dmccombe7

I got rid of my smaller TE bass head and 2x10 cab cause it just didn't do it for me at rehearsals never mind gigs. I just couldn't get a nice tone from it. That was last year. I kind of inherited it in the studio from bands previous bass player who went to NZ. Since then i've settled with Mesa Mpulse and Mesa 212 cab and its like night and day between the TE and Mesa. The Mesa feels like the tone is surrounding me and its a warm smooth bass tone compared to a thin weak TE tone even using the head with a different cab didn't help. Same bass was used. I do however remember playing the TE 410 combo with my Warwick in 80's and remember being very impressed with that combo but its so long ago i can't remember how it really sounded. I'm sure it had depth and clarity but that's the sound i was aiming for back then. It was a common bass tone to have doing covers. These days i like valve tubiness and warmth in my tone. Old skool tone.

Probably the guitar part for Smoke On The Water done on bass. My first bass lesson was Little Ole Wine Drinker Me by Dean Martin. Dave

I can understand where you are coming from. I've done the opposite. I only played in bands i enjoyed the music. Heavy or Classic Rock, Prog, Jazz Rock, Funk / Blues based rock, 70's covers bands and now Glam Rock. Done the covers and the originals bands and even tried the function band thing but it just wasn't for me. I couldn't get used to young kids dancing about on dance floors. Too weird for me. I've tried things and realised it wasn't for me. I play bass as a hobby and my main concern is that i'm enjoying the songs first and that the band members are easy to get along with and especially no ego's. Why not look for guys that want to play rock with you. No idea what age you are but i played in a Funk / Blues rock band last year doing Doobies, Allmans, Tony Joe White, and some other bands i'd never heard off but the 2 guitarists and the singer were all 70 when i joined. (I was 57 at that time so i was the youngster ) Its never too late to get the band you always wanted. Dave

I heard Steve Williams at the Moffat Bass Bash few yrs back using his Jazz bass fitted with Bart's and it sounded warm and really quite sweet. Enough so that i nearly considered changing my Geddy Jazz pick-ups to Barts but in the end decided i quite liked what i had. Dave

Did the Ibanez basses have Bartolini pick ups too ?

Chris at Overwater had me play different basses unplugged to hear the difference in tones from them. I'm a big believer in this now.

The NG2 has a Darkglass pre-amp and the tone can go from sterile or piano tone to growl depending on pick-up selection or series / parallel mode. I compared it against the standard Dingwall and liked the growl from the NG2. Its definitely not to everyone's taste but great for recording As you said the neck is a treat for a 5 stringer IMO Dave

I have a Dingwall NG2 5 string and the B string is almost piano sounding and studio engineers just love it for that reason. My Overwater custom 6 fetless i had some issues with my B string and changed to Elixir strings with a Taperwound B string. I was finding same as OP issue. What i found out when adjusting string height for the 1st Taperwound i fitted was that the saddle was a little tight and hadn't fully seated on the bridge. As soon as i eased it off and it seated i found when i put a normal B string back on that the muddiness or dull tone had gone. Make sure your bass is working properly to ensure everything else is ruled out. I use Dingwall strings on my Dingwall and currently have Overwater strings fitted to my Overwater. I don't use these basses too often. Dave

Nowt wrong just playing at home. I did it for many years when i first started and it helped me become a better bass player. I did it again when the old work thing took over my existence but when i turned 50 i decided it was time to do something more and i've never really stopped since. Of course i've been thru more bands in the past 8 yrs than i ever did in my early years of gigging but its been great fun and i'm lucky to have ended up in a great band doing Glam Rock covers. If i had to go back to not being in bands i would still have basses at home that i just won't sell on. My Jazz, Warwick Thumb NT and my Overwater Custom 6 fretless. Anything else i would sell if need be. I thoroughly enjoy playing along with albums at home especially Prog that i love. There are all levels of playing bass from sitting at home to playing arena's and everything in between. Nothing is more important than what you personally want from it. Dave

Crackin sound from that bass.

