la bam

Evening all, So I needed a spare/ cheap bass for our -shall we say - more rough gigs. Around £100. I'd been looking around for a few weeks and nothing that really grabbed me turned up, any that did weren't a bargain as they were far away so diesel costs made them not so much of a bargain. Then today I was luckily enough to see a used SX jazz in perfect condition. Picked it up and just got back, and gees these things are a steal at the price I paid (just over £100). These are the handmade custom vtg basses (which I didnt realise until pick up) and the build quality is absolutely great. The wood is american swamp ash and looks amazing. Real quality. What surprised me for a so called budget bass is theres absolutely no hum or shielding issues. It's absolutely silent. The pickups are good and have a real range to them which is nice. It's quite bright sounding which i like and feels great to play. £100 for a bass I'd gig without hesitation. In fact i may need a really really cheap bass now as a back up for this for our really ropey gigs!

Thanks for that, that's helpful, I'll give that a go.

Ah, just had an internet look... Is bass clef: bottom line G, then rising up from there? And 2 notes below the bottom line E, 1 note below F?

Hi all, hope all is well. Ok, so having been playing for 30 years, gigging for over 20 years mainly rock, indie, pop, and chart music, I've started straying into liking different genres. After watching a lot of YouTube @Jeff Berlin has won me over with his angle on teaching and academic study. I cant read music, I dont know scales, or any real music theory, but I'm willing to learn. I kinda get what Jeff is saying, and i agree. I still remember Marcus Miller saying something similar too in a magazine years ago, about learning a language by immersing yourself in it. Learn the notes, as jeff says. So, I've bought Jeff's pdf of his book Bass Mastery A Complete Reading Course. Has anyone else tried this, or used this book? How did you like it. Just one thing so far .... I've opened up the first real page and it's just notes on a page, but I cant read. I think I remember that EGBDF are the lines and FACE inbetween at school (30 years ago) is this the same for bass notation? Also the first lesson - whole notes on the E string - starts with a note under the lines with a line through it, and the number 0 underneath, the next note just under the line with a 1 underneath it, and the next note on the lowest line with a 3 underneath it. I really dont know what they mean. Am I missing something obvious? Really looking forward to learning all this. Any help appreciated.

2022's rig! X2 markbass traveller 210 cabs (Italian made) Head unit consists of: X1 markbass big bang 500 (spare). X1 markbass littlemark 3. X1 sansamp bass driver v2. X1 boss w50 wireless unit. X1 pedaltrain space saving tuner. X1 shelf drawer for cables etc. X1 4 way ext lead. All pre wired, so just one plug to plug in. The head unit box is a modified tool box I got from b and q. So lightweight. The cabs can be carried one in each hand, as can the head unit. The boss unit searches for the best signal itself, so no hassle searching for the best frequency. The wireless unit goes into the sansamp, where I send a di signal from to FOH, and the OUT goes to my lm3 for stage monitoring. It's also SO SO loud. I genuinely cant believe how loud it is. It must be to do with having the top cab up high. I literally have the gain on 9oclock and master at 8oclock and it's super loud even then.

I think I've already sold all the basses I said I'd never sell, noticeably: Fender player precision sunburst Fender player precision electron green Fender precision fsr midnight Westfield purple precision Burns bison G&l l100 Yamaha bb424x metallic red Sire v7 v2 burgundy Bass collection power bass custom Bass collection frankenstein entwistle bass Currently only left with: Fender roadworn 50s precision Hohner b2a Fender flea jazz all of which I've said I'll never sell ....

Cheers, that looks cool, do you know if these are these similar to the flea bass? I havent seen these before.

Yeh, I have a flea bass in shell pink, absolutely love it, the colour, playability and the tonal options with having a tone and volume for each pick up make them amazing. If there was a wide colour range in that model I'd have another. As there isnt that I know of, I'm just looking at options, so I can play a flea jazz in both bands. Originally I was gonna play a flea jazz in one and my 50s roadworn p in the other, but they are SO different size wise its gonna be very hard work to swap between the two. The jazz in thin and skinny and the 50s p is as wide as a motorway!

Morning all, this may be a weird question, so bare with me I have a flea jazz. I honestly love it. It makes everything I play through sound great. So much so I'd like another. However, I think they only do these in shell pink (which looks fantastic), so if I wanted one in another colour is it possible to get one and have it re painted in a different colour and keep the relic look? If so do you know an approx price? with these now discontinued I'd like to get another before i cant find one, but have the ability to play different one in different bands, ie as shell pink doesnt really come across in an indie or metal band

I really really really dont understand the lightweight head and heavy cab set up. Makes zero sense to me. I'd have understood doing a 2x10 at 15kg ish, so you a heavy ish 4x10 set up, but not a stand alone 30kg cab, and 3kg head. Makes no sense. And 1499? Gees.

Great pickups and great design.

I did a deacon build on a vintage v4 years ago and used all Wilkinson gold hardware. Looked and played great. In retro spec if I'd have dropped a set of solder less geezer pick ups in, it would have been a killer bass for about £350.

I dj'd for years professionally and theres no real comparison between Alto and QSC for playing music. Depth, warmth, definition, volume, reliability. However, whether it would make such a big difference solely for bass guitar you would have to decide. However, I still would never use just a 1x12. But again, that's personal preference

The traveller 102p is the best cab I've ever used. Lots of tone, weight and oomph (if we are getting tech ical). Its light and easy to carry with the solid scooped carry handle.

O think they're a lot heavier then need be. I think these come in at 30kg+ each?

Agreed. I've definitely gone more punchy and got a more powerful bass sound now I've started to cut the real low end.

This may sound daft or obvious too, but ... the fact the cabs were vertical really made a difference, and I could feel the punch in my chest and back depending on which way i was facing. Thinking about it though, that's because they were at chest level. Theres no point expecting a punch in the chest, when the cabs are at calf level. You'll get a punch in the calf then...

The punchiest (in my definition) cabs I've ever used were markbass traveller 102 cabs (running x2 together vertically). Pretty much the only cab ive had that you could really feel punching you / pushing air.