Linus27

I have LaBella Low Tension flats on one fretless, Rotosound flats on another fretless, LaBella Deep Talkin Flats on another fretless and LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound on two other fretless basses. I think my favourite is the Low Tension Flats to play and tonally the Rotosound's are my favourite.

This makes perfect sense and its worth remembering that, stopping now and having a break does not mean its the end. I certainly go through cycles and always come back after a break and love what I come back to. Its always worth remembering that playing music is a creative process so you do give a lot of energy, emotion, expression, time etc. which can be draining so its natural to step away, have a break and recharge. Even when I was in a band that was signed, with a singles and an album that was selling well, songs being played on the radio and in the press, when we stopped it was a huge relief and weight off our shoulders and day after, I thought, thank f**k for that. So a break to find yourself and recharge is never a bad thing, you will either come back with more energy than before or you will know it was the time to stop and have no regrets.

This was mine. First my mini rig which is a Warwick Gnome I Pro 280 and TC Electronic 208 cab. Next is my larger rig which is a Mark Bass Little Mark IV and a Barefaced Two10.

I've just bought a TC 208 cab which I really really like. It has a really tight punchy sound. I'm super tempted to try a BH550 with it or maybe just the BH250. Ideally I'd love a RH750 or RH450 as I loved the one I tried but they do seem to be hard to find and getting on a bit now.

That sounds awesome but yeah, a huge shame you've not got it still. I started watching F1 when I was about 10 in 1980 thanks to my mum and dad and I can say that I have never missed a race. I've even been on tour once and got the tour manager to stop somewhere in Liverpool at a pub so I could watch the race 😂 I used to also collect races on VHS and then DVD so I have entire seasons dating back to the 80's as well as a lot of races from the 70's. It's in my blood to ever give it up.

Hopefully a bit of inspiration for you from our spare room 😁

I'm playing tomorrow night in Guildford with The Tim Shez Band at The Britannia Pub for the GT Live Showcase sessions. We are on at 8pm and playing for about 25 minutes along with 3 other acts. These sessions are fantastic, super popular, very intimate in a great venue. Plus I'm playing fretless as always through my new mini rig consisting of a Warwick Gnome I Pro 280 and a TC Electronic BS208. So can't wait 😁

I also have Rotosound 77 flats on one Precision and LaBella 760FL's on another and yes definitely the Rotosound flats are high tension. I also think they sound better so I tend to just use them for recording.

The way you have described the Two10 is exactly how mine sounds and how you describe the LFSys is how I wish my Two10 sounds for the music I'm playing at the moment. So I really do need to try out a LFSys cab at some point. Plus, being an F1 nut and proposing to my wife who is also an F1 nut on Michael Schumacher's grid slot after the Monza F1 race and then honeymooning the year after at the Monaco F1 race, the naming of these cabs is pretty much perfect for me. We just need a Spa and Suzuka cab in the line up at some point @stevie 😁

Great stuff everyone and please keep the photos coming.

I thinking generally, I don't have any heavy regrets as overall, I've had a fantastic career in music, more than most people get to achieve and many fantastic memories, experiences and opportunities. If I dropped down dead tomorrow, then I wouldn't have any regrets and made the best of it generally. However, there has to be some right so I think if I could, I wish I still had my 1973 Fender Telecaster bass. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it was a bit of a pig of a bass but it would be worth a tidy penny now. Also, possibly my fretless Warwick Streamer Jazzman. I think also, looking back, I wish I was more disciplined and opened my eyes to other opportunities rather than thinking I'm in this band and this is where it's at. If there's one thing I would change, that I wished I knew back then that I realise now, then it would have been to learn to read. This would have opened up a lot more opportunities to me but again, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Would love to but I'm not Yorkshire or Midlands based. Great gig though and super fun to play.

