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@Ed_S the finish does seem thin. But, I think if it doesn't prove robust, it will wear nicely, a bit of natural 'road wear'. Dunno about yours, but the grain on mine is beaut as well. More so on the back than the front 😂 I just got in, very very happy with the bass! You guys were correct about it being a bit shy for low end. But this suited me well and I didn't actually end up boosting it. I can't believe how comfortable it is to wear. It wasn't just the weight, but the neck and body size and balance. Unfortunately didn't mess with EQ too much. But... Punchy! Amazing slap sound, really clean on the higher registers, lovely ring to chords. Great B string and a nice growl to it. I actually liked the stock strings alright too. They're not too rough for SS. Blurry spare room floor, un-vacuumed carpet photo to prove ownership ⬇️

Just arrived this weekend after a year long wait since ordering..... a fantastic flipflop blue/purple Dingwall Dbird Standard! Loving it.... particularly the sound with all 3 pickups on! Solid lows, glassy highs and piano-tone tight mids.... mmmm.... Thanks to Mark at Bass Direct for sorting this for me 🙂

There are (understandably) a lot of misconceptions about this topic, so let me clarify a few things based on actual facts and data rather than internet folklore and perceptions. I looked at the statistics for last 100 class D amp repairs that came through the factory service program (this is for the Genz Benz brand) and found that there were only 6 that needed a replacement module. For the 600 watt class D module, the cost to the customer was $150 USD and the labor for the entire repair (everything else that might have been wrong plus any updated installed) was $75 (USD) flat. So worst case, the cost of the repair INCLUDING a new module was only $225 (USD). For the remaining 94 repairs, 92 cost only $75 (USD) and there were 2 basket cases where either a shop or end user got into the amp and did more damage than covered under the repair program pricing. Even the worst case scenario is generally less expensive than replacing an output transformer, a set of tubes, etc. Turnaround time on all but the 2 basket case repairs was 48 hours also. That said, there certainly are products that are built with no thought towards repairing them. This is much more often seen at the lower end of the market, not an area that I have a lot of experience with. Perhaps this discussion is more like "you get what you pay for" rather than the technology itself, as the same is true for solid state linear output amps (class AB/G/H). What percentage of failures in these amps involve the output section (certainly higher than 6%) and how many of these could be repaired for $75 flat (or even $225)? Of course I can only provide information for the North American market, and only for factory level service where there is no issue with knowledge, skill, professionalism and parts availability, but I can't see how it would be much different for other manufacturers either. Now one disturbing trend I have been seeing over the past 5 or so years is that non-factory service centers have become more and more of a challenge, the quality of techs has declined significantly, the turnaround times have become excessive (IMO, there's no excuse for an amp repair to take 6-8 weeks) and even more worrisome is the new trend of taking an amp in and taking a cash deposit, then doing an estimate (without ever troubleshooting or testing or performing any diagnostics) for an excessive amount of money knowing full well the customer isn't going approve the repair, then keeping the estimate fee. There was a shop I dealt with for a customer that appeared to survive off of estimate fees only and never did any repairs. IMO, this is wrong and borderlines on fraud. So, it's not the technology itself, but how the technology is implemented and the philosophy of the company supporting their products that really dictates the ability to economically repair an amp. I hope this helps explain more completely and accurately this topic.

All very interesting this! I bought into BF with a couple of used cabs - an SC Gen3 and Midget T. The latter went in favour of another SC G3 (didn't really need/like the tweeter). Now I've added a used Two10 and plan to keep all 3 cabs until I decide whether the retro 10" drivers suit me and my amps/basses better than the 12-inchers. If both styles work equally well in different contexts, I'll keep/use all 3 cabs (not mixing the different driver sizes as recommended by Alex). If the 10s turn out to be better for everything, I'll sell the SC G3s and buy another Two10. Oh, nearly forgot about the One10 I use at home and small gigs - that's brilliant for what it does and is a keeper. I've decided against trying other makes as I like the BF sounds, size & weight are over-riding factors for me - and life's too short!!

Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel that strongly when a musician I like dies. It's a bit sad - sure, someone dying is always sad...but I never seem to be moved as much as others are.

@M@23 Don’t forget you may need to add some more bass than normal at the amp (I’m sure you can do it on the bass too) but a wee touch of bottom end reinforcement helps with the SL. Enjoy!

Hotblack Desiato. He once spent a year dead for tax reasons.

As shocked as I was by Lemmy, Prince, Bowie and George Michael nothing really affects us like our first. Or at least that applies to me. Cycling to school one September morning not long after the start of term and Steve Collins told me Marc Bolan had died. I was utterly stunned as to why anyone would make up such a lie. Imagine then my absolute bewilderment when, that dinnertime I sat with my sandwiches in Mrs Baker's house and the Radio One news announcer confirmed that awful truth. I knew nothing of the lives of pop stars but I was certain of one thing - they couldn't just up and die.

