peteb

I am assuming that it is a commission sale, as most of the secondhand basses on their website are (I have sold a number of basses through them on commission).

The bass doesn't actually belong to them, so how can they offer a discount without the permission of the owner?

Exactly. Basically they have offered to collect and refund, as well as apologising for the mistake in rating the bass as being in 9/10 condition. I don't see what else they can do seeing as they don't actually own the bass and can't go against the owner's instructions.

Taken from Wikipedia - "Bluesman Big Joe Williams, who knew Johnson and was familiar with folk magic, explained it as "leaving for good ... I'm putting you down, I won't be back no more". Music writer Ted Gioia also likens the phrase to the biblical passages about shaking the dust from the feet and symbolizing "the rambling ways of the blues musician"... Basically it's about leaving a cheatin', lyin', low down woman who's done him wrong (that old blues chestnut)!

Yep, Johnson's version, "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", was based on a number of earlier versions of the same song (including "I Believe I'll Make A Change") recorded in the early 30s and the song probably goes back a fair bit further than that. None of that stopped it being copywrited in Elmore James' name in 1951.

It depends on what type of music you are playing and (more importantly) what are the expectations of your audience.

Woohoo - I might get a cheque for 3 pence at the end of the year!

I'm afraid not. The drummer in this version of the band is a lot quieter than the previous guy, but it is still an authentic loud(ish) hard rock band. It will still be too loud. Of course, we have played outside gigs but they are generally bigger events than the usual beer garden type gigs that pubs are promoting at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I have played in bands that could do these types of gigs, but not at the moment.

Take care and good luck mate

Unfortunately, the whole playing gigs again scenario is playing out pretty much as I suspected it might. We are living through the first worldwide pandemic for 100 years and are in uncharted territory. There are bound to be setbacks as the virus mutates and no one knows quite what will happen next. I suppose you might get the odd gig in if you can play outside or to socially distanced crowds, but I doubt if I will play live before the end of the year at the earliest, as: 1. The tribute band relies on ticket sales in clubs, for whom socially distanced gigs are economically unviable; 2. The originals band is looking for support gigs and very few headlining bands will commit to touring at club level this year due to the obvious uncertainty; and 3. The covers band needs rehearsing up (as do the other bands to a lesser extent) and anyway, is far too loud to play outside pub gigs and wouldn’t really work for socially distanced pub gigs. On a positive note, the covers band and the original outfit should start rehearsing next month and the covers band even managed to meet up for a few beers in a pub last week…!

I always took the view that Led Zep were just continuing the fine old blues tradition of taking an existing song, changing it a bit, then claiming authorship! I mean, who actually wrote 'Dust My Broom'??

I'm afraid that I'm one of these people and I don't think that I'm alone. I know that EBMM have brought out many different versions over the past twenty or so years, but I just wanted a pretty standard Ray because it's a great bass with a classic / unique sound. I don't really need a variant of that model, even though they may well be decent basses. Let's just say that you can get a really nice 90s 3eq Stingray 4H for a pretty good price if you do a bit of searching. This represents great value for what is a well made, great sounding, iconic bass that can cover just about any gig.

Keep looking on Facebook selling pages & eBay - they do come up from time to time (although £800 is probably more realistic on those sites).

All I am saying is , based on having bought and sold a few over the past 10 years, the market price for a private sale, full fat American 3 eq 4H 90s Stingray is between £750 and £900. A 5H made in the noughties (IME and based on private sales again) seems to go for about £1k, give or take £50 or so. If you want one that is relatively new, has different p/ups or a roasted neck or whatever, then the price may well be different. Similarly, pre EBMMs will be considerably more expensive. I'm not sure of your point here. For most people, a Ray is what it is (American built 4H / 5H, 2 or 3 eq). If you want something a bit different then you will pay extra. The build quality over the years has always been pretty consistent, so its not like Fenders where those built in certain eras are thought to be better than others. A used Wal is a completely different market. For a start they are comparatively rare, were hand built and have a reputation based on their exclusivity and a few iconic users from many years ago. The beauty of the Stingray is that there are plenty of the classic 4H models around, the QC has always been consistent over the years and they have a unique sound that has been used by many top players in a number of different genres. My point is that now is a great time to buy a s/h Stingray, while they are relatively such good value.

