Delberthot

I've been playing for 30 years now and been using D'addarios for about the past 10. Initially using Chromes but since I got my Musicman Sterling I've been using EXLs. I'm currently using the EXL220BT light gauge set which still sound good when the E is dropped to D but I've been thinking about trying the NYXLs as they are brighter and I've found myself looking for a brighter sound of late but don't want steels. I've also never had a duff string in all of the sets that I have bought over the years and proudly wear my D'addario t-shirt that I got with my players points to most gigs, D'addario clip on tuner at the ready 👍

"put something good on" directed at a live band always makes me laugh

Is he not related to Hugh Jass?

personally I disagree about the spotify thing about listening to what was in the charts when you were young but I may be in the minority - in 1991 when all of my friends were listening to 808 State, I was listening to Pink Floyd. The music I listen to has since about 1994, with the exception of the Chilis & Faith No More, been firmly rooted in the 70s and mainly rock music. There is music that I like before and after this period but it's mainly the 70s and I owe it all to Virgin Radio when it began in 1993. Right at the beginning it was mainly 70s rock music that they played and I discovered, ELP, Yes, Kansas, Zeppelin and loads more. For some reason I really despise most 60s music

One I don't think that you can really do anything other than to flag them to the mods is when you read a well put together advert and go through all of the additions to the thread, you're thinking that this might be something that you'd like to buy and discuss with the buyer and on the last post it says "sold" Grrrr

Fantastic - Listening to SWLABR at the moment. A huge inspiration to me when I was learning to play.

That's where you're going wrong - you're meant to film yourself playing bass

Apart from an 18 month break I've been with the same keyboard player / singer since 1995 and guitarist since 2001 Most of the guys I played with at school gave it up which was a shame, there were some decent players back then

Same with me and nearly 2 and a half years later it is still in excellent condition. I bought one of the Blake cases but it was absolutely ginormous so it went with a bass I was selling and I kept the TGI for my Sterling For cables I found this - It's a bag for lights so has a central divider. Strap and cables etc that I use all the time go in one side and spares cables, screwdriver etc go in the other and batteries for the bass and wireless live in the front pocket

My first thought is a Harper or a Palmer something like that. They were around about the same time as Wesley. Possibly a Mazetti with that headstock

I tried a set of Chromes on one I had last year and it sounded really good. I've never liked the sound or feel of the bronze acoustic strings

I thought that I'd give the Eclipse a try as well. I find it much faster than the Snark but after a couple of months the screen is burst. Still works but looks like something has pressed against it. If they made a more expensive version with a tougher screen then I'd buy one in a minute. they do take too long to turn on and off though if you want to tune between songs unless you leave it on all the time.

I only adjust the truss, saddles & intonation when changing string gauges. Once I get my setup done it never changes. I don't have a high action, in fact someone commented on how low it was which was a surprise to me so it actually does surprise me when players mention having to adjust everything due to humidity, time of year etc.

The Stingray 5 originally had alnico pickups, then switched out to ceramic. When they brought out the Sterling 5 they switched the pickups back to alnico. I'm really not understanding the 'scooped' thing that so many people have been talking about here. As someone who loves lots of mids then I shouldn't like the sound of my Sterling but it's right on the money for me.

I'm one of those people referenced above that bought a brand new Sterling. I've only had it since April 2016 but the price has gone up by £520 in that time which equates to a price rise of 34%. That's just incredible. I'm not sure about the reference to too much twang with a Stingray - are you sure it wasn't a Stingray guitar? 🤔 That would get you loads of twang. I'm not sure what to make of the new Stingrays or what the future holds. The new ones have elements of both Sterling and Bongo incorporated in them now so I'm unsure how that will affect the Sterling and Bongo models. I think that they will certainly be interesting and will give one a try if I have the opportunity

