neepheid

Yes, they've had some stonking bargains on G&L Tributes of late. Anyone who's on the fence about them should jump off and jump in!

Deposit paid...

This thread is not for me - I would turn up to a country or acoustic gig with a BC Rich Mockingbird or something because I'm a stirrer I'm an industry standard stirrer, if that helps?

Your post made me realise how little I got away with on the amp front. I've only ever had 2 amps (not counting the diddy 30W Laney practice amp I started on) and 3 cabs. As far as amps are concerned, changes were purely ergonomic/weight driven. Very happy with my current setup of 1x10 combo with removable head and a supplemental 1x10. 500W into all that is bloody plenty for my purposes. Wouldn't like to say how many basses have passed through Neepheid Manor but I wouldn't be surprised if it's more than 50, with a high watermark of around 12 in the house at any time. This wasn't a quest to find a particular sound, just an overactive interest in bass and wanting to try anything I liked the look of. Then, much like yourself I got squeezed and had to do some growing up - including selling off all my Gibsons Can't quite give it up though, I've currently got 4, with eyes on a fifth. The average cost per bass has gone down quite a chunk.

Half the time I like it, the other half the time I see a mutated, Cronenberg-esque school satchel, then that half catches up and quite likes it too

Been using right angle jack plugs for years without issue. That may have something to do with them being a) Neutrik and b) put together by obbm and not me. Definitely prefer how they protrude less from the instrument and I'd only use a straight jack for a Strat style recessed jack socket as previously mentioned.

Additional - I guess it depends upon how front facing the bass is and ergo how confident the bass player is to be heard. Some bands have a distinctive and recognisable bass sound - say The Stranglers, and some don't - could you really say there was a particular Oasis bass sound? I couldn't - could it be because Oasis was 2 non-bass playing egomaniacs and some other guys? I'm still pretty new to recording so when I do, I'm just happy to get it right - because boy do you hear those mistakes for the rest of your days, even if no-one else knows they're mistakes in the first place. As a result, I think I sound tamer on record than I do when I'm playing live. So I'm not even being "me" when I record - whatever "me" is.

I have played almost exclusively in originals bands since I started and I can tell you that no, in my experience it has not been a big deal for me to use whatever bass I like, whenever I like. When you record I guess you commit to a certain sound, but what's the point in being slavish to it? Listen to any live album by any band - do the performances sound like carbon copies of the recorded originals? Nah, it's probably not even physically possible with all the studio embellishments like double tracking so don't worry about it. As long as the correct playing technique or correct effect applied at the right time (a cheeky pop here, some palm muted thumbing there, overdrive, whatever) then it'll be ok.

G&L eye gouger. Nah, only kidding, no-one seems to like 'em apart from me

Seems far too devastating damage to have been done by accident by human hands. Therefore short of being shipped in concrete sarcophagi I don't know what else they could have done.

There was a reboot in 2016, you bloody millenials His name is a verb! In my last house we had one of those old fashioned skylights above the stairs and the glass broke in it. I solved the problem with the lid of an ice cream tub and some silicone sealant I had lying around. Now that's MacGyvering.

MacGyver would have been proud!

Sounds about right. I'm pretty sure any commonly found non "stubby" allen key will work in both basses. The curve on the outside edge of the allen key should be able to get you into the BB truss rod recess. In a pinch you might be able to gain a mm or two by removing the plastic trim inside the truss rod access cutout - just a single screw in the bottom of it if memory serves. Failing that - take the neck off like on old Fenders, pain in the butt then you can attack the truss rod with any hex tool you like with utter impunity

Pretty sure your commonplace, pound shop allen keys should work (although if you have fancier ones with longer long ends you'll have more mechanical advantage when turning). I have a set similar to this: As long as the short end of the allen key is in the ballpark of an inch long you should be fine. Just make sure you don't get "stubby" allen keys - on those the short part is very short for getting into tight spaces and will not reach far enough in and the stubby part won't give you enough mechanical advantage if you try to use the long end and probably just end up hurting your hand/fingers. Actually, come to think of it, the stubby might be perfect for the Yamaha if the nut is not too far inset into the heel of the neck, but a regular one should be able to fit into the recess.

