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I've been trying to resist the Fender Vintera range, but my resolve finally crumbled yesterday morning and I ordered a 60s Jazz Bass in sunburst. I received a text message in the night telling me that my new bass would be delivered between 07.41 and 08.41 this morning. Imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang at exactly 07.41 and there was a DPD driver hiding behind a Fender bass box. Removing the bass from the box & gig bag took until 07.42, then I sat and played it for half an hour or more before remembering I had started to make a cup of tea before the doorbell rang. It's a beautiful bass, in perfect condition and an ideal match for my Classic 60s Jazz also in sunburst (but cellulose). I had a Classic 60s (non cellulose) some years ago in Finland, but for some odd reason decided to sell all my bass gear before moving back to the UK. I have now corrected that mistake! I now have five Jazz basses, but the 60s ones with the 7 1/2" radius fingerboards are my favourite. I have two Jazzes for sale on here, they may well soon be joined by my remaining modern Jazz. Obligatory pictures follow:

As a bass player for over 50 years now I feel compelled to present some advice to anyone in a local band to ensure you're capitalizing on the opportunity live shows give you and to make sure your connecting with you audience. Because everyone has internet-connected phones, it's far too easy for people to become disconnected from your performance and relegate your music to background noise. However, there are a number of pitfalls I see band after band falling into that are easy to avoid. Take or leave the following, but I can almost guarantee that bands who put these things into practice will see improvement in their short and long-term audience engagement and growth: 1. Plan what you are going to say to your audience whenever you are not playing a song. I see far too many bands get stone-faced, have awkward pauses while they stare at each other waiting for someone to say anything meaningful, and then vomit up some meaningless word salad that people instantly forget the moment the next song starts. In addition to planning your transitions so that you don't look like idiots, make sure you include at least something that can potentially produce an ROI. Mention where people can go to find your music, when and where your next show is, your social media handles, etc. 2. Stop turning your backs to the audience! Doing this occasionally and briefly is fine, because I know sometimes you get into your groove and face each other, etc. However, I've literally seen people turn their backs to the audience for anywhere from 30 seconds to over a minute, and that is a VERY quick way to get your audience to disconnect. While we're on this subject, LOOK THEM IN THE EYES occasionally. Yes, it can be awkward if you overdo this, but neglecting eye contact all together is an egregious sin. Remember, that part of what you're doing while performing is selling yourselves to the audience. In sales, they always teach you to make eye contact with your customer, and this is no different. 3. Plan your set list to follow some kind of dynamic roller coaster. In other words, don't do a bunch of fast/heavy/upbeat songs in a row or vice versa with slower songs. Have some ups and some downs. Vary it up. Tell a story with your selection of songs and make their ordering purposeful and thoughtful. Designers of roller coasters understand this concept. They make the ascent to the top of the first drop deliberately slow to build suspense. They also don't have every twist, turn, and loop feel exactly the same. There is variety, and that ultimately bodes well for everyone. 4. If you play covers, spice them up a bit. Obviously, I'm not asking you to fundamentally change the song. However, adding some kind of twist to make it your own and the listening experience unique for the audience will make you more memorable. If your audience is engaged with you, and they should be, they'll pick up on even subtle things you do and likely appreciate them. 5. Talk to your audience before and after the show. Thank them for coming, and encourage them to follow up in whatever ways you have open to the public. Take selfies with them. I guarantee you that people appreciate this, whether it's apparent or not at the time. People will remember how you make them feel, and a pleasant conversation with them will drastically increase your chances of building a more long-term fan base. I would further state that you should be doing this on social media as well, even after you become "big". 6. Move around and get animated when you play/sing. Obviously, if you're doing highly technical stuff, then you can concentrate on your playing as needed, but don't stand there the entire show like a plank of wood. If it's not readily apparent that you're having fun on stage, I guarantee you your audience won't either. There are probably allot of variables depending on the band, what do you think. Blue

To lighten the mood a little - it reminds me of a Tim Vine joke, which I paraphrase below: I rang Sam Allardice and asked him if he could meet up one day next week to discuss being head coach at a Sheffield football club. He said "I can't manage Wednesday"

I literally would not look like I look, know who I know or do what I do if I hadn't heard the few albums that influenced my life choices as a teen.