Undoubtedly Prince. He always seemed pretty on top of his game to me.

I'll bring a copy of Joe Hubbard's 'Basslines', it's a bit used and Teen Town has my scribbles all over it (I still can't play it).

Just ordered one from eBay. Should be here this week. £69 inc free postage. The seller is Zoom Uk. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zoom-B1-Four-UK-Bass-Multi-Effects-Pedal/264303958550?hash=item3d89be5a16:g:ZvAAAOSwV4xcyBNL

I have some books for the raffle...Rock Hardware....The Bass handbook...Totally Guitar (definitive guide) still looking for others!..I would like to bring for sale...Enfield Cannon & Nathan Shepard 4 string bass..Aguilar AG700 & SL112 ltd

Having had a chance to play the BayBee yesterday, I can confirm (with some surprise!) that it sounds and plays superbly, to the ear you would not know for a second that it was a tiny fraction of a bass! It weighs near 2.5kg and looks ridiculous (photo to prove) but it's a great thing! If a 23.5" scale 5 string bass can play this well, then I imagine an impeccably playing 30" 5er is absolutely possible.

Not sure if this has been done before but can't remember seeing it before. If it has then Moderators can just close it down What musician that you've been a fan off has most shocked or surprised you and why. ? Any style of music, any musician doesn't have to be a bass player. For me it was Phil Lynott. Was a big fan of the band and his solo work and spent an afternoon with him playing pool and having a few beers. He was such a nice approachable guy. Dave

Al: I like the mono synth.... we do a few numbers like Material Girl by Madonna where it’s great for getting most of the way towards the sound of the original. And coz there’s only me and one guitar it really helps fill out the breakdowns. True, if you want a real bass synth then, erm, buy a synth 😄 but honestly for £115 it was a no brainer. Tracking is fine (if you work on your muting technique), and the preset store, edit and recall is dead easy. It’s a keeper!

Edited... For all the "back in the day" Acid jazz guys among you, Corduroy are back at it, , i thought they had just got back get together but apparently have been back together for a while, great to hear anyway. seems those of you in Ireland are lucky as a date is confirmed in Dublin at the Grand social on the 25th of this month, yep this month get ya tickets quick. more info.... https://www.songkick.com/artists/232276-corduroy/calendar

Home 'creative' pedal board Live pedal board(!) (Ok so it doesn't arrive for a couple of days, but I'm already looking forward to it!)

Thanks for that @Andyjr1515 I'm glad mines not as complicated as @vinorange👍

Thanks for all the kind words - much appreciated. I'm going to look into doing more things like this - maybe look up some local jams or open mic nights and even form a band and start to rehearse a few tracks - currently working in Bristol so should be a few around. Thinking back, I couldn't have made this much harder for myself if I'd tried and definitely learnt some good lessons from it; in fact, I even enjoyed the chaos of organising the event which almost became a full time job in itself. I'm sure you'll nail it SM. The reason I was on such a heavy repeat system of practice is advice I had from my tutor which was to not practice until you can get it right, but practice until you can't get it wrong. Massive repetition of the three tracks fuelled by the fear of failure really payed dividends when nerves basically shut me down at the start as I was able to go into auto pilot and not stand there like an idiot, and again when things went a bit off script I was able to find a way back as I knew the tracks so well. Having said that, I am enjoying the break from not playing those three tracks multiple times every night... 😎

John Martyn. Saw him at Leeds in 1975 at the tender age of 17 and his music has stayed with me. He was a misogynist; was so often off his tits on stage having drank/smoked too much that every performance was a lottery; was a mess in his twilight years but he had one of the great voices.

Lennon was a big surprise; it just seemed so inexplicable and I wasn't used to losing musical icons - by the time you are in your 50s, you get a bit inured to it. Ian Curtis, not because I was a huge fan, but I was listening to John Peel in the evening news came though and he just played 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' over and again. Lemmy probably the biggest impact; he was just a constant presence in my musical awareness since I was about 18/19 and I love everything he did with Hawkwind. For me, he just personified rock and roll in a down to earth way - a more real, flawed hero, willing to go out there even when he could barely walk. The little grin at the end of this ad says it all 🙂

Stuart Adamson. I was a massive fan and he was a huge influence on me as a musician & composer - to me he was an inspirational guitar player and an incredibly gifted songwriter. Also he was the only musician I'd call myself a fan of who I had the pleasure of meeting - a genuinely humble, friendly and sweet man who seemed very grounded. I had no idea he was as troubled as he must have been and his death was a huge shock.

But as she's been unable to meet commitments so far, I wouldn't take them seriously.

John Entwistle ... legend.

Put one of these waterslide decals on then!

It is a slappers delight!

I started bass lessons aged 14 and I was 18 when Bob Marley died in may 1981 , he was only 36.

