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Myself and @cd_david spent a couple of hours this afternoon in the company of a '72, a couple of '73's and a '78. The verdict? They're all fantastic.

I do Weddings and events for a living. Firstly, if you dont hold your ground, venues will take the proverbial as shown here. If you throw a ' sorry we are all organised now, and its impossible to set up in the evening's youd be amazed at how quickly they can reconsider. That aside, tips for getting done in that time scale are: 1. Have all your equipment un cased and ready. 2. Make clear straight away when you go in the room that the priority is that the staff clear the area you need first (or be prepared to wait 50 minutes whilst they amble about working it out...). 3. Be very friendly with the dj when you meet him, be courteous and work together, it's easier for everyone then. 4. Try to stop guests coming back in the room when they start to wander around and filter back in. Once 2 or 3 come in, they'll all follow and you'll have a room full in 10 minutes. 5. Only play music and let the dj play music when you are 100% ready. When guests hear music for over 2 minutes and the lights are down, you'll attract everyone in. 6. Remember it's not the end of the world if you struggle for time. Do what you can do in the time scales and be confident knowing you couldn't do more. 7. Enjoy it.

I have a Mercalli 4 in metallic copper fire which I bought in January of this year. I bought it unseen and unheard (!) and after a tense six month wait, it finally arrived. I liked it so much I bought a Decision P two months later. These are fantastic basses and live up to the hype. There are exceptionally good value for money, are finished really well, light weight and sound amazing. The blend knob is so simple but effective. It really does give a good tonal sweep. I suppose I tend to favour the Merc over the Decision as those pups are very powerful and can need a bit of taming when using IEMs but it is an absolute beast of a guitar and great fun to crank up at rock gigs. Best money I've spent in over 25 years of playing bass, after my my Mesa Subway rig.

I've just removed the La Bella's and put some Dunlop Flats on my P bass and it is a revelation. The strings sound consistent and even and there is a nice feeling tension. So far so good.

You're going to love it! I made a little vid this afternoon of what it's like when it's turned up REALLY loud...

There's another alternative - two feet at the front and one foot in the centre at the rear. Triangles are stable (hence three-legged milking stools).

Nothing sounds like a Ric growl and along with it the iconic 50s design is the reason why it’s lasted so long and will continue to do so. Here’s my little friend...

What's not to like 😁

That's not a shim, it's an emergency roach.

Believe me, it didn’t feel like a short time to us!😆

Sleep. Well, that's my guess, at least. I find that I can practise something as much as I like on a given day with only marginal improvement, but if I get a decent night's sleep and come back to it then it's somehow just there, much as you described. Something to do with the brain consolidating information and strengthening neural pathways blah blah blah...

Tonight, jointing the top and trying to learn how to wire a push pull pot I thought about adding a second pickup, but have now decided to experiment with a series/parallel switch instead. Onwards and upwards

Had some time today to update my V1 to V3 which has been sitting on a shelf gathering dust. My goodness this has come along way in a very short period of time. It was good before but this is now excellent.

I find it's the opposite for for a simpleton like me. I leave it all flat, and BOOM! It's perfect! ha ha.

Bass player is killing it! 👍

I had my first tattoo this morning and it's bass related - I'm pleased with it!

It is lovely! Here it is with its brother-in-arms:

Our singer turned up without a mic stand at one gig, and it happened to be the one gig where I was not in my own car (where my spare one always resides). Made one with a mop handle a chair and gaffer tape. As above: always have at least one roll!

These are fvckin’ splendid!

Always carry Gaffer tape. You can't prevent every possible failure or problem. Even if you do the traffic could get you. You have to improvise etc. I saw John Mayall using a combo for a PA when his broke. Tower of Power did several gigs without a bass player when Rocco Prestia was hospitalised on tour in Europe. Our singer didn't show on a gig and the 3 of us took it in turns to sing the songs. We couldn't sing and didn't know most of the words but we got by. I've done gigs when the drummer didn't show and one when the drummer and guitarist didn't make it. We were a bass and a singer strumming an acoustic guitar. We got an encore!