Ok, for you and @ezbass! I will try to keep this brief! The album is The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out, Wait For Something Wild by the band SikTh. It was bought for me by a dear friend as a birthday gift. Musically it was a breath of fresh air to my ears and I instantly fell in love with each crushing and brain melting riff. Now, my memory is a little fuzzy these days as I attempt to recall what happened next, but at some point in SikTh's touring history I became frustrated that the band weren't playing in my local city. So, I did the thing that any self-(dis)respecting, slightly mental music lover would do and offer to front the cash for this band to come and headline one of my city's well known venues. The plan, having contacted the tour agent and the venue separately paid off and I went on holiday for a couple of weeks. When I came back, SikTh were booked to play the gig. Anyway, I reached out to the band, told them my plan and they offered for me to come and hang out at the soundcheck and gig with them. Story short we all hit it off and are good friends to this day which is awesome. - James the bassist played with Devin Townsend recently, which is amazing as the DT band are one of my favourites! Sometime after that gig and around the time the band took a break, I guess this was around 2007 I was called by Pin, guitarist and as we'd been talking about bands previously. He offered for me to come down and jam "audition" for a new band he and Jamie Hunt (previously of Biomechanical) were forming. Story short I joined the band and I subsequently reached out to my friend and drummer Thomas Lang to join. Sadly, the band, due to busy touring and clinic schedules never really got off the ground, but Within The Void as we were known still have many songs, at least in part sat on my studio hard drives! Jamie then invited me to come down and audition to play for his new band with Steve Smyth (Forbidden, Nevermore, Testament) that was code named "Firehead". I replaced Dragonforce's bassist. We recorded some demos but I left due to personal reasons about a year later. The band is now called One Machine. Interestingly one of the names I came up with but originally dismissed. Off the back of my now working relationship with Thomas Lang, we set about putting a band together and doing some writing and we formed a band with Jamie Hunt with a great singer from the US. Again, I can't remember the exact time line but my internet ramblings and music caught the eye of Lebanese maestro Amadeus Awad and we struck up a musical relationship that led to recording with Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison. The EP called Schizanimus featured the incredible talents of Danny Boy-Maron and Elia Monsef. Remember those names.. Amadeus being pleased with our produce called me up one day and told me all about a bassist he was looking for to play on a much larger project featuring Russel Allen and John Macaluso from Symphony X, Kevin Moore from Dream Theater, Amanda Sommerville from Avantasia/Trillium and a pile more of talented individuals.. that bassist could have been anyone but he wanted me, so we recorded that album and the EP mentioned above subsequently came out as a limited edition on that album too. "The Book Of Gates" and our band was called Eon. Elia and Danny (yup I said remember them) are part of the Lebanese cinematic progressive metal band Ostura. After working with them previously they called upon me to record all the bass for the incredible album The Room (I know I played on it, but wow, it's a masterpiece!). My ole rhythm section monster Thomas Lang joined me once again along with .. and yes, get this The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra!! Marco Sfogli (James Labrie, Jordan Rudess bands), Arjen Lucassen, Michael Mills (Toehider and Ayreon) and Turkish guitar legend Ozgur Abbak joined us on this epic production! Somewhere in this timeline showing off my love for prog and catchy grooves and music, I was contacted by Dec Burke (*Frost) to be touring bassist for his new band AudioPlastik put together with Simon Andersson (Pain Of Salvation, Scarlet, Darkwater) but a some internal politics with another band member meant that the tour didn't happen. Aside from that, they are now amazing people to know . I'm going to stop there for now as there are many other branches to this particular story! So, you can see how one particular album may (or may not have) set some fairly huge wheels in motion for me! I still love that album and I am hugely grateful to everyone listed and many who aren't for these opportunities I've experienced. I guess you could say it is life changing! Can't wait for the next twist and turn to this tree!

So glad I stumbled on this topic. I have a 2019 CLF L2K and an '89 SB2 and I recently put the L2K up for sale here. After reading all your comments on using different settings and spending time on it, I took it out the case tonight and really started to see what this beast can actually do and how to use the tone controls more effectively, rather than just crank it all up. Think I'm gonna take it off sale now as I loved having a noodle on it, and damn it plays so good.

