RockfordStone

ive had my guitarists play on my basses before, and they look fancy and sound fancy, but the lack the ability to do what a bass does and act as a rhythm instrument

i had a lefty friend who played a right handed bass upside down and strung the other way round, he used to have his strap stuck to the guitar with gaffa used to drive me nuts, but he's upgraded since then

whilst i have respect for the ability to slap, it did seem that everyone trying out a bass was trying to prove some kind of point to the others.. i got a couple of funny looks when i did a bit of metallica. after 4/5 hours of slapping it started to sound like a drone of messy noise

The only best bass i have is a warwick thumb bass. But i dont use it live as it doesnt suit my live band. I would use it if i had the chance tho. All my gear is insured so

I will be heading down today also should be a cracking day

[quote name='munkonthehill' post='1156286' date='Mar 10 2011, 09:46 AM']One of the guitarists (the one not pulling his weight) suggested the same thing. I just dont have any confidence with them at the moment though[/quote] this for me says it all, if you don't have confidence that certain members are not pulling the weight or can perform, ditch them and stick with the ones you think are really up for it. if its obvious in your own mind that you are being held back by some members, then usually that's actually the case and you'd be wasting your time trying to push them

my last solid band practiced twice a week, my current band does one a week

on the acoustic gigs ive done ive used my ibanez soundwave 65 and just a standard electric bass, it was ok for the radio station so we used it as standard practice

i have recently joined cambridge based metal band Unit 9 we take influences from bands such as raging speedhorn, alice in chains and pantera check us out here [url="http://www.reverbnation.com/unitnine"]http://www.reverbnation.com/unitnine[/url]

one thing ive found that helps is to learn some songs by bands you are trying to emulate, i always find i am most creative that way... i never fully learn the cover cos i end up making up new things

switchfoot - dare you to move

i was playing a show in leicester a couple of years back, i got the bass out of the case prior to going on stage and i noticed that the nut had snapped at one of the strings. i managed to get through the gig but it didnt sound amazing, pretty lucky the promoter had done no work and it was only us and the barman

i do this, but i feel restricted as a lead singer as ive always found it hard to do complex and interesting basslines and complex and interesting vocals at the same time

usually 4 for me, but i have found more recently that im drawn to playing my 5's a lot more than my 4's

[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' post='1031667' date='Nov 21 2010, 06:36 PM']Evening all, I am looking to set up a very small scale home studio for song writing and working on songs sent to me by band mates etc. I have a MacBook which has Garage Band on it although I have never really used it. Questions is would it better to use this a starting point and buy a USB interface to record into Garage Band or is a hardware option better such as the Belkin 4 track recorder which records direct to an ipod or the Boss Micro Studio etc? I am not a fan of programming drum machines but am pretty computer literate. Any advice or guidance on this one would be greatly appreciated. Cheers[/quote] i use usb interfaces as well as onboard sound cards. if you are looking to just record a bass and not multiple inputs at once, something like a tascam us-144mk2 or a line 6 ux1 would be ideal they are good quality bits of kit and are relatively inexpensive. also try a programme called riff works, allows you to create songs to simple drum loops, handy for demo purposes

i put together a cheap rig using a 450 watt behringer head and cheap 4 x 10 cab, cost me about 300 quid...... (i know... its dirty isnt it...) but it did a job for a long period and after endless tweaking actually sounded half decent, even in big venues i upgraded it and replaced with an ampeg rig, so now its collecting dust in a corner of my parents house. i guess it depends how serious the band is going to be as to how much you spend

i decided to get back into music again at the age of 18, was originally gonna go for a guitar, but my friend (a guitarist) convinced me to take up bass so we could start a band. i was at the time unconvinced, but when i first picked up a squier pbass they had in the shop i was sold

the lost boys soundtrack is pretty good, if you are 80's inlined of course................. i'll get my coat

i only lend out gear now if i am asked personally, and even then i avoid lending the head. i played a gig in 2008, it turned out my guitarist had promised my rig to a bunch of other bands (one band i didnt mind cos im good friends with the bassist). one band didnt even have any leads. so as the only bassist who had a rig i had to lend... i ended up with a busted speaker and several pricey leads being nicked. i dont like lending gear unless im forced or asked nicely, but at the same time, i would never expect anyone to provide rig for me. promoters just seem to think they can promise peoples rig out to people and its not fair

get a decent set of ear plugs, and dont stand near the drummer alternatively, replace him with a drum machine

of my 5 basses ive used all live (apart from the newest addition) i go with what feels comfortable to play on stage which usually means the fender jazz and the fender precision as back up.

id be game if the date and location is ok

im doing the same thing on tuesday, we agreed a couple of covers to learn to try and get us playing together so there isnt the awkward "well what shall we do" period. i agree with the above about someone taking charge, whilst its nice to be democratic, ultimatly a decision needs to be made and someone has to make them