Japhet

Not top of my list, but definitely on it, was the sheer lunacy of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

I think he falls into the category of 'innovator', and as such, a lot of what he does can be inaccessible. Many have gone before him - Dylan, Hendrix and Zappa to name a few, who pushed the envelope like never before. I think that Victor Wooten has been very important in pushing bass playing forward and knowing no boundaries for what, for decades, has been a background instrument.

I put a set of Custom Shop 62s in my Tokai Hardpuncher and it now sounds gorgeous. I was getting a bit paranoid about taking my Stingray to rowdy pub gigs and came up with this as a relatively cheap alternative. Cracking pickups.

+1 for the MB Fusion. Genz Benz Streamliner does a nice, fat beefy sound for not much outlay these days and can also do the gritty driven sounds as well. Worth a look.

I prefer the way an envelope filter responds to the dynamics of your playing.

I like the Premier Guitar demo on Youtube of the Bassist pedal. You can really hear what it does (for a change).

Yolanda Charles did some good stuff on this subject. It's probably on Youtube.

For a simple to use pedal that evens out the dynamics I'd be very tempted by the Keeley Bassist. Threshold, Ratio and Gain controls are really all you need.

I prefer the basic MXR octave pedal to the Deluxe. As for compression, it really depends what you want it to do. Are you looking to control dynamics, fatten up your sound or effect other pedals in the chain, or a bit of everything?

I went from a Trace SMX head to a Genz Benz Streamliner which gives a (to my ears) a nice, fat, rounded sound. Also has some nice gain available if you drive the preamp tube.

+1 for Dancing Queen.

Headlined a local music festival. Played an hour long set up til 10.30 curfew. Went down very well. Lots of people wanting cards etc and booked straight away to headline next year. Only bad bit was moths. They had a big lighting rig which attracted swarms of the damn things. Singer swallowed one, I got one in my eye and down my shirt while the drummer was trying to swat as many as he could.

I'd use a clean boost pedal for the passive bass and switch it off when using the active one.

Always liked Tony Butler's playing. Greg Lake also springs to mind.

Meg White. Yeah, right!

Festival gig near St Ives in Cambridgeshire. Large marquee with a stage each end and alternating bands. We went on 2nd to last and had a blast. Immediately got asked to headline it next year so must have done something right. Good crowd who were well up for a boogie and a singalong. Good times.

I try to be solid and tasteful. I know people don't really want to hear bass solos so I don't do them. A very occasional touch of slap is plenty but keeping the tempo is my main focus. When the band get introduced I'm described as being 'in the engine room' which is exactly where I want to be.

Tecamp XS 1x12 in the F/S section for a cracking price. Lovely little cab.

Mine has quickly become my 'go to' bass. I put a set of La Bella flats on it and a set of Custom Shop 62 pickups in it and it sounds lush now.

I enjoyed it. As much to do with seeing thousands of people having a great time in spite of everything that is going on. and the atrocious conditions there.

Check out your strings too. They lose their mojo after a while and start sounding dead and dull.

Bought a pedal off Andy the other day. Top bloke. Deal with confidence.

Roland Bass Cubes are great. If you want really cheap a Line 6 LD15 is a good little amp with mp3, headphone sockets and loads of onboard effects.

Recently acquired mine from Ryan Cowell and used it first time live over the weekend. I use a modest amount of drive to add a bit of breakup and the Tritonlab did it perfectly. There is masses more gain available for those that want it and the sound is warm and 'tubey'. To clear up one point, the pedal runs from a standard 9v Boss type supply and the internals boost it up to 33v. The other thing I noticed is that I'm having a few buzz issues with my pedal board (probably power supply related) and the Tritonlab cleaned this up almost completely which was a rather nice bonus.