mcnach

Try the Labella White Nylons... they're a little different from most others. I love the standard white nylons and their 'copper' version... They're pretty low tension, which can be pretty cool too if you like bending strings. They're a lot brighter and with strong mids presence, which makes them very versatile for me: turn down tone control a bit for more 'vintage' tones, or keep it open for other stuff. Beautiful slap sound on a Precision...

How's your hearing normally? Have you lost top end or is your hearing normal? Because I can hear cymbals, hi-hats etc just fine with plugs. Only quieter. I would not be happy with plugs that made me miss hi-hats in particular.

You get used to it. I was on/off about earplugs years ago for the same reason... but realising just how many people I met with bad hearing due to years of playing without protection made me switch, and bought my girlfriend some too, as she often mentioned ringing in her ears after gigs and going out to bars... It did take a little to get used to them, but now it's natural and I hear everything much better every time. No enjoyment lost, and my ears are a lot happier. Yesterday we were playing at an open air fest and while getting ready, something went wrong and there was this loud screech... my experienced yet non-plug-wearing bandmates looked like they had been shot with an invisible weapon and winced and covered their ears (late). I was just fine. Protect your ears. It may be a bit less fun while you get used to them, but it'll be a lot more fun than it'll be when your hearing is permanently damaged.

Not metal enough?

and it allows you to easily and quickly switch between muted and unmuted sounds. I can remove a sponge pretty fast, but I can't put it back on quite as quickly...

But that only mutes open strings, right?

Same here. I look at it from time to time since I first discovered it... I'd love one, but I don't really need it that much. There's lots of things I could spend £100 on that would be more useful to me. To those who say they use their palm for that... yes, I do that too, but there's no denying that freeing your hand to move anywhere makes much better use of your fingers. I would find it very useful.

Yup, can't fault it. I was a little concerned before I bought it because having not had the chance to go play one in a shop, I relied on reviews and some were not that great although it was not clear sometimes what model exactly they were talking about. In any case... I thought the built quality was excellent. Let's face it, it's not exactly a cheap bass so I was hoping it would at least be decent... and I was very pleased when it arrived. It's not heavy either (8.4 lbs) which was another concern...

My girlfriend has been learning to play bass and I'm convincing her of the usefulness of learning at least the names of the notes on the fretboard and how it can be very handy etc... I thought it would make things 'easier' (or less boring?) if there were an app that would ask for notes (whether random, or within certain scales or whatever) and you could play them on your own bass, and the app would 'listen' and say whether it's right or wrong... that sort of thing. Does anybody know of such thing? I have found many that do something like that but using a 'virtual fretboad' on screen. That has its uses, but I think it would be far more useful if you play your own instrument, as it involves moving your hand to the right place etc... Anything out there? Free is great, obviously, but I'd pay for the right one. I think she's much more likely to make the effort if she can 'play a game' rather than using a more academic approach.

Mike sold me my old Shine tele style bass back and I could not be happier. Actually, I'd be happier if I had played the bass... but he sold it to my girlfriend who is keeping it hostage until my birthday but she played it and likes it... I just hope she doesn't like it TOO much Excellent communication, great guy... and generous too. Thank you Mike, you've been fantastic.

Julian bought my VT-Bass pedal... a pleasure to deal with I hope you enjoyed the pedal as much as I did, thank you!

Thanks for your review :) I'm still very much enjoying mine. It took me a little while to really 'get' the EQ in mine, so that I could get the right adjustments (I'm more used to a 3-band with semiparametric mids preamp or passive tone controls...) but once you get it and it becomes intuitive, there's nothing this bass couldn't do and do it well. Putting DR Sunbeams on mine was like day/night compared to the EB that were on from factory. Ugh. Still in love with this bass.

My main band plays originals, with influences ranging from ska/reggae to funk with a bit of balkanic spices and who knows what else... we now answer saying our style is "skariachi"...

We were asked for a Britney Spears song once... we were a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band... they must have been related

This. There's a thread over at TalkBass dedicated to these basses and the head of SBMM participates there and is quite good at answering questions like these. But essentially what mikeswals said is the truth: the electronics are different.

same here... from outside it just looks like there's nothing on the back seat. Sometimes I am forced to have something on the footwell of the back seat, and that's what I do. It's not fool proof but I hope that's enough to make the *&%$£$^ move on to the next car...

I love the S112, super light and great sounding... but if we're talking needing loud, that is not going to work well. I have a pair of them, and I still moved to a pair of 210. However... TWO of those S112 cabs will probably be a good solution. They're attractively priced compared to many other cabs, and they're so small and light that frankly, they're extremely easy to carry around anywhere.

Indeed. That VK is a pretty damn good cab. Personally, I see the attraction a single cab solution can have, but then we also want it tiny and light and powerful and... and we're going to be compromising somewhere. The truth is that these days there's a wide selection of reasonably small, powerful and light cabs. Keyword being "reasonably". I stopped trying to get 'one cab' and personally I find two cabs is not a hardship. One cab works as stage monitor, and two cabs work for the kind of gigs I do without PA support... Would I like them to be smaller? Lighter? Sure, but it's not like we're dealing with 50Kg 410 cabs... at some point I've got to stop obsessing and just play Once the basic portability issues are met, sound quality is what matters. That's why I like a pair of BF Two10 cabs these days. I really do not find them extraordinarily loud, but pretty normal volume-wise for a modern 210 cab. But I love their sound and weight. They do what I need them to do. I'm a fan of them... even if one the the handles seems to be loosening let's see how it goes.

Those TKS 1126 are beasts. I remember playing in a bar in Glasgow where I provided the amplification for both my band and the one supporting us, a reggae band, no PA support. They sounded fantastic. It was very interesting to listen during soundcheck as their bass player had to use my bass (he damaged it while arriving at the venue... fell down the stairs and broke a tuner), so technique differences aside I had a good listen at how my equipment could sound like. I ordered the 1126 with a tweeter, but it was completely unnecessary for me too... I compared the two 1126 to a pair of BB2, and volume wise I don't think there was much between them. The 1126 had a tendency to sound a bit 'bigger' than the BB2, whereas I like a fat but tight bottom end, so I kept the BB2 instead. But the slight colouration of the 1126 was more pleasing to my ears (the BB2 is more 'flat' so you can still get there).

These days power is cheap... a more powerful amplifier would be able to push the cab enough.

I see the Barefaced Two10 being suggested... I disagree. I have two of them, and I like them a lot, they sound great and they have nice weight to them, portable etc... but they don't strike me as particularly loud compared to other similar 210s and no way I'd compare it to the old Peavey TX410 I used to have with regards to loudness. I love the Two10... but it's not extraordinarily loud. The BB2 would be a better bet, volume wise. It's a loud 112 cab. Lots of bottom end too. But it's not magic. I never found that I could do with a single speaker cab, when I had a BB2, I had two of them. Unless you just play small rooms or only need it onstage for monitoring.