Some have a low opinion of MIM fenders which is silly as there are some real gems coming out of Fender Mexico The gems include this model range, flea and anniversary stackpot jazzes, cabronita precision, passive precision pj special, the classic and road worn series

I would stay right clear of that Streamer. That's a first generation Rockbass, identifiable by its one-piece bridge (later models had the two-piece Warwick bridge) and the Strat-style jackplate. These were nothing special, and are often offered for far more than they're worth because people take the newer Rockbass series as reference, when in reality Thomann were basically giving these away for 99-129 euros depending on the number of pickups when they were discontinued. It's not going to be as nice as your LTD, and it's got none of the typical Warwick features the brand is known and loved (or hated) for. I don't think it would be a fair trade, considering the LTD cost roughly €600 new at the moment.

I've owned a Bass Collection, and while they're good for the money, the MV's are a significant step-up. Fit and finish, hardware, neck spec and finish etc. I think I've got an Ashdown Arc bass coming to me for a test/trial in the next couple of weeks, so I'll comment on that at some point too. Si

I heard the Fields of the Nephilim briefly on telly one night, I liked them, went to buy the album, whcih changed my musical style a bit. i didn't know anyone else who liked that, so one of my friends said that they new someone who liked that and introduced me. Became friends with them, they split up with their girlfriend, I ended up with her, changed my life dramatically from there. So yes, the album The Nephilim by Fields of the Nephilim it changed my life.

"Charlie's good tonight, ain't he?"

Sabby (Mrs. Woodinblack) has kindly offered to do a vegan quiche, pizza swirls with home-made pepperoni and lotus biscoff cake (wowzer!!). We'll also bring some falafels and vegan cheese. Re PPE, I think we'll all just be doing what feels appropriate - including anyone who feels the need to be fully suited and booted. We'll make sure there's good ventilation and there are hand-sanitizer dispensers.

Re the food, (assuming I don't have a last minute positive test) I'm a veggie so there's enough on the menu to suit me, not sure what the vegan option is...? Oh, and a double helping of the fretless bass as well please! Also I'll test myself before I set off too. I'll be wearing a mask around my neck and depending on numbers and proximity I may cover my face at times, which I appreciate may look a bit unfriendly but am sure we all understand why?

Never mind looking at the Fender Japan website, get that phone plugged in 🤣

A very battered second-hand example of that was my very first bass guitar, and chosen in preference to a new Grant or Columbus P or J copy partly because it was about £15 cheaper but more importantly because ti me it had something a bit more interesting about it.

A bit of a minimalist approach compared to some of the pedal boards on here, but it serves me well. 🤷‍♂️ Currently have no need for anything too dirty. Running it through a Fender Bassman 100T for the most part, although the ampeg at the end allows for headphone practice too.

Fixed rehearsal times are definitely 'a thing' though. For example Radiohead were originally called "On A Friday" - named after the rehearsal day. They only changed the name to "Radiohead" because bassist Colin Greenwood wanted to join a swing band on the side and needed more flexible rehearsals. OK, I made the last bit up 😀

Very much so. We have a comedian in the Bowie band who rips into all of us when he has a mic at his disposal. He's very quick and sharp with it; always produces some laughs. I guess it goes back to what @Bluewine was saying, the audience like to see the band having a good time too.

Good advice. Another tip I saw (on BC I think) was that the audience like to see a bit of chemistry between band members... be that a little bit of banter, body language, mentions of each other or whatever.

Nice! That's an early 80's Brooklyn-made deep-set bolt-on Spector NS2J with Badass bridge, Haz pre and 2xEMG J pickups. They had fantastic growl....

I really like the SP comp... it's transparent but warm.. I only have it in subtle.. but it does the job! 🙂

I’m a former US Fender snob. That was until I bought a Fender Flea jazz. What a truly superb bass. Easily the equal of my many US Fenders. Enjoy your new bass Dave. Frank.

'We go 'ome on Mundy. But I wanna to tell you, it's been a GAS this time. It's really been a gas'. Name that album!

