Doddy

You should do that as well, really. Like @TheLowDown said, go around the circle of 5ths and you'll be adding one sharp or flat each time you change key, with the order being the same as I said above. When I'm reading, I don't think really about the intervals. If I'm playing a C and the next note is E, rather than think 'up a 3rd', I just think 'E' and know the 2 or 3 places where I can play it. I know some people recommend thinking in intervals, but my head doesn't work like that when I'm reading.

The old mnemonic for remembering the order of accidentals is.... Sharp keys- Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle Flat keys- Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father So for example, if you see 3 sharps in the key signature (A maj), you can think of the mnemonic and know pthat F, C, and G will be sharpened.

I forgot that they went to Gibson first. I thought that Peavey owned Trace now? All the newer amps I saw (the ones from a few years ago like the 1215) mentioned Peavey on the back, and the Peavey website states that they are made in their factory. Even the contact address on the Trace website is Peavey.

I know of a lot of guys who are using Mark Bass, but not half as many who are using the other makes. Most players don't hang around forums and don't care about the boutique gear as much. I've seen more old Trace and Peavey and Ashdown combos being used at small gigs than any of the boutique amps.

Eden (not David Eden 🤨) were always a high end amp, but I don't think that Marshall really treated them as well as they should have after the buy out, and changed the line up. I still think that yhe World Tour series amps and David cabs are quality gear. Trace Elliot were super popular around the 80s and 90. The reliabilty issues only really came after they were bought by Peavey, who discontinued the classic amps and reissued them later on. There are still a lot of old Trace amps being used regularly. They were great. I don't think EBS and Ashdown have been left behind at all. You see a lot more of them out in the wild than you do Bergantino or Vanderkley (for example).

I would assume so but if you can, see if you can try it out first. I don't know anything about the science and numbers, I'm judging purely on my long term experience.

I push the amp quite hard at times. Most of my gigs have PA support, so I don't need to drive it too hard usually, but sometimes I have to crank it and it's been fine. I also use effects a lot, especially octavers, and it's always handled the subs well. For smaller, or double bass gigs I use a PiBass head with one of the cabs. I've never had any problems, and I've been using the cabs since 2012.

I've been using an Ashdown Retroglide with 2 1x12 cabs for a few years now and I'm really happy with the sound. Here's the thing- My cabs are the old Mi12 which I got when I was using the MiBass 550 amp, and are only rated at 250 watts each. When that amp died, I bought the Retroglide but kept the cabs, and I've never had any problems with the speakers farting or struggling. I've got a very nice Bergantino HS410 sitting at home, which sounds amazing , so I wouldn't use the Ashdown 12's if they weren't performing well. Just out of interest, I pretty much always put both cabs side by side rather than stacking them.

I've got a couple of older multi effects pedals, but I don't use them much anymore. I used a Line 6 M5 when I was doing regular cruise work, so that I could still have some effects without taking a bunch of pedals. I got some really good sounds out of it. I've also got a Roland V Bass which is really cool, but I've never really dug too deep in to it. That kind of sums up my issue with a few pedals right now. I'm interested in the HX Stomp, but I really don't want to have to hook a pedal up to a computer to program sounds and get the most out of. That's the same reason I haven't looked at pedals like the Source Audio C4 too.

@CameronJ I've only managed to take it to a handful of shows, but I really like it so far. It's well padded and got a load of space in it- I've been using it for all my non musical accessories like my tablet, GoPro, chargers, and all those bits and bobs. It certainly beats the laptop bag I was using. I can even throw a couple of shirts in there if I don't need to take my full suit bag.

I can't say that I've bought any bad gear this year. It's all been good. I recently picked up my new F Bass BN5 which is an amazing bass in every way. It's the best bass I've played by a mile. It came with an excellent F Bass branded case (made by Music Area) and a branded Levys strap. A couple of months back I got a Fender Deluxe Series Precision Bass Special trade for my old Standard Precision. I definitely came put best in that deal. Pedal wise, this year I've only bought an Earthquaker Devices Plume, a Rainger FX Minibar, and a Nine Volt Pedals Fishing Is As Fun As Fuzz. I would have bought more pedals but, you know....Covid. I has a couple of Accessories too. I had a Gruv Gear Club Bag to carry all my odds and ends, and a beautiful Reunion Blues leather gig bag.

I've never noticed any problems with my tone being killed or anything. I don't like fiddling with my onboard preamp to change sound mid gig, so I set my bass to where I want it (which is usually pretty flat) and then any tonal changes generally come from an outboard preamp.

Pete was a great bloke. We used to spend a lot of time just talking bass, swapping albums/dvds, going to Bass Day, showing each other ideas, and discuss threads on here. It was always funny when he worked in the music shop and he'd phone me to ask what I knew about certain gear that a customer had inquired about. Anyway, back on topic.... Slap Bass is awesome.

You should be able to use an outboard preamp without any problem. One of my favourite basses is active only. It sounds great when played fingerstyle but I'm not a fan of it's slap sound, so I run it through a Sadowsky preamp whenever I do any thumb stuff.

Although not Green Russian style, I've found that my favourite couple of Big Muff type fuzz pedals are the Greer Tarpit and the Nine Volt Pedals Fishing Is As Fun As Fuzz. The Tarpit is crazy good. It's based on an op amp Muff and has a ton of gain, but also sounds great at lower settings. To my ears it doesn't lose much bass at all. It's my favourite fuzz by a mile. The Fishing Is As Fun As Fuzz is a Civil War style Muff, that isn't quite a fat as the Tarpit but it's still got a really good amount of low end and sounds like a really good Big Muff should. I've got a bunch of fuzz pedