Leaderboard

Better yet, I have designs on a new bass...Bwahahahaha! While I will never, and don't want to, strut around in a full-on rock band again, I see no reason to let my bass rot any further. My recovery from the sugery in Jan/Feb has been very pleasing, although the surgery itself turned into a fairly life-threatening event. So, because I'm an inveterate tinkerer, I will likely buy a new Squier Sonic P, and set about making it my own! Exciting times!

Just to add, my 40th Anniversary Precision in Satin Dakota Red has just arrived and it is incredible. An absolute dream to play and is actually set up really nicely. It also sounds brilliant and despite not liking satin necks as I prefer gloss necks, it feels really really nice. The only other satin neck I've ever liked was my fretless Stingray which was the nicest neck I've ever played but this also feels really good. The vintage look is also really nice. So I am super happy and the best £250 I've spent on a bass and will tide me over as the only fretted bass in my collection 😜

Enroute home I decided for the very first time to visit the large Guitar Guitar store in Birmingham Found the store and good result it has a car park 👍 Walked in to a warm welcome from staff, found the bass gear down the end of the store and after 5 mins browsing I was offered and made a cup of coffee! I tried out the MXR M87 compressor with a Player Series PBass in Tidepool Blue same as mine at home. They left me alone for a good hour ( regular checks asking if I was ok ) and when I decided to buy the pedal they price matched it and I got it £30 less than listed I was very impressed with the staff, the store and the relaxed friendly and professional way the store is run. Well done Guitar Guitar Birmingham

With the decline of physical music shops on the high street, I thought I'd give promenade music in morecambe a great big up! Super helpful nice staff, x2 separate rooms for demoing gear in peace and quiet and to be fair the best bass collection I've ever seen. Loads and loads of sandbergs, rickenbackers, yamaha, Fender, squire, mark bass and much more. Makes pmts selection look like a small collection. Superb music shop. Highly recommended.

I can only speak to our particular products. Our Bass Driver which came after our original Bass DI (see attached picture) was originally designed soles as a DI. You could use it in one of two ways. 1.) As a transformerless active DI that would allow you to present a transparent high impedance instrument signal to a low Z input on a mixer without any signal loss or signal degradation due to long cable runs. 2.) As a colored amp emulated output (with SansAmp circuitry engaged) similar to the old studio and live technique of mic'ing a bass amp cab along with a DI'd signal to create a summed sound with more complexity that could be provided by your guitars pickups only. When we released the Bass Driver DI, we added an on/off stomp switch as well as the ability to send a 1/4" output to your amp while simultaneously. This gives you more options but it also requires the player to consider how the FOH is affected by the DI signal. In general if you are using the Bass Driver DI as an always on pedal we recommend setting the unit for unity gain. When you do a soundcheck it's best to have the pedal bypassed and let the FOH hear the uneffected signal first, then you should engage the SansAmp. At unity gain there should be no major level change which should make the sound tech happy. If you start adjusting the unit during a performance this will most likely change the output level to the FOH which may be problematic depending upon how drastic your sound changes. If you were using and mic'ing a vintage bass amp and changed your amp settings this would also change things at the FOH as well. Most good sound techs are savvy enough to allow some extra headroom at the mixer to deal with level changes that occur during a performance. If you are constantly tweaking throughout the gig this will not make the FOH happy.

I don't get paid, but for 10 years I have been volunteering at an educational trust that supplies the music teachers to the county schools. I get parachuted into different ensembles quite a lot, along side my regular big band gig. 1: Reading opens the door to so many gigs. Quite often the MD will want the part played as written. 2: Be on time, every time. 3: Never be the problem, instead be the one who can help solve the problems 4: The job of a pro sideman is to support the artist / MD / show. It's their vision / product not yours. 5: Maintain your gear to a high standard. 6: Take spares. If you have something that if it failed you could not finish the session with, take two of them. Identical spares are best as the FOH / Engineer doesn't have to reset everything. 7: Be clean and presentable. Your client might look like a badly tattooed bundle of rags, but you turn up looking smart. If the client wants you to wear something specific they will tell you - and should pay for it, if it's unusual. 8: Until you get to know a client or you get asked specifically, do not give an opinion on the music / arrangement. See Point 4 above. 9: Assume everyone you meet at the session will talk to the client about you. Be nice to everyone. Especially the objectionable ones. 10: Never give a reason for them to not call you again when the next job comes up. 11: Get an accountant who understands the biz, not just the guy in the high street. 12: Do not get too worried about the reading thing. The bass parts for 99% of popular music barely scrapes Grade 3. If you do 10 mins a day properly you'll have that done in a year. Always ask for charts / transcriptions AND any recordings in advance. Sometimes they won't send recordings of new original stuff in case of leaks. 13: Never do anything for free / exposure.