Live After Death Close the thread

I preferred the power delivery from the 800, and never found it wanting on a gig. I did manage to push the 500 to its limit though. If there’s not much in it, I’d always get the one with a (tiny) bit more headroom.

I've had about three hours enjoyment from it so far - needs few minor adjustments, but plays well straight from the box. I reckon the Vintera range (and the Classics that they replaced) are every bit as good as the US Standards (had a few of them over the years as well!).

Haven’t heard ranking joe for a long time ☝️

Thanks Ped mate

Version at 3.12 the best ever

I'd keep the LTD. Much nicer. The Rockbass is a step backwards IMO.

Some of you may have seen my post Rejection Dejection, where I detail how I may have talked myself out of a great gig. Well, round two has arrived - this time, where I didn't even get to meet any of the band before not getting the gig! As the kindly souls in my first thread noted, often the first time rejections come back to you if their first choice doesn't work out. And so that has proved - there was an ad up a while back which was a swing band looking for a bassist. (I know that's totally different to the other band - what can I say? I love playing different styles of music). I dropped them a line but I was told that they'd found someone. However, it seems that person didn't work out so they dropped me a line to see if I was still interested? I said yes - I don't think their standard was particularly high, which suited me as I was looking to improve my EUB playing without much pressure. I knew I could play the parts on electric bass at worst. Anyway, I'd managed to build up a bit of rapport over email with the person doing the recruiting (the singer, I think), when matters came rather swiftly to a head. I'd already told them I play in another band. She said they rehearse on Wednesday nights, did that work. I said possibly, though the other band I play with also do Weds eves when we're rehearsing so I may have to do alternates. That put the cat right amongst the pigeons. The singer had to go and check with the band leader whether that would be okay, and the response came back "no - wouldn't work due to split loyalties". I was quite surprised at that - I've managed to successfully play in multiple ensembles for many many years, and IME it's better to actually have a player there than none at all. I'd have been happy to rock up and work out with them when they needed a bassist and when not. In all honesty, having listened to their recordings I do think I have dodged a fairly big bullet - anyone who can't really crack 'In The Mood' was probably not going to be much fun anyway! I get that they want someone committed but I find this "commit 100% only to our band" thing really odd. Variety is the spice of life - I'd go mad if I could only ever play one style of music. At this rate, I will getting bands I've never heard of get in touch to reject me before they even put up a 'bassist wanted' ad!

Every once in a blue moon an album comes out and the bass blows me away - the sound, the playing, the place in the mix etc. So much of the time, I find bass playing on albums a bit boring, or it's pretty lost in the mix. And they something comes along that knocks my socks off and really inspires me! OK, so needless to say I bought one such album recently. Firstly I have to warn you that it is the most unfashionable of genres - Prog, but wow, this record blows my socks off! The band are somewhat under the radar - Lifesigns Their third album - Altitude The bass player - better known for his playing with Cardiacs - Jon Poole Also, if you love a heart achingly beautiful guitar solos, the song Last one home from the album is just superb and has a really emotive solo. Anyway, here's a taster on Youtube if anyone is interested:

Pirate girls nine - they might be giants

They did, I owned a few and @itu has an original one.

It’s pretty serious money, and when you can pick up a used US Precision for under a grand, well I know where I’d look to spend.

Straight out of From Dusk Till Dawn. 😆

Turns out it's a Cockney double bluff. Cory Wong is rhyming slang for Pete Tong.

A bass bass. Actual taxidermied bass in a bass... some kind of inception type bass bass.

It’s a thing to consider when buying a cab. I really do think 2x10 is the best all round cab in a squeeze where “fitability” in an average car boot is definitely a factor. Not every 1x15 will fit in a boot.

Hart Guitars & Bass. Everything. You can close the thread now.

First gig since December 2019, and a last minute addition to the HRH Goth line-up for Sunday's Leeds gig. Two mega 6-hour rehearsals to get up to speed after having not played as a band for 18 months. Nice big stage, great sound and a decent-sized audience considering that we were on at two in the afternoon and main attraction for the weekend (Fields Of The Nephilim) were on the previous night. Here's a few photos...