Linus27

11 hours ago, NickA said:

Fretless was everywhere in the 80s.  Now it's all boring fretted fenders.

 

Do it! You may start a revival.

 

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 😂

2 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

 

 

None of the cabs on your list is significantly smaller or lighter than your existing Two10 - in fact the Ampeg is heavier.  And although the Two10 is taller, it has a smaller footprint.

 

You said "very small, intimate gigs with my acoustic group" - what's the band line-up and type of venue?  In venues with good stage acoustics (theatres/concert halls) and listening (i.e. quiet) audiences, I've been using a Micromark 801, which is a 27cm cube and 6.6kg.  This is with a 10-piece acoustic swing band.  It's a very minimal setup which makes for a very easy load-in and setup.

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.

42 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

I am looking forward to packing away someone else's Spectors.

 

Ideally, Guy Pratt's!

 

I can add it to Paul McCartney's Hofner....

It would look great next to Jamerson's P-Bass that you have on your wall as well 🤣

11 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I should be getting a fretless tomorrow, and I have a gig on saturday. Seems like the ideal oportunity to find out if it is a good idea

 

Let us know how you get on.

8 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

How about one of the Warwick Gnome cabs to go with your head? The specs and price look great to me.  Whether they sound great is another matter, but they could do the job for just occasional use.

I did look at them but I've not heard very positive reviews of them and that they can sound quite boxy and farty. So I wanted to avoid really.

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. My number one choice would be a Barefaced One10 as I have a Two10 as my main rig and its fantastic. I'd also take a Super Compact but the problem is just finding either second hand which seems to be a bit thin on the ground obviously. I'd also love to try an LFSys cab but again, I can't justify buying new for the use I have and second hand is impossible to find.

Very occasionally I do some very small, intimate gigs with my acoustic group where I will go through a PA and my cab is my monitor. I'm thinking of getting a 1x12 cab to use with my Warwick Gnome I Pro 280 which is my backup amp. I'd like it to be small, lightweight and perhaps a minimum of 200 watts so I can carry it with one hand, bass in the other and bag over my shoulder. Now I know I could tick the MarkBass NY112 cab or even a Barefaced One10 (I know, its 10" speaker) but the other condition is price, I don't really want to spend £450 on an occasional cab if I can help it although it could be my practise rig at home as well. Ones on my list so far that seem light and are all priced at about £350 are,

Orange OBC112

Ashdown RM 112 Evo

Ampeg PF112

Anyone any experience of any of these cabs? Open to other suggestions and happy with second hand if anything suitable turns up.

The V7 is definitely on my shopping list.

I also found with Spotify that it either only plays a few seconds or it actually plays a different track to the one you suggested. YouTube is also another good platform for full albums.

I'll try and join in as well

Really good video by Scott on 17 greatest fretless bassists. Shame a few really key bassists were missed like John Giblin, Paul Webb and Sting but still really good and that Ibanez sounded so sweet.

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

I've had a few periods of doing buggerall but never thought of giving up. Currently with a covers band which is aiming to do somewhere round 20-30 gigs a year, and playing at an open mic (both guitar and bass). The two key things that define me are music (primarily bass) and motorcycles, and I've had lulls in both but never given either up.

Mine is music (primarily bass) and cars. My wife says my basses are my wives and cars are my mistresses as I constantly flick between them. 

3 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

Eh? I thought he said Slade!😈

I thought he said Sade

11 minutes ago, uncle psychosis said:

Still really enjoying my SFG Jazz, but a bit of tinkering has definitely revealed where Squier cut the corners. 

 

I've replaced the pickups and the wiring loom with some Dimarzios / Ki0gon gear and it was a really frustrating experience tbh. The holes for the control plate (and for the pickups themselves) seem to be positioned right on the edge of tolerance so I had a hell of a time getting everything lined up. And whilst I was in there I realised that the pickup cavities (particularly for the neck pickup) were a bit of a mess. I also suspect the pickup cavities are cut slightly too deep because I am probably going to need more foam to get the bridge pickup adjusted right. 

 

Now, I'm not really complaining---the basic bass cost £259 for goodness sake---but its almost reassuring to see the difference between this and my more expensive basses. 

 

Next up will be to replace the strings but I'm not quite sure what for yet. 

I changed the pickguard on my red Precision expecting it to be a bit of a mess under there but it was actually really good. There was no insulation in the cavity which was making the bass hum, so I filled the cavity and the back of the new pickguard with copper tape and it's all silent again.

8 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I’d be interested in your opinion. They are my first flats and quite good enough for me

Will do, will post my thoughts in here 👍

8 hours ago, Soledad said:

👍 pm me an address. They're off a 34" Sandberg not thru body.

Thank you very much sir, PM sent 👍

@Soledad I'd love to give them a try if you don't mind. Might give me my answers to what they are like.

