Bass Day UK 2009 (Royal Northern College of Music - Nov 22)

[AndyTravis]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='663066' date='Nov 23 2009, 07:30 PM']What was the problem with Randy Hope-Taylor?[/quote]

He just looked like the kid at school who'd forgot to do his homework.
He's obviously a legend, but would you agree to do it, without planning ANYTHING?
A real shame, i was looking forward to it...

[Pete Academy]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='663149' date='Nov 23 2009, 08:41 PM']He just looked like the kid at school who'd forgot to do his homework.
He's obviously a legend, but would you agree to do it, without planning ANYTHING?
A real shame, i was looking forward to it...[/quote]

[derrenleepoole]

[quote name='jwbassman' post='663138' date='Nov 23 2009, 08:30 PM']He looked mightily relieved once his half hour was up.[/quote]

He actually played for 15 minutes in total. I know because I recorded it all on my Zoom H2

[jwbassman]

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='663160' date='Nov 23 2009, 09:55 PM']He actually played for 15 minutes in total. I know because I recorded it all on my Zoom H2 [/quote]

I think it was supposed to be a half hour slot but I think he started late so may well have only actually played 15mins... I didn't keep tabs on how long each performer played, just going off the schedule - think I was getting tired at that point too from all the noise.

Agree with the earlier post that having a band outside the main auditorium was probably not a great idea...

[yorks5stringer]

"Also met up with the usual couple.....Stuart (bassbunny) & Keith( yorks5stringer). Keith left me his wristband in case he won anything in the raffle. He missed out on the bass they were giving away by just 3 numbers!!"

Hey Pete, that's funny, you told me the same story ( except I was 1 number off) last year!!!! Anyway, enjoy the new Bass (again)!

[Sean]

[quote name='jwbassman' post='663138' date='Nov 23 2009, 08:30 PM']His bass sound wasn't great either (very loud and very muddy). He looked mightily relieved once his half hour was up.[/quote]

To be fair to Randy, he was on the East stand asking about upgrading his Marcus 5 within an hour of finishing his set - he was having some serious non-love with his preamp I guess. He was soon to have to have the revelation...

He came over as very serious but a really nice guy.

[JakeBrownBass]

[quote name='Sean' post='663256' date='Nov 23 2009, 10:23 PM']To be fair to Randy, he was on the East stand asking about upgrading his Marcus 5 within an hour of finishing his set - he was having some serious non-love with his preamp I guess. He was soon to have to have the revelation...

He came over as very serious but a really nice guy.[/quote]

Took you a while to realise who it was through sean

[guyl]

Only managed to get there just before 6pm. (They still charged £23 though!!) Was glad to catch Nathan East. He'll never be remembered for pushing boundaries, but I bet he has a few quid in the bank! Excellent and very musical! He didn't inspire me to practice more bass, but I'm working on singing chops!

+1 for the volume/racket problem on the trade stands. Even the bar was a bit uncomfortable when I first got there - normally a place of peaceful sanctuary! Lots of lovely interesting stuff though!

Although it was late, Mike Issac and Ollie Collins were both great too!

Highlight was meeting Ped!

[poptart]

It was great meeting lots of you on the day - I am sorry if I did not get chance to speak to everyone but it was manic on the stand all day! Just a quick heads up about some show offers;

I have the TC deals available all this week which is; free covers on the 210 at £399 and the 212 at £499 inc shipping, free footswitch and gig bag on the RH450 (£899 inc shipping) and the Stacatto at £1149 inc shipping and a free gig bag and shipping on the classic at £669.

I also have the bass that Nathan was playing at Bass day for sale at a very special price.

NEW FLASH - Genz Benz Shuttle 9 amps arriving this week!!!!!

See you all again next year ;-)

Mark

[GreeneKing]

[quote name='poptart' post='663491' date='Nov 24 2009, 09:43 AM']I also have the bass that Nathan was playing at Bass day for sale at a very special price.



See you all again next year ;-)

Mark[/quote]

Mark

That was a fine looking and sounding bass.

Someone in the audience was talking to Nathan about 36" scale and yet I believe that the BBNE2 is 34" scale according to the spec sheet. Is that right?

Peter

[poptart]

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='663517' date='Nov 24 2009, 10:15 AM']Mark

That was a fine looking and sounding bass.

Someone in the audience was talking to Nathan about 36" scale and yet I believe that the BBNE2 is 34" scale according to the spec sheet. Is that right?

