Lozz196

On a similar vein I remember reading an interview with Cliff Williams of AC/DC who said that in the studio he used flats to record with, but live he used rounds for that extra bit of definition.

Yep, found that out a good few years back, had a great on-stage sound, right amount of lows/highs, went out front to check levels, boomy sludge fest.

Pretty much my experience of both, nothing too much bother, happy to chat not just about the products but music in general.

As it says, pretty good deal methinks https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-P-Bass-51-Reissue-With-Case/323202163561?hash=item4b4059a369:g:YG4AAOSwaDZazSNk

Well I reduced from a 1.14mm to a 1.0mm and it has made the difference I wanted. Plus with OCD and all that, they`re blue so they match my Ashdown gear. Which is nice.

Not knowing the CMD102 combo that well I`m assuming from the above that you can disconnect the speakers on it. If so then disconnecting these and plugging in the 410 will essentially "double" your current sound, again with an assumption that the 410 you get will be the same speakers as what are in the CMD, and that the cab is voiced similarly. So that will work. You`d also have the option of plugging in the 410 as well - if it`s an 8ohm cab - so then you`d have the 210 of the combo and the 410 of the cab. The speakers in the combo will effectively be getting twice the power of those in the cab but then they are meant to handle the power of the combo-head anyway, and being that much higher you`ll be able to hear yourself a lot better. The only possible problem I can think of is something called - I think - out of phase coupling, something like that, where the two sets of speakers aren`t working properly together. In all honesty if you like your sound from the CMD, I`d look at getting the matching 210 - you`re doubling up on the same sound, and doing that really makes a difference. I did the same on my old CMD121P, I added the NY121 cab and the silly grin it put on my face was, well, rather silly. It makes a hell of a difference adding in the same cab again.

A bit unfair though, chucking teak into the equation when everyone knows the question is rosewood or maple.

That`s probably why my ABM 600 sounded so pony when I accidentally had it on, doh, I never knew that either. I suppose this brings in two lessons for me - Lesson One, read the manual, Lesson Two, turn it fully clockwise so that if I accidentally hit the switch I won`t panic as my amp has suddenly got hardly any output.

I can see what you mean in some respects - for me the US Precision is king, but not just any US, specifically the 2012 - 15 Series. To me they are just the best, but are they really worth a grand more than a Mexican Fender? I`d say not, these basses generally go for around £900 second hand, and I think that that`s probably a fairer price for them new. Maybe £999 to keep them at under a grand, but once you go beyond that they`re then becoming an instrument beyond the affordability of many musicians, and are possibly driving those musicians towards other brands - which as said, can make pretty fine instruments themselves (I`ll never admit to "better, but that`s just me )

Yep, it`s all about which bass you simply prefer playing. I`ve just got back from rehearsing and I used my MIM Precision, it coped admirably but I knew all along that I prefer the playability and responsiveness of my US Precisions. Nothing wrong with the MIM, far from it, I`m just more comfortable with the US, but it`s not about the badge - really - if I preferred the MIM I`d be able to generate a fair bit of wedge by offloading my US ones, but the hands and ears prefer the US, and that`s what I go by. So whatever the brand, model, even if you have two, three or four identical basses, play the one you gel with best. A mate of mine has seven of the same guitar, but he has his fave out of that bunch, his go-to guitar.

Still time to learn how to play properly, Paul

We want the band shots of us playing in a disused factory type environment because that`s what the song is about, how successive governments have ruined the industries that Britain was once very good at. It`s that or nowt, we`re not really fussed that other bands have done it before, or that possibly thousands will do it after, we just want the band playing shots in that type of setting.The rest of the video will be shot to hopefully match up with the lyrics of the verses.

Well in terms of build quality the Classic 50s is a better bass, using better materials, the neck width is easy enough to adjust to, especially for a giant Usually I`d recommend the bass that your hands preferred, but that adjustment sorts itself pretty quickly - when I got my current US Standard my fretting hand ached for about a week or so, due to the extra depth on the neck, now I don`t even notice it and in fact find it more comfortable than shallower necks.

