Franticsmurf

I saw one of King Crimson's 'Projekt' improvisation gigs at the Jazz Cafe in Camden back in the 90s. I happened to be in London for work and discovered on the night that they were playing. Being a KC fan, I shot down and scored a ticket. It was all improvisation. Mr Fripp started with his Frippertronics, but this was brought to an early end when someone in the audience used a flashgun. The line up was, IIRC, Levin, Trey Gunn and Bruford. It was an incredible night's music. Not 100% brilliant but when they hit the groove (which was probably 75% of the time), it was amazing.

I started with a Presonus Audiobox 96 - 2 inputs and bundled with a full version of their Studio 1 software, which came with very usable plug-ins for effects. I'm still using the software and although I upgraded to a Behringer UMC for the 8 inputs, the Audiobox is still in use on my PC.

Great video, really enjoyed, but not good for my new found gear abstinence attempt. 🤣 I now want a Status (or two) and I realise that I regret selling my ATK. 😃

My mate, the drummer mentioned in my post above, was the product of an art school and he was the most prolific writer of tunes during our prog phase. He was the keeper of the time signatures, too. He was a better drummer than I was guitarist and I gained a lot from learning to play his songs, which I transferred to bass when I saw the light many years later. I even had a twin necked guitar and used it on stage. It's good to be with people who understand these things and don't judge. 🤣

I was involved in a similar 'thing' in the first band I was in, playing strange guitar effects noises over HP Lovecraft lines recited by the singer and/or drummer - they were intros to songs that had a vague link to Lovecraft-like themes. 😃

I may have done this too, with my GuitarBass VI, for that droney, phasey, proggy sound on a recording. 😃

Welcome to the site.

Hi Smudger.

I have a right handed one. I got it to try out fretless and see if it was for me. I've already recorded with it and I'll definitely be gigging it this year, maybe not for the whole set but certainly on a few songs. Great guitar.

Vangelis - Heaven and Hell. It was used in the soundtrack to Carl Sagan's Cosmos just about the time I was getting into astronomy as a kid. It usually reminds me of evenings staring at the stars through binoculars and my neighbour's telescope. Jon & Vangelis 'I'll Find My Way Home' - I used to play it every morning before going into school to do my 'O' levels. Made me feel good but didn't work miracles on the exams themselves. 😃 Yes, 90125 album. It was the first album I bought when I went away to college in London. I played it to death even though as a Yes fan for years, I wasn't too keen on Trevor Rabin joining them (I mellowed later after hearing ARW). In 2014 I climbed Kilimanjaro and in my head as an earworm on the summit night was 'Three Little Birds'. Not a particular favourite at the time and I'm not sure where it came from but the words were uplifting and the rhythm that I sang it in my head matched the slow plod required. I got to the top, forgot about it and when I got home I happened to hear it on the radio and all the emotion of that summit night came back in a flood of tears!

I used a Behringer BDi as the only pedal into a desk for a while. Loved it and it remains on one of two boards I have as the balanced out source and is set up for mild drive. I got a Laney Digbeth which resides on the other board as it has the 'Tilt' control, which I use to tune the sound to the room. I'm sure there are others that could tell you exactly how tilt works, but form me it seems to increase or decrease the emphasis of the bass end. In a 'boomy' room, you can dial back the bass boom. It also has a nice tube simulation, clean channel and bypass and the price is good.

Hi Rigetto.

My mate was into Deep Purple so when we started a band together (our first), Purple songs were on the list. 'Highway Star' was the one we settled on. As the guitarist (I had yet to discover the 4 string light) I struggled with the solo, but we got the song working really tightly. Inevitably, we toyed with 'Smoke on the Water' (it was the first thing I was shown how to play on 6 string) but it never made the set until one night at a charity gig with a multi band line-up. We lucked out and got a good slot and as we finished our last song, we were asked to extend our set by the compare. We played 'Brick in the Wall' and 'Smoke on the Water', neither properly rehearsed. In rehearsal we'd often play 'The Mule' as a jam but that never made the set either. In a different band we played 'Hush'. I always wanted to play 'Perfect Strangers' but we never got the chance. My favourite Purple song, therefore, is Highway Star. It has memories attached - a great song that we listened to growing up, the way the band came together as we worked on playing it, the way I never really nailed the guitar solo and the lump in my throat when they played it at my mate's funeral.

Many, many, many years ago, I was briefly a Blues Brother with a vastly more talented singer/guitarist. As he was taller than me, I was 'Jake' to his 'Elwood'. In the act we played about a third of the set as the Blues Brothers, with various other disguises that covered the Beatles and various rock and roll stars.

I've always said my Spirit headless will be the last bass to go.