I thinking about trying a new set of flats on one of my basses and see that quite a few people speak highly of Adagio Pro flats. Those who have tried and compared them, would you be able to share how they compare to the following.

I have Rotosound 77 Flats which I love tonally as they are quite punchy and can be bright but are very high tension. I also have LaBella Low Tension Flats which as they say are low tension and much lower tension to the Rotosound 77 Flats but give a warmer, smoother rounder tone.

How do the Adagio Pro flats compare to the Rotosound 77 flats in terms of tension, are they higher or lower tension and if lower, as low as the LaBella Low Tension Flats? Also tonally, are they deep, warm and thumpy or quite balanced and bright?

Any advice really appreciated.

I'm really really surprised it didn't come with a mute button, I would have thought it would have been standard on any new amp these days.

24 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

100% and such phases usually last several weeks in my case. Instead of having music on I'll listen to TED Talks, various podcasts and many things through the BBC Sounds app...bar music. I don't listen to any music radio as whatever the station  it's the same merry-go-rounds of songs played to death and beyond the grave. Then there's silence which I like when out running or kayaking, speckled with just the sounds of birdsong, the breeze rustling the leaves on trees, of traffic on the M5 southbound..

This sounds just like me.

Just as a side note, I wonder if its normal for musicians or even people to just totally lose interest in listening to music? I generally for most of the time have music on in the house and in the car all the time and I do flick from listening to lots of Jazz, to then something heavier like Rage, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains to then 80's music and then some of my favourite artists. I then get periods when I want to listen to absolutely nothing, either because I just want the silence or I am just not in the mood for listening to any music at all.

I look at playing bass and being in a band like its a job. That's not in a bad way and its a chore but I didn't get a proper job until I was 30 as I was doing music from the age 17 and played in a band that was signed or a band that was semi pro. After I got a proper job in my 30's, I still played in bands and was doing over 100 gigs a year including touring and releasing albums. So all in all, I've probably spent more time playing bass and playing music and making a living from it than I have done doing a proper job. So if I ever stop then I don't look at it as giving up a hobby, I just look at it as retiring from a job which is not always a bad thing. If I do stop then it will be because I'm done, or other things like family are more important or something else has taken my fancy.

At the moment, I've spent the last 2 years playing in a small acoustic group with friends playing around 40 - 50 gigs a year. It is a hobby and at times I do feel like stopping, especially as playing gigs is not what it used to be when I was in my youth with these days there being less venues, less public interest and less of a music scene. Now I'm in my 50's, I'm thinking, do I want to keep doing this after 37 years. Plus my daughters karting is also taking up a lot of time and we are travelling pretty much most weekends with her racing. Then on the other hand, I adore playing fretless bass and consider myself to be a decent bass player and at times I fancy starting up a club band again as it was amazing fun and half decent money.

So I've decided to to get to 55 which is in a year and a half time and see how I feel musically and go from there. I may still have the energy and passion for it and new and exciting things may have landed on my doorstep which would be fantastic. Plus, my daughter would be at the point where she may be moving over to racing cars so that may take up all my time and energy supporting her. So we will see, I may just be done with it, retire and take up domino's 🤣

I'm really liking the idea of a V7 and the 112 cab

So, by all accounts, I've ended up modding all my basses, not from boredom but just because I can never get what I want.

So my oldest and most loved bass is a 1986 ESP 400 Series Jazz Bass that I bought from new in 1987. The best bass I have ever owned and I found out, came from the same factory that Fender Japan basses were made. It probably accounts for why Fender parts are interchangeable and has exactly the same headstock etc. Anyway, a year or two after owning it from new, I had a set of Bartolini's fitted which transformed the bass. I then about 12 years ago, had Jon Shuker make an amazing ebony fretless neck for it which is where it has remained. Its got 36 years of battle scares but its still amazing and gets played to this day.

Next is my Fender FSR 70's Mexican Precision that I bought new is 2018. Being a lover of 70's natural Fender Precision's and a huge Sting fan, I got Jon Shuker to make a high gloss fretless maple neck which again is where it has stayed and it has turned out to be the best sounding bass for recording.

Next is my Fender Japan 62RI Precision. An absolutely lovey bass to play but I felt there was more on offer if I changed the pickups. So as my Fender FSR 70's Precision as above came with Fender 62 Custom Shop pickups and sounded so good, I had a set of them fitted to it along with new pots and it sounds fabulous. I also changed the pickguard from Tort to Black.

6 hours ago, Yan_Huriey said:

UPDATE...put those Rotosound flats on my P bass, I've got to say, I'm liking them a lot.  Neck may or may not need shimming to counteract the tension, too early to tell, love the feel of them, loving the sound. Thank you everyone for the advice.  I might put flats on another bass now.

If you do, then put something different on the other bass like LaBella's or TI Flats as a way to compare.