Japhet

I remember the 70s when the sound at the vast majority of gigs was mostly between sh*te and unlistenable. It was generally through the now much coveted valve amps and the not so coveted heavyweight cabs. Times have certainly changed as has the degree of tint on the rose tinted specs.

One of the best necks on a cheaper 5 string is on the Lakland Skyline 55-01. No floppy B string and a very versatile set of Bart pickups too.

I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas Town Called Malic - The Jam

Jet City offer a lot of bang for your bucks. Based on Soldano amps I believe. Guitarist in my band had a 20 watt and a fifty watt head and both sounded stonking.

Fretless will make you play more accurately and will improve your ear so it's a good thing to learn. There are things you can only do on a fretless as well like sliding harmonics (waits to be corrected by more knowledgeable person).

Roland Cube is well worth a look. Come in various wattages and have loads of features like onboard tuner, mp3 input, headphone socket and loads of effects. Lots of fun.

This lot are so much fun and such a great vibe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5MXlAAsRVY

When I used to play with Rotosound Swing 66s a new set would shred my finger tips.

Fat Freddy's Drop for me. Don't get more summery than this. [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU8uFqNrNdk"]http://www.youtube....h?v=qU8uFqNrNdk[/url]

Schroeder punches well in a live mix. Just to add to what's already been said.

A few years back I sometimes played at a jazz funk jam at a pub in Cambridge. A guy came on stage and started laying down some seriously good guitar grooves and solos. Really enjoyed playing with him. Afterwards I said to my mate (who was drumming); 'that guitarist is a bit tasty. Is he in a band?' My mate looked at me a bit quizzically and said ' Yes, they're called Jamiroquai'. Turns out I'd been sharing the stage with Rob Harris (Doh!). Have met and spoken to him numerous times since and he is an absolute diamond of a bloke.

Couldn't possibly pick a favourite. Some not mentioned - Get Off, Purple Rain, Let's Go Crazy, Cream. I could go on and on and on.......but I won't.

Have found that (I presume) the electrics in some venues produce a lot of buzz so I've been looking to cancel this out. The Rocktron Hush has caught my eye. Anybody have one, use one or have any opinions/alternatives? Also, what is the difference in Rocktron's 'Reaction' line pedals?

He definitely came in through the 'out' door. Did it how he wanted to do it.

I wouldn't recommend an unlined fretless to start out with. You have to have a very good ear or have spot on technique to play one. The purists will frown on a lined fretless but to me it's about the sound rather than the look. With a lined neck you'll know exactly where you're supposed to be fretting. With an unlined neck it's likely you'll spend a lot of time wondering why it doesn't sound quite right with no points of reference to help you correct it. Just my opinion.

I have a GK MB500 Fusion and a Tecamp Black Jag 500. I presume that the Black Jag is basically a Puma with some whistles and bells added. I don't really use any of the whistles and bells (like bass or treble boost or compression) and have the eq pretty much flat all the time. The Tecamp is my 'go to' amp for gigging and to my mind it always delivers. I like straightforward punchy and clear sound with anything extra coming from pedals. The one thing the Fusion has is 2 switchable channels with their own gain which I like. It's a good sounding amp but I find the Tecamp more balanced and it seems to sit better in the mix somehow.

What a horrendous year. Thought he was an absolute genius.

Any love for the Aguilar Filter Twin. I like the blendable up and down sweeps on it and you can get a load of different sounds out of it. What I don't like is the power supply and patch cables all going into the top of the pedal where there isn't enough room. I've also got the Pigtronix Envelope Phaser which is fun, but takes up too much room on my board for now. Had a Proton in the past and found it very musical but it somehow got lost in a live setting and didn't like certain basses. Definitely on my list to try is the MXR if one comes up cheap enough.

Love Victor for the simple reason that he has no inhibitions, restrictions or boundaries to what he does, or attempts with a bass guitar. He has an extremely fertile imagination as well as a mountain of talent. Sure, he's gained a reputation as a show pony, but so what? Put him in any context and he'd be able to absolutely nail it. He is also, by all accounts a very genuine, humble and generous man.

Absolutely love Lee Sklar. One minute he's noodling along behind James Taylor, the next he's pumping out one of the best grooves ever on Billy Cobham's Stratus.

Don't know how it works in France but in England the brewery often gives pubs an entertainment budget. The markup on a pint of beer is pretty minimal and now that people don't drink if they are driving it would be virtually impossible for a Landlord to cover a bands fee straight from the till. As previously stated, a lot of punters will make a single drink last all night to get to see a band for next to nothing.

I can't help but think of bass solos as uncomfortably toe-curling events. Even in the very best hands it's like expecting Michael Angelo to produce something beautiful with a JCB and some dynamite. This however, has made me feel slightly less uncomfortable about my own limitations.

I used to use an ABM 300 with the mini 4x8 and 1x15 cabs. It was a loud rig and never farted out in a band with 2 loud guitarists. When I got the cabs the drivers in the 4x8 were seized up so I replaced them with some Celestions (I think) from Blue Aran.

I put a fender Custom Shop 62 in my Tokai and it sounds great. Very responsive and good balance of volume across all strings. Growls if you push it but stays punchy if you don't. Works very well with a bit of drive or gain from the preamp.