Lozz196

ACS earplugs I think are the answer. My classic rock band is incredibly loud due to matching the drummers volume, yet thanks to my ACS plugs the band volume is like a loud stereo, and I can hear each instrument individually. Before the ACS plugs I had a couple of different makes and they took the edge off, nothing more. Probably the wisest £120 I’ve ever spent on musical gear.

I recently bought a Mex Fender Precision. I’ve changed the electrics, pickup, tuners, string tree & nut. This bass will be the one I’ll use for overseas gigs as don’t want to take my US Precision, but the changes I’ve made are practical. Given I’ll have to detune/tune it after flying I want better tuners & nut, the pickup I’ve changed to a Tonerider as they sound very similar to the Custom Shop 62, and the electrics are now the same spec as the US. I’d say the tuners, nut & electrics are upgrades.

Yes mine did that but only when ironically I pushed the mute button. I took it to Ashdown and they sorted it. I’ve no idea what it was as it was a couple of years ago and techie stuff is a bit beyond me.

Totally reasonable & justifiable

Such terrifying comments from AC, it’s easy to see why someone would foam at the mouth after hearing them NOT!

I ended up with the brighter coloured ones as seeking out black cables on after gig poorly lit stages is a ball ache at the best of times. The B&Q ones are good, I’ve got an orange one with an inbuilt surge protection thingy, very good quality.

I looked at maybe have one of these for overseas gigs, certainly be easier than carting a full scale bass through airports if a hard case could be found for it.

The bassist from The Cockney Rejects uses one of their amps, just set to a regular bass sound, no (or very little) drive and it sounds great. Wasn’t the sound I was expecting when I saw him setting it up, was pleasantly surprised.

Sounds great, Dave

Those TC BH250s are surprisingly pokey, a lot more power to them than would be thought.

I think that’s the overriding question to this isn’t it, the MB Strat I played was truly fantastic, easily the best guitar I’ve ever picked up, but to quantify it as being 12 times better than a Mex Standard would be difficult.

The Masterbuilt instruments are amazing. A few months back I bought a Gibson SG and the guy I bought it from let me have a try of his Masterbuilt Stratocaster. There really was something special about that guitar, I couldn’t specify what exactly but it just felt “alive” and so responsive to how it was played. He got it for a good deal apparently, but even then the figure made me wince.

Like, especially given the other clip of Thin Lizzy tribute, very different styles with both bands sounding true to the originals.

Much more complex than would be expected on “simple pop songs”. Just goes to show there’s a lot more to all of ABBAs music.

Nice one, seriously considered the 3-way one when I was touring quite regularly.

Good point Mick, JT is still an awesome bass player but all the great bass lines he plays are nearly 40 years old.

Same here, I find their albums too sanitised, it’s Uber clean production which is ok for a track or two but not a whole album. Whereas live their sound is great, can happily watch a concert of theirs on TV, and actually live I thought they were great.

I like that, so true

Reading this thread makes me glad I choose to use Ashdown amps. Great sounding amps, which can be fixed at Ashdown HQ (in the unlikely event they develop problems) which is about an hours drive, coupled with excellent customer service.

A good bassist makes a band better by not standing out, at least in general terms. I’m not talking big major bands here, more re covers bands. I’ve seen some what would have been great covers bands where an “over clever” bassist, or one wanting to “cut through” has reduced them to being averagely listenable. Sadly our instrument of choice isn’t often the flash instrument of the band.

Great looking bass

I’d write it off, if it has to go back again could be for another year/£200, now that gigging is back on the bill I wouldn’t want an amp I didn’t have confidence in.

Something like the TC Electronic Spark Booster works nicely on this, it’s not a full on pedal by any means, just adds a slight bit of gain to the sound from completely clean, so you’re not changing the sound of the bass, just bringing in a little extra to it, with some added harmonics.

Yep, a few years back I had an EBMM Stingray and a Sterling by Musicman Ray34 as backup. Not that much difference between the two, maybe the EBMM was slightly (very slightly) warmer sounding but there was so little in it. Both of the basses played and felt great, aside from the ageing on the neck of the EBMM again both felt pretty much the same.

I’m reading this and thinking phew, lucky escape maybe. I nearly bought something last week, cost was £201 so qualified for free shipping, entered the Black Friday discount code which took off 7%, immediately shipping was then added as now under the limit, which I thought unfair so decided to not continue. Looks like I may have made a wise choice.