Immo

RHCP examples:
- 20th Century
- Around the World
- Falling Into Grace
- Sir Psycho Sexy

Most funky bands use wah/autowah at least at times.
Most disco-style bands tend to use some bass synths.
Most Stoner/Doom/Sludge bands use overdriven bass.

I NEVER wear hats. I look bad in almost anything from beanie or baseball cap to any kind of hat. Only thing that was quite fitting was a bandana, worn like that:

(sorry, bassless pic).

I wouldn't wear anything on my head on stage unless the playing style would demand it (eg. country or blues beg for a good hat). As I plan to go into the weird west* cosplay, I tremble at the very thought about wearing a hat, but that's the necessity.

[size=2]* like, cowboys + weird stuff like zombies or aliens[/size]

What a looker!
Not too excited about the PU configuration, though, but it may be because of the split PU's sheen and matte looking 'bucker?
I'd use two splits, but anyway it's a wonderful axe!

ED: And THAT FINGERBOARD!

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1365176688' post='2036430']
Yes, I noticed that & I assure you no insult was intended.
I have a highly [i]prized[/i] bass (to me anyway) but sometimes [i]price[/i] gets in to cloud the issue too.
[/quote]
No offence taken
P.S. You see? I wrote "PolanE" instead of "Poland". Damn, this smallish netbook keyboard combined with haste results in me embarrassing myself.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1365175270' post='2036399']
One of the best Freudian slips I've ever seen on this forum!
[/quote]
No, I'm from Polane, I make spelling mistakes

I have three basses I use, one I lent to a friend and I have parts to build three or four more. And I'm not ashamed or feeling guilty. This gear brings delight to my otherwise bitter soul and they are my priced possessions.

You know, if one person tells me something is a junk, OK, I might consider it. When two people tell me this, I start to wonder. When three people tell me this, I'd be afraid to use it. And when MY contact with this ends within 5 seconds due to the malfunction, I'll never, ever like to use it again. No reason for taking the risk. Having that said, there is only one company with a "back story" like that. But I won't lie saying that I'm not surprised that actually something Behringer made is working properly for a long period.

Squiers, especially VMs and CVs, are great, so are Epiphones and there's nothing to be ashamed of when using them, but I'd hesitate to admit I play something that's a real cr**p, like those bass-like products of Chinese companies making anything ranging from alarm clocks through toasters to amps. Behringer is a bit better than that, but the failure rate stories seem to shroud everything around this equipment.

[quote name='OliverBlackman' timestamp='1363881131' post='2018857']You would be better off expanding on a simple song than by playing something technical because it shows you have an understanding of the music you are performing.
[/quote]
That. Pretty much nailed it.

Hello from Poland as well!
I was once in California and, man, I love CA wholeheartedly. The most beautiful place I've seen, suffering a bit from the common belief that this state consists only of San Diego, San Francisco and mostly, LA. My heart stayed in Big Sur, all across from Hearst Castle to Carmel. But I also love those three cities, of course. One day I hope to move to either San Francisco, San Diego or somewhere within LA Metro (Thousand Oaks seem to be a nice spot). Where are you from, precisely?

P.S. It snows as [s]hell[/s] Hoth in Poland.

The thing with the "budget-version-companies" (Squier, Epiphone etc.) is that you're holding a thing that looks like a high profile stuff and then from the short distance one could tell it's a cheaper version. It's a matter of user's psychical comfort I guess. Many of us were raised in a societies with "high goals" somewher under the skin and - for example - many of us, as a kids, were laughed at at school if we haven't had brand shoes or other expensive stuff.

But on the other hand, we rely on the professional opinions. I imagine most of us (by "us" I mean seasoned and/or knowledgeable bass players) wouldn't mind playing a JV Squier even if we would feel bad with playing a "regular" Squier bass. And if many professionals tell us stuff like Beringer failed them, we tend to avoid it. Most opinions aren't coming from nowhere (as long as the aren't made by jealous competitors, that is ).

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1363876243' post='2018762']
Thirty years, as you say, is perhaps a little bit excessive. [/quote]

It's all because of the little to none gap between the winding. No dust or any other stuff (like dead epidermis) would contaminate the winding so flats last much, much longer. The top quality flats would hold the great tone even longer than 30 years - I can't seem to remember the name of this one fellow who uses the same set of LaBellas on his JB [b]since early 1970's[/b].

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1363874813' post='2018732']
My First Ampeg PF-500 didn't do much better than that. The second one lasted a bit longer (about 30 hours of use) before it went pop.
[/quote]
That's why I use 30+ years old solid state Sunn. You can smack this thing with a burning helicopter full of raging rabid elephants and it'll still work unspoilt.

Didn't knew Charlie Sheen lived in Nashville and played bass...