Mr Wong did a great job staying solid there!

I'm kinda feeling vindicated after the naysayers pitchin' in with their negativity vibes 🤪. The fact I got mine for a bargain too and it exceeded my expectations makes it all the sweeter to play!

I’m late to the pedal board game but have already gone through a few iterations since it was assembled by an amazing guitarist friend. I won’t change this for sometime as it doesn’t need to do too much- a little bit of something for all occasions but nothing too leftfield. It’s kind of a generic board in a way- Cali 76, OC2, a bit of DG dirt, HX Stomp and a nice preamp. CIOCKS DC7 underneath the board.

The working guys I know are some of the friendliest, easiest to work with people with inexhaustible amounts of drive and stamina. I’d say this is waay more important than gear, although there is a minimum level needed for sure. Networking is also the ticket to success and it’s a real skill that leads to the phone ringing.

Petar is a beast of a drummer and funky as hell when he wants to be.

From my experience, make sure your reading is up to scratch. You can literally gig anywhere if you’re able to competently follow dots as well as charts.

The Glasgow stores are great too. Bought my synth from them a couple of months ago & they price matched it, the case & the stand.

I'm not pro but work with pros and semi pros. Think most has been covered above but for emphasis I'll just repeat a few things in different words. Reading: clearly is advantageous but really depends on the circles you frequent. Plenty gigs out there that Reading isn't a requirement. Prep: always make sure your gear is fine, and you have replacement bits. If you're given a set to learn, make sure you learn it. Faffing about: don't do it. Everyone wins if you just turn up, plug in, line check and everything sounds like a bass. Nobody wants to hear you spend 20 minutes dialling in a tone. Over playing: don't do it. There's definitely a time and place for it. But that's a small percent. Other band members might look like they're enjoying it, but over playing gets tedious very quickly. I'm sure there's more but Scotland have scored so going to concentrate on the football now.

Now its been pointed out, it is impossible to unsee that

I've been listening to this on repeat for about a week when in the car, deceptively easy bass line but full of subtle little changes whilst still maintaining a massive groove. Carlton and Family Man, no one would have heard of Bob Marley if it weren't for them, one of the greatest rhythm sections of all time and all genres.

I pay the extra just so we have a bass specialist still in existence. It means there is more choice and a higher chance of better quality gear to try. Worth it to me for a couple of quid. Same reason I’d rather spend £4/5 on a decent pint in the local than £2 for a Carling in Wetherspoons.

Nothing on the Fender website, nothing on stores in the USA, nothing on the usual European suspect but.... our good Czeck friends had a major leak 🤣 Vintera II basses available at Kytary.com!! https://kytary.it/fender-vintera-ii-60s-precision-bass-rosewood-fingerboard-olympic-white/HN259056/ https://kytary.it/fender-vintera-ii-50s-precision-bass-maple-fingerboard-black/HN259053/ https://kytary.it/fender-vintera-ii-50s-precision-bass-maple-fingerboard-desert-sand/HN259054/ Don't waste your time to search for the sunburst P tough.... it's on the way to my home! 😂 Apparently while there's nothing to Fender website, if you insert on the Fender lookup page the serial number taken from the Kytary pics you get the full spec of the new serie. I should be the very first guy on put the hand on one of these...

Network, network, network. Show up on time, have reliable gear and know your instrument. Practice until you can't get it wrong.

Good reading chops and good ears/busking chops. Shows, or backing turns is all about reading of course. But if you want to be a good all round dep and you are offered a last minute gig/function, you might be needed to play music without any dots in front of you. So a good knowledge of well known tunes under your belt is essential and being able to hear things quickly on the fly will help a lot.

Some good advice above. I would add: learn to play double bass (if you don’t already) as it will open up a lot of opportunities.

Started on the nut - I need to keep busy while coats are drying! Brass is so easy to work with, I love it. I filed the big slot just to see how hard it would be. The slotting proper can wait until the frets are levelled etc. Control cavity cover from a scrap of the wenge from the neck: And this... I drilled one of the tuner holes a bit too close to the edge. I was going to leave it but decided it would annoy me, especially if the other strings run perpendicular to the nut, which was my intention. I plugged the hole and redrilled it. It's a bit ugly but will be totally covered buy the tuner 🙂

😎

If we’re talking reggae basses, this is one I’d happily play

I've asked you before to stop taking photos of me...

