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Meet the new range, same as the old range...

Adrian Maruszczyk must laugh his socks off whenever Fender come out with an updated range & price list...

F**k Rock, F**k Roll

So... skimming through today's threads we learn that you're probably best off with an old Peavey TNT combo and a used Fender bass. Hooray! Ten years of membership to find the best gear was totally worth It!

Boring.

Okay, okay so plenty of head shaking from the experts and the knowledgeable, but I just discovered Chuck Rainey. I'm learning Rock Steady by Aretha for an audition and have steadily fallen in love with the extraordinarily splendid bass line. So I do a little research and discover that I probably haven't just discovered him as he has played on so much. I have actually been listening to him for quite some time, notably with King Curtis. I just didn't know who he was. The riff to the song is a joyous thing, rhythmically perfect, and perfectly repetitive with some little unexpected flashes. He then breaks into a few bars of pure inspiration before settling back onto the groove. Yum. It's beautiful. A little more research and I find he played with Steely Dan who were of course one of Bruce Thomas favourite bands and Bruce has always been my biggest influence. So there we go. Anyone familiar with Chuck's work who'd care to point me at other of his gems would render me eternally grateful.

As a bass player, I don't give anyone playing solo bass a second thought, either.

Fender really need to start looking at what other builders are doing. The likes of Maruszczyk, Sandberg, Lull, Sadowsky, Moolon...the list of builders who seem to make better Fenders than Fender themselves at competitive price points is as long as my arm. There’s little incentive for many of us to buy a brand new Fender and the sale of used models obviously brings no new revenue in for the company. Out of interest, anyone know how Fender are doing, financially?

Today's word is 'grandmotherable'. You win the internet.

If the title wasn't "new range" you could be forgiven for not realising

Lake Placid Blue! Yay! ..and tort. Wut?

Judging by the video I don't think he is!

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You could look at it another way... I'm assuming that you and the guitarist don't sing. Find a singer or maybe a singer songwriter and be their backing. Get some gigs doing acoustic sets. If you do sing, don't look for a singer, but do the acoustic sets! Then get a drummer. Then do bigger gigs. Open mic nights can be good to polish things and inject some momentum and urgency to rehearsal, if there's something to aim for people pull their socks up. Did it myself where there was a singer and guitarist who were flatmates, I played bass for them and we did some open mics while looking for a drummer. A good drummer will want to know you're moving in some direction and not being yet another load of dreamers, so it helps.

I understand your smugness. I was getting remarks along the same lines after a bee-sting to the scrote at a naturist campsite years ago.

That's the Spirit. Oh teehee back at you.

He’s an incredible player. Deep, rich and with a tone to die for. And an absolute monster when he needs to be too, but it’s all about the groove. Anyone who was booked by Steely Dan must have been a fantastic technician and a superlative sightreader. Oh, and he’s the author of one of the best instructional books for bass.

Have a listen to Reverend Lee by Roberta Flack. Lovely playing.

I'm far too polite to say that your talking out of your derrière 😆 but..... Boutique bass builders by their very nature are low volume & aren't chasing mass sales. I bet a boutique builders profit margins would make Fenders accountants weep though... I don't know how you can measure or even estimate the equating 'the' bass guitar to Fender. I've been a player for 30 years & all I know is that I've never done that. It's a brand, one of many, full stop. If your bass tone is good or what's required in a 'real world' situation, then no matter what you play no-ones going to complain. There are many basses that can do that comfortably as well as & sometimes better than Fender. Wouldn't all basses costing as much as these sound as good? Is there really a duff bass brand at the £1500 - £2000 mark these days? Brand an Industry standard? Once perhaps, but not these days. Again there's too many others to choose from. The standard might well be (or not in fact!) a P or a J, but there's a other brands to choose from with more aesthetic originality or better price vs quality. And there's many a player that would rather play say Warwick, Yamaha, Musicman or a G&L instead. I (& many others I'm sure) would not see a Fender bass as an essential tool to be taken seriously as a player. There's many a factor, both instrument & otherwise, that make up you as a good bass playing candidate. If someone was judging you highly by the presence of a Fender or not, I'd be walking away from them at very high speed! Fender's better at keeping value? - no chance! Market forces of supply & demand & the same old, same old models are factors here. Yes, plenty of new Fenders have sold over the years, which also means there is plenty of used instruments to choose from. Plentiful supply however equals lower prices on anything, & there's not much to differentiate many a P or a J is there so buyers have plenty of choice (proper vintage instruments excepted). My own recent experience? A 2014 Jazz Deluxe (top production model of it's time mind) with a new price of circa £1600, I picked up last year in excellent condition for £950. Then sold I'd for £900 a few months later. Pretty typical & poor asset value retention - certainly not better than other brands. Please don't change your mind - it's good to have an opinion you believe in. But a flip side if you like, for contemplation!