And the Pawn Shop Mustang Bass was an instant love for me. I love the concept behind this little fella - basically a short scale beginner's bass with the most powerful Fender pickup installed, plus the pinstripes - it's just like it's namesake car, Ford Mustang - a simple toy for power freaks (and that's a compliment). I love it, I love it, I love it.
If I ever return to my previous line of work (and thus return to my previous income), I swear I'll buy this baby right away.

As about the power of the pickup - I'd have simply installed a push/pull potentiometer, adding a series/parallel switching. Making a one pickup bass more versatile is NEVER a sin, mark my words on that

[quote name='spaners' timestamp='1363797738' post='2017842']i'm thinking of loading it with some tape wound's ( have them on all my basses). i'm a big fan of these.
[url="http://www.daddario.com/dadproductsbass.page?activeid=1905"]http://www.daddario....e?activeid=1905[/url]
[/quote]
I use Rotosound 88 TruBass on my Telecaster bass (the same pickup, but in neck position) and they seem to be made for each other. Tapewounds are just great.

After all I heard about Behringer (and the opinions were "Meh." at best), I finally tried and pretty much had my opinion permanently made.
I plugged a bass (Squier VM TB) into a valve Behringer amp in a guitar shop one day. Gain was set to 3 in 10 points scale, the same was volume.
Guess how many notes I played? About 5-7. Then the amp made a "puff!" sound and was done for. Dunno if it was a tube or something else, but I had to turn that contraption off and call the staff.
Sorry, first impressions DO count.

Thanks for finding that vid. I love that album (duh!, who doesn't?), I'll watch this soon.

My opinion:
Black P-Bass/J-Bass with white pickguard is boring. But I saw so many awesome black basses that I vote on "cool". Heck, replace that white pickguard with a tort one and it goes from dull to cool. Black matte lacquer looks particularly awesome in my opinion. Very glossy black finish has this one irritating issue - fingerprints, fingerprints everywhere! But nonetheless - black is cool.

Oh, and if my bass would look dull for me after a while but sounded perfect to me, I wouldn't swap it for the same model in a different colour. Too much at stake, as we know two basses of the same model and year could sound completely different.

I realised the fact that the problem is within me about a year ago and my GAS suddenly decreased to 30-40% of the previous state. I know I never be a good player, but it doesn't really matter to me. I paid a sh**tload of quid to get my gear but in the end it DID MADE ME HAPPY for quite a while, so I don't complain.
As for the sound, I'm quite sure that one mod I'm about to do with my Tele Bass (adding a hi-output single PU near the bridge) is actually everything I need to be satisfied with the sound. Then, of course, I'll start buying ridiculous analogue effects just for sport, but, hey...
We live only once (as long as we aren't Buddhists).

Currently I'm only using the internet shops 'cause they have anything I need in good prices and I know that if anything goes wrong, they'll do everything to fix it. That's why I chose "combination".
I'd like to have an affordable shop with nice service around, but as for now it's usually "or/or" choice, so I stick with the net stores.

But it's nice to see that more people care 'bout good service than low prices. I work in a video games store and we have some clients who want to buy at our store despite the fact our prices are usually higher than in a nearby supermarket, 'cause they know they can chat about the games with us. But yesterday I had a client who said something like "sorry, your prices are at the supermarket level, you gotta do something extra for me to be your client". What can I do apart from chatting with clients, discussing trends and convincing them to choose not the more expensive game, but the better one? Sheesh.

By the way, the topic of "Store Clerk Pains" should exist here somewhere... Once I'll get out of this mess, I plan never to work in a store again. People suck.

The Humbucker+Jazz one seems to be made for me.
So I'm going to get one and make it even more [i]Vintage[/i] and more [i]Modified[/i].

Maybe someone wanted to make a garotte for killing elephants? Roto 66's E sound like a perfect string to make it.

But, seriously, what others said: call them and they'll probably replace it with sincere apologies.

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1345062456' post='1773148']
I've just re-read this and realised my reply sounds seriously rude! Apologies, Immo, it was meant to sound purely jokey - there is no reason why anything about music in Mitteleuropa should be any more trivial than anything about the UK or the rest of the world
[/quote]
No offence taken, I know what you meant .

If you'd ever need some help with topics like "trivia: how's the bass industry in Middle Europe" or something, anything, I'd gladly help

Simply:
1. [b]Fundamental Sound[/b] - nothing else delivers P sound or J sound better, than, well, P and J.
2. [b]Basic comfort[/b] - not to everyone, but, well... Big F set the standards, now doesn't it? For me, in example, MiJ P-Bass neck is THE bass neck; nothing's better.
3. [b]Years of history & tradition[/b] - what can I say...?
4. [b]The Brand's name[/b] - it opens many doors, for good or for ill. Unfortunately, in Poland, on many public gigs like those on TV, the sound guys would not let you on stage without Fender or Music Man... But, anyway, you feel really GOOD with the Big F logo.
5. [b]The X-Factor[/b]. I don't know what is it, but nothing's like the good ol' trustworthy Big F.