Peter[/quote]

Peter

This is what I believe - the bass sounded great with a super B string tone (he was all over that bass). That is a high quality Japanese hand made bass with the best woods etc and that is why it sounded so great. I am a huge fan or 35" scale 5 and 6 string basses, but if you are jumping from 4 - 5 string then a 34 does make a bit more sense and there are some really good 34" 5 string basses available (most of them are in my shop BTW ;-) ) which is great news for those who prefer 34". 36" scale is pretty hectic for most of us, although there are inherent benefits, however I suggest checking out the Dingwalls if you are looking to go super deep!

Mark

[MB1]

[quote name='sshorepunk' post='662401' date='Nov 23 2009, 09:35 AM']Great day, got a bit of an hangover this morning, I was in the vicinity of MB1 for most of the day, we had a few beers!
We were in an area where stevie threw a set of strings, it hit MB1's pint and drowned me!

Got some GAS, which I will be moving on today, could go in one of two directions, still mulling it over

T[/quote]

MB1.
I didnt pick a bass up all day!..I actually felt Guilty i might play something that wasnt Slap on it!
...Nobody Mentioned there'd be Flying Strings!....Nobody Expects Flying Strings?...Sorry about that Tony! .....Whats this Bassday Thing your on about!

[GreeneKing]

Martin, did we meet?

Sean, nice avatar, I'm jealous.

[MB1]

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='663739' date='Nov 24 2009, 02:01 PM']Martin, did we meet?

Sean, nice avatar, I'm jealous.[/quote]

MB1.
I was the only one there with an Ashdown T shirt on!...having strings thrown at him...(probably from those guys on the Markbass Stand! )

[Alun]

Another great day, thanks to Stevie, Gary, Pris and all involved

Here are my random thoughts:

Loved most of the performances, Adam Nitti & Nathan East being the highlights for me. I loved Ralf Glauck too, although I don't think a lot of people even noticed he was there. As mentioned above, Randy Hope Taylor was a major disappointment - extremely muddy tone from where I was sitting ( two rows in from of the desk so should have been good) with the drums far too loud. Plus he really didn't seem to know what he was doing. It might have worked if there'd been more Q& A or instruction, but seemed a but directionless. Also found Bernhard Lackner's set a bit disappointing as what I saw was basically playing grooves along to his CD ( although his slapping technique, with his knuckles, was intriguing). The final set by Mike Isaacs seemed a bit of an anticlimax to me too - would have been better on the Boom stage or earlier in the day IMO. It was OK but no different to a hundred other bands playing jazz festivals every year, so seemed odd following Nathan East.

Apart from Randy Hope Taylor, I though the sound in the main hall was fantastic all day.

Great range of gear on display. Didn't try much ( due to the volume mentioned elsewhere making it impossible to hear an instrument clearly) but did try a gorgeous MTD Kingston ( well, two , but the rear pickup was working on the first one - oops!) and a Dingwall early on before it got too noisy. Still can't believe how comfortable the fanned frets felt on the Dingwall!

Enjoyed Yolanda's playing but the positioning outside the main hall wasn't ideal (the guitarist on the next stand randomy joining in seemed a bit odd too, although he was a great player). Might have been worth putting the stands with drums and bass on the middle level where they wouldn't interfere with the two stages too badly.

Didn't run into many Basschatters, although did say hi to Mark and met a student from Swansea who had emailed me for lessons but I'd never met

Have been to every BassDay so far, and it's great to see how it has grown.Looking forward to next year!

Cheers
Alun

[witterth]

I cant remember what he said now, (few beers)
but one of MB1s usuall sarcastic,acidic comments,with his usuall comic timing nearly got me kicked out of the concert room for giggling like a school kid!!
Good Day

[pantherairsoft]

My first Bassday. Loved it. Was great to meet a few people. I have left with horrid GAS, but hey ho!

Randy was a let down, and I was really looking forward to that performance, but everything else was great. I tried so many basses it was hard to decipher them all. GB Spitfire my fav, followed by the Everson range... massively surprised by how well they played and at £800 a piece they blew the socks off a few 2k plus priced basses I played that day!!!

Poogie and the boys rocked and Nathan East was great and a fantastic singer as well (that surprised me!).

Had a great day, stayed right to the end as well.

