casapete

Don’t worry about going down the lighter route, there’s no shame! Prior to having an accident which resulted in a shoulder injury, I still soon tired of my pre EB Stingray’s weight, making long gigs a chore. Then used my 63 Precision for years which was a blessing compared to the Ray. As I hit my mid 40s I got a Precision Lyte, and never looked back really. These days it’s still my main bass, and at 61 am still doing around 150 gigs a year, using that and a Dano Longhorn along with a Washburn EA20. I honestly don’t think I’d still be in reasonable shape if I’d persisted with the Ray. Same goes for amplification too - Barefaced came along just in time for me. Embrace it and play the long game I reckon!

+1 Apparently VM had the habit of starting the soundcheck, then disappearing for a while leaving the band onstage not knowing what was going on. This happened a lot during the tour so revenge was sought I believe. May be true, maybe not...

One of the guys in my band saw them last week, said they were superb.

Thanks , will be looking at getting some flats soon so much appreciated. Cheers.

Mate of mine went to see Andy FL the other night in Morecambe and was talking to Dave Bronze, telling him I was a fan etc. He gave this to my pal to pass on to me!

Sorry to be a pain, but by ‘nice tension’ do you mean not low or high, kinda medium? What are the benefits of lower or higher.? Cheers.

My tech guy is very much a “belt and braces” fella, and reckoned my GK1001RB needed some support at the rear of the case, so just made a wooden support (painted black) for my SKB Roto rack. High density foam would have worked equally well I’m sure, but he’s very old school. 😄

Considering flats for my 63 Precision, so a nooby at this. Are all flats higher tension than say a standard set of D’Addario XL170 rounds in a similar gauge,, which I’ve used for donkeys years? Also does the change to a higher tension set of strings necessitate a lot of truss rod adjustment? From what’s been said above I’m fancying trying out some Fender flats, how do they compare tension wise? Thanks in anticipation of help.

5’10” so a middle grounder I guess. Not tall enough to see round the bloke who always seems to stand in front of me when I go to see a band though...

Regularly alternate between 34 inch and 30 inch scale (Fender and Danelectro). Been using both instruments for a while now and no problem adjusting TBH. However, I did have problems with a Hohner B2A for the reasons outlined above by jrixn1. Often ended up a fret out and reaching for the lowest frets was hard due to the overall body/neck/ strap button combo. Wish I’d sourced one of the strap button extenders which apparently solves the problem, as I loved the bass but found it a challenge to play.

I’ve been playing in Scarborough the last two nights. Friday was with my acoustic duo at a great venue on the harbour called ‘The Lookout’. Capacity crowd all out for a good time, with great food and drinks. We did it as a request night, and managed most of them, ranging from ‘Girl from Ipanema’ through to some rock and blues stuff. One of those evenings when everything lines up just right, so got a good buzz from it. We got two more gigs in early 2020 from it too. Last night was a completely different scenario. Town centre hotel function room for a military reunion dinner dance. 3 piece band with me standing in for someone. Got the dance floor busy (eventually) and finished around 12.30 ish. Whilst loading out we commented on how many drunk numpties were passing the hotel, one of whom had deposited a pot plant on our van. Loads of people around, and as we drove away me and my friend commented on how intimidating it felt to be amongst stuff like that. Have now just heard on the BBC news that a 26 year old man was stabbed right outside where we playing (about 30 mins after we left) , and has since died of his injuries. Whatever is going on with the world now where situations like this can escalate so quickly into such a tragedy? So very sad.

As a kid I started out playing piano with lessons etc, but back then the music being taught didn’t grab me. Then I discovered guitar, first on an acoustic my gran bought me back from a holiday in Spain and then on to electric at age 12 or thereabouts. All through my teens I didn’t realise that what I really should have been doing was playing bass though, and it wasn’t until my late 20’s that I decided to be a bassist. Whilst I love the piano and guitar, I do wish I’d graduated to the bass at an earlier age. I also aspire to be a better pianist and guitarist too though, although for me bass will always be my number one.

