Jacqueslemac

Well I don't mind the book languishing among all the others I have lined up if no-one else steps forward.

[quote name='joeystrange' timestamp='1357300007' post='1920523'] Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon.[/quote] Me too. Plus The Big Figure and John B Sparkes

Me please. But not straight away. I ordered a dozen books from my local library and every single one came in over Christmas! Could I please be third on the list?

First band practice of the new year last night. We're working on a heap of new songs because we're bored of playing the same old covers. We also had a go at some old stuff we used to play with our previous drummer. Not everyone had learned everything, but all-in-all it wasn't a bad session and it was good to work on new material. A good start to the new year. Tonight is the first practice for the surf band for about a month.

Have a look at [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/185820-design-your-own-p-bass/page__fromsearch__1"]this thread[/url].

Glad everyone is having a busy Christmas day!

Before: After:

For me, jazz is a bit like sprouts. I feel I ought to like it, but every time I try it, I still go "yuk". I don't get it. I'll have a listen and see what happens this time.

Went to see a three-band gig. After watching the bass players in the second and headline bands I feel a bit disheartened, both were so good.

So, the consensus is... there's no consensus!

Could also be where you were standing (or wherever whoever set up their sound when he/she did so). The further you get away from the stage, the more the bass cuts through (at least, that's what the sound engineer told me at our last gig). A bit off-topic, but the first time I used my Jaguar at a gig I thought the sound was a bit muffled and indistinct. During the first set I saw a well-known local bass player come in, so, during the break I asked him what he thought of the tone. His response was "Great. I always love it when I can hear the bass over the rest of the band"!

Cancelled. The singer lost his voice. Boo hiss. I called the landlord and apologised and he agreed to re-schedule the date for February, so hopefully he wasn't too annoyed (or as annoyed as the rest of us were).

Shh, don't tell everyone. I entered a couple of weeks ago and hoped no-one else had noticed the competition. Whoops, I've just bumped the topic haven't I?

[quote name='Seb_C' timestamp='1354887564' post='1891639'] Hendrix playing bass is always interesting because you can sort of tell it's a guitarist playing bass. Quite busy, not as tight as you would expect from a top class bassist (i.e. someone who was as good at bass as Jimi was at guitar). Spanish Castle Magic is another example of this. [/quote] Apologies if this is a bit off-topic, but Noel Redding wasn't a bass player any more than Jimi Hendrix was, so do his basslines end up like they would have done even if Jimi had played on all of them, I wonder? (Noel was a guitarist who claimed he'd never even tried to play bass before he was handed one and offered the gig with Jimi Hendrix.)

I enjoyed gigging mine the few times I did so. It has a great sound for an acoustic set (when plugged in), but the previous comments about the volume when it's unplugged are true. It's much louder than an electric bass unplugged, but won't hold its own against acoustic guitars. I didn't notice any neck dive when playing, although it does dive if you take both hands off the bass. Mine lives in a hard case, so I've never noticed any problems with battery drainage. My only real issue with it is that the body is quite deep front-to-rear, so I found it a bit of a stretch for my right forearm, which ended up resting on the edge and was a bit uncomfortable after a few songs. All-in-all, a great bass for the money (although I did buy mine secondhand, but in as-new condition).

Either a lightweight Zoot 1x12 (I can carry it with two fingers) or an Ashdown 4x10 if I want something that looks more "rock". The sound of the Zoot is all I need, though.

Chapeau!

And don't forget that they'll be auditioning you too!

To expand on commitment a bit, I reckon it's also important to establish what everyone wants out of a band. A few months ago I was approached to play in a band, but turned it down as I wasn't keen on the sample tracks they sent (too "pop" and not enough "rock"). Last month I saw the band was advertising for a new bass player and watched a couple of clips. They're now much more in my camp, but when I dropped the singer an email it transpired they have dreams of being famous, getting a record deal and so on. Those aren't my dreams, so we didn't take it any further. In my experience, a lot of conflict in a band is caused by the different members having different reasons for being in the band. In my current set-up we squabble about songs, even about the band's name, but we're all in it for fun, for one gig a month (ploughing our earnings back into kit). Given that, everyone's happy for the sound to be the best we can. Sometimes that means asking one of the guitarists to turn up a bit as we're losing a solo in the overall mix. Yes, really. The problems seem to arise if a guitarist is using a band to live out his or her fantasies, rather than being part of a band.

I start off the with the full charts in front of me for every song. Little by little I stop looking at them, but they're there if my memory fails. Then I progress to just having the bits I find difficult to remember on the page. The last gig but one I had just one piece of paper with reminders for about five songs. The last gig I found I didn't need anything. I'd prefer not to have to refer to anything as it means I can move around a bit (maybe join one of the guitarists for a bit of backing vocals) and can be more animated.

Put a dozen of my basses and guitars up for sale (to finance something else). I hope the ones I'm least fond of go first, so I get to keep the others. I haven't put the "keepers" up for sale, of course!