bassbiscuits

Unfortunately not. I got into music at 12 by listening to Iron Maiden and Kiss records at the same time as our school music teacher was waffling on about the great composers which meant nothing to me. There was no emphasis on participation or playing an instrument. It was alien to me. As a result I dropped school music at the earliest chance and did my own thing. As a consequence I’ve never learned to read or write music but have worked out most of what I’ve needed to know.

In the flip side, I sold a Squier Silver series P for £80 and a Fender MIJ 1957 reissue strat for £120ish when I was skint some years ago (it turned out to be a rare colour too…)

I bought a 1970 sunburst precision bass in 1994 for £575 - I was a student and that was a lot of money. I still gig with it though. I also paid £40 for a 2006 Yamaha FG512SJ dreadnought acoustic off FB marketplace - needed a strap pin and a set up but plays lovely and gets used for my solo gigs, using a Seymour Duncan woody soundhole pickup I got for free. My other main bass is a 2003 Yamaha BB604 which I paid £200 for on BC back in 2017 I think. I practice with a Blackstar ID Beam combo which I won at a local music shop competition some years ago too. Bargain indeed.

Indeed! He was from Oadby just the other side of the A6 from where I used to live! I considered myself “that other Oadby bassist” ha ha!

I’d be intrigued to play a JMJ. I've been using a white MIJ Mustang for about six or seven years and while I love it, it’s a bit lighter sounding than my P bass. The neck is small and comfortable, but I wonder if the thicker JMJ neck also gives a bit more meat to the sound (I’ve found necks to be an important part of how a bass sounds). My MIJ is nicely balanced tho and a thicker neck could upset that, all other things being equal.

Roadworn bass is lovely. I’ve lusted after one of these but always been put off by the neck being too wide for me. Bet this is a belter tho with that slimmer profile.

And I’m from a couple of miles further down the A6 at Great Glen!

Opinions are like a..holes. Everyone’s got one. No doubt some people don’t like short scale basses, but plenty of people (including me) can get perfectly good sounds out of them and enjoy the variety of having something different.

Glad it helped mate.

Wedding gig near Birmingham depping with my brother’s function band last night. Real good vibe, lovely audience, and got to try out my Darkglass Vintage Microtubes pedal to give it a bit of grit in a couple of the heavier songs. Plus pulled pork rolls. Winner.

Good work that man.

This. I tend to go wherever there’s any room left in dep gigs. I tend to find myself either side in my main band depending on the room/stage etc.

I struggle with Gibson Thunderbirds. I think they are the best looking basses in the world but I can’t cope with the shape/size/playing position etc. I don’t hate them at all. I’m just gutted they don’t fit me, and the mismatch between my body and a T bird mean I couldn’t even consider buying one.

Nice gig at Leicester’s Donkey music venue with my blues/soul trio the Andy Wales Band. First outing for my recently-acquired Ashdown ABM500 head too, which sounded beefy and fat - apart from briefly leaning my bass against the front panel which pressed the switch to turn off the EQ (why would anyone want that?) leaving me wondering for a few songs where my lovely sound had gone…. Lesson - always know the position of your knob. Good turn out tho including interestingly various punters who’d paid for a nearby blues festival but didn’t like it and instead spotted this gig in the listings and came along (and seemed to enjoy it!)

Up until now I’ve played cleaner than a Nashville cat, using Markbass heads and cabs and little or no effects. But lately I’ve been seduced by the dark side, dabbling with valve amps and hybrid amps with valve preamps. To make matters worse, I’ve bought two overdrive pedals. I feel like this is a confession…. forgive me.

That’s hurting my brain

To add to a couple of the earlier comments, I reckon my playing has improved loads through depping. Playing stuff you wouldn’t normally learn, meeting other musicians and making contacts with them etc. It works brilliantly for me.

Best “skin of teeth” dep I did was when half of the band I was in met half another band who were missing their bass, rhythm guitar and drummer in the car park of the venue about an hour before the gig which was a wedding or party of some sort. It was all a bit last minute to say the least, but as both were similar bands it had been decided that we’d probably know enough common ground to get thru 2x45mins. Not so. The bog standard stuff (brown eyed girl, summer of 69 etc) worked but I recall a Madness medley being “one step behind” as I struggled to work it out on the hoof. The whole gig was a bit of a fiasco tbh. Nobody involved has played together since either! Ive done a couple of other random one-off deps where it’s clear a band member (the singer usually) really doesn’t gel with me at all and it’s been a relief all round to get paid, say nice things and drive home safe in the knowledge that you’ll never be onstage together again! I’ve done some lovely dep jobs and also some really ropey ones standing in for a mate etc, which have been embarrassingly bad even to the most casual / drunk listener. In each case been glad it’s not my band.

If the house is empty, then whatever of my amps is closest to hand. If I’m being considerate (I do try…) then it’ll either be my Blackstar ID Beam and headphones, or my Vox Amplug / laptop / headphones and usually my Mustang bass as it’s easiest to sit down with.

🤷🏼‍♂️

I’m being thick - I have no idea what that means!?

I’ve been in bands with a few divas. It didn’t take us long to realise we weren’t getting along. Said band moved on, and I reformed another band with the members I still wanted to play with.