I've got a beef with this post...

Brilliant gig last night with the 'Spoons at Krakatoa in Aberdeen - our first post lockdown public gig. Was supposed to be starting at 10 but things were running late so we didn't get started until nearly 11. Grateful for folk sticking around. I was getting a bit grumpy at the sliding schedule and I think I managed to channel it into my playing. Blew the place to bits, lots of people up dancing until the end. Was decidedly ungrumpy at the end

I'm gearing up for a gig with the 'Spoons just now but I just wanted to let you know that I read your comments out to the band and they were very grateful for your kind comments. Only one of the guys in the band is a proper ska fiend and as you can imagine he's bloody delighted

I'm pretty sure EMGs would sound like EMGs if you installed them in a breeze block

You're correct that I had to put something and I wimped out and just left it as rock. A wholly unsatisfying cop out, hence the seeking outside opinion - as the band can't agree what we are either. Up here we have a humorous local music "awards" and when nominated we get put in "Best of the rest" because we don't fit neatly into any of their other awards.

Having played mostly live for all my bass playing career, I've come to the conclusion that (most) basses sounds bassy. I pick the bass I'm playing on a whim. My cheapest (current) bass cost £350, my most expensive cost £1600. I've owned and played cheaper and more expensive. Is the £1600 bass better? Not really - I just bought it because I liked and continue to like it and there was no cheaper option. My choices in bass are almost entirely aesthetic and ergonomic, with a side order of disliking Jazz basses - I've tried them and they just don't work for me on any level. I'm not saying anyone is wrong to deep dive into the minutae of what makes their sound theirs, I'm just happy existing in a place and point in my life where I just don't care about that level of frankly distracting and exhausting (to me) detail any more and simply enjoy playing bass for bass's sake.

Added links anyway - forgot that if people want to help, they might want easy acces to what I'm talking about, doh.

I'm sorry if this comes across like finding a way to finagle The Inevitable Teaspoons new album onto one of the more visited parts of the site, but I don't know how else to do this without mentioning it. Basically I'm having a hard time tacking a genre onto what we do. I'm not in any way saying that we've created an entirely new genre of music, but do I have a hard time coming up with a quick, pithy response to the eternal question "what kind of music do you play?". Now that we've released an album, I need to put this to bed. That's where you, the collective hive mind of BC come in. If you don't mind, could you please have a listen to our new album "Money For Old Rope" and tell me your best guess as to what the hell kind of band we are, plus some reasoning behind your decision if I can impinge on your time a little further? No doubt some of you may have the opinion that we're a bunch of tossers and be quite happy to provide reasons why - but if you could stick to musical genres, that would be much appreciated Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/4uG1eJe8yTfgICVIYc1JWP?si=UhewQYHqTTaiRk_f8Aa8og Bandcamp - https://theinevitableteaspoons.bandcamp.com/album/money-for-old-rope

I don't have that experience, I've been in the same easy going, democratic band for the past 7 or so years. What I will say is that it's a serious impediment to getting stuff done, everyone being so nicey nice and everything being approved by everyone ends up with things like taking 6 years to follow up a debut EP...

I've never been fired by a band and I don't have any juicy stories, sorry. My first band was disbanded by the guitarist - it was his and the singer's band to be fair but it was a rather jarring experience. Band get together in the pub - oh good, this is nice. Guitarist gets there last, not sure if he even sat down (memory blur) and just told us he didn't want to do it any more (I can't even remember how he said it - I want to say "band had run its course" or something), cashed us out of the band kitty (or did he do that later?) then left, leaving a table of a bass player, drummer and singer just kinda looking at each other thinking "what now?". We tried to form something out of the ashes but it didn't go anywhere. See how hazy it gets when the dust settles and you've done a bit more living? I left another band in solidarity with my drummer who got sacked. I didn't like how the sacking was done (when I was on holiday in Spain, no band meeting, no discussion), I wasn't that keen on where the music was going either and there were no upcoming gigs in the calendar so it was a clean getaway. They're still going.