bassbiscuits

Played a party in the lovely surroundings of Belgrave Hall and Gardens in Leicester. Beautiful summer evening here, and awesome vegetarian Indian cuisine. Mint.

Played barefoot at a festival a few summers ago. Went the whole hog and painted my toenails too. Very liberating and comfortable. Feet were filthy at the end tho as the stage was so dirty!

Bought a Mike Lull PJ4 and traded in both my main basses at the time (a 1995 USA precision and 2008 USA Jazz) plus about £900 on top. One gig later I realised the Lull wasn’t my kind of thing at all. The two Fenders were gone by then, and then I sold the Lull anyway in due course, at a considerable loss, leaving me without any of the three basses involved!

This is my old rig. Awesome but too much to lug around.

Prior to this I ran the Little Mark head into an Aguilar GS410 and/or a Schroeder 1210. Both were great. The Aguilar in particular was a better sounding cab than the MB ones I think. But the size and weight of it did my head in and I got fed up of hurting myself trying to move it around. So this is a much better fit for me at the moment.

The car names were based on the number plates (Rio was R10, Pixie contained PXY etc…) We just refer to the current cars as Bluey and Silvery to save any confusion

I made the mistake of naming my previous cars (Rio and Pixie…) which made it much harder to part with them! So no. Basses don’t need names. They don’t come when I call them anyway.

Honest answer? Haven’t got a a clue. I’ve got a LM2 from 2006 and a LM3 from 2011. I don’t know if that makes them Class A, B, D or something else (not even clear what that even means) but they sound identical to me. Yes the Cali76 is great. Subtle but definitely better than not using it, and it really evens things out in a very tasteful sort of way.

It is indeed the Donkey! It was a wedding gig but we are down there again on June 18 for a regular gig. You’re right - combination of decent soundman, good PA and a receptive audience goes a long way to making a great gig.

Another thumbs up for Fender Mustangs - in my case a 2013 Japanese model which is loosely a 1966 slab-bodied reissue. No hand problems for me yet, but a shoulder problem which led me to look for lightweight basses. It's still very Fendery - side by side with my Precision I'd say the P is still that bit smoother and fuller sounding, but the Mustang is very much in the same ballpark and with a character of its own to boot - with rounds its a midrangy, gnarly sort of bass, and with flats its into slightly quacky, punchy sort of tones. Definitely easier on the left hand, with your left arm not having to stretch so far to reach either, and a smaller, narrower neck than a P. I get the feeling that the Japanese Mustangs like mine have a shallower neck profile than the JMJs. Good luck and I hope you get to try some options and find one that suits you.

I’ve always adored the look of a T-Bird but I can’t get on with them despite having repeatedly tried. It’s a combination of the awkward balance and the playing position which puts the nut and headstock somewhere in the next county. I wish I could handle one but I can’t. That won’t stop me lusting after them tho.

P bass player since 1994. For me mostly flat EQ, actually with a bit of added bass, and tone rolled off about a quarter. I actually love the meaty, blurry thud you get from a P, rather than perfect note definition. But that's my taste. Yours may vary. They're very simple instruments so there isn't much to have to adjust to get a good, standard bass sound. Might sound a bit clunky and basic by itself but comes into its own in a band situation. Good luck, and have fun.

Bet that sounds ace. I’ve been listing after a V4-B but worried it’s not going to be loud enough.

I reckon so. Though I also used an oldish (I assume) Ashdown Evo 300w head in a rehearsal room this week and it was seriously good too! Opposite end of the scale tonally to Markbass I suppose, with the valve drive and the warm organic sound but equally lovely.

Likewise - also originally from Swansea but now living in Leicester. Have done quite a few gigs following straight on from the Six Nations in local bars. Good if England win, but we’ve had the place empty completely before now because they’ve lost. Not exactly a brilliant atmosphere!

I’ve finally found my perfect bass sound over this weekend’s gigs. (There is a caveat here - I’m not in the position to own/transport anything like an Ampeg SVT, so while I adore their sound and character they aren’t a practical consideration for me.) Having recently swapped back to La Bella flats on my 1970 P bass and my 2013 Mustang bass, I also experimented this weekend with two old Markbass Standard 2x10 cabs stacked (the front ported ones). Running thru a Cali76 compact bass compressor into an old Little Mark 2 head. The result felt like someone was punching me in the back all evening onstage. Lots of thump, smoothness and power. I’ll probably change my mind again in due course, but for this moment in time, I have found my bass nirvana.

Couple of nice gigs this weekend. Friday was the Elton John tribute at Northampton Picturedrome - decent sized crowd who were well up for it. Lots of dancing etc. And then Saturday did a wedding at the Donkey music pub in Leicester with a recently-formed blues/soul trio which ended up with guest singers coming to join us etc. Place was rammed. Lots of dancing again! Proper sweaty loud raucous stuff which went down a storm. Most excellent. 👌

Im pretty sure it has already!

In so many ways

Holiday somewhere sunny

I’m loving this thread. It combines two of my passions - bass and history. It’s like a time capsule taking us back to the world of the original Bermuda bassist owner back in the day. What a cool thing eh.

Pretty much all Kasabian lyrics leave me wondering what they’re talking about. Just words that sound good together I assumed.

I’ve always sung and played - makes you a valuable member of a band if you fulfil more than one role for the same price too! My only advice would be to learn the parts separately first before trying to combine them. I usually try to get the bass part under my fingers before trying to sing. If push comes to shove I’d rather leave out a complicated BV part for the sake of keeping the bass line solid. Tho ideally given a bit of time and practice you should usually be able to do both (there are undoubted exceptions obviously - things that are just officially Too Hard.)

That’s a lovely burst too. I have an identical 1970, (also B neck, also 8.8lbs etc) but the red from the burst has faded to a more yellowy colour. This one looks still very vibrant and rich coloured. It’s a beauty.