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Launching Basschat

Joining basschat.

Hopefully you won't get fooled again.

First gig with the Sandberg out of the way... I'm not winning any beauty contests, but the bass looks nice It was really really good.I was wondering how I'd find it in "real life" as sometimes basses sounded great at home and even at rehearsal, but then in the noisy louder environment of a gig I would struggle sometimes to find the right sounds... Not a worry. I ended up mostly using the P on its own, or backed off a little to add a *bit* of the MM, with both tone controls close to flat (I'd back off the treble a quarter turn for a couple of slap-rich songs, which reduces the mighty growl of the P) and although I experimented a bit, the basic 3 sounds I wanted were all there easily. Really comfortable, I love that neck. One thing that I noticed was how much I could feel the body vibrate. Curious. I had a great soundcheck: I was out in the street for a bit, and when I came back I was the last one needed to linecheck before we checked as a band. I was (momentarily) in a bad mood (short-lived, due to some random drunk), and my playing for linecheck reflected that: aggressive, fast, fingerstyle and slap... it sounded glorious!!! I started smiling immediately. Strings... I have not replaced them yet. I think I still will, but I've played this bass a LOT this past week and they've finally lost that annoying brittle zing they used to have. Not bad. Not bad at all. I almost don't have the urge to replace them anymore and I might keep them for a month or two and see. I have not yet removed the plastic film from the pickguard (too much hassle as I'd have to undo the controls, since I hate leaving bits of plastic underneath that you can often feel when turning the knobs)... but I'll have to do it now. Interesting to see where my thumb rests the most...

You need darker sound, so change strings even down to flats, play closer to neck and turn your tone down. That's it. You do not need a new - or another old - bass.

Yes I’m very happy with how the forum is growing and how it ‘feels’ these last few months. We’ve got some exciting ‘rewards’ coming next week the first of which I’ll announce tomorrow. Here’s to a bright future! 🍻

Used my stomp live today at church. Passed with flying colours - did exactly what I bought it to do, nice compression and as I play harder it runs it into a nice SVT overdrive sound ... previously ild just end up peaking the desk and getting nasty sounds in my ears, or just having the old Zoom B3n sounding struggling with the input. Given that it’s a first time setting up two patches it went well!

1: Believing that I could get a better tone from a Class D head - you can't, get a Class A/B and strong friends. 2: Looking for "The One" - doesn't exist that's why I/you need more than one bass 3: Thinking that you can get the same Tonal Palette from cheap gear. - you get what you pay for so buy quality gear in the first place.

Only for ones that didn’t like it after not going

1. Believing that buying stupidly expensive gear would make me play better. 2. Buying amps/cabs that sound great but are too big to carry. 3. Taking over 20 years to figure out 1&2....

Anything by Oasis... the first three tracks you can think of 😐

Depends what machine they are imitating. Fax, not so much. Bailer, look out!

A bit of light-hearted (or more serious if you prefer!) banter for a Sunday afternoon. So what are your most expensive gear related mistakes? My top three have been: 1. Buying new 2. Complete schoolboy error: I got a 7 bass rack to replace my 5 bass rack. Ok so no biggie you may think? But, and here's the thing, I didn't try very hard to shift my 5 bass rack.. So I now have storage capacity for up to 12 basses – doh! I've since discovered there's a not-well-publicised law of music that: The number of basses owned by a dyed-in-the-wool bass player inevitably expands to fill the rack space available. 3. Speaking to @ped et al about Ken Smith basses…Ok, that's not technically been a 'mistake' just expensive 😂

It’s finished and quiet and works 3 choices depending on your/my mood. i will say, Carbon paint is great to visually hide routs popping through the pickguard as opposed to shiny tape on to the next refurb!

Appreciate their is no interest in this thread 😂 But I will persevere anyway... Took the 502 out with my new EBS Neo 2x12 and I now understand what light weight really is. I could literally carry my whole rig in two hands! The cab is very nice articulate and very punchy and tight but somehow also very deep! The tweeter is extremely nice, not harsh at all. I know that people talk about amps having heft but this rig is like having the power of a superhero who has the ability to flatten buildings. I kid you not. At 1 - the first notch on the master volume - it was loud. Then, as I have a tendency to lay in more in the gig than during soundcheck, I gave it some and dug into my playing and I think the singer almost had a heart attack with the the sudden volume increase! The way this amp responds to you're playing is awesome, it appears to have a huge amount of headroom. This gig was just a wedding gig in a decent sized room and with previous amps with the same power modules, I would usually be approaching 3/4s of the way up on the volume dial. I know EBS have tweaked the module and done something that lets the power amp clip, so not not sure if this is the reason why there is so much available volume/headroom. I had a session gig last night where I was restricted to being only using the rented in backline, a combination of ashdown and orange. The gig was awesome with a highly talented band but the provided rig was not so much fun! Anyway, massively impressed and happy with my EBS rig!

