casapete

No offence intended obvs. 😊

Absolutely. May be best for the OP to look at rationalising his gear and getting something small and compact that will do most gigs, especially if it's not too heavy.

Believe me Dave, your Columbus was in a completely different league to the Jedsons, and a more than suitable bass for a beginner in the mid 70's. Probably better than some Fenders from that era too....😅

They were everywhere in the early / mid 70's Dave, you must be too young.....😄 Most common finish was sunburst I think, and it was either that or cream/white IIRC. They did a matching guitar too.

Without wishing to sound dismissive, I honestly think you’d be better to put any money you were thinking of swapping speakers in your combo towards a combo thats a bit more gig worthy. There aren’t many gig situations that a 15 watt combo will handle for either electric or upright IMHO. You’d be better with something at least 100 watts plus, and there are other threads on here with recommendations as to what’s best. Personally I’d go for a Fender Rumble combo - I’ve got the 100 watt model and it will cope with small gigs just fine, so long as the drummer isn’t a maniac. Good luck, cheers.

I remember those Jedsons, absolute rubbish instruments. Sunburst with white plates, dreadful pickups and hardware including a feeble bridge and tuners. If someone pays £300 ( or any more than £30 TBH) they need to have a good word with themselves.

Any of those godawful guitars of the 70’s which people try to sell for unrealistic prices - Satellite, Audition, Kay etc. I would imagine anyone who buys these at seriously inflated prices are just trying to recreate their happy youthful memories when presumably they knew no better. They were sh*t then as they are now, really doesn’t make them worth £200. Same goes for those woeful cheap Les Paul copies people try to pass off as being as good as the real thing, despite the bolt on necks and single coil pickups under humbucker sized covers etc. for £400. Just buy a new Harley Benton / Vintage etc model and save your money.

They were / are the perfect starter bass, and look quite cool too. Mine was really light and played well, should have kept it really. I thought the black finish worked well with the black headstock (which they all had), wasn’t sure about how the red and black combo looked though to be honest.

Since these were introduced, there has been a surge of interest in Fender offset designs. As they are no longer available new, perhaps it’s just down to supply and demand? I had a black one a few years ago and it was a great bass, wish I’d never sold it now. When new they were going for around £180 - ish IIRc and were on sale everywhere. Sold my mint black one for £120 and remember thinking that someone was getting a great bass for the money, but £395 to me does seem way OTT.

Sounds harder than it is - works really well in most circumstances!

I’ve always found this method works well, especially on gigs where you’re not familiar with everyone in the band. Shouting / trying to lip read what someone is saying whilst playing an unfamiliar song can be difficult , especially when B, C, D , E and G can sound pretty similar! Times I’ve waited for a pedal note I can play for a few seconds whilst shouting the key and title of the next tune in a keyboard player’s ear. Worked for years in a band where the BL / singer insisted on calling the set rather than working one out beforehand.

For anyone who didn't see this, here is Bruce Springsteen from last night's Biden-Harris Inaugeration. Wonderful.

Must admit I’ve been doing that lately, paranoid about Covid I guess! Really annoys me when people stand in front of the paper display reading all the dailies and often thumbing through them - you’ll know all about that having run a newsagents I’m sure.

Reminds me of a story from when a good friend ran a music shop. A lady and her teenage son came into the shop and asked about PA amps for his first band. My friend recommended a brand new HH mixer amp, and she asked if they could try it out at a rehearsal with his band. My friend duly obliged, giving them a boxed one from stock and letting them take it for an evening. They both came back next day and said it had been fine and was just what the lad wanted - then said they wanted an unopened one as the amp they had tried out was now technically second hand!

I also remember using a Peavey cab that contained 1x15 BW with 2x8 inch speakers above it. Called Megabox maybe? That worked fine too.

My choice would be the BF Compact. Had mine probably 10 years now, done countless gigs and changed my life by being so easy to move around. Still sounds fine to my ears too. Honourable mention also goes to the Peavey BW. Had a few of these over the years, and always loved them, (along with another underrated Peavey cab the 410TVX). At the time one of the few 4 ohm fifteen inch cabs available, my first one IIRC only had a top mounted badly positioned strap/handle and used to bang my legs constantly when shifting it around. I think the later ones had the side handles but still were an awkward lift, especially given the weight. Ran mine with a Peavey Mk4 210 watt head which was a great pairing, wish I still had it.

Yup, first time I saw Springsteen was a defining moment for me - Newcastle City Hall, May 1981. Played for well over 3 hours including a solo acoustic section. The E Street Band were just phenomenal too, certainly one of the best gigs of my life.

Unearthed my stash of song parts recently when I moved house. They are all the tunes I've played since the late 80's I would imagine, including proper parts and arrangements (anyone here remember Pop Plan stuff?) along with chord parts and the odd lyric sheet. There must be well over a thousand as they take up 3 large plastic tubs with the lids on. I've been thinking about getting rid as they are taking up a fair bit of space, but as soon as I do I'll probably regret it. These days (well until March 2020) I use my ipad most of the time for stuff I don't know, but must admit (as with the books / Kindle debate) there's still something good about having an A4 sized paper copy on a stand nearby when you need it.

Sounds great! Seem to remember reading somewhere that the solid colours on MM stuff often hid their less aesthetic body wood though, as they saved the prettier bits for the natural finishes so good you have an option if this is the case.

We did a gig around 5 or 6 years ago with ‘Mickey Finn’s T- Rex’. Bit of a bizarre name considering Mr.Finn ( once a member of T-Rex with Marc Bolan) had died in 2003.

Really enjoyed hearing this. Wasn’t aware how busy the bassline was either TBH. Great to hear Karen’s voice without all the layered backing vocals which for me made a lot of The Carpenters stuff hard to listen to. Thanks for posting., cheers.

I didn’t know that, cheers.

Agreed, I always believed they had the same parallel wired pickup as the standard Stingray. They were all 2 band eq apart from a few (quite rare now) passive versions. I had a couple of USA Subs and loved them, only reason for selling was I needed something lighter.

Mate of mine has a Tanglewood Crossroads. It’s a no frills basic Martin shape with a funky stained mahogany finish, and plays / sounds great. Amazing value as I believe they start at just under £100 so fit your needs perfectly.

Our two lady cellists often get complemented on their double bass playing! Why they think we’d have me on electric bass too is beyond me, but they probably think I’m on rhythm guitar I suppose. 😆