On SansAmp products like our Bass Driver DI etc, the "Drive" control acts like the volume control on a vintage non-master volume amplifier. As you turn up the control in the first half of the rotation, you increase both volume and power amp style distortion. When you get around 12 o'clock (depending upon playing style, pickup output etc) you start to get to the point where increasing the Drive results in more distortion and volume increases become less and less as the circuit gets more saturated. We do have a few products like our PSA 2.0 that have "Gain" controls. Gain increases the input sensitivity. Drive=distortion Gain=input sensitivity Volume=level These terms can be interpreted somewhat differently for different applications.

May be interesting for some. https://www.proavl-asia.com/details/73643-b-c-speakers-acquires-eminence-speaker

I have been playing the bass for quite a while now and doing pretty well. I have decided to rise from the local jam and gig circuit and get to the next level of depping/function band musician as I want to push myself musically and professionally. Last Saturday I was given a dep gig by a semi-pro bass friend who was unwell. I did a pretty good job all things considering it was a few days notice and had 30+ songs to learn. I wondered what you pros out there suggest were the do’s and dont’s, and what equipment is essential/expected from the MD’s. Thanks in advance.

Solid essentialist pedalboard! I oscillate between wanting a Cover All Eventualities Board and something more like this that does all a bass player needs to do.

Mine arrived today too, I'm also super happy with it. It's set up really well, if a touch too high for me but I'll give it a fettle tomorrow. I have to say I think it looks superb, the vintage tinted neck is very classy as is the satin finish on the body. The sound is everything I'd hoped for with tons of sustain. I'm particularly impressed with how progressive the tone control is, small adjustments give really discernable change. It'll soon be strung with flats with the addition of a tug bar and maybe a bridge cover to complete the retro vibe. I'd have been over the moon with this bass at full rrp but for £259 it's incredible!

Very good news @Telebass, inveterate tinkering is part and parcel of bassmanship after all

You're the Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk - Budgie

It was funny, dad was not a musician but was always supportive. We were watching Mr T on TV and they mentioned the spike. Dad just asked "do you want one" and obviously I said yes. I live(d) in deepest North Wales. Mum sent the 'cello off to J & A Beare in London. I dread to think what it cost.

Zombie ～ Cranberries

Home practice rig

The red gold and green is symbolic of Jamaica rather than Rastafarianism. CA is such a can of worms, but I think you would be safe with this.

I have no need (or £) for a new Bass, but with a red/tort scratchplate this would be a Reggae machine! https://bassbros.co.uk/product/2013-fender-japan-jb-62-qt-jazz-bass-reissue-mij/ .......although nowadays, seeing as I'm no Rasta, it might just be seen as cultural appropriation?!? I've been listening to this a lot through this recent heatwave:

I have only owned one but it was a decent instrument regardless of set up. I could not get on with the width of the neck, but there was a quality and attention to detail that made the bass stand out from the cheaper Fenders and Squires. Pickups had a genuine vintage tone that suited the instrument, threaded saddle bridge was nicely made, anodised pick guard and the paint work and colour selection was quality and had obviously been given some thought. Its a good bass and the second hand instruments are a bit of a bargain IMO.

Line 6 to make another Variax bass using the current HD technology. And preferably make it headless. Perhaps marketing it as a bass that can make a huge variety of sounds, and making it Workbench compatible, rather than saying it's exact emulations of various basses.

A shaped piece of dowel (used a nail file), painted with nail polish, drilled and countersunk, attached using the pickguard screw and a piece of double sided tape.

When the Sansamp technical guy comes on and clarifies it and then everyone ignores them... Read the thread chaps... 😆

Yep, I regularly go to the Edinburgh store and buy stuff from them - basses, amps, pedals, leads etc... and I've traded some gear in too. They're a good crowd, they stock a wide variety of products from a pretty varied array of manufacturers, they don't bug you, there's no hard sell, and the manager knows I regularly spend decent sums of cash with them so he never refuses a discount if I smile and ask him for his "best price" on any given item! 😉 I like 'em! 🙂

I'd like gear manufacturers to give preferential deals to bricks-and-mortar retailers so that it became cheaper to buy from a shop than order on-line.

I think there needs to be some clarity if we are talking about pro or semi pro musicians or those who are weekend warriors playing down the Red Lion on a Friday night. I'm not aware of any musician who is a weekend warrior who declares on their insurance they are a musician or claims it as a second income. I am not even aware of the insurance company being remotely interested in what you were doing prior or post accident on the day/evening and only interested in your description of how the accident happened. I have never had to provide information to the tune of saying it was Friday night and I had been playing a gig at the Red Lion and after the gig I drove home and had an accident. It has always been on this date at this time I joined the A31 and the other driver rear ended me etc. I am sure also below a certain financial threshold per year, it is classed as a hobby and not a business, professional, trade etc. However, if a pro or semi-pro (how do you even define this) and you have registered your vehicle for business use as a musician then I can see that you would possibly declare it.