I'll be there next year. I may even practice my slap as well to make up for the lack of slap bass around ;-)

[cureswhatailsye]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='664063' date='Nov 24 2009, 05:37 PM']Randy was a let down, and I was really looking forward to that performance, but everything else was great. I tried so many basses it was hard to decipher them all. GB Spitfire my fav, followed by the Everson range... massively surprised by how well they played and at £800 a piece they blew the socks off a few 2k plus priced basses I played that day!!![/quote]

I felt a bit bad for Randy, he's obviously a great player, but if you're not a soloist, and have to come up with somethin to play on bass and drums what you gonna do eh? He's clearly more of a solid workhorse player than a virtuosic soloist. Was a bit disappointed though, thought he might have prepared a bit of something.

As for:

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='664063' date='Nov 24 2009, 05:37 PM']I'll be there next year. I may even practice my slap as well to make up for the lack of slap bass around ;-)[/quote]

Feel free to join the winge [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=68315&st=0"]here[/url]

[ped]

Really sorry I missed so many baschatters - I waved at a few, like Mark and Russ, meaning to come and chat when I was done with what I was doing, but with all the noise it was hard to hold a convo!!

Cheers
ped

[pantherairsoft]

By the time I found what I believe was the 'Basschat stand' it was a table pushed up against the wall with about 10 tee's on it... so I'm guessing I was a bit late! :-)

I agree that Randy is not a 'solo' kind of player. But look at youtube... you can see what he is capable of with a little prep!!!

[ped]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='664217' date='Nov 24 2009, 07:27 PM']By the time I found what I believe was the 'Basschat stand' it was a table pushed up against the wall with about 10 tee's on it... so I'm guessing I was a bit late! :-)

I agree that Randy is not a 'solo' kind of player. But look at youtube... you can see what he is capable of with a little prep!!![/quote]

Probably early if anything - I didn't arrive until 4.30 and wasn't really able to get a 'stand' as such sorted!! Next year it'll be all singing and dancing, believe me. Just been a bit off the pulse recently and didn't really get anything sorted. Poor effort on my part. But I enjoyed the show!!

ped

[pantherairsoft]

[quote name='ped' post='664225' date='Nov 24 2009, 07:33 PM']Probably early if anything - I didn't arrive until 4.30 and wasn't really able to get a 'stand' as such sorted!! Next year it'll be all singing and dancing, believe me. Just been a bit off the pulse recently and didn't really get anything sorted. Poor effort on my part. But I enjoyed the show!!

ped[/quote]

Yes dammit, try harder :-)

Was a good show all round. Very enjoyable

[sshorepunk]

[quote name='pantherairsoft' post='664217' date='Nov 24 2009, 07:27 PM']By the time I found what I believe was the 'Basschat stand' it was a table pushed up against the wall with about 10 tee's on it... so I'm guessing I was a bit late! :-)[/quote]

I thought the bass chat stand was the long one, just in front of the bar, I think MB1 did as well!

T

[Thunderthumbs]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' post='663246' date='Nov 23 2009, 10:12 PM']"Also met up with the usual couple.....Stuart (bassbunny) & Keith( yorks5stringer). Keith left me his wristband in case he won anything in the raffle. He missed out on the bass they were giving away by just 3 numbers!!"

Hey Pete, that's funny, you told me the same story ( except I was 1 number off) last year!!!! Anyway, enjoy the new Bass (again)![/quote]
In all seriousness, you were just 3 numbers out.

I was at the bar with Nigel Clutterbuck and each ticket being drawn was getting closer and closer to your number (my number was miles out). Then for the bass, I think yours ended something like 115 and 112 came out. It got a big "oooooooooh" from us bar-proppers.

Did you get back to the station OK?

[Gary]

[quote name='sshorepunk' post='664456' date='Nov 24 2009, 10:38 PM']I thought the bass chat stand was the long one, just in front of the bar, I think MB1 did as well!

T[/quote]




Looked that way from where I was stood! Stevie's pint finding Strings might have put you back a little though.

Thanks to everyone who came along this year. Yes there were some volume issues and stand placements issues this year but all in all turned out to be a great day again.

Great to see so many new faces as well as the old ones. Great to see so many kids getting involved. One young lad (couldn't have been much older than 8) was waiting all day for Nathan East!

Hopefully an event like this will inspire more and more younger people as well as the rest of us.

Again great to see the education side of things and great spots on the Boom stage as usual from Dave Marks and Andrew McKinney

Edited November 25, 2009 by Gary