Went last year and this year. To be honest I don't think I'll go again. Open-space workshops surrounded by bass and guitar amps is as stupid as it sounds. The other workshops in separate rooms were very interesting. I expected to find much more to try and in a way that it is easier for everyone to sit down and try stuff.

I am in the same situation. My solution for the stupidly loud bands was to buy a second Super Compact. The modular approach just seems more logical to me.

'The difference between a strat and a telestrat is more emotional than actual yet people do find that one gives them something that the other doesn't.' The opportunity to write more B.S. perhaps......?

@Pete33rd Beware of the SkinnyMan! He is a wicked man and involved in all sorts of untoward activities in Cleethorpes and environs.

Agreed. I'm much older, and have come back to playing the bass after a ten-odd year break from music. I'm a much better player now than I ever was before, which is largely due to the help and wisdom from the folks on this fine forum. I hope you enjoy it here as much as I have (and still do). Welcome to the jungle! (sorry, couldn't resist a GnR pun 😃)

People coming up to me midsong, while I am singing.. If I can hear them, I pretend they are not there til the end of the song. Then I speak to them. However, there should always be an exception: Slade at Manchester Rotters 1979. A punter (me) gesticulates frantically at Jim Lea during a song. Seeing as he knew me to chat to at sound checks he didn't ignore me. "Oi, Jim. Your bass rig is belching smoke". An Acoustic 360 power amp was overheating. One of the crew just pulled it out of the rig.

I've taken the plunge. WB-100 on its way....

Do you play any other instruments? A change is as good as a rest.

Here's one about Wales Dave. I've never seen it either:

Rick Beato's channel is one of the finest on Youtube.

To be honest, I'm utterly amazed that the phrase..."GIT TAE F**K...!!"...not to mention the tone that it's normally said in, could be taken in any way other than intended...!!!!

On the other hand, some of these bozos are sources of great band stories for the years to come. Last night is a case in point. I'm playing DB in a rockabilly trio (at The Oddfellows in Apsley, in case you know it), just about to start the third set, when a mid-40s lady walks up to me. Here we go, I think, do we play any Abba. She points at my DB and says, "Is that a harp?". OK, this is a wind-up, right? But she looks perfectly serious. No, I say, it's a double bass. "A double bass?" says she, "I didn't know about them." Yes, I reply, it's a double bass, and usually when people ask about it, that's because they think it's a cello. "No", she says, "I thought it was a harp. What does a harp look like, then?". I ask her if she's familiar with Guinness. She looks startled but says that she is. I tell her to picture the Guinness logo. "That's a harp", I say. She frowns, looks around for support, there's none forthcoming and my guitarist is now wetting himslef laughing, so off she totters to the toilet.

I’m liking these at the moment 🙂

I'm going to print that off tomorrow. My employers are generous when it comes to using their paper and printer ink 😉

Yup very much so, luckily I have a lift there and taxi for myself and kit home but the first hour will be stressful. It’s just annoying as if we had known this from the off we would have planned accordingly, it’s the last minute change that is the problem. Still no reply from the venue after an hour and a half which I think is pretty poor.

Join a second band.

Probably worth checking this thread for some suggestions also - as the OP asked a very similar question a few days back: @ped worth moving this thread to the Bass Guitars section as it sits better there than under 'Reviews' and / or merging the two threads?

Maybe one short set, doubt that I played for more than an hour. I've been getting accustomed to active basses with the pair of Ibanez sixes I've used as my main gigging basses for the past year - but the Fender pre-amp is a little different - not worse, just different, take a bit of time to discover how to use it. I'll probably change it for an East pre-amp, as i find their sweepable mids very useful, and he's local to me! No problem with pedal boards for me, I don't have one.

Hofner 185 bass, also called Artist bass for the UK market, but with switches more likely a 185, also if no Selmer serial stamped on back of head. Hard to date... 62-67?

Dealing with the groupies is the singers job. Dealing with the drunks is the singers job. Hes the front man, we are just the eye candy.

Yeah, Fenders do rock.