My Steinberger Spirit has a bolt on neck, but the body size may not be what you're looking for.

A diagnosis of an inguinal hernia in April prompted a rethink of all things bass for me. I decided lighter kit would enable me to continue gigging so I ditched the Laney RB7 combo and 15" cab in favour of, initially, a TCE BAM200 and two home built 6" cabs (initial designs on here). In fact, the research for lighter kit and in particular the small class D amp heads was why I ended up on Basschat. Once I'd figured out what I could or couldn't do, I got a couple of TE 1x10" cabs. I wouldn't go back to big cabs now. My main bass was a Sterling HH 34" scale - a little on the heavy side. Fortunately I have my Spirit headless bass (it's been with me for more than 15 years) so I turned to that for rehearsals and a couple of gigs, also using my Gretsch Electromatic shorty. Both a considerably lighter than the Sterling. Recently I invested (purely on medical grounds, you understand 😃) in an American P Bass which is also lighter than the Sterling. As time has gone on I've found I can do more than I initially expected although I still know about the hernia after a gig or rehearsal.

One band I play regularly with has a permanent sound engineer and so with them I'm now going down the IEM/DI route and gaining confidence with it. The set list means I can get away with a simple signal chain set up. Bass (Sterling HH, HB GuitarBass VI and/or P Bass) into a Behringer tuner, then into my Zoom MS60B (with patches for chorus and a defretted sound for one song but which allows for other effects should the need arise) and finally into the passive input of a Laney Digbeth pre-amp, where I have a clean and a gritty channel plus I will use the bypass occasionally. This feeds the FOH desk, from which I take a personal IEM mix which I'm still working on but currently has my bass, my backing vocals, the two guitars, the keyboard, drums and main vocals. Left out are the brass (which I can hear without monitors), three ukeleles, a banjo, percussion and two backing vocals (which are usually a bit ropey). I can also take a signal to an onstage amp from the Digbeth if necessary as the drummer isn't on IEMs and likes to hear the bass. The IEM is a Gear4Music transmitter and receiver with a pair of Sony noise cancelling earbuds.

Hi Bob.

Welcome to the site Simon.

Unless it's simple root notes on the beat, I can't sing and play bass. The exception (for some reason) is 'Lets Work Together', where I'm harmonising the chorus with the singer. The bass line is repetitive enough and the lyrics simple enough that I'm not overloading the brain but I agree, it feels like someone else is playing the bass. And if I make the mistake of listening to the bass, everything goes free-form improv. 😂

One way to look at it is to turn the question around. Imagine your band has a prestigious gig coming up but one of the band members is unable to make it. You need a dep at short notice. What qualities are you going to look for? IMO playing ability is just one of the skills. I'd want someone that I can get a vibe off while performing so that the gig is more than just a bunch of songs - so some ability to get on with people would be essential. I wouldn't mind them using notes to work from during a performance, but I wouldn't want them to be buried behind a music stand for the whole gig - I'd expect them to know the standards. And in return, I'd be expected to tell them of any changes to arrangements of standards that the band does. I'm sure most deps would turn up if they said they would, but I wouldn't want to be worrying about it as the start time looms, so agreeing a time with the band leader that meets his/her needs, not 'I only need 5 minutes to set up so I'll see you at 8.55'. For the gig, the dep is part of the band and any behaviour or attiutude (good or bad) he/she shows will be reflected on the band. It goes without saying that the kit has to be up to standard but some consideration to the nature of the gig when planning what to use (don't bring a Marshall stack to a relaxed jazz gig 😃). All these things should be discussed and agreed before the gig. If the BL is not experienced, I'd expect the professional musician to discuss and get agreement on these elements without being prompted. Of course, everyone will have their own criteria that they would use to measure the suitability of a dep. And that's the key thing to remember - as a professional musician looking for work, you have to be flexible enough to be able to meet all the criteria that the client requests, or be realistic and honest enough to say no to something that you don't agree with or is not within your ability. I'm not a professional musician but I have depped and I'd like to think I brought a professional attitude to those gigs.

+180 - As a budding guitarist in the early 80s I loved all things prog and hated to varying degrees anything that was pop (disco, funk, New Romantic most of the top 30/40 etc etc). With hindsight I think it was largely because of peer pressure rather than actually disliking stuff. Now, as a gigging bassist, I love playing disco and funk and pretty much any genre that comes my way (whether I can do some of them justice is another matter 😃). But while I enjoy playing most styles of music, I still wouldn't consider myself a fan of disco or funk and I really don't like Country and Western. And prog remains on top of the list. although the definition of prog has changed over the years. 😃

Ciao Ollimac. Welcome to the site.

Welcome to the club, Jon.