Recent outage of Ninjam servers shows all ninjamers we need more servers in different places. This nice page shows status of 10 known servers. Come on and play! 
Popularity: 6% [?]
Here is what we are waiting for - convertible bass from Mikey Guitar. Just one move of hand and it converts from fretted to fretless and vice versa.
The main idea is rotating fret. Manufacturer promises that bass is reliable and durable including conversion mechanism.
… stress test was setup. The mechanism was hooked up between two solenoids and driven back and forth. A counter kept track of the cycles. The “clack clack” sound of the solenoids drove everyone nuts but, over the course of 8 weeks, the mechanism was cycled 1,000,581 times. That’s the equivalent of 20 back and forth switches a day for about 137 years. The result…
NO SIGNS OF WEAR. Needless to say, we’re happy.
Unfortunately it is available to “test drive” in Toronto, Canada only. 
Popularity: 8% [?]
If you are still not in a band - here is great site with open mikes listings. Every place accompanied by comments, maps and links to homepage. Nice resource for bandless musicians and musicians at all.
Popularity: 6% [?]
This is repost from my old blog, but I think it will be useful here.
This week I asked on talkbass.com about sitting position. Today I’ve reviewed several videos and here is answer of bass pros.
All of them (except Gary Willis. He keeps bass on central position) use right leg.
To switch or not to switch…
Popularity: 8% [?]
Recently I bought my first 6-stringer - Brice HXB-406 with bubinga finish. First of all - this is very decent bass for $310 (with S&H). Two-trussrod neck is very nice and comfortable, electronics is not too loud, but sounds great. Hardware is perfect and guitar stays in tune all the time. Well, you have to expect bass for this price. I mean - stock strings are crap and setup wasn’t perfect. But I think this is all complaints. New Labella strings are on the way, and 1/4 turn for both trussrods solved all my complaints about setup.
The sound… Great sustain and whole-range sound - this is what HXB-406 is. B-string sounds great and not floppy, thanks to 35″ scale. The only one sound I cannot get - P-bass one. But I solve this problem with Korg PX4B or Hartke Bass Attack. I didn’t try to tweak it on amp yet, because I don’t have one - I’m using PA or amp on rehearsal studio - still looking for great one.
About scale and transition. Well, I used to play Yamaha RXB170 (great inexpensive bass too) 4-string with 34″ scale. One week is almost passed and I feel that transition is over (about 12 hours of practice total). Well, some stretches are still not perfect, but at all - I’m ready for today rehearsal with my new toy The weight of Brice is a little bit more than my Yamaha, but I cannot complaint about it with my 5″ wide leather strap (I wrote already about them) and my 6′8″ and 300lb
Also be careful with strings selection. You need “Super Long” or “Extra Long” one. 35″ scale plus strings-thru-body makes all “Long” 6-strings sets unusable, but you can found wide selection of strings on JustStrings.com. I didn’t received my LaBella one, but I can confirm that DAddario “Long” doesn’t fit.
So, it sounds great, it plays great and it looks great. Here is myself with just unpacked Brice.
You can purchase Brice and SX basses on RondoMusic.net. Click on “Bass Guitars” and select “6 string” on the top. Handling was less than 24 hours. Shipping was lighting fast. UPS estimated 7 days, but I’ve got my bass 4 days earlier :). Bass was double-boxed, had tuning wrenches and was carefully packed. Great seller.
Popularity: 14% [?]