But they do! They do! No really they do!! 😁

Buying various signature basses believing they would magically make me sound like Flea!! 😂

Great wee review of a gorgeous looking bass. Like the maple necks as you seem to get more "twang", "zing" not exactly sure what you call it but its definitely there. I'm with you on the strings. Very zingy at first and then they just fall into a great mid-based tone and i use them until i feel them tightening up a bit on the bass then time to change. They aren't too expensive either and they seem to last me about 3 mths with me playing mostly at home for 1-2 hrs a day and rehearsals every 1-2 weeks with gigs as and when we can. Def my fav bass at moment and i'm slowly selling off my other basses. Just a Fender PJ and an Overwater J4 (not a Tanglewood version tho) and i'll be left with just 4 decent basses. I'll then add a VS4 i reckon or maybe another VM4 with maple to because i really like the Sandberg quality and sound at the moment. I blame Cuzzie for all this Sandberg GAS Dave

Ha ha, fair point, although if I hadn't, I would still be playing a crap MIJ Jazz through a Peavey TNT combo, which would have been a far greater mistake.

Smashed it 😀

I stopped having fun, and it all became about the money for me. I felt I wasn't being paid enough to deal with the antics of ar*ehole "musicians", ar*ehole Punters, and ar*ehole Venue owners, so I retired. Happy now. 😎

I recently finished recording my first album and released it online. Most of the way through the process, I was satisfied with the general quality and pleased with the high points. Two weeks after I had agreed with my collaborator to release it, I developed profound doubts about all the tracks but one. Was my guitar sound just that little bit too slicing? Were my keyboard parts annoyingly (rather than usefully) repetitive? Would I release it only to discover that it was aesthetically invalid, a complete disappointment to me and to anyone who heard it? I climbed down after a few days when I got some particularly generous comments from one of the handful of people to whom I had sent the album. I'm happy with it. It isn't close to perfect but it's a decent first effort. I can stand by it. Ultimately, however, only by releasing it could I calibrate my self-doubt. Over the course of more than twenty years as a writer, I cannot think of a single thing I have published that I did not, at some stage or another, regard as wrong-headed and fatally flawed drivel. At some point in every project, I am briefly certain that I should simply quit writing. Even though I know the finished work is always successful, I invariably have those episodes of corrosive doubt. I simply have to trust my processes and accept that self-doubt, like stage-fright for an actor, can be a necessary ingredient. Writers can see every shortcut and shaky construction. Musicians can hear every muffled tone and misplaced harmonic. First-hand experience of assembling something can make you second-guess everything. There is a huge difference between doing something badly and not doing it as well as you know you can.

My wife has just treated me to Record spokeshave. She is greatful because apparently I am tricky to get presents for. I am now going to buy a piece of Alder to practice on. And someone has suggested Lime as easy to work for a rank amateur like myself. So I will get some of that as well. Good times.

Just pulled trigger in purchasing this Bass. I’ve always fancied one but never got round to it. Having given up a few months ago due to fretting hand not working due to spine operation, I’m getting a little movement back, so treated myself to this as part of my recovery 😊 im sure this will be a marmite bass to many, but personally I love the look.

Minor tweaks left but high chance it’s staying as a bonafide P its good.....

I would say the classic vintage flats are La Bella Deep Talkin' Bass.

You’re unlikely to get vintage tones from your Ibanez SR, but between a Sire and a Yamaha BB you’ve got most of the classic tones covered. Spend a few quid on strings and you’ll be golden. My personal opinion is put flats on the Yamaha and keep rounds on the Sire. Enjoy!

I really like the bassline to 'Something'

Put Flat wounds on the Sire. That bass will do anything you want it to do. Its a jazz with a very powerful comprehensive pre, super versatile. Ive had 3 and you can get a really old school tone out of it. Marcus Miller knew this when he had input in designing it.

I try to help when and where I can just as I have benefitted 🤘🏾

I had the same. People will laugh me out of the forum when I say that the Mexican standard jazz I picked up earlier this year sounds and plays better than every other vintage bass I’ve ever owned aside from a totally original 64 I sold on here (which was incredible on every way) and the 66 I still own. I’ve never lost money on any bass to date, but the time I spent messing around with dusty old Fenders could have been much better spent!

