Lozz196

A local shop to me - now gone - very abbreviated but you`ll get the idea: Me - Have you any Rotosound bass strings? Shop - We`ve got Ernie Balls, they`re very good. Me - Yes, but I`m after Rotosounds only. Shop - Ernie Balls are great strings. Me - Goodbye Why not just answer the question, it was like a politician being interviewed by Paxman, completely avoided just saying either they didn`t have any in stock, or that they didn`t stock them at all. I simply couldn`t get them to admit either, just kept rattling on about how many bassists use Ernie Ball strings and how great they are.

No clues I`m afraid, but message Ashdown direct - they`re on here, or go e-mail via their website. They`re very good on customer service so you should get a response pretty quickly with a diagnosis.

You`ve got to go, once you get to that point it`s difficult to see how you can stay in.

Welcome, am playing in Athens this Saturday, at the Vive Le Punk Rock Festival, really looking forward to it.

I`ve never intentionally set out to impress people, but once when me and my mate went to a music shop I tried out a Fender Road Worn Precision, just noodling through some classic Jam basslines. Apparently there were a good few people just watching & listening, but I was "in the zone" as loved that bass, so didn`t notice any of them.

Combination of the above, Precision, Roto Steel Rounds, Sansamp, 410 (& 210 if needed).

Def does matter. A band we played with the other night were a good band, not exactly my thing but good at what they did, but the bassists tone was amazing. Fender Jaguar bass, into an Orange Terror, into a Marshall VBC412. Like I said they were good, but listening to his tone and basslines was a pleasure. And it worked in context of the band as well, the two guitars also having good sounds.

They look great

Agree, and I was rather disappointed that the rest of the album that Locked is on didnt have the same vibe.

One thing to bear in mind is that if using a small practice amp at home these don`t usually do the E string justice. I find this with my Precisions - if I get the E string sounding as "ringy" and full on my little practice amps, take it to rehearsal with full rig and it`s overbearingly dominant.

He does look very cool there. Great feature on The Damned in this months Vive Le Rock magazine as well, btw.

Well last night I saw a bassist using a Thunderbird, into a Markbass Little Mark, into a Markbass CL106 - sounded amazing, and having lifted that CL106 it was amazingly light for a 6x10.

I`ve had a good few MIM Precisions and have only experienced this - albeit very slightly - on one of them, one of the earlier models if I recall correctly. Currently got two, offloading one soon, and it`s not on either of those. Both are post 2012 which, in my opinion, they really upped their game on.

I`ve never had one, but I remember gazing adoringly at the Westone Thunders in my Mums catalogue when I was a kid. Played a couple and very nice basses they were/are.

And I think, moving on from Danny post, if you use a punk tone in a punk band it`s - in general - a tone that is saying "here I am, listen to me", whereas a Motown tone is more supportive, providing a foundation for - in the main - the vocals to shine over. For example the two JJs - JJ Burnell & James Jamerson. Both great players, but although James Jamersons playing was sublime, his tone isn`t screaming here I am, and aside from us bassists many possibly wouldn`t even pick out what he was doing (the fools, the fools). Whereas with JJ Burnell, well pretty impossible to not hear his stand out aggressive tone. Both fit their genres, and yes pretty much in agreement, most audiences won`t care that much about the tone, they`d probably notice if the playing and timing was poor, but even at that point would they realise it was the bass that was at fault? Possibly not, we play one of the most important instruments in holding it all together, yet so many have so little knowledge of what the bass does. Bah!

I think it`s bass-wise that Ashdown are/should be regarded as the UK flagship manufacturer.

Stick with it, it`s only in the last 8/9 years that I`ve been confident of my abilities, after playing for 37 years. Invariably even now whenever I see another bassist playing I think they`re better than me, and you know what, it doesn`t matter. I`m good enough for my band, that`s what counts. I`m - still - slowly realising it`s not what I can`t do that counts, it`s what I can do. Have you been in bands, I find that in a live environment is where I really learn.

I thing genre and the position the bass has in the band have a fair bit to do with it as well, I`ve probably had more people come up to me complimenting my tone since I`ve been using a twangy/driven sound in my punk band than at any time in my previous bands. And that`s partly due to the genre, and the bass taking on an almost rhythm guitar quality as we`re a 3 piece. Whilst my tone is right for this band, I preferred my Precision into my Ampeg PF500, all eq set flat, touch of compression tone as the best tone I`ve ever had. But at that point the bass was in a more supporting role, not so prominent.

I`m never sure if instances like this are deliberately being condescending or being ignorant of the bass and what it can do. How about a bit of diplomacy and say both?

I know that I really like the look of these, plus they`re made of ash, so more in-keeping with 70s Fenders.

It could be that the Line level signal that was being sent from your Sansamp was connected to a Mic level input by the soundman. I had this a while back, and e-mailed Tech21 about it, fearing my pedal had broken, they were very helpful and just advised to select the -20db setting if it happened again.

The Custom Shop Pickups are nice - they came as standard in a US 2015 Jazz I had, and it was less trebly/biting than previous Jazzes I`d had. Did make getting nearer the Precision-girth easier to achieve.

I thought there was just one, the key of bass

This is becoming similar to that scene in Fawlty Towers, I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it........