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"The bass guitarist: The whole room is filled with power. Your power, pure power. Without you, the core of the song is gone. They need you and you know it." Has anyone quoted this to successfully negotiate a bigger cut of the band fee? Will try tonight at the Dog & Duck and report back.

Best stand well back....

Would have thought so. You can buy 'Universal' patch lead kits which contains left hand and right hand patch cables.

I tend to make an impression on 'you're only the bass player' types. It's usually headstock-shaped and always an accident. Oops!

I'm in the house band for the two Sunday for Sammy shows next weekend. I can't give too much away 'cos the line-up is under wraps, but with 5,000 people at each show, it's going to be fun. I'll take some pics and that, and try not to make any mistakes. Disclaimer: I fully acknowledge this is a 'boast post'. Apologies.

Well lookie what landed today! So... this is a Limelight Precision, with a '67 spec in a light-relic LPB finish. I ordered it last year, and had a good chat with the - extremely pleasant - Mark at Limelight to discuss the spec and the level of relic'ing. I wanted the finish to be a little more muted, so it glows a bit more, and he's obliged. It's a nice weight, less than 9lbs, helped by the Gotoh Res-o-Lites, which bumped the cost up a little more. I've just put proper strings on it (it came with fairly light rounds), and it sounds just like I'd hoped. A really nice P... and it cost significantly less than a Fender Roadworn MIM. I'm about to start a solid week of rehearsals, so lots of time to give it a run out. Happy days!

Here are my two new working basses. I had kind of given up playing in bands after doing it for around 25 years and had sold all my working basses but then an opportunity came up to join my friends band. They are a very busy, popular club band playing stuff from the 50s and 60s so I was in need of a couple of working basses. I've gone from doing zero gigs to about 60 a year. The first is a Fender Jazz American Vintage 75 Reissue and the second is a Fender Precision FSR 70's Reissue. Both are amazing to play and I love how they look similar.

I played this bass at NAMM last week - you'll just have to trust me when I say that the pickups are absolutely glorious, and this is the best Ric bass I've ever played (and I've owned a few, and not liked them at all). As to the "cheap Chinese knock off" comment, bizarrely I spent part of my time at NAMM (an entire day, as it happens) with someone who used to design & import exactly those basses. I won't name names since I have no idea if he'd be happy for me to do so. We both agreed that the new genuine Ric looked more like a 'fake' than his did! Regardless of that, I found that the look of the new pickups grew on me really fast, and I loved the sound of the things.

There's a guy on TB does them if you have no joy.

Ha ha! The funny thing being that was a lucky accident! Er, I mean I carefully selected the two pieces and precisely aligned the grain.....

I thought this was Alex and a co worker applying the Tolex?

Just recorded a quick noodle...sounds a lot like a P Bass! And loving the neo pickup, it has a little growl when pushed! I like the Fender flats too, but I can't help but think I'd prefer La Bellas. Only one way to find out, I suppose... Listen loud with headphones, decent monitors, yadda yadda.

My QSC K10.2 should be here today.

I have also completed the final sanding of the body and have started apply the oil finish. Really pleased how this is looking - the ash takes the oil really nicely. I do like the grain on this wood and the way it almost matches where the two halves are joined down the middle of the body.

What about the balding bloke with a tache in Saxon playing open notes with one hand while punching the air with his fretting hand or errm non-fretting hand ? Marc S - dunno about you but I generally lost interest in The Stranglers once JJ switched over to a more conventional tone about 5 albums or so in when the band started getting older and softer Other albums for me where the bass tone makes them are New Gold Dream by Simple Minds, Sulk by The Associates, Lexicon of Love by ABC and No Parlez by Paul Young. Imagine Wherever I Lay My Hat played with the bass relegated to the background. It might've been long forgotten . Everyone remembers the bass rather than the vocal

I think it's all about context. I used to play in a functions band which could have anything up to 13 members with full brass section and backing singers. In that situation my bass tone was very straightforward and un-coloured. In that band there was a lot of emphasis on nobody overplaying unless they were soloing. Now I play in a 4 piece Rock band comprising Vocals, Guitar, Drums and Bass. In this context I need different tones to ensure that the bottom doesn't drop out of the sound when there is a guitar solo. I only had a tuner pedal in the functions band but I need a pedal board fully loaded for the rock band (and the ability to tap dance which is a challenge).

I'll join this wee club - here's my effort

Bass doesn't matter. It's just the fat guy standing in the back. Everyone knows it's all about the singer and guitar player.