Played in a smallish part of a largeish pub last night. Horrible to get gear into; pedestrianised outside, no parking nearby, huffing down with rain. Also a longish drive. So I travelled light. Bass in a soft case on my back. One small case for leads mic tablet etc, TCE 208 and a single 10"TE extension, all on set of sack trucks. In and out in one lift, happy days. However while the little TC combo copes well at gigging volume, especially with a second cab, it can be a little, how can I put it? A little sterile perhaps, lacking in je ne sais quoi maybe. Any road, I'd slipped the Sweet Baby into my bag and glad I did. Left it on all night. Lifted the sound, coloured it, and helped it cut through. Lovely.

You have a J-style bass and a P (well, PJ) style bass, so you’re good to go gearwise. As others have said, choose the neck pickup, roll down the tone knob and enjoy.

I wouldn't say mine were mistakes, per se - more collateral damage from multiple 'epiphany moments' Like changing from roundwound strings to flats, back to rounds and now back to flats again. Going from 4 strings to 5 strings and now having both. Going from long scale to short scale to medium scale to long scale and now all of them. All incredibly good experience. And fun. But I really don't want to think in terms of money spent.

The next 3.

You beat me to it.

The start of his own relic

Excellent that you put that beauty to use so quickly, looks great and it suits you! I think the protective film can go now though.

Anti ABBA?!! - are you a fan of Motorhead by any chance? 😁

Awww, I just feel that some of his material Will remain Evergreen 😁

Anything by Wet, Wet, f****** Wet. I can usually be relied upon for a rational ‘one mans meat is another mans poison’ attitude but when it comes to WWFW I find myself foaming from 3-4 varying orifices.

Have to agree 100%. There’s a way to do practically anything & everything on the Helices, and it’s usually very logically laid out. The Line 6 team have set the bar for product usability IMO.

But we love you for it mate

I've heard too about the traditionalists who'll only listen to BG played on an acoustic double bass, but then I've looked on Talkbass and seen guys playing an NS Design EUB at country music awards and stuff, so it can't be that bad, maybe that was Nu-Grass?. If you really want to get into upright then an acoustic DB is the way to go, but if you haven't played one before you'd need to invest in some time to adapt your technique. As to instruments, as long as you get a usable sound I'd play whatever instrument you like, and if other people don't like it that's their problem. Get some flat wound strings such as La Bella Deep Talkin Bass strings & avoid rounds 😉

A birthday party gig with the acoustic blues trio. The client had seen us by chance at a gig we played earlier in the summer and he came up to us afterwards and booked us. The location was his big house high above Matlock with stunning views of the surrounding hills. It was a bit breezy but he was very accommodating and gave us a a big conservatory to play in. We went down very well, had full run of the food and drink (hog-roast) plus at the end of the night the biggest payout we've had so far this year. The load-in wasn't great because of some steps and a steep driveway but you can't have everything.

You're very welcome to come and have a go on my EUB. You haven't said where your're from. Surely nowhere is that embarrassing? I'm prepared to admit I live in Derby 😀

well, it was a crap gig, over an hours drive in the piddling worst downpour and wind and dark there and back, about 20 people in a huge social club. Weirdly however I probably played the best I ever have due to not giving a monkeys and we got paid £350 between the 3 of us so that was a nice little unexpected bonus so it just goes to show you never know how they'll turn out!

Any bass with the right EQ will be fine, but that's not what you want to hear. 🙂 A 3/4 doublebass will fit you fine, I'm 6' and have the endpin out about 8 to 10" at a guess so mine with the endpin in more would be fine. An EUB would be OK but I've heard the bluegrass gang can be sticklers for tradition and beat you to death with a mandolin for turning up with an EUB, an F style mandolin that is, the same punishment is dished out for turning up with an A style mandolin. Seriously though a doublebass, EUB or good old Precision with flats (other basses with flats are available) will be suitable. Your size is no reason not play any of these and the scale length difference doesn't seem make much difference to me, I'll work out songs at home on a fretted P bass to play at rehearsal on 3/4 upright, as soon as you're playing one instrument or the other, you automatically adapt without thinking. The choice is yours but my favourite bit of advice given to me applies here I think; "If you want something, you'll find a way. If you don't want it, you'll find an excuse." Best of luck with your decision. 👍