The LPB 60s P bass has me going all weak at the knees.... a few months of wear on that and I'll be in heaven...

FRFR= Full Range Flat Response

Most people walking past these guys probably have their own agenda, lunch break, catching the train home, work deadlines etc. and are too busy to stop and watch buskers. How many non bass players are going to give someone playing solo bass a second thought ?

Think there's one on there from some minger though........

That's Paul Turner's Alleva Coppolo. Olympic white, so just the lighting giving the impression it's yellow... and boy can he play it!

Thanks. I knew I wasn't the only one.

@Al Krow you won't be able to turn an 8 into a 12 by using pedals. Generally an 8 is more middly sounding. The 12 is much fuller. An 8 is marginally easier to play, but I had my 12 set up with such a low action it's almost insane. If you can't bend the strings, fair enough, but it's not that much of a leap of you work at it. Once you do when you switch back to playing a normal 4 string it'll feel like a toy. You're welcome to pop round to mine to try them if you want.

Now if they'd just get with the program and do an MIM version of that 60's P bass then we'd (I'd) be happy...

Nah, it`s cos in these label-driven times passers by saw he was playing a Squier, so thought he wasn`t a serious musician.......................

Could have been worse - you might have flooded the engine.

Kevin is a great seller, serious and faster. I bought a superb WAL MK1, a gorgeous bass. I hope to keep in touch with Kevin, a great person. Absolutely recommended!

I await the sound samples of your 12 string emulation. If only any of us had known that the rich, textural properties of a niche instrument could be replicated with 3 stompboxes...

Now i'm gonna laugh. Always thought motorbikes were dangerous. Should i reinforce that you should always cover your head while riding a bike. Dave

This looks great!

Couldn't agree more. Have been using one recently in a practice room and it sounds better than my main rig! Which may raise a question or two

Good call, me too. It’s sat up my mates barn, still going strong despite many winters and not being looked after. Bomb proof too!

This one?

Yes, it pleases me to have a good old swear as well, but I can't. Apparently this is a family-friendly forum, but I've never seen kids on here, ever. Or dogs, babies or grandmothers. Plenty of grandfathers, though.

You know, I started this thread to just post that I bought a new powered speaker, and look where we have ended up

I say 'bum about', but it doesnt have the same impact. I hate the profanity filter now, it's dung.

Not the usual sort of thing that I post, but as it's January I've been thinking a lot about how to get the most out of practising and realised that there's not much point putting in the hours if you can't focus in the first place: There's a more detailed rundown of all the books, apps and strategies mentioned in the video HERE The site has had a facelift and been transferred to a new server, so things should be looking better and running more smoothly than before. New transcriptions on the way next week...

I had one made up for mine by OBBM...

I very much doubt that. Nothing sounds like a 12. The problem with Ament and Peterson's tone is that once the full band comes in the top edge gets wiped out. Listen to any other part of Jeremy barring the intro. He could be playing anything as all the cut is gone. It's why I use my Hamer with much more aggressive sounds than they do so you'll still hear the ring and chime with the full band. On its own it'll tear your head off, but in context, it just kills as there is so much harmonics and overtones added. Having played a few other 12's, the Hamer easily beats them on virtually all fronts. The fact that Peterson's Gretsch has a 4 saddle bridge and costs $12k is laughable in the extreme. Jog on. With Hamer no more (thanks Fender!) I'd be getting Tom Keonig to build one as having conversed with him he seems like a really nice guy who happens to make exceedingly good cakes.

7:29am... maybe I was getting ready to catch the train...

Are you on Facebook? Pop along to the Wal Bass Club there and join in the fun. There’s a sticky post which lists various players’ fave tone settings. A lot of good tones to try out as you explore the preamp...!

Made simple video last night with the PRO and man does that bass play nice! incredible low action without buzz......

Whilst I was out the nice courier delivered bass number 2... I have been hankering after one for a few months actually, and when one was up on eBay from Absolute Music I copped it in their 20% off day. Retail on these is £609 - I got it for £412 Ibanez SRH-500-DEF