I recently changed from a set of D'addario EXL160BT strings with a combined tension of 114.3kgs to a set of EXL220BT super light gauge strings with a combined tension of 58.96kgs and in total spent about 20 minutes over the course of a few nights adjusting the truss rod, intonation and saddle & pickup heights. I'm by no means an expert and actually find myself checking online to double check which way the truss rod goes relative to where the fret rattle is before touching anything. As long as you take your time and don't make any extreme adjustments then you can't really go wrong. When i was a young lad twice I had my basses set up and on both occasions I had to adjust everything when I got them back as the action had been set too low. There's only one person who truly knows how to set your bass up ( unless you are fortunate enough to be in a big touring band and can afford a bass tech who can study your playing and how your basses are set up ) and that is you. Only you know when it is exactly right so I would never entrust someone I have never met, who doesn't know how I play, regardless of their reputation, to touch my basses as I know that it will never be exactly how I want it. A fret dress, refret, filing the nut or routing the body for a new pickup.electronics are completely different and I would probably go to a pro for that kind of work

I think the younger the better as you'll pick it up quicker the younger you are. I was 11 when I got my first acoustic guitar and 12 when I got my first bass. Plus all you have when you are young is school and friends - there's no job, mortgage, financial considerations and all of the many other distractions that prevent us or at least hinder us from taking up new hobbies the older we get. A real shame is all of the really good musicians I knew from school who didn't continue to play into adulthood. There were loads of us all playing in various bands in school and I think that myself and another girl I knew who was a phenomenal classical guitarist may be the only ones who are still playing

How about one of these? I'm guessing that he didn't want to risk singeing that thick mane of hair 😀

In our case every man and his dog claims to play the drums but trying to find a good one is pretty difficult to the extent that we almost considered a drum machine. Seriously, we even had one guy turn up to an audition and said that if we chose him he'd buy a drum kit as he didn't actually have one. Another guy told us that it was the first time he'd played with a band and another it was the first time he'd played the drums 🙄 Obviously the type of drummer required varies from band to band but we needed someone who could control their volume but it was amazing how many heavy hitters there were, which is great in a rock band but in a wedding/function band in a venue that may have a noise limiter and where we don't want to be deafening the audience it's pretty important

Knowing the material is essential. There's nothing worse than someone shouting the next song and you don't remember how it starts. Before you get on stage, make sure that you are in tune and everything is working so if anything does go wrong then you've done all you can. I would also recommend breathing exercises to calm yourself down, possibly a bit of meditation which doesn't need to last hours, you can do it over the course of a few minutes in a quiet corner / cupboard / changing room / toilet /etc Alternatively - do not get completely bladdered and make a complete fool of yourself. Dutch courage is not recommended for gigs, all you get are rubber fingers and the inability to remember what you're meant to be playing

It depends entirely on what you want to achieve and where you want to be. I taught myself to read when I was 17 because I was offered a gig in a big band and told the band leader that I could read. That lasted 18 months when I decided that I wanted to play in bands with people my own age (these were the original guys playing in big bands since the 40s) I haven't needed to read anything since and never look at the dots when I am learning something new. I've always played by ear. I don't know anything about scales, modes, theory or anything else like that. So for me the answer would be yes for those 18 months that I really enjoyed playing some great big band numbers but it's a skill that I've never needed to use again. I don't believe that reading during those 18 months when I was 17 has changed my playing and I don't feel that I have missed out by not being able to read as I gradually forgot where everything was. A drummer said to me a few years ago that you are only a proper musician if you can read music at which point I said that Phil Collins and Pino Palladino better give it up then being as neither can.

Also: Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder Search & Destroy - Iggy Pop Fire - Jimi Hendrix Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan All fantastic covers, but then I would say that being a massive Chilis fan. Not my kind of song but I think that the Stereophonics did a really good version of Handbags & Gladrags by Rod Stewart. GnR did knocking on heaven's door I remember hearing Rod's version of Ruby Tuesday and years later heard the Stones doing the original - I thought the Stones version was a wind up. The vocals are pretty dire

Is it to make it shiny or to clean gunk off it? If the latter then strip the bass and fire all of the chromework into a tub of cola for a few hours. It's amazing how quickly and effectively it cleans chrome. Leaves it looking like new again

In the past I have used an EQ pedal to balance between the two styles but these days I seem to the same level whether fingers or plectrum so I've maybe just balanced both styles out during the years