casapete

Just been watching U2 on TFI Friday and thought Clayton was pretty good. Not my kinda thing but sounded fine to me.

When they start to go dead (and I keep adjusting the presence/treble on the amp..) Usually every 8-10 weeks, sometimes a bit longer. One at a time, clean and oil fingerboard if necessary, check intonation and swap battery. Takes me 30 mins, quite enjoy the process and having the bass in top playing fettle.

+1 for Musicman. Had a few Stingrays and a Sterling from various decades and all been exceptionally good quality. Also GK amps, always maintained a consistently high standard over a long period.

Words fail me.......

I have my GK amp serviced annually. Fan cleaned out, any connections checked/tightened etc and a general once over and bench test. Returned to me with PAT certificate which many venues insist on. Never had it miss a beat yet. Costs around £20, so 40p a week is my risk - not much for peace of mind? Of course it may go on for years without this, but for me I see no reason to take any chances.

I remember seeing Little Richard at a rock n roll package tour event. Fantastic band with horns section, sounded amazing. He had two bassists - a great player of mature years holding it all down really well, and a more err..'flamboyant' young chap (looked a bit like Prince) whose job seemed to be running around a great deal & occasionally playing some unison lines etc. And smiling a lot at LR.

[url="http://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Alto-SXM112-12-Active-Stage-Monitor/G45"]http://www.gear4musi...age-Monitor/G45[/url] I've heard these and they are pretty good for the money.

As mentioned above, JSG in Bingley was a wonderful shop. I used to make the journey there from Hull in the late 70's / early 80's, over an hour's drive up through Bradford. You could park outside the adjoining bike shop, and then the anticipation as you walked down through an almost tunnel/cavern like entrance was fantastic. This led down past PA stuff to the main guitar and bass area. They carried a fantastic range of instruments, both new and secondhand. Full range of Fenders in all colour combinations, both guitars and basses.All were available to try through any amp you wanted, and the staff were friendly, and patient! I bought quite a bit of stuff from there, including a fantastic Orange 80 watt valve combo that I could barely lift. Also a Vox AC30 for £70 which later had some...err....flammable qualities. My pal bought an Orange bass bin with an EV speaker that was amazing too. I believe the owner was called John, and he later went into making flight cases with Lyn Blakeston of Greyhound Cases / The Gig Shop in Hull. Happy days.

Just one of the reasons I find 'Strictly Come Dancing' so hard to watch. Great band, but the audience killing it every time with clapping on the 1 & 3. Aaaaarrrggghhh.............

Some good advice already offered. Try to make sure your bins are n't on the stage wherever possible. Most stages are hollow, and just encourage boom and rumble which can be problematic. Setting the PA offstage can help reduce this, so try experimenting at different venues to see if it helps. Good luck!

www.wdmusic.co.uk Usually have Musicman plates in stock in many finishes.

Doing a party Sunday evening for a friend of mine. He has around 80 guests coming and it's predominantly an outside event at his house. Just checked the BBC weather, going to be slinging it down all evening, and not that warm either. August in the UK, don't you just love it.....

Singing BV's was a must in my current band The ELO Experience, as you will probably imagine! Thinking back, I've collared gigs where there have been better bassists available who could n't sing, so would recommend anyone to give it a try. Same as other posts, I have a fairly bland voice solo, but seems to suit singing harmonies without overpowering the lead vocal. Works for me.

Same for me too. Used Musicman basses for years, but had to change to lighter instruments when the aching started to get painful. That aside, have you tried altering the playing position slightly, strap height etc? Sometimes it can help, as can a better strap as you mentioned, but ultimately that 11bs around your neck is the problem I'm afraid. Reducing it by even a couple of pounds could make all the difference. Any way you could try / borrow a lighter bass to see if it helps?

+1 for the USA Sub. Nearly half the price (s/h) of a standard USA Ray and not much in it. As stated above, an ideal way to dip your toe into Stingray waters without risking so much outlay. And as they usually fetch around the £350 ish mark, will probably hold their value should it not be for you.

Great basses, had 3 over the years. Best 'bang for the buck' around. Bit on the heavy side for an ageing old gimmer like me, or would still be using one.

Recently got one of these in silver/gold black sparkle, and it's a beaut. They do crop up occasionally, will keep my eyes open and let you know if I see anything. Cheers Pete.

Always have to thoroughly clean a used bass before I feel I can bond with it. My crap is okay, but not someone else's. I keep my basses fairly clean generally, not keen on finger marks and greasy patches which can look bad under stage lighting. Usually give them a good tidy up when I restring.

For how to use a Les Paul in a guitar / bass / drums line up look no further than Vintage Trouble. Great band, who use their instruments perfectly to make a wonderful noise - the Les Paul sits so well with the bass and drums without overpowering things.

Available this August / September and December!

Just received a Dano bass off Paul. Actually completed the deal 3 months ago, but due to us being over 200 miles apart we decided not to go the courier route and wait until we could meet up. Paul very kindly delivered the bass to me this week en route to visit a friend in Yorkshire. The bass is exactly as Paul described, and he has been an absolute diamond bloke to deal with throughout. This is exactly why I love this site! Hopefully Paul is coming to see my band soon when we're in Southend. 110% recommended, cheers Paul.

I had a Peavey MkIV 400BH bass head for years, never missed a beat and sounded great. Two channels,graphic eq,compressor etc, very well specced in its day and sounded better than Trace stuff to these ears. I eventually part exed it to a local PA hire company, where it is still going strong to this day. Wonder how many of today's amps will be doing that in nearly 40 years time? Also had a Sessionbass head, and briefly a 2x10 combo which was just stupidly heavy. Both sounded well though, and were built to last a nuclear attack.