bassbiscuits

A long time ago I worked for Roland, and one day we spotted two scruffy guys we didn't recognise wearing denim strolled about in the car park of our HQ. Turned out they were two guys from Status Quo (not Francis or Rick obviously) who were coming to visit someone there. I also got rung up by a guy asking for details of a Drum and Bass sound board thing for a JV2080. He gave me his name and details to send some info, and it was Marcus Miller.

I was lucky enough to win a set of the 45-100 gauge at the midlands bass bash raffle last weekend. They did sound and feel very good on Andy from D'Addario's five string jazz, so I'm looking forward to trying them once my current set of nickel wounds finally need changing. Will report back when the time comes!

Four at present. I keep selling stuff I don't need, but then rewarding myself for doing so by buying more stuff. So I have: 1970 Fender P sunburst/tort 1995 Fender USA P sunburst/white 2008 Fender USA J black/tort 2007 Epiphone Jack Casady Signature gold I genuinely do think that's my limit tho. I've had more basses in the past, but sold several cheaper ones to invest in fewer, better ones. These four all get gigged regularly too, so I really don't think I need anything else. Tho I haven't got a Rick, a T Bird, a fretless, a five string, an active bass etc....hmm.

Ah a good precision is a companion for life mate. The ultimate plug in and play bass. I've had all sorts of basses along the way too - some Bass Collections, Westones, Tokais, a Charvel in the 80s etc, but from quite early on the precision I had was the best, most reliable bass. There's a reason they're so popular. No they don't do lots of things that basses with active electronics, 24-fret necks or exotic woods and hardware do. But they do one thing very well - give a really good, universal, fat, usable bass tone which has laid the foundations of the last six decades of music. That's good enough for me. I've gigged one for the last 20 years and it's fair to say I'd take one onstage anywhere and be happy.

[quote name='paulmcnamara' timestamp='1462697399' post='3044905'] Probably one of the most under estimated basses out there? [/quote] I reckon so. I like the fact that its not a cheap version of the actual artist's bass - it's a model all of its own. Mine's strung with TI flats too, which sound amazing - a perfect halfway house between fat flat wound thump (which really suit it) and flexible, usable, mainstream bass tone. I agree with some of the other posts here too - it does cover a lot more solid body tonal territory than you'd expect by looking at it, which for me is a good thing as I'm not particularly a retro sort of player. The weight and balance are very favourable - different to a small solid body, but nothing that feels wrong or awkward. Genuinely really impressed. And Norris - I can bring it over when I see you later in the week - you're more than welcome to give it a whirl.

A bit late as I actually got this last weekend, from a friend considering selling his who agreed to lend me his to try. Can't say fairer than that. I picked it up immediately before I was about to do a gig, so having sound checked with my normal P bass I decided to give this a spin. Straight from the off it sounded great, so I used it for the whole first half. It played well, looked ace (it's the goldtop version) and was much more versatile than I expected it to be. I mainly wanted it as a lightweight bass (currently have a niggling shoulder injury) and for a new more stripped back folky/vocal/alt originals band I'm doing. But it fitted in perfectly well for a loud classic rock covers set. The varitone dial stayed on the middle setting of 250 - the 500 setting just brought on rapid feedback on such a small stage - which gave me a P bass with flats sound. So far so good. The neck is a good handful but not a problem, and no issues of neck dive either. The build quality seems good - nut is well cut and the rosewood neck has neat, tight grain and no sharp fret ends etc. Really impressed by how loud it was too - real punch and meat to it, which isn't what I expected. As a hollow body it's got that slightly microphonic, airy, woody sound to it, but plugged in and turned up its surprisingly hefty and fat. Overall a really surprisingly versatile and usable bass, which is a lot of fun to play and which certainly turns heads on stage. Needless to say, I bought it off the mate in question on the strength of that gig, and can see it doing a lot more gigs with me! I took it to the Midlands Bass Bash on May 7 to give people a chance to try it out too. All good.

Ah it was you! Sorry I'm rubbish at remembering people's names at the best of times, let alone when everyone's got a real name and a basschat name...!

Indeed - just to echo what everyone else has said really. Cool to catch up and do some talking and playing with everyone. Thanks to Si600 for running the show. Frankly baffled how Andy the D'Addario man's Aguilar rig can sound so good and weigh about as much as a couple of empty suitcases. Same with those cool TC Electonic 1x12 cabs. I need to go shopping... Very taken with that black Status necked jazz bass too - I don't know the name of the chap it belongs to, but it was divine. And managed to pick up some D'Addario strings and bits in the raffle too, which is a bonus! Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks.

See you shortly!

I used one today at a gig for the very first time. It was great. Rock/pop covers gig, It belongs to a mate who'd agreed to lend it to me to buy if I wanted it. Strung with TI flats, nicely set up, it was the mutts nuts. Needless to say he's not having it back...!

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1462025858' post='3039725'] You should come to one of our rehearsals. [/quote] Ha ha my mate's wife once stabbed his Musicman bass with a kitchen knife repeatedly during a domestic once. So maybe he's got a point!

