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Hi all! Just thought id share just how unexplainable my actions as a bass player can be! I cant be the only one? In a nutshell: Ive always been fairly happy with my sound. Ive played through heavy rigs, when heavy was just a part of being a bass player. My first 2 main rigs were a 100w Trace elliot commando combo. Not loud, but flippin heavy and awkward to carry. Next was an Ashdown Mag 300 with Mag 4x10 cab.The head wasnt heavy as such, but was large. The cab was perfectly designed so that when you carried it yourself with your elbows out you couldnt fit through doorways! Another downside was not being able to see where you were going as it seemed to block all you vision to the floor as well as to each wall! I fell off a step once carrying it - gees that wasnt pleasant! So from then on were a few different changes, then i settled on a lovely set up - MarkBass LM3 with a 210 traveller. Plenty loud, very lightweight, and very easy to carry. Lovely. That lasted about 2 years. Then after selling due to a band split, for no reason at all after being lightweight, i decided to go for a full on Ashdown ABM 500 1x15 and 2x10 rig. Again plenty of getting stuck in doorways and heavy lifting for no reason, but the lure of a big rig had taken over. Then i decided to sell and buy a Markbass Evo modeller 500w amp at 3kg and a barefaced Super Compact G3. Magic. Could easily carry both in one trip. Just as powerful (if not more) than the ashdown rig. This rig would be with me forever. A year later i decide for no reason at all, that as much as i love the 1x12 of the supercompact i would like something just a little bigger,, so i dont buy another 1x12, or replace with a 2x12 or 2x10 - i buy a 6x10. (confused look). Well, i say buy, im sure my body just bought it without telling my brain. Anyway, i love it, so fair enough. Not lightweight or small, but i love it. So now i have the ultimate backwards rig - a lightweight head and a heavy duty cab. 6 months later, i decide to sort that..... not by buying a lightweight cab as a normal person would, but by buying a heavy Ashdown ABM600 head. So now a have a large, heavy rig. My heaviest ever. Ive gone from a one carry load in, to having x2 load ins just for the head and cables, never mind the cab! Deciding this was heavy for quick in and out gigs / upstairs to stages etc, I decided to go pre amp into power amp for one rig, and keep the 3kg markbass head for smaller gigs. So i managed to find a lovely sh VTRM pre amp and thought id pair it with a great class D lightweight power amp for one awesome adaptable package - powerful, loud and lightweight. ......... somehow, my brain blanked the lightweight idea when it came to buying and i ended up with a QSC RMX1450. I think thats about 20kg just for the amp, never mind case as well. So ive sold a heavy amp and replaced it with an even heavier one!! At the moment im looking for a small cab for the lightweight rig. I just cant trust myself to have one rig now as it varies from 15kg to 90kg depending on what i buy! So, i need 2 rigs, so i know what to take to what gig. No matter what i try, I just cant cope with one rig. It just seems to constantly change for no logical explanation! So, what is it that makes us do these crazy purchases? No matter what I try and do, at the last minute i always end up buying something else that doesnt fit the requirement!

Ok it's taken me the best part of the year to join this illustrious club, but I'm delighted to finally do so! An 8-string was going to be my "treat" bass if I managed to pull a particular work related thing off, and I'd set my heart on a Schecter Stiletto 8 - almost bought the bass that Cattytown in the end snapped up and which we were discussing some 7 months back. Well that work thing finally happened a couple of weeks back and I was very fortunate to find a used Schecter Stiletto 8 string in very good condition for sale up in Scotland, from a really decent bloke (whom I've tried to persuade to join us on BC as I'm sure he'd love it). Immediate first impression is that it's lighter than I was expecting: certainly lighter than some of my 5'ers. That was a nice surprise. I guess I was anticipating a wider neck to cope with 8 strings but this feels much more like the neck and body of a 4 string. It's also surprisingly easy to play single strings plucking upwards with fingers to enable it to be used as a normal 4 string bass and then fill out the sound with the octave strings added with a thumb down-stroke hitting both strings. Looking forward to giving it a proper workout in the weeks ahead.

No point you saying that, he says he can't hear ambient sounds. 🙂

New amateur Builder here on Basschat. I've been posting on Talkbass for a few years, seen some amazing UK and European builds over there, figured I check out what's happening over here. Ive never posted photos here yet, so this is an experiment......That works!! Here we have a Ric 4004/4003 inspired build in walnut and rock maple. This was my first experience binding a headstock, nerve-wracking, but I'm really happy with the result. A fair way from finished, as you can see. Still the whole fingerboard and neck process to complete, but the gist is there.

Now I’m not one for dissing music/artists usually but will someone tell Marc Almond to fvck off.

No ripping off? Loyalties paid when asked? Paid when caught, more like.

Leave the soldering iron alone for now. Assuming a passive bass, select one pickup only, connect your meter across the output. Slowly turn the appropriate volume pot through its range and note the maximum reading, which will be somewhere in the middle of the sweep. Double that for the approximate pot value. The nominal resistance of the pot will be a 'round' figure, so if you get 257k, that would indicate a 250k pot.

I guess it is my turn. I currently have 11 basses: 1. Fender 74 Jazz 2. Fender 96 Fretless P Bass 3. Fender 55 reissue sting P Bass 4. Fender Modern Player Short scale Jazz 5. Carvin Bolt 5 Fretless 6. Carvin Bolt 5 7. Carvin AC40 Fretles Acoustic bass guitar 8. Peavey USA 80's Forum Bass 10. Ibanez SRX 400 11. Brice Short Scale 5 string fretless I also have three bass ukuleles, which others may or may not agree they are bass guitars. Solid body Kala 5 string fretless, an exotic maple acoustic, and a freless acoustic made by Hadean (surisingly a better sounding one than the Kalas) I am no longer pursuing any more. When my daighter was little I toldher all my basses, mandolins, hand drums and guitars would be hers after I pass away. After looking at all of it the she said" Daddy..When are you going to die?"

I’ve been out of the retailing end of things for 5 years (Jesus - where does time go?) Like I say - the more you sell of stuff, just working on the law of averages states you’ll see more back.

Im currently using ACS PRO17's. I was using foam plugs for years but they were worse than useless, been using ACS for over 10 years. You've got tinnitus? Welcome to the club. Like a lot of people I delayed and started too late so I have "issues" with my hearing. In the past I've met several players who had ACS plugs but didn't use them, for lots of reasons, mostly based around how they didn't like the way the plugs changed the sound. These days they all have very serious problems with their hearing. Of course ACS plugs cut out ambient sound. How do you imagine they would differentiate between what you want to hear and what you don't want to hear? ACS are a hammer to crack a nut, but currently they are the best hammer we've got. If you think you need ear plugs now then you should have bought them last year. Your hearing is already damaged and unless you do protect yourself you will carry on accumulating more damage. I'm not going to lie, ear plugs do change what you hear. That's what they do when they are doing their job. For me it's manageable and I don't have a problem with that because I'm not ready to stop playing, which is what I would have to do if I didn't wear them.

Have worn earplugs for 20 years now. Wouldn't rehearse or gig (or see a band, or spray wash the backyard) without them. I've had tinnitus for years (and most musicians I know seem to have it), and I don't want it getting any worse. Your doctor is right. Wear them or stop gigging, unless you're not bothered about it getting worse.

Neither have Gibson 😞

What a waste... Somebody could have thrown a couple of Ricks into that explosion...

No, I’m a 4’s man at the mo. I’d like to try 5 now. Anyone who knows my history will know that “try” normally means spending an obscene amount of money and having something a bit exotic

It's probably just missing a semi-colon after Paypal, s'all. Punctuation, eh..? Who needs it..?

When it comes to bass, I'm reminded of this, as a wise man once said;

I doubt he can afford to send them to the metaphorical cardboard box in the middle of the motorway with that collection!!

I'm printing this to show the missus that my collection of 4 basses, 3 electric, two acoustics , djembe, cajon, caixa, bodhran and talking drum is nowt for her to worry about 😊. If you have kids have you packed them off to boarding school or got them living in a Travelodge by any chance to make room for storage?

Nooooooooo. . . . . I've had other guys tell me that, but it's not true. What you've got left is better than nothing, which is what you'll end up with if you don't protect your hearing. Even at this late stage protecting your ears is an important thing to do.

*Cough* I couldn't possibly say But the 'Oh, I've had it years, it's just been in a case' excuse still gets aired on occasion

So she doesn't know about them all then ???

With a postcode please......🤑

Yes, it would. I've snurgled them all.

Gibsons smell like stale beer, Yamahas smell like new cars and Hofners smell of pipe tobacco. Fenders smell of leather bound books and rich mahogany.

This was brought home at the recent SE Bass Bash where a ‘blindfold’ tone test was done with umpteen basses. A room full of players failed to identify a goodly number of different basses when played behind a curtain, through the same rig (dual p/up instruments were played with both on). A cure for tonal GAS if ever there was one.

Humble? A full set of Northumbrian small pipes costs thousands of pounds and takes many years to learn to play. I saw her band earlier this year and they were superb, I'd take that over Sting any day of the week.

And today's award for finest usage of archaic language on the internet goes to @BassTractor

I'm delighted to now have a cajon bag containing both amp head and cab, weight = 20lbs.

...and there's a daily pet peeve annoyance for me right there: the proverbial sopranos not fathoming that aspect, and using the wrong intonation, therethrough denying the very harmonic development they were supposed to express. Aaaarrgh! ... aaaand lower my shoulders... OK, I'm fine again.

Nope 🙂 only one Thumb I have owned has notably neck dived, a Bolt On 2000 model with a big chunky neck. The multiple NT models I have had have balanced wonderfully at a variety of strap lengths. Like I said previously, if anything the older ones are body heavy due to the dense bubinga and thin necks. ANYWAY WHY are we having to talk about Spector in a Warwick thread again? 🙂 Funny how there is relatively little Warwick talk in a Spector thread...lets forget all that and just concentrate on not being Fender players together 😁

It is what it is. It is not going to get better, but you can stop it getting worse. You can also let it get much worse. It is time for a lifestyle change. It sucks, but it is what it is.

Apologies for being pedantic but ... the 1951 P bass with a single coil pickup was different to the 1957 and after P bass with a humbucking split coil pickup. Hence, the benchmark P bass you seem to refer to, if it is such , was 1957 not 1951, and that 1957 P bass was not the first. And, I suspect, not everyone will agree about 'grand-daddy' or even 'most recognisable'.

Yep - just bought another Trace combo, at the risk of another hernia. For the power and the glory. And the headroom. Amen.

Hello! I'm new to this community and I've never tried this before. Im kinda new to bass as well (been playing for two years very on and off on a very crappy bass!). I would like some good tips on how to upgrade my gear and get better but I'm a bit of a noob tbh. First of all I was looking forwards to buying a new bass. I was thinking something like an Ibanez sr300 or an Yamaha trbx300 or 500, since they are relatively cheap and good quality and very all around in sound and tone (from what I've heard and seen on the internet that is) so I can explore a style that I prefer and I just really like the design of those models (I'm a design student so aesthetics matters as well, at least for me) Anyway, I was wondering which experiences people had in here and perhaps some advise for a (basically) beginner :))

No disrespect meant about your work @Gilmourisgod......no respect for Rics though. Bonfire Night here in the UK on November 5th - anybody with a spare Ric for fuel for our Bonfire?? NB: The views and opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of the people or organization that is Basschat.co.uk. Also, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time as I come to learn more and develop my understanding about the things and issues that I am posting about. This post just provides a snapshot of the knowledge, views, and opinions that I hold at a particular point of time and these may change over a period of time. I reserve the right to evolve my knowledge, thoughts, and viewpoints over time and to change them without assigning any reason.

@Cosmo Valdemar how are you finding the Baby Sumo?

Technically I have 5 but the cheapo semi acoustic is pretty much an ornament these days so realistically giggable basses, 4. Ric 4003 plus these fellas Currently the P bass is in Eb tuning, the jazz is in Eb but with a dropped Db which leaves the tele bass and ric in normal tuning for jam sessions and any other music projects that might come up. The tele has flats on for thuddy stuff, the ric can do the twangy stuff.

Thats more Dali than Picasso. He left that too near the grill

I'm seriously thinking of joining mainly to learn some theory. I'm totally self taught & have been playing 39 years now,can play pretty much anything I put my mind to but when it comes to writing bass lines or fills or even a solo I struggle to play anything new/interesting. Frankly I'm pretty bored with my own playing,the same old licks time after time,it feels like I hit a wall years ago. I do get regular compliments on my bass playing at gigs etc' but I feel frustrated with myself so maybe it's time for some decent tuition.

Here's my question: it seems that you're in a cover band, right? What kind of covers do you play and which audience do you appeal to? I'd only be in a cover band for 2 out of 3 reasons: 1) the money is good; 2) the songs we play are awesome; 3) it's a band with friends and we all have fun together. Now if you're going to play a completely random song by Jeff Beck I'm assuming that the band isn't actually making much money because no one is going to want to listen to that when they're checking a cover band at a pub. You're supposed to either bring out a theme (like a tribute band) or some very famous hits from the past decades. That's not one of them for sure. Why did the band leader choose that song? Just because he likes it and wants to play it? That doesn't seem very fair/smart to me. If I'm in a cover band I assume I'm gonna play some hits or some specific themes that will appeal to the audiences and bring out the masses for some cash flow, I'm not going to spend my time learning some songs just because someone wants to play it with a band. In your situation I'd just re-think what I'm doing in that band. Are you there for fun or for making money? Because, from what you just posted, it doesn't seem that you're getting any of those.