to push every inch of the way until someone listens. A lot of Band Members are guilty of this as well, spending time to get the Guitar Sound 'just right' or faffing for ages to get the slight nuances on the fourth Tom 'punching through the mix' and the Bass is just stuck in the mud at the bottom. Everyone has tales of the Sound Engineer who 'got it right' both Live and in the Studio, but if you add them all up, it will still bring you back to the percentage mentioned earlier in this post. How many times have Guitarists and Vocalists asked Bass Players to 'turn it down a bit' both on-stage and in the Studio? This ever-recurring pattern of behaviour should point out in no uncertain terms exactly where you stand in the Band Hierarchy. They'll fight all night to get the Snare having just the right attack, and making sure the Guitar Solo tone has just the right amount of effects to make is shine, but you're stuck with what they can be bothered to give you. As a Bass Player who also does P.A. Hire and Engineering, I've lost count of the number of times I could have been legless, when fellow Bass Players have wanted to buy me Beer after a Gig, because I got 'their sound' front-of house. Even other Band Members, Audience members and even Management have asked me what I had done differently, because "the whole Band sounded better than last time." Until the General Music Community (and Joe Public) realises exactly what difference a decent Bass sound makes, you'll just have to get on with it. Just as a qualifying post-script-I personally know a few fellow Bass Players on here, and know how brilliant they sound, Live at Bass Bashes and even recorded on their own equipment. When I've gone to see them playing with their Bands, they have all been reduced to the afore-mentioned 'wooly duvet' tone, and might as well have been playing R5 all flipping night. It makes me want to weep.

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1132891' date='Feb 18 2011, 11:08 PM']Change strings...... [/quote] Apparently, some people out there actually do this. Never understood it myself.

"Controls Active (Volume-Bass-Blend- [b]MIDDEN [/b]- treble)" Probably sounds sh*t.

[quote name='Linus27' post='1128073' date='Feb 15 2011, 10:31 AM']I am considering learning to read music for bass parts. OK, naturally the answer is going to be based on everyones own ability, but generally, do you think its possible to learn to do it within 12 months to a standard that will allow you to read most parts from sight?[/quote] Short answer - Yes. Just be prepared to work at it. Don't fall into the trap of "Oh, that's close enough, it's only Bass" when what you really mean is "It's not as easy as I thought, I'll have to spend a bit more time at it"

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1122089' date='Feb 9 2011, 11:26 PM']I really wish i could play fast with fingers but no matter hard i try i [b]CAN'T [/b]get close to my picking speed. I find fingers look and sound more natural but i [b]CAN'T [/b]do it at even a modest speed........or maybe its just my drummer playing too fast.[/quote] Fixed it. I think that's what you meant to write.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='1117441' date='Feb 6 2011, 10:39 AM']Just about to courier an old rack case.....how would you suggest I wrap it? Not being funny , genuinely would like to know as it would seem a bit daft giving it too much unnecessary protection? I was thinking cardboard outer, make sure all catches are taped shut and that's it?[/quote] I recently had one delivered to me, wrapped in bubble wrap, which was taped tightly into place. This was then place in a thick cardboard box, with the voids filled with shredded cardboard and bubble wrap. The packaging looked as though it had been pelted with house-bricks, and then used as a seat for a tired elephant by the time it got to me, but the case itself was in pristine condition. It pays to be a bit careful these days.

Are they still lead-lined as standard? Hernia time!

[quote name='cheddatom' post='1102361' date='Jan 25 2011, 04:59 PM']Once a soundman said "you're not using THAT EQ" and then started to mess with the EQ on my amp.[/quote] The same thing happened to me not so long ago. I said in a very loud voice "Don't touch my gear". He ignored me. In a very loud voice, I repeated the statement. He ignored me. I broke his nose. (Everyone in the venue witnessed the event, and I was about to pack my gear up when the Manager came over to me and said "He deserved that". It just so happened that he was a 'stand-in' as the regular guy had phoned to say he would be a bit late.) I am NOT advocating violence in the least, but there are certain boundaries that I will allow NOBODY to cross.

[size=2]Get[/size] [size=5]out [/size][size=7]NOW! [/size]

One of the many little pearls of wisdom my old Dad said to me "Always go for Bands that are better than [i]you[/i] think you are. You might get knocked back at first, but when you eventually get the Gigs, you'll get dragged up to their level." He was right.

[quote name='owen' post='1088701' date='Jan 13 2011, 10:38 PM']Any further thoughts on the FretLord stuff? How big is the battery pod thang? TIA[/quote] Got a set last christmas, and they ended up in the bin! The fixing tape was thick and very non-sticky, and the light only shows up on the darkest of stages. In normal light, you can hardly see that they are switched on. I actually ripped them off half-way through the first set, because the tape got in the way of my fingers, for very little benefit, and just kept the Battery Pod as a pretty torch.

This is still flapping my trousers, but not for much longer I'm afraid. Old age and Arthritis are making it more difficult to carry from the van into gigs. (and NO! they aren't my E.Q. settings. My Son knocked the sliders with his arm when he stuck the amp on top of the stack to help me out.) [attachment=68456:DSC_0002.JPG]

A lot of amps have a Passive/Active switch, to compensate for the difference in output from different Basses. I use a Peavey that has an in/out type, (same input) and an old Trace-Elliot that has Input 1 for Passive and Input 2 for Active. Just look at the Specs of whichever amp you're using, (or thinking of using) and it should tell you the options.

[quote name='keeponehandloose' post='1069701' date='Dec 26 2010, 05:49 PM']Every time this guy pops up I wonder why he isnt famous yet.[/quote] Probably because people don't know if he plays Bass or a set of Bongoes. It all sounds a bit samey to me these days.

[quote name='endorka' post='1068419' date='Dec 24 2010, 12:26 AM']Sorry Big Al, looks like I just parroted your post :-) Jennifer[/quote] No problem. You know what they say - "Great Minds Think Alike"......... I generally don't listen to the ones that counter with "Fools Seldom Differ"

I honestly don't see what the problem is. I work regularly with three different Bands, two of whom de-tune all the strings on their instruments by a semitone, to allow the vocalists to hit some of the more difficult notes. We all de-tune, but fret the "normal" notes. I practise and learn any new songs by listening to C.D's at home, and have a POS old copy Bass that is tuned "normally" so I can play along with the songs I'm learning. When I go to the Rehearsal/Gig, I take the de-tuned Bass, and play the "normal" notes I have just learnt, which are the same notes as everyone else in the Band. It may sound like a G#, but we're all fretting the G. Not too annoying, unless you have Perfect Pitch! It's not a case of "Telling you what to do", it's just the Band being helpful so that you don't have to transpose every note in every song down half a step on the fly.