I think that you and a few others are over estimating the value of s/h Stingrays. About nine months or so ago, I picked up a very nice Ray (without a case) for the equivalent of £750 . I have seen people advertise them for much more, but they seem to hang around for ever at the prices they ask. In the past year, I tried to sell a 5H for £1,050 on FB / Reverb, etc but people kept offering me bids in the region of £900 (I ended up selling it on commission at Bass Direct). I don't know why more people aren't going for 4H Stingrays secondhand - biggest bargain out there at the moment!

The best way to get better is to play with musicians who are better than you. If you play with guys vastly more experienced than you, then it’s going to be a steep learning curve on a lot of things – be it playing, writing, gear (hence your recent thread about buying a new bass) and performance, etc. One of the big advantages that you have if you have only been playing for four years is that you haven’t really learnt how to do things wrong yet! If you are in a band with guys who know what they’re doing then hopefully you will just get used to doing things properly, which will make you a far better player.

Unfortunately, this was getting on for 15 years ago! The trouble is what is heavy for one person isn't an issue for someone else - I have no problems with my 10lbs P bass (although I did once have a Jazz that was over 12lbs, which was a bit too much for me). The Sterling was certainly considerably lighter than the Precision, although I never actually weighed it. I've just gone and weighed my current Ray, which is supposedly fractionally over 8lbs. I never thought of it as a particularly heavy bass, but it might just mean that I need some new luggage scales!

I used to have one for a brief period. Personally I prefer both the Stingray neck & sound, so I moved it on pretty quickly. However, it was a very nicely made bass and I can't remember it being at all heavy.

Good to hear from you buddy

Certainly not any of the bands that I play with...! But you can always learn something or maybe cop a lick or two...

I'm not sure that I necessarily agree with that. We can always learn from those who push the boundaries, even if we have no intention of emulating them.

The combination of jazz fusion, a six string fretless bass and ex members of Megadeth is probably not something you are going to come across generally at the Dog & Duck on a Saturday night...!

This thread has made me think of something that happened many years ago. Back in the mid 90s, I was part of a new band playing hard rock covers. A couple of us had been in well known local bands and everyone involved was known to some degree to local punters who were into that genre. We rehearsed a set up, booked a gig in a big pub and promoted the hell out of it. So, the first gig comes along and the place is packed. The guitar player turns up with one guitar. I asked him where his spare was. He said he didn’t need one, he didn’t break strings on stage (this was a guitar with a Floyd Rose) but he had a spare set just in case. Sure enough, halfway through the first number the guitar breaks down and we stop the show. We spent a desperate 15 minutes trying to fix it before a mate of mine in the audience who lives down the road says he has a Les Paul we can use. So, taxi to his house, pick the guitar, taxi back, straight on stage. Except, of course, nearly half of the audience had left and we had completely lost momentum with those who stayed. The rest of the show went great, but the damage was done. Despite a lot of interest, the band never recovered and only played a few more gigs locally before splitting up. Me and the guitar player never got on after that (to be fair, there were issues before) and he disappeared from the local muso scene soon after the band split. Fast forward 25 years and a singer who I play with in a tribute band is putting together a side project to knock out covers in pubs. He rings me up to ask if I know this guitar player who they have been put in touch with (yep, it’s the guy from the old band). I tell him that I know him and although he’s a reasonable player, personally I would refuse to play with him. I tell him the reasons why, including the fiasco when he didn’t bring a spare guitar. They ask somebody else to play guitar for them…

Basses never fail until they do! It's only happened to me about four times in 40 years gigging, but on three of those occasions it was pretty big (one very big) gigs. Do you want to risk blowing an important gig and getting kicked out of a band because you didn't chuck an extra bass in a gigbag in the back of the car?? Of course we all evaluate risk in all parts of everyday life. How much gear we take to a gig depends in the gig and the likely risk / consequences of a f*** up. There are gigs where I only take one bass and the bare minimum of gear (generally those where there are going to be travel / logistical issues, or those that are simply not that important to me), but there are others that I take spares for nearly everything! Not having spare leads / strings / batteries in your gigbag is simply amateurish and on certain occasions, so is not having a spare bass. If I was to turn up with only one bass to most of the gigs I do for the rock bands I'm in, then there would be raised eyebrows (to put it mildly - again, depends on the gig), whereas only having one bass on some of the dep gigs I've done was accepted as the done thing.