Any damage to an instrument must always be referred to as 'battle scars' and an instrument is often described as a good one to have 'in your arsenal ' despite my belief that few basses ever actually take part in wars. Unless of course the damage is genuinely caused by shrapnel, in which case I apologise.

I don't want to sell any of my current ones, cos it's taken me till now to get them finally. But my oldest bass companion is my 1970 Precision, which I bought 22 years ago when I was a student. Since then it's been stolen along with my car, and recovered three days later in circumstances wouldn't believe if I did explain them. I kept it all the time I was a student, then unemployed, then skint for a few years until I got decent work and paid off my debts. Been thru a lot of my life together, and it's still going strong, and still sounding good, so hopefully I'll hang onto it for a few more years at least.

I had a California TT4 with Haussel p/ups for about six months, and I'd echo some of the comments above. Not better than USA Fenders, just different. Loved the feel and radius of the neck, the overall build quality, the light weight, the tasteful relicing, and it looked cool, with a immaculate fretwork and a great set up straight from the factory. Very impressed indeed, which is why i bought it. But ultimately after gigging it for a while I realised the sound to be too hi-fi for me, and dare i say it, 'polite'. I traded it in for a Fender Jazz, which was more my thing. Ok so it's a heavier bass, the action isn't as low, but I prefer the Fender sound. A TT4 and a jazz bass look similar, but they're quite different sounding instruments IMHO. Both lovely in their own ways tho

I've got a Bernie Marsden PRS SE guitar, not because of him but because of all the budget models I tried, it had the spec I liked most. I like any signature guitars to be quite subtle tastefully different versions rather than OTT models that you'd only ever expect the player in question to be seen with. So the Jack Casady bass I like; the Steve Harris West Ham bass less so...

Mine was a terrible Satellite short scale bass from a long gone cool little store called Picton Music in Swansea back in 1986. The bass was terrible - thin plywood body, and neck which promptly warped to give sky high action etc. I sold it as soon as I'd finished paying it off on HP and got a Westone Spectrum instead. The Satellite turned up in a secondhand shop about 10 years later. But the guy insisted it was brand new and wanted £120 for it (twice what I paid in the first place!). Yeah good luck with that mate.... I don't miss it. I didn't even like it at the time.

Just got back in from gigging with my main band - a 70s to present day rock covers band. Proper seat of pants crowded pub gig - band members haven't seen each other at all for over a month for various reasons, and we all play with other bands, so there was a fair bit of trying desperately to remember what the hell the song goes like! You can be too well prepared I find. Kept us on our toes. Somehow I pulled out from nowhere some weird combination of calypso and scorching slap bass solo in the "say hello to the band" section at the end. Ready for a cuppa and bed now tho.

My 1995 USA P bass has done about 90% of my gigs over the last 10 years or so. I love it. It just plays and sounds exactly right for me, with great intonation, no buzzing etc, tho I've never liked the colour (sort of dark sunburst).

Yeah your Rumble combo was great last year Norris. Sounded awesome!

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1460058061' post='3022281'] We've exceeded the amp rig number for the event by 2, can we nicely sort out amongst ourselves which amps are coming? I know some are being brought along on request from other attendees and I'm bringing mine as a house rig for all to try. [/quote] I'm happy to limit myself to a small amp if it helps - I've recently got a Blackstar ID Core BEAM which is suitable for bass and electric guitar, so that might be a good bit of new kit to bring and for people to try out anyway.

Late entry I know, but I did an ace gig last Friday night at the Donkey in Leicester, with a band called the Kirkland Turn, supporting a chap called Howard Rose, who was on the Voice a few years back in Tom Jones team ( I don't watch it, so feel free to correct me). It was great - really busy, and the first time we've played as the full four piece with all the harmony vocals etc sounding great. Went down well. Howard's band was also brilliant - really bloody loud rock/Americana stuff, and a nice bunch of lads. Had a quick chat with his bassist who had a mad pedal called a Zvex Mastotron fuzz pedal, which just sounded insane. I think it gave my band ideas... Top night out.

Just a quick update to say that a few weeks into owning this, it's rapidly become the most useful and versatile piece of kit I've got. I've been practising different stuff for guitar and bass and I haven't needed to go near any other amps at all - the sounds in this little beauty are spectacular, and the sound from the two speakers is large and wide. The two standard bass sounds are great too - one more vintage and one more modern, but both full throated and satisfying. The whole thing is smaller than a shoe box and sits perfectly on my sideboard at home, and looks really cool and neat too. A very pleasing, versatile bit of kit I can't recommend highly enough. I'll be bringing it to the Midlands Bass Bash on May 7 if anyone wants to try it out.

I stopped playing entirely for about three years from 2002-2005 after a particularly acrimonious split with an original band that I'd put a lot of time, effort and hopes into. But I kept one bass - my old precision - and I'm glad I did. When is finished licking my wounds and things picked up a few years later with a new band I was glad I had an old companion instrument along for the ride. Guitar isn't sacrilege tho! More fun to noodle on than bass for sure!