My Fender Japan 62RI Fretless Precision

Absolutely and my family home was full of music 24/7. My dad's hifi was his pride and joy and boy were we not allowed to touch it. We were however allowed to listen to it with his supervision. He would listen to Big Band Swing Jazz, Frank Sinatra, Ted Heath Orchestra and a lot of organ music like the old organs you'd find in cinema's. My mum was more into singers like The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, Val Doonican, Nana Mouskouri as well as some classical music. I remember listening to a lot of The Carpenters and loving the Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft song. My two older sisters however were the real gems (although I thank my dad massively for my love of Jazz and my mum for The Carpenters) and were listening to everything from the late 70's and the 80's. My oldest sister was massively into The Police, Duran Duran, Thompson Twins, Paul Young, Spandau Ballet and Culture Club. My other sister was massively into Level 42, Depeche Mode, Michael Jackson, Tears For Fears, Adam and the Ants, Inxs and ABBA but between them they had everything and would listen to the top 40 religiously every Sunday. They were 7 and 5 years older than me so had started Saturday jobs and were buying records every week as well as getting them for birthdays and Christmas. So I was literally a sponge, absorbing everything that was being played to eventually getting to a point of sneaking into my sisters bedrooms when they were out and playing their records and getting caught and told off. I particularly remember loving Talk Talk, The Thompson Twins, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson but it was early Madonna that I fell in love with. Then Live Aid happened and I saw Adam Clayton strutting around stage looking super cool and I knew that's what I wanted to do and the rest as they say is history.

Welcome back Yolanda 🙂

As someone who doesn't really like The Beatles but does appreciate that they have some amazing song, I didn't actually mind this new track. I did think the video was clever although the John Lennon larking about bit was a little odd but overall, I liked the song.

Those three pickups are like not being able to decide between having rice, chips or pasta with your main meal so you just have all three and be done with it 😂

I'm a terrible bassist and person if truth be known, I mean, I've been playing for 37 years and all my basses started with frets and these days, they've either all fallen out or simply worn away 😂 On a good note mind, when I started out as a mere teenager, I really struggled to carry my Carlsbro or Trace Elliot speakers. These days, I can easily carry my Barefaced cab, in either hand and one handed so all this playing has made me so much stronger and fitter these days, I must be like Hercules 😂

The last few weeks, by accident, I've found myself playing through some Orange gear. The first was a MarkBass Little Mark Tube through a couple of Orange OBC112's and then last Saturday, an Orange Crush 100 Combo with a 15" speaker. Both sounded fabulous, especially the combo and it's got me thinking, I quite fancy trying an Orange Little Bass Thing. I've never owned or even used Orange gear until now so I'm wondering what the general opinion is of it and of this amp head. It would be run through my Barefaced Two10 and I currently using a Little Mark IV.

I thought that but I played one on Saturday and it wasn't an issue at all.

I have the same setup and its definitely coloured compared to when I use my MarkBass Little Mark IV but its a nice sounding coloured and in some way, has more personality.

I popped into Andertons today with my son as he was buying a new digital piano. Whilst there, I had a play of the Vintera ii Telecaster bass and I absolutely loved it. The sound was super clean and punchy and it wasn't deep or muddy as I was expecting from the humbucker pickup. It didn't sound like a Precision but just a really nice balanced punchy tone. As I was playing, my son asked me to play some Jazz so I dialled the tone off and it was nice and warm and deep but still a bit clanky, so I cut the treble on the amp as well. So its not muddy, bassy or boomy at all. The neck is mega chunky though but easy to play but some of that also came from the 105 gauge strings so a lighter set would help with feeling even more comfortable for me. As for the colour, I initially really liked the green but under certain lights it looks blue. My son says it's more turquoise so I think I'd buy it in the vintage blonde but it was still nice, but not green enough for my eyes. I also played it through an Orange Combo which had a 15" speaker and it sounded amazing. If the combo wasn't so damn heavy I'd buy one as it sounded unbelievable and the tonal options was brilliant. Super impressive and very much considering trying more Orange gear in the future, especially a Little Bass Thing. Anyway, loved the bass and the Orange combo and together they sounded brilliant. I want both 😂 A quick photo before plugging in and playing through the combo.

I also run my Gnome iPro 280 through a Bardfaced Two10 and it is indeed very loud. I don't need to run the gain very high so I've also not noticed any compression kicking in.

I took my son to Andertons yesterday as he wanted to buy a new digital piano. Whilst there, we were looking at the basses and he was asking where are all the fretless basses, surely they must have some fretless basses, maybe they are somewhere else in the shop, why are all these basses fretted he asked. I had to let him know they we are a special rare breed as not many people play or are interested in fretless bass 😂

It's more the case of an easy carry in as well as footprint. As for the line up its acoustic guitar/singer, fretless bass (me) and drummer using brushes on a tiny kit (small bass drum, snare, hi-hat) or egg shakers. As for venue, it can be showcase/open mic type nights in music pubs where you play for 20-30 mins with 2 or 3 other artists, usually acoustic. Usually very intimate and we strip it back somewhat. So a 10 minute change over and quick line check. For the bigger type gigs I use my Two10 and Little Mark IV so this is just purely for an easy load in and change over for these types of gigs/nights. I really like the idea of the Micromark 801 and the 802 if I could ever find one.