One of my Subway cabs had an annoying rattle that seemed to defy any attempt at diagnosis. Eventually, Mesa accepted that the speaker was at fault and shipped over another one. I had bought the cab from the Gallery and it was agreed that the swap would take place on a Saturday. I duly drove up and the original speaker was removed (it was a seriously tight fit). Lo and behold the reason was immediately clear. The guy stapling in the insulation had evidently refilled his staple gun during the process and a block of 3 staples were attached to the magnet and vibrating on the cone! I chose to keep the original speaker and was allowed to keep the (unnecessary) spare. So, I have a brand new and boxed 15" speaker in case I ever need it. Brilliant customer service from the Gallery, the guy came in on the Saturday morning on the the day he was going on holiday and Mesa Boogie for sending over the speaker and letting me keep it. Not sure I'll ever need it but there you go ...........

I agree with you Merton,It's my favourite amp too.

They aren't the brash cabs type. They prefer to not parade with their tweeters out.

In my opinion, there is so much variety and so most simple points won't cover all the diverse views. At the risk of using buzzwords, there is a gestalt thing (ie total is greater than sum of the parts) going on with a band and all of the timbres, tones, mix and there will be those that work and feel right and some that feel very wrong and most will be in-between (the acceptable zone). As far as individual bass tone then, I agree that most of the time, most of the public won't notice or care if it is in the acceptable zone. But some songs, some genres, some players (I'm thinking of covers here) are so critical to the performance that the acceptable zone is smaller and harder to achieve. For example, Mick Karn's fretless tone on Japan or Chris Squire's on Yes. There is also the personal aspect, if we feel our tone is good or even great then we have more confidence, we are more relaxed and we play and perform better. But I hesitate to imply that just searching and buying the best bass, finest rig, pedals to find that tone will, without practice, skill, feel, emotional engagement, etc. mean that we play at the top. (Another buzzword alert) it is a synergy thing: in the words of Kraftwerk - The Man-Machine.

If your band doesn't care what you sound like then you're playing in the wrong band, with a bunch of talentless Mr and Mrs Silly Billy, who have their ears painted on. Tonight the band leader told me I sounded good and 5 people from the audience came up and complimented me. Being noticed and liked is one of the reasons I'm in a band and standing on a stage. Audiences don't have to know about me but my bands certainly do. If people ignore you maybe you don't sound good. Sound better and make them appreciate you.

There are a few universal truths to bass tone, most of them already covered: - Most audiences won't give a damn about your tone unless it sounds wrong in context of the music. Use a punk tone in a punk band and a Motown tone in a Motown band, as long as you're in the ballpark they'll be happy. - That last 10% of the tone quest, this amp/bass/pedal/string vs whatever, only the bassist will be able to hear or give a damn about. But if they are happy with everything they will play better as a result. - If you have too much gear to play with you waste too much time auditioning this sound vs that sound when you could have been spending that time learning how to be a better player. I for one need to drastically simplify my choices available to avoid falling into this trap so I can practice playing instead of tweaking tones!

I also find that when I’m loving my sound I tend to play better, or at least am less distracted so more inside the performance. More in the groove. That will contribute to a better performance by the band and to the punters having a better time on some subliminal level. So they may not know why but my tone benefits the punters when it’s good. Yes, it matters to me primarily and I may be the only one who identifies if it’s working or not. But, my sound and my performance is part of the sum of the parts...

Slut red in fishnets

IMO it's a bit like customer service - if you get good customer service, nobody says anything, when it's rubbish everybody's up in arms. If nobody says anything about your tone, you're probably doing something right. Personally if I don't like the bass tone, I don't like the song.

If you are playing Level 42 covers it’s probably time to shut a piano lid on your fingers.

Too many of us are obsessive about gear and looking for that elusive tone/sound. If the money spent on gear were directed towards decent lessons then that tone/sound may be more easily achieved.

That sounds really very good!! Si

Oh, and if I wasn't already feeling completely inadequate... ...matching up the grain lines at the back, where no one's going to see it anyway, is just taking the p*ss!

Glad to be of some use here . Sulk of course is a great example of upfront bass played with a pick the key tracks being Club Country, Party Fears Two and Skipping. Not much stuff on YT but there's one guy doing a pretty good Club Country. Lexicon - seems to be underrated as bass album but I cant think of one track that doesn't have a memorable bassline. Same goes for New Gold Dream. As for No Parlez, the standout tracks are the ones with Pino's fretless i.e. Wherever, Come Back and Stay, the title track, Women and Sex (those are two separate tracks, not just one!)

They work a treat! I've given it a few days to get used to the extra tension - and there is a little more tension than I'm used to, even at my previous standard tuning, but I don't mind that at all. Thanks all, and to @verb for the strings!

Why? A few peeps have such short arms that they really can't play long scale. For most, it just takes persistent practice stretching your left arm until your shoulder and arm loosen up. I still feel a bit of a stretch on the first one or two frets on my beloved 35" basses, but it's getting easier all the time. Same as stretching your fingers over more than a couple of frets rather than moving your hand, work on it and it will happen. As for the Aerodyne - I'm slightly surprised that they're so much more expensive new than a standard Jazz, but they are a bit special! I don't know what the build and tone quality are like on the new ones. Mine is a 1992 and it's superb on both counts. (£550 a couple of years ago.) I tried a 2002 a while back and was not at all impressed. (Johnny Roadhouse tried it on at £850 and I believe after quite a long time sold it for £600.) You'll prise mine out of my dead hands, unless you happen to be my 4yo grandson :-)

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Fucus is a genus of brown algae found in the inter-tidal zones of rocky seashores almost throughout the world. Fucus, also called rockweed, genus of brown algae, common on rocky seacoasts and in salt marshes of northern temperate regions. I do not advise taking or eating any Fucus or other seaweed without seeking professional advice, from someone such as a doctor. Sorry..couldn't resist...

Good luck WoT! My mam and dad try to go to that every time it is on, I think they got tickets for it for Christmas or something, I really must listen more when I call home.... I've not lived up there for 22 years now, would love to see one myself. Mega jealous bonny lad

I think there's an emotional/subconscious level at which all tone matters hugely, perhaps not fine-grain tone but certainly when the differences are audible (i.e., good rig compared to bad rig). Whilst it matters to us bassers in quite an explicit way, I think it's more implicit with audiences. I hear a great tone and to me I know/think it was a great tone; audiences would perhaps experience greater positive emotion throiugh listening to the music but not identify the tone per se? So yes, tone matters to us all. This opinion might however be my executive brain trying to explain the fact that my emotional brain keeps buying rigs

I half expected it to be Jools Holland!

What these people fail to understand is Bass is King. Guitarists have to do all sorts of flouncy virtuosic nonsense to get their sorry point across, there is nothing like standing at the back locked in with the drummer and fully realising that the reason that audience is dancing is nothing to do with the 6 string hair farmer but all to do with the deep, satisfying groove you are laying out there. Guitarists? I’ve s*** ‘em.

Here's mine that I took some photos earlier today.

Not really a gig, just the first band get-together for two years, and it went rather well..! I've not been playing at all in that time, what with one thing and another, so it was with some trepidation that I sat behind my drums again. No, it's not quite like riding a bike, but it does come back quite enough for our rehearsals. A dozen songs from our past repertoires (deUs, Bashung, Radiohead, REM, RHCP, Noir Désir, Chris Cornell and more..) Altogether two hours; we'll do another session next week. Tired, now, but it's worth it.

[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1443037750' post='2871784'] How come the 60s Olympic white finish stays white, but the 70s ones I've seen go custard colour? Something to do with lacquer? [/quote] Sorry for slow reply, I’ve now had time to collate the proper response, as I was off to land of nod when the question was asked last night, in reference to why some Olympic whites yellow with age, my general comment would be that it is a misconception that Fender used Nitro on ALL early finishes, according to the original Fender Colour Chart, it shows Olympic White as being: "Olympic White Lucite 2818-L." This is one of the acrylics. But when need arose, they would obtain what was required from any one of several local suppliers, and that means they also used Duco cellulose finish, although rarely, 90% of OW finishes from this period are Lucite, although custom colour basses from ’60-’61 are extremely rare, most custom colour OW instruments of this era are Jazzmasters, all of which I’ve seen have been Lucite, with or without nitro clear coat, and hardly any yellowing To note: You can spray cellulose over acrylic, but you cannot spray acrylic over cellulose... it would "pickle". This means that if they used acrylic, then they would finish up by spraying Clear Cellulose coats over as a topcoat. However, it does not "yellow" in the same way an all cellulose finish can do, rather the white remains very white looking, and the clear coat rarely exhibits crazing to any great extent, probably due to the slightly "elastic" or plasticy nature of acrylic paint. Here’s some quotes that probably explain better, and more comprehensively than me. Extract from Fender.info site: [i]….Back to the issue of Fender using only nitrocellulose paint. What Fender really did was use the colors as available from DuPont, be it Lucite acrylic or Ducco nitrocellulose. But they always used clear lacquer that was nitrocellulose based. The cause of the yellowing clear nitrocellulose lacquer is largely, but not entirely, environmental. Ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun or fluorescent lights will accelerate the process. Air quality problems (smoking, smog) can also contribute significantly. But the nature of the lacquer beast is that nitrocellulose clear will yellow, to some degree, no matter how the instrument is stored, and is more obvious on nitro colours with nitro clear.[/i] Extract from another vintage Fender source; “There's something mysterious and fascinating about the original Fender custom colors. There is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about what colors were available and when they were originally offered. And when it comes to the actual finish types it can get even more confusing. The first thing to understand is what type of finishes Fender was using during the late 1950's and early 1960's. All of the original custom colors were based on automotive colors available at the time from the big car manufacturers. Fender was simply using the same finishes that were supplied to those companies for it's own instruments. Originally Fender only did custom colors upon request and the customer could choose whatever color they wanted, a truly custom color option. But in 1958 Fender standardized all their custom colors and what they offered was what you had to choose from. Fender's main supplier at the time was DuPont, which used two basic types of finishes. Duco: a brand name for nitrocellulose lacquer and Lucite: a brand name for acrylic lacquer. Depending on the color either one of these finishes was used on Fender instruments. Now I know what many have must be thinking, "I thought Fender only used nitrocellulose lacquer back then". Well they didn't....classic custom colors like Olympic White, Lake Placid Blue, and Burgundy Mist were acrylic lacquers. Keep in mind that we're talking about the color coat only and both of these finishes were lacquers. Nitrocellulose lacquer uses a celluloid based binder and acrylic lacquer uses an acrylic based binder. Fender then covered both types of coats with a nitrocellulose clear coat, so yes Fender did technically use nitrocellulose on all it's basses back then, as clear coat.....if they had one. There have been some cases when Fender didn't use the nitrocellulose clear top coat on certain basses. Those instruments had that step skipped, presumably depending on the color and how fast they needed the bass. Many Olympic White basses never received the nitro top coat and as a result they didn't yellow like most do as they aged, instead keeping their original white finish to this day. Most of these examples tend to be from the very early 1960's. Remember that the Olympic white base coat was an acrylic lacquer and therefore did not yellow over time, however some of those Fenders got the clear nitro top coat over the white which would slowly yellow the color over time, mostly due to UV light, smoke and other environmental factors, so well gigged instruments could show some yellowing. That's why you sometimes see yellowed vintage Olympic White basses with whiter areas where the finish has worn through the nitro top clear coat to the acrylic base coat. Color Changes The only basses where this never happened were ones finished with a metallic color. All metallic finishes had to have the clear nitro top coat otherwise the paint would oxidize very quickly. The non metallic finishes, called the pastel colors did not need the top coat although they often got one anyway. A metallic color like Lake Placid Blue was acrylic based but because they all received the nitro top coat the color would often change over time...sometimes radically. Many vintage Lake Placid Blue Fenders today look quite green and are sometimes confused with other Fender colors like Ocean Turquoise or Sherwood Green. The tendency for vintage colors to change over time as led to one of the biggest Fender custom color mysteries of all. Coral or Coral Pink and Salmon Pink have been rumored for years to be rare Fender custom colors, only turning up now and then. In reality Fender never offered these colors, they were most likely Fiesta Red (which has lots of pink in it) that had faded over the years and turned a much lighter shade. Keep in mind that Fender did not always use the exact same paint every year or even every month. Although the paints were originally supplied by DuPont and all the color chips that were used as a reference were from DuPont, Fender would use whatever paint supplier was the best deal at the time. So even though they matched the paint as best they could to the color chips, some colors varied a little over the years. Another interesting thing about the custom colors is which bodies Fender would choose for them. Generally speaking Fender would try to use bodies that had less than stellar wood grain. As most of the standard basses back then were sunburst finishes and the wood grain would be seen, Fender of course wanted to use only the best looking wood bodies for that finish. Fender would usually use the inferior looking bodies for all the custom colors, being that no one was going to see the wood anyway. But that was not always the case. If Fender was in a real hurry or if there was a botched sunburst finish handy (and there always was) they would sometimes spray a custom color right over a sunburst body. It made financial sense too, since re-doing a sunburst finish was more time consuming than just spraying it with a solid color and even using a perfectly good sunburst body for a rush job eliminated other lengthy prepping steps, plus Fender charged an extra 5% on all custom colors so any way they could speed up the process meant more profit for them and happier customers and vendors getting their basses quicker. Hope that helps? Rick