discreet

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1431413217' post='2770922'] I can't be bothered to learn words, it's another stress that I just don't need. I have them printed out, very big and on the floor or against the monitor. [/quote] You should be lashed until you drop! Well... I suppose I'll let you off if you're singing and playing at the same time. I really wouldn't fancy it much. And Sting can never remember the bloody words anyway, so you're probably about right.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1431411905' post='2770911'] ...and another thing; who'd be the obvious candidate for buying and humping the PA? Never the singer apparently. (transport's usually optional too). [/quote] Ours is a technophobe and claims he isn't able to operate a mixing desk. So muggins here sets it all up at rehearsal for him to swan in late, say 'one, two' into the mic, make a face and say,'I suppose it'll have to do.' His unfortunate and premature death will make us an instrumental band, I fear - at least for a little while. Oh well, it can't be helped.

As said above, I'd keep both of 'em. The best solution to any perceived problem is often to do nothing...

I think it means easy to play, as in smooth and slick with a low action, a great neck and possibly shiny flats... mmm, butter. My 76P plays like butter. It also [i]looks [/i]like butter... In fact, I can't believe it's NOT butter.

See? Rage and joy in one day! What a rollercoaster! Great-looking bass too - I often have GAS for a Jack Casady, particularly a white one. It'll be great with flats on it. Have fun.

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1431375239' post='2770728'] ...why is it that generally they either dont seem to care, or notice that their contribution to the band is not what it should be? While there are no hard and fast rules, IME singers seem to be the worst offenders when it comes to being on top of their game. [/quote] Some singers seem to have the attitude that if they've turned up at all you should be grateful. And while I'm on, what's with all this carrying around scraps of paper and tatty notebooks with lyrics written down? Is it to make them look important? I've taken the trouble to learn my bass lines well enough that I don't have to consult any literature while I'm playing, so why do vocalists think that it's OK to peer myopically through their bifocals at their spidery handwriting when singing? This is bad enough at rehearsal (they should have learned their crap at home, rehearsal isn't for learning stuff), but when they do it at gigs (whether it's my band or not) it makes me want to punch them! AND ANOTHER THING, they can't (or won't) count bars, either! They routinely come in too late or too fricking early, or not at all! THEY'RE NOT PROPER BLOODY MUSICIANS! Stupid fecking worthless unprofessional bastards!! They must be lashed!! There, I've said it.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1431372304' post='2770679'] Music stands..????? [/quote] My views on music stands are well-known!

[quote name='RickyV' timestamp='1431369964' post='2770638'] A bit of practice in between rehearsals wouldn't go amiss with our singer! I don't think we are asking for too much there are we?!! [/quote] That's the other thing - singers that won't learn how to sing inevitably can't be bothered to learn lyrics, either - I hate it when singers don't know the words and then either bluff it through by mumbling, or make up words as they go along. The worst one I've seen is a singer blatantly reading lyrics from a phone at a gig, which looks so bloody bad you can hardly believe it! Lazy, lazy, feckless bastards!!

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1431327665' post='2769904'] A Precision, with flats, just mess with the tone knob. [/quote] Can't help but agree, really. This... plus a certain level of competence.

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1431357531' post='2770412'] I did once have a 77 black precision with maple neck that weighed just under 8lbs, so they do exist. [/quote] They sure do - my 76 maple P is 8lbs.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1431357884' post='2770419'] Maybe they won't be in a rush to do that? [/quote] Oof, even I think that's bad.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1431351481' post='2770289'] A sensible, GAS-killing, expense-avoiding thread on Basschat?!?! Whatever next? [/quote] Well now the Tories are in we have to tighten our belts, batten down the hatches and gird our loins for some full-on austerity!

Going by the thread title I was expecting a bit of a bodge, but this is top, professional work! Nicely done.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1431352089' post='2770314'] Glad you didn't say 'baited underpants' - you never know what you might catch. [/quote] You name it, I've probably already caught it.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1431351931' post='2770308'] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I've always found that crap singers get short shrift.[/font][/color] I must say that Rush oughta play back some of their 2015 tour... [/quote] They should definitely get another singer. Leaving whatsisname to concentrate on his bass playing...