Why not just ban the band that made the statement and either replace with another band or simply rely on the remaining 2 bands to fill the night. Too much reliance on a sound engineer isn't good for a venue or bands. There should always be a fallback person. Pretty ridiculous situation for venue and bands. I just can't get my head round this one and why someone else couldn't run the desk even just getting a reasonable soundcheck and let the bands take care of themselves. Surely one of the band members could run the desk when not actually playing. Think there's more to this than meets the eye. Lets start a Conspiracy Theory and see where it takes us Dave

Sacking offence as far as i'm concerned. Don't mix your personal life with work. No matter what sex you choose to be this week. Dave

At least you'll still be playing in bands in some form or another. Good luck with whatever you do. No reason you can't stay on the forum tho as sometimes the chat can be fun. All the best Dave

Curious where the lead from the bass goes if you have a wireless in use ?

My Mpulse with an 8ohm cab at home i have the GAIN at approx 12 o'clock mid-point and Master Volume between 9 o'clock and 10 which i think is between 2-3 on a 0-10 scale. At rehearsals the master will be between 3-4 or 10 o'clock and 11. That drops by approx 1 when using my 4ohm cab. Must be a very quiet gig you were playing or the M6 is a lot louder than my Mpulse. Dave

Why not just turn your bass volume down ? Does using the wireless not take you into active territory as it's now an electronic signal rather than passive. (i'm curious about that myself) I've used my Jazz bass in both active and passive modes on my Mesa Mpulse and never noticed any difference in tone. Just a change in volume. On the other hand i mistakenly played my active PJ in passive mode and it sounded quite flat. Dave

Superb. Loving that bass tone. What rig you using ? Barefaced cab i think 2 different basses too. Nice one. All the very best with the album. Dave

Nice bass. Always fancied a fretted one. Know what you mean with the ironing board. Here's my Overwater 6er.

I can play with a high action but i find it very limiting. Currently running my Jazz at just under 2mm. I get cramp if i'm playing too long with a high action Dave

Police in Greenock near Glasgow have recovered 5 electric and acoustic guitars. Details below :-

I downloaded Jeff Berlin's book "A Comprehensive Chord Tone System for Mastering Bass" with the intention of working my way through it. So far i've managed to download it. 2019 i think i'll make a start on reading it and practicing some of his ideas. I've been playing since 1976 and did take lessons for about 1-2yrs or thereabouts. Got the basics and the guy giving the lessons said i know enough to go out and learn the rest on my own. I believed him and altho i've done OK with the little music theory i had i've always thought it wasn't enough for me hence the Berlin book. I quite fancy the Jazz Theory book more so as a reference for when i want to push myself a bit and work my way thru over time. I don't want a book to become an every day occurence where i'm back at school kind of thing. Just when i've no new songs to learn and i'm bored i can just pick up the book and give myself that little extra kick in the pants. Thanks for starting the thread and i'm curious as to how others react as its a very emotional topic on forums as to who does read music and who doesn't. For me i'll use whatever i can to get the job done. By ear, bass tabs or sheet music i don't care how i get there as long as i get there and the song is done correctly. Dave

My Thumb bass is a bit like that. If sitting down its a stretch.

I stil have the programme from the 1978 Apollo gig in Glasgow. Dave

String spacing was something i'd never paid much attention too but when i went back and checked almost all my basses have been 18mm spacing. Few yrs back i thought i would try 6 string basses and bought an ESP which had 16 or 16.5mm spacing and it completely thru me. I kept missing strings or hitting the wrong strings. When i played the bass a lot and no other bass i got used to it reasonably quick. It didn't cause me a problem going back to 18mm spacing for some weird reason. Now i tend to go for 18mm spacing on my basses. With regards the different necks i can adapt to most basses altho i found the Precision and Musicman necks a bit wide for me but i can adapt quite quickly to them. I just feel much happier with my slim Jazz or Warwick Thumb NT necks. All my basses currently have 18mm spacing including 5 and 6 stringers Dave

Saw them at Glasgow Apollo around 1978. Lights Out album was out round about that time. My older brother was a fan of theirs so i went with him.