bassbiscuits

Ah they look happy together. They make a nice pair. I can see a 'meet up for an evening of geeky bass comparisons' on the cards here... no bad thing at all

It's weird isn't it? I used to do jiu jitsu up to a pretty high level, and when we got to blue and brown belt syllabuses they introduced left handed throws. It was as if our brains had never experienced jiu jitsu ever before, even tho we'd all been training four or five years at that point. We were dreadful. Relearning all those techniques left handed was so weird - knowing it was one thing but getting your body and muscle memory to do it was like starting from square one all over again.

They probably make some small difference to sound but not enough for me to rush out and change them. I've had a BBOT, USA deluxe bridge and Badass II on Fender basses and I can't say any sounded better than the other (without taking into account all the other variables). I wouldn't change a bridge unless it was faulty. Better off spending the money on some better pickups if you want to improve the sound.

That's interesting - mine is a 1970 and so technically the era of the poly 'thick skin' finish. But it's thin and with lots of chips on it and a patch of wear just like that one on the back. You can pick it off with your thumbnail and it seems to have come off where the rubber of a guitar stand cradle rests on it too. Its not nitro but nowt like modern poly finishes either. Importantly it looks cool ha ha

Looks very cool. Love her tanlines too.

Alder I believe. Definitely doesn't sound like ash. Could be basswood I guess but pretty sure they're alder. Mine's nicely balanced tho it seems to be happier worn pretty low on a strap - maybe it's the lack of body contours that make it feel funny up high.

A place that's now closed down but where we used to play a lot. Originally it was a good gig, with a decent reputation for live music and always pretty rammed. Over the years it changed hands, went downmarket and gained a reputation for dwindling audiences and messing bands around - wanted you to start earlier, finish later and play for less. On more than one occasion I turned up to find I'd been double booked with some cheap n nasty karaoke or disco. I stopped booking gigs there and didn't play there for about five years, when out of the blue got asked to play a work Christmas party for a firm which had booked a room there. It hadn't improved over the years at all. Still half full of sozzled all-day drinkers, and toilets you'd expect to see in Trainspotting. Never went back. It's since been sold, gutted and turned into a restaurant.

Here's the full amp rig. It's been a long time since I needed that whole rig at a gig tho.

They're cool cabs aren't they? I'm considering shifting the Aguilar for another Schroeder to be honest - smaller and easier to carry, tho the Aguilar does sound divine.

The Levellers and Ginger Wildheart last night at Leicester's De Montfort Hall. The venue had the England v Croatia match showing on screens in the bar and public areas which inevitably meant Ginger played to a half-empty auditorium while many opted to watch the football (he was still brilliant tho). The Levellers headline set (once the football had ended) was a sort of acoustic orchestral affair, with violins and cello alongside the usual members. Worked nicely on their new material as well as reworkings of their older classic stuff.

Sure thing. But i think there's a risk of overthinking it too in searching for some holy grail of bass, which imparts some mystical connection etc. They're just instruments at the end of the day - the rest is all subjective. If you're a collector/trader then original, unmolested condition is going to command the highest price and be most collectible. But you're going to play it (presumably like the people who got a cool guitar for their 16th birthday etc) then it comes down to what feels and sounds the best to you.

I have a 1970 P in sunburst/rosewood/tort just like that 1966 P, which is in used but certainly not abused nick. There's a mobile phone sized patch of wear on the back, and various smaller patches of wear, about half of which were there when i bought it 24 years ago, and the rest has been picked up along the way. I think the fashion for relicing has given an unrealistic idea that old guitars become inevitably battered - if you take good care of them, they don't. Mine has clearly been well used and had some professionally-done repairs over the years (on its second refret and its third jack socket) so its no museum piece, but as a working instrument it is incredible. I would neither seek out battered examples, or shun pristine ones really. All instruments are individual anyway, so it's down to whether or not I like the one in my hand (or more likely, whether I can afford it!)

It's great - I've tried lightweight basses before and not really got on with them. Found Mike Lull to be too hi-fi and modern sounding, and hollow-body stuff to be neck heavy as a result. But these seem to nail it as cool little instruments in their own right.

Ah its a great cab - it's one of those bits of kit you buy (off Basschat incidentally) that immediately becomes your go-to gear. It's done pretty much every gig with me since about 2013. The Aguilar underneath it is even better, but too big for me to get out much.

Gigged this on the weekend for the first time at a big outdoor garden party in front of about 100 or so people. It sounded great (even thru the cranked medium-sized 1x12 combo which was provided as backline) and was just a pleasure to play - small, light and looked cool. Plenty of low end, smooth with flatwounds, and plenty of mid/high punch which sounds nicely retro. Really pleased with it and surprised I hadn't explored these sooner.

Just come back from playing a big garden party in the sunshine as part of a charity fundraiser. Watching the football this afternoon we realised we might need "Three Lions" should they win. When it got to 2-0 I reached for my bass and a few texts later we'd all had a go at learning it as our set closer. Went down a storm. Of course it did! Probably not the most accurate version ever delivered but even by our own last-minute standards that was a personal best. Oh yeah and it was my first gig with my new Jap Fender Mustang. It was great.

Aye another vote for the Korg Pitchblack. Got two of 'em and I love 'em.

This is from a big outdoor gig I did back in 2015. An LM2 and an LM3, each powering a cab - a Schroeder 1210 and an Aguilar GS410. There's a Korg Pitchblack tuner and then a Boss Chorus pedal (switched off) to split the signal into the two heads. I normally just use one head and one cabinet for regular gigs. The bass is an old USA precision. Not pictured are the spare basses - a MIJ Mustang and a Yamaha BB604. (I didn't have them yet).

Totally - Appetite is another one i had on vinyl at the time (with the original banned cover...) but then bought again about 10 years ago and fell in love with all over again. Still sounds dangerous. But Def Leppard have been an odd one for me. I loved them at the time, and still like to read interviews with them etc, but hearing the music again after all these years it did strike me as being very 'of its time' with extremely polished production etc. There are some good tunes tho, you're right.

Def Leppard's Hysteria sounds very dated now, in terms of production etc. I bought a copy a year or two ago having not heard the original for about 25 years since it came out, and it was a bit of a shock. Same as the albums I used to have from the band who supported them on some UK dates of the Hysteria tour - Tesla. Used to love them in late teens, but their albums had aged dreadfully. Weirdly stuff like INXS 'Kick' which was released the same year (or nearly - i'd need to check) still sounds pretty fresh.

I bought The Nightfly on the recommendation of my former keys player, who appreciates really good music. He couldn't praise it enough. I thought it was awful - the kind of thing I'd imagine playing on a posh yacht or wine bar in the 1980s. Also, 10CC How Dare You - same recommendation from same keys player, but hated that one too.