YouTube reviews are sketchy at best and given the many parameters of audio quality (theirs and yours) it's not a good way to decide about the sound of anything really, especially not amps. Have a read of some of these reviews: [url="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/behringer-ultrabass-bx4500h-bass-amp-head"]http://www.musicians...h-bass-amp-head[/url] Scroll down a bit for the reviews... ...warts and all, they're not all good!

Very interesting... I await more posts with bated underpants.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1431335925' post='2770026'] There are a couple of small combos under the stairs which I'm trying to get rid of (the combos not the stairs) [/quote] Aww! I had a delightful vision of your family all learning to hover in mid-air.

I've had a similar experience and class vocalists along with keyboard players. Take that as you will. You are dead right that the human voice needs to be developed and trained if it is to be used as an instrument. It requires at least as much time and effort to learn to sing as it does to play any other instrument, if not more so. A disappointing number of singers I've had the misfortune to meet have not bothered to do this. Why? Because they are deluded, narcissistic chancers who believe they have God-given talent and you should think yourself lucky to be in the same room as them. I think they are worthless, feckless, lazy bastards who should be lashed until they drop. These are just opinions, of course.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1431349975' post='2770245'] Gordon Bennett! That's insane value. I'm not entirely sure about Behringer gear - IIRC the pedals are really inexpensive [/quote] Behringer do not have a good reputation online. It's worth repeating that (in my opinion) this is because they manufacture and distribute a HUGE amount of product globally, so statistically you're going to hear more about Behringer fails than anything else, even though their percentage failure rate as a company is no better or worse than average. Plus, I've had a Behringer BDI-21 (Sansamp Clone) for years and it's been very reliable. It was £25 and sounds 95% like the pedal it's emulating. When I buy one of these amps I'll certainly post a review. If it goes tits-up within three years I'll just send it back... if it fails after that I will have had my money's worth... It's worth Googling this amp too, and reading the many reviews of it online.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1431347982' post='2770209'] Made me step back and question myself. I'm not even in a band and I'm preparing to drop hundreds of pounds on something I can't justify. Fine if I'm a regularly gigging bassist, but at this moment I'm not. I didn't even recognise this as GAS gone wild, which ultimately is what it is. [/quote] Easily done - I don't do an awful lot of gigs and most of them have backline supplied anyway. But GAS led me to a GK Fusion and it's very nice. However, I've got a strange kind of reverse-GAS which is now leading me to one of these: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_bx4500h_ultrabass_basshead.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...ss_basshead.htm[/url] Apparently it's an Ashdown clone similar to one I used as backline a while back and liked [i]a lot.[/i] Not much of a gamble at the price. And it's got a three-year warranty.

[quote name='grenadilla' timestamp='1431344558' post='2770153'] The irony is that 70's vintage was considered to be not worthy until they were about 20 years old. [/quote] Tru dat - when I bought my 76 new I was sneered at and told the only 'proper' Fenders were pre-CBS. And to be fair, my bass sounded fairly average. But nearly 40 years later it sounds utterly fantastic... is this because it took that long to 'mature', or is it because I'm now an experienced enough player to coax a sweet tone out of it, or a bit of both? Or neither? Is it in fact merely wishful thinking?

In a nutshell: Kids have always liked to get smashed, have sex and make a racket. Edit: My point being that rock 'n' roll defies analysis...

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1431335786' post='2770022'] Yes, but when it's painted Magnolia the tort could look the business! [/quote] No, I meant a vintage cream pickguard!

Those £13 pickguards are OK if you don't get tort (which aren't that bad in themselves anyway). Whatever you do don't get a black pearl though, that would look well tacky! And tort is actually illegal on black, as everyone knows. Parchment or cream is the way forward! Nice bass btw, and a bargain too by the look of it.