Lozz196

Bruce Foxton for me. As well as having great tone many of his great bass lines are what people recognise the songs by, almost as much as the vocals, which is both very difficult and a talent in itself. Eton Rifles, Town Called Malice, Down In The Tube Station to name but a few. Great player with a great ear for melody and remember, he was only late teens/early twenties when he wrote many of those classic bass lines.

What haven’t I been able to source that I’d buy in an instant - a Tech21 preamp/DI multi pedal with tuner on it that runs on good old fashioned batteries. For overseas/flying gigs their Fly-Rig and dUG would be ideal for space saving but they have to run via power supply so you’d have to take a power lead, extension lead and foreign plug adaptor. So just as much gear as my tuner and Para Driver, making it no easier at all.

Yes, I (and my band) do. We gig pretty much every week but as an originals band our set length varies from gig to gig so we have to have the not so often played material up to the standards of the always played so necessary in our view. Additionally it’s where we get the weekly “news” from the singer over who he’s been speaking to about what, rather than have endless messages about merch/proposed gigs etc. It’s now a feature each week, much like - for those old enough to remember - on The Two Ronnies. And lastly we just love playing our music, so being able to do so in the leisurely environment of the rehearsal room rather than the frantic gigging environment is a luxury.

I recently bought a Squier Vintage Modified 77 Jazz Bass when returning a bass I’d bought that had a slight defect. I saw it displayed and thought it looked great, tried it out and just loved playing it. After years of buying and then moving on Jazz after Jazz I think I’ve finally found one that I really gel with, and at a time when I wasn’t looking for one.

Well we all write together, but in general either the lead singer or myself will present a rough idea of the song and then we all work from there to get it where it needs to be. We usually plan for two more songs than is needed for an album, then whittle out the ones which sound like they least belong. And sometimes those left out end up on the next album so not much waste.

I used to use 50 - 110s but switched to the pretty much standard 45 - 105. I noticed instantly that the sound was less low and had more attack and topiness to it. I should add it was the same brand/range.

I`m in the US instruments/British amplification camp.

I had the 410 & 210 so effectively a 610. Unless you want sharp highs and that hi-end clank/rattle the 610 will be a great cab. In my use of Ampeg cabs I’ve found them to produce the afore mentioned highs and clank better than the BF, the BF being warmer and more vintage sounding.

Yeah, action/pickup height/age of strings all factors in this, just a case of finding which combines the best for the individual.

I remember the amazing amount of sound that came from your rig, Ian, pretty astonishing fir the size.

Me like, congrats Stew, I’m sure you’re going to be very happy with that amp.

Yes the Custom Shop 62s sounds quite a bit different to those in the 2011 model, more rich and vintage sounding whereas the 2011s I found to be more scooped and modern sounding. As the 62s are my all time fave I’ll happily recommend them.

I use the Para Driver, it’s the one but of kit that whilst I obviously could live without it, it would really really upset my day and my sound if anything happened to it. I’ve had numerous preamp/DI pedals (Aguilar Tonehammer, Sansamp Bass Driver, VTDI, Behringer BDI21, MXR M80) and the trusty Para Driver for me is the king of them all.

I really liked my Markbass 410 that I had. Their cabs do tend to have a high end roll-off so if you post-DI what FOH will get is treblier than your on stage sound, but if no DI-ing then not a factor.

Shhhh, you’ll alert the vegans!

My mate overheard a tourist asking why they built Windsor Castle under the flightpath to Heathrow.....

Well in my mind I’m leaping and running around the stage whereas in reality I’m shuffling aimlessly from one foot to the other. But I do dig in hard for the whole gig, none of this dynamics business, full on all the time, plus full on backing vocals so do need to be able to maintain that for an hours set if required. I’m 53, I do go to the gym, try to go at least 3 times a week but the main thing I find is to stay hydrated. If I’ve not drunk enough water I find the gigs harder so that’s my main thing, make sure I drink enough water both before and during the gig.

Yeah that’s interesting, I’ve not really noticed any difference between using the WL20 and a 20 ft lead.

Same for us, to me changing volume for rehearsals can be likened to changing from Precision to Jazz, or Les Paul to Strat, it’s not really rehearsing the songs for how they’re going to be played live. But then we’re a lack of finesse skinhead punk band so behaving like Neanderthals is the norm 😁

Herebe our latest offering, from our 4th album which will be released on 01 Aug 2019:

It`s looking a possibility then, nice one.

BOSS WL20, no fiddly settings on a darkly lit stage, just plug the two units together and they find the best signal. Charge lasts pretty good, and as they`re both chargeable units no extra plug sockets to find on stage, just two little gizmos, one in your bass, one in your amp/tuner etc. Also simulates a 10ft cable so no sudden change in tone if for whatever reason you have to go back to using a lead mid-gig.

Looks great Col, I’ve been thinking of one of these for gigs where we fly, make lugging gear around easier, but depends on if any hard cases are available for basses this size.

If Warwick make the scale required try their Red Label steel rounds. Virtually the same sound as Rotosound but last at least twice as long.

Am looking forward to seeing them at Rebellion in Blackpool in a few weeks time.