dmccombe7

That looks interesting as i'm always worried about the tension on the strap button when using most straplocks. Nice. Dave

You might have picked a better pic of Bill Bruford there Rob. 😂 Dave

That's what makes life interesting. We all have different tastes. I got into Jeff Berlin because i liked Bill Bruford. I like Jaco but i find Berlin is more fluent in his playing but in a way i enjoy / prefer. Dave

Altho i have tinnitus my hearing is still ok. Had hearing tests every 2 yrs and was told it was above average for my age. Since i retired in 2016 i have done on line tests and they show the same results. I have one frequency in my right ear that is lower than others and specialist reckons it was caused by motorbikes in 80's. He told me it was not down to loud music because of the frequency and he was confused why only one ear enough so i had to go for an MRI to check nothing physically wrong. It was clear. Since retiring i have noticed it more but that's probably because i live in countryside and no more background work noise. Dave

Interesting question @Dood. At moment mine is not overly intrusive. If something was making it worse and i couldn't protect my hearing from it i'd seriously consider stopping whatever it was. If that meant giving up playing in loud bands then yes i'd stop without hesitation. From what i know Tinnitus can get worse with age but i've also read that as you get older your brain adapts to the frequencies its not hearing and begins to cope with it. Afraid i have no experience of that. I actually notice mine more now in the car since moving from a noisy 3 litre diesel pick up to the Volvo V90 because its very quiet inside. I never heard it when driving my pick up. At bedtime i just think of other things and i dont notice it. There's so many different views on this its hard to know what's right so i tend to go with common sense ideas like earplugs at loud gigs etc. Dave

Let me know how you get on with it. Hopefully its not so noticeable on your full rig. If anything try a little boost on the higher mids to help it cut thru the mix a bit more. Dave

I used to play it in a covers band and struggled to play the chords fingerstyle and ended up using my index finger as a pick but wasn't ideal and i never felt comfortable playing it. Dave

Here you go.

I had no issues moving to the 45, 65, 80, 100 gauge but i prefer the flexibility of 40-100 gauge. I def find my Mesa gear seems to cover the issue better. Perhaps its to do with the fact i have a full range rig with horns, 10's and 15's. My Fender PJ tends to be much same. My Jazz not so much and my Warwick Thumb with EMG's is perfect balance across the strings. Altho different strings on the basses they are all generally 40-100 gauge. Something i did notice when hearing gig VIDS that the bass was pretty well balanced across the strings. Had a pro camera guy do it so he used a combination of live sound from his cameras and / or straight from the desk. I also found from Mesa guy that is also on BC that the Mesa amp i'm using does have an inherent mid cut voicing so i took his advice and boosted my mids a little more so maybe that helped. Maybe its just down to EQ on the amp. Dave

That's a great start to a classic rock set. Currently doing I Love R&R in our 70's Glam Rock covers band but its the original 70's version by Arrows. Good fun playing it. Dave

I remember trying that song in one of my first bands back late 70's and it was hard getting everyone on same page plus those vocals are just sensational. Great singer, great band.. Any other snippets on what you are doing i'd be curious. Dave

Love that song by Heart. Bought the album when it first came out. Well done and hope its as good as it sounds. Dave

Oddly enough i've found same with my VM4 where D & G strings are slightlly lower. I recently started using D'addarios 45, 65, 80, 100 gauge mainly because mate gave me them when he gave up playing bass and when i changed back to 40-100 gauge again is when i noted what you are saying. I've also found that using my own Mesa rig its a lot better than the EBS HD360 / Ameg 810 set up in studio. Not sure if its because my Mesa cabs have horns that let the higher frequencies come thru better. I found the original SS Sandbergs were worse than the nickel D'addarios too. To be fair i have found this with other basses over the years. Dave

100% agree. I'd rather listen to Jeff Berlin than Jaco or Stanley Clarke. Dave

Could you post a pic of the flush mount type as i dont think i've seen that version of straplock. Dave

Forgot about Mockingbird basses. Once saw a pic of Neil Murray using one. Loved the look but not the neck dive. Also saw Neil using the Kramer DMZ 4000 bass that i loved the sound of. Dave

Think there's a wee Ric theme going on there. Dave

It has taken a side stream but the original question was more about what famous bass players basses do you like. When i started reading the thread and was about to comment i mistakenly took it as signature basses. I have the Thumb NT that Jack Bruce had and have the Geddy Jazz signature. I did have the WAL fretless in 80's when i was into Percy Jones. Now i'm looking at Geddy's Ric bass more for the tone and look. Might even sell my Thumb NT to fund it as not using it these days. Dave

So dId jack Bruce hence my comment "deserved" to have theirs, whereas Percy Jones deserved one as in should have had a WAL signature. Dave

For me these guys deserved a signature bass.

The live version of Complete Control by Clash has so much energy i would put it up there with my fav classic rock songs. We do Into The Valley by Skids too but i've never really seen them as a punk band. You can see where Big Country came from tho. Again a lot of energy in the songs. I saw Big Country support Bowie at Sunderland football park many moons ago and Big Country was by far the better band that day. Powerful, energetic and great musicianship. Dave

Proves you're doing it right Rob. 👍

Any chance you could post a pic of your Ric bass. Looks like an unusual colour. Dave