I think the whole idea of using an electro acoustic bass through a bass guitar rig successfully will ultimately depend on the type and quality of rig being used, and how much it will colour / alter the inherent acoustic sound. For example, an SVT / 810 rig might not be ideal. 😆 As I said earlier, plenty of people on this forum think EA basses are a waste of time, preferring to go for the 'P-bass with flats' approach. As Frank says above, at least a powered PA speaker would preserve a lot of the sound of your EAB, and have other uses as well - monitor for your loud band's gigs etc. From the sound of your OP, you seem happy enough with your band set up, so this would also mean you don't have to change that. Cost-wise you can get a capable active (powered) cab for under the price of say a Fender 500 watt Rumble - the Yamaha DBR12 for example. Also some of the lower price options ( Alto and Mackie etc) may be worth a look too. Plenty of info in various threads on here, search for 'FRFR', good luck!

There will be plenty of people on here who may question putting an electro acoustic bass through a bass amplifier, reckoning it will cancel out much of the use of such a bass in the first place. Whilst it’s inevitably a compromise going down that route, then I reckon one amp and two cabs is probably the best option, using one cab for acoustic gigs and adding the other to increase volume and spread for your 3 piece. ( Must admit though that the Fender Rumble 500 combo is a great choice for both, being fairly small and lightweight yet still kicking out a good volume. ) I use my Washburn AB straight into our PA for small acoustic duo gigs, and it sounds fine. This weekend I’m playing a gig where there is a small PA installed and because of the placement of the speakers I’m going to take along my small GK combo to provide just a bit of support so I can hear myself. If more volume was needed on my gigs, then I’d maybe consider some sort of powered full range monitor / PA style cab which would preserve some of the acoustic sound of the bass. Also a good DI box for when you need PA support.

Only happened to me once with my P-bass Lyte, enough for me to make sure it never does again. Playing at a wedding, had about 10 secs of crackling distortion and then completely dead. Most embarrassing. My tech guy did a small mod to my bass a while ago which dramatically increased the battery life. Prior to this it did used to get through a fair few Duracell’s IIRC. I’m afraid I don’t know exactly what he did, but seem to remember him saying it would have cost Fender only small change to use the improved component he substituted.

I asked my tech guy if it was possible to do this to my Fender P-Lyte and he reckoned not. An old Hohner B2A I used to have had an active / passive mode switch, complete with red LED for active mode, but I can’t remember if leaving it in passive mode drained the battery still. Not much help, sorry.

I can’t recommend the Yamaha EMX512SC enough. 8 mic inputs, a very loud 2x500 watt output and excellent built in FX and compressors. Really lightweight too, (class D power amps) and doesn’t have a large footprint which is handy in pubs where room is limited. For smaller gigs you can configure one side to run FOH speakers and the other to power monitors too. A pair of decent speakers and you have a great PA for not a lot of dosh. I picked mine up s/h for £150 which is crazy for the quality and spec.

Fender Precision Lyte? Japanese build quality, PJ pickups , 34” scale and thin jazz neck with a Strat sized body. All 3 of mine are around 7lbs. Still a bargain on the s/h market at around £350 and upwards, depending on condition.

Didn’t Fender call these ‘Mocha’, or even ‘walnut’? Still brown of course though....😆

Also Timothy B.Schmidt’s predecessor in Poco was Randy Meisner, founder member of the Eagles. Weird huh?

And what about the key changes....🤣

Damn, beat me to it. Obvious choice perhaps, but bloody marvellous all the same.

Absolutely - Wichita Lineman and Galveston in particular, great songs and performances.

I remember the ’Woolies’ stuff too. Think a lot of it was marketed under the ‘Audition’ brand IIRC. I had a similar amp to an Audition, which was badged as a Zenta. Separate 10 watt head that clipped onto a speaker cab. The amp had reverb as well! My first electric that I played into it was a no name red 335 style guitar, followed by an Avon Les Paul copy and then a sunburst Antoria. Soon after that ( aged 14) my mate wanted to buy a guitar so we got a cheap day return on the train to London, where we spent the day up and down Shaftesbury Ave and Charing Cross Road. After trying out endless guitars he settled for a Columbus SG, I think in a brown colour. Bolt on neck meant he didn’t need a whammy bar..... 😄

Great looking cab - I like the painted finish too, far easier to maintain and without any worries about glue etc! Let us know how you get on with it , cheers.