My TT5 SL just arrived, and I'm out the door in 30 mins to a gig with a new band, so throwing it straight in. 1st impressions, it's light 😂 like, "this is witchcraft" light. The body is very light, but there is no neck dive and it sits nicely on a strap. The finish is beautiful, I thought it might look a tad boring, but it's great. I think it'll wear nicely too with age. Not plugged it in, but acoustically, it's bright and loud and resonant. I wasn't a huge fan of their strings, so we'll see how they go.Think she's gonna be a slapper. Lastly, their gigbags are still a bit of a token gesture. It's nice, but, come on...

I'm still fighting the good fight. I will NEVER buy a Fender!

Been gigging with mine exclusively for the last 4 months and still stand by previous post! My gigging rig is now my Cosmic Ears IEMs, REDDI and a Backbeat. Small pedaltrain with a backup DI, tuner, and Cali76 and that’s it! One trip to/from the car, and it’s the best (non!)rig I’ve ever had!

Kossoff, because of my age at the time and that he seemed to have got his life back on track. More recently, Bowie's death really rattled me when I found out and I'm not a massive fanboy or anything, I suppose it's because he had just always been there and it came seemingly out of the blue.

I nearly started a "Well I've tried and owned a lot of stuff, but I keep coming back to a Precision" why is this? thread..

Chris Cornell's death hit me harder than I expected.

Does the Buddha head get taken to gigs? "And the beat goes Om.…."

I've recently joined the small amp gang and picked up a GK MB500. I still love my trusty old Ashdown ABM setup though, compact 1x15 and 2x10 cabs with a 300W head. They're the original series which I've had since day one and they have never let me down. At home, I have the MB500 running the 1x15 as it's a bit more mid-heavy than the bassier ABM which is driving the less-bassy 2x10.

I bought a Trace rig about 2 years ago now to replace some of my older gear. A series6 AH200 GP12 and a mk3/mk4 1048 cabinet (not sure on mk, it's one of the ones from around the '84 Mark anyway with the wooden grille surround) and it has always sounded fantastic. It's replaced gear by the likes of Gallien Krueger, Ashdown, Mesa Boogie and it outperforms all of them by a good margin. The only reason it stays mainly in the house is because I got a sweet deal on an Ashdown ABM c210h 500 evo3 15th anniversary and it's a good deal lighter than the Trace rig. I do love both sounds, Ashdown and Trace but the Trace sounds absolutely fantastic, and if it was maybe 15kg's lighter it would be my one and only 😂 Also, see attached photo from when the Ashdown head was out for repairs and I stuck the Trace head in for sh**s and giggles. Fitted like a glove, and sounded otherworldly! 😃 If anybody ever gets offered an Ashdown combo with a goosed head, take it, and use it for the same thing I did. Those Ashdown speakers go perfectly with the Trace head! Heresy!

It was therapeutic to write about some people from my past bands. After all, I am not allowed to go after them with weapons...

Generally I spray quite wet coats with the clear, but obviously too wet and you’ll get runs! The surface on your bass may have had some roughness due to all the tiny metal flakes standing up, so you may have tried to bury it too quickly by laying on the clear too heavily. The thing is though - only your final coats needs to be free of orange peel, as your last coats will dissolve any rough texture from previous coats. You could of course finish up with a rough orange peel like surface and then level sand as you suggested, it’s just harder work wet sanding. When I spray Nitro I will often spray a final very reduced coat (called a flash coat). This is like 80% thinners so it levels out really well and takes away any sanding scratches and roughness. Obviously you can’t do that with aerosols, but you can try and spray a good wet coat at the end to achieve a similar result and reduce wet sanding.

Welcome! Basschat and a healthy interest in bass things will ensure you are always skint. If you can cope with that (like the rest of us) we will have a great deal in common! 😀

Here’s mine.... nowt esoteric there. True Tone PSU slung underneath. Fave gotta be the MHX Filter 😍

This is from the live set of the gothband. I played some festivals plus a 2 weeks tour for them.

Our latest show was captured on a phone by a fan. Surprisingly, the sound has come out pretty good! Figured I would share it for your displeasure

Used my Backbeat tonight for the first time with my new Cosmic Audio CE6B IEMs (also for the first time) and it was outstanding! The rumbling on your back combined with the clarity of IEMs is a formidable combination. I can honestly say it was one of the best live experiences of my gigging career. I’ve always loved playing with an amp and cab, and could never see myself playing without them. Until tonight! I had my rig (Darkglass MT900 and Bergantino AE210) on stage just in case, but its safe to say I didn’t need it. For the first time ever I can actually see myself forgoing the use of a bass rig entirely in favour of this setup. The Backbeat is a seriously cool piece of kit for sure. Combined with a decent DI and some decent IEMs, it really is the best of both worlds - Pristine audio and ‘physical’ feedback similar to what you would get from a cranked amp behind you. Highly recommended!