Thanks guys, much appreciated. We`re more likely to go down the official route, it might seem a bit contradictory to the punk ethic but we`re too old to leg it from the old bill if they turn up, couldn`t even manage a walker, let alone a runner.

Ok, so we need an old abandoned, run-down, unused factory type building for a video shoot. We`re located in Hertfordshire but are willing to travel up to a 3hr journey for the right location. If anyone has any suggestions can you let me know please. It has to be a run-down building, disused factory as the song is about how successive governments have ruined industry in this country.

For this sort of thing I usually recommend seeing as many bands as possible and trying the gear which has most impressed you as a listener. I had loads of different amps/cabs, and found Ashdown by accident, as every time I used one as a provided rig, I just liked the "slam" of the sound better than anything else. Previously my gear was small/costly/lightweight, whereas now it`s none of those, so don`t discount lower-end gear. Get out there and enjoy some bands/bassists, and set your ears to work.

So I changed my strings yesterday, cut them as usual to 4"/10cm as advised so as to have 2 windings on the tuning peg. And the E was making a rattling/buzzing noise when played open. So checked anything that could rattle and I couldn`t find it. Read up on Talkbass about similar issues - they seemed to have more than on here, which shows the UK is leading the way in un-rattly basses, which is nice - and a few posts on there re similar issues said on Fenders cut the strings at about 6"/15cm to allow for 3 windings on the tuning peg. So I followed this today, and rattle/buzz gone, problem sorted. Just thought I`d put this up in case anyone else encountered any similar problems.

Also depends on what the requirements of the band are, other bassists present might have though "thank god he isn`t using a rake load of effects that would have really facked that song up".

Well the 500 has bucketloads of volume, so unless you`re playing very large stages and aren`t keen on bass in the monitors, the 500 should be plenty for your needs.

We work on it at rehearsals, then, erm without wanting to appear snotty or superior, remember it.I`ve always figured that if I, or the band I`m in can`t remember a song then it`s likely to be completely forgettable to an audience, so best to drop it at the start. When it comes to the actual recording I`ll ask for a copy of what we have at that time, on that take I`ll play it completely straight, no runs or fills as I then want to hear the song in its most basic form so that I can hear where a run is appropriate, or where it would clash with vox/drum-fills etc.I`ll already have a good idea of the runs I might put in, just want to hear a quieter version to add these in if I feel they fit.

I think I must be really lucky, yes there are little quirks about the other guys in the band, and I`m sure I have mine, but none that I find annoyin g to the point of even trying to recall them. In the past I`ve been in bands with literally all of the annoyancies mentioned, but currently, well to quote Dean Friedman, I`ll count my lucky stars.

I had one for a while, loved it. As Phil says, the valve is very subtle, to the point where you don`t really notice it as you turn it fully up, but more if you start playing and then turn the effect fully off, suddenly you notice "something" missing from the sound. To me it adds like a "shimmer/some hair" to the sound, stops it from being crystal clear. When I got mine I went to Andertons with 3 Markbass amps on my list to try, the Little Mark 3, Little Mark Big Bang, and Little Mark Tube. I never got round to hearing the others, I just I liked the LMT that much.

I read that Dan Hawkins of The Darkness has - or had - an AC30 in his set-up, and he faced it backwards, as that way it was the same volume as his Marshalls, front-facing it was much too loud. This could have been one of those Darkness Jolly Japes of course, but I reckon they were being factual.

The eq certainly seems more in line with what most bassists seem to require, going by the amount of preamp pedals that seem to centre around similar frequencies. I think this is a good move by Markbass.

The only downside for me would be that I`d continually be trying different permutations of pickups for the ideal sound, whereas with a straight P-bass it`s everything on full all the time, less to think about. Additionally if your sound is a PJ and you have to use a different bass for whatever reason, well it`s much more likely that a regular P-bass will be at hand, maybe a Jazz, so replicating the sound of a PJ could prove difficult, easier to obtain a regular P-bass sound.