bassbiscuits

Yup - people selling 'the best bass I've ever owned....'

Is that the bass player's Ferrari?

My role in my last band seemed to be chief onstage DIY man when equipment broke or fell apart (more often than you might think!) so I always appreciate simple but effective things like this!

Yup I've come full circle. I currently own a bass I've had for 20+ years, a strat I've had for 15 years and an electro acoustic I've had for 16 years. When I slimmed down to just what I needed I realised that it was pretty much what I already owned and liked playing. I'll eat my words at some point for sure but the burning need to spend money on stuff has gone (helped along by the fact I don't currently have any money).

I think we just get caught up in it - if you're gigging and getting some spare cash coming in, its just too tempting to treat yourself to some more nice kit. There's no obvious cut off point once you get beyond the basic necessities, and into the realms of fantasy kit. The bubble burst with me about a year ago, mainly cos i cut right back on gigs for family reasons, and then realised how much kit i actually had. The apparently amazing, life-changing aspirational gear I'd bought didn't make me play any better, or feel any better. It just tied up thousands of pounds, so I flogged the stuff i didn't really need. I still look on Basschat most days and see stuff I like - but then a reality check reveals i don't actually need it. It's nice feeling that you don't have to buy anything. Sort of the opposite of GAS. I'll probably get lynched on here for saying it tho. It's lovely to have shiny new exciting treats, but constantly longing for different things and working out how to get them makes me really stressed out I've realised.

That's be good for all the headphones and trailing cables in my little quiet practice corner. Everyday genius there Stewblack. Take a bow sir.

I think i might know the answer, tho I might be wrong. The difference is that the ones on the red bass are probably of ceramic, bar magnet construction, whereas the blue bass pickups are probably more expensive alnico pole pieces. I have a MIJ strat from 1994, with ceramic, bar magnet pickups in neck and middle - like yours, the pole pieces are bright and shiny, with a magnet on the underside of the pickup which serves to magnetise all the metal pole pieces. The strat's after-market bridge pickup however looks like the one on your blue bass - it has greyer, less shiny pole pieces, which are usually individual alnico magnets. As i understand it, the ceramic bar pickups are a cheaper way of producing pickups, with the alnicos being closer to the real deal. It's entirely possible that for the 50th anniversary blue model, they pushed the boat out a bit and went for the more costly pickups, with the red bass having the regular generic ones. FWIW, the cheaper ceramic ones on my strat sound decent enough tho!

Bloke from Kasabian - Chris Edwards - also uses a pair of VBA400s and 8x10 cabinets onstage. I got a gawp at them close up a few years ago before their big outdoor gig in Leicester. Great sounding amps but weigh as much as my entire house unfortunately.

I've just discovered Ginger Wildheart, after going to a brilliant gig of his on Sunday night. Currently digesting his new country-tinged album "Ghosts in the Tanglewood" and waiting for delivery of "Year of the Fanclub" which I understand is the physical album bringing together the best of his crowdfunding music project from a few years back. Good lyricist and musician, good storyteller and great turn of phrase, and always nice to hear someone singing in their own regional accent too!

This^ Im a really heavy handed baboon of a player, tho I think/hope as I'm getting older that reliance on just brute force might be giving way to a bit more finesse. Once I'm on stage and getting into it, digging in feels exactly right quite a lot of the time.

Don't get me wrong - I love the sound and feel of mine too, but I can see why it isn't the most refined, adventurous or "all singing all dancing" bass ever. I guess a P does just a few things, but does them really, really well. But I love that simplicity and playing withing the inherent limitations of a single pickup etc. I've played a P for 24 years out of the 32 that I've been a bassist, so I suppose in many ways that's always been my reference point for how a bass sounds and feels.

Yeah I was doing some recording and took along my USA Jazz strung with nickel rounds that I had at the time which was a great bass, but listening back to the recording after the first day it wasn't the sound I had in my head at all. Brought along the P with flats on the second day to try something different, and it ended up being used on all the other recordings for that band. Just a classic studio bass sound, which for me was perfect.

I find the charm of P basses to come thru when played as part of a band. Mine has La Bella flats on it, which I also didn't get at all for a while until I did some recordings as voila there was an ace, fat, bass sound. Alone, mine sounds pleasant if fairly unremarkable, but as part of a band, it occupies its own sonic ground away from the cymbals, guitars and keys, which is just how I like it. But horses for courses innit - if that isn't what you're after, that's not a problem.

Absolutely! Good Gibsons can be awesome guitars. The only Gibson I currently own, a 2006 SG Junior 1968 re-issue, is a beautiful guitar. But I've played many that are at best nondescript or at worst just not very good at all in terms of build quality, finish etc. I really hope Gibson manage to get back on track, because when they do it right they do it very well indeed.

The Virginmarys at Leicester Soundhouse in April. Can't wait!

These are really good cabs - i used one for years before stupidly selling it to fund some kit i thought was going to be better, but wasn't. I'm nowhere near Maidenhead otherwise i'd gladly take it from you.

It's a shame, but not that surprising. I've had a couple of older Gibson guitars (before about 2006 or so) which have been lovely quality, followed by a 2011 one which was awful build quality and finishing (rough fretboard, machine marks in the wood etc). I haven't bought another new one since. On the other hand, the two Epiphones I have are both beautifully made (2007 Jack Casady and a 2015 Casino) for half the price. A quick look at the Epiphone website shows that they seem to have all the bright ideas for basses, while Gibson clunk along with the same old models. Maybe Gibson needs this for someone else to take over and do it properly once again. A good Gibson is a fine thing, but they're not a dead cert at all.

Small amp wise you can't go far wrong with a Roland Cube or one of the Blackstar ID practice amps. They're both about £100 new, with nice range of effects, various preset sounds and decent EQ. And more than loud enough for home use or thru headphones.

I'm with you on this one Skybone - my fingertips don't work on touch screen devices very well at all. I've got calluses on both hands and a good 50 percent of the time i'd say the contact with the screen doesn't get thru. I got a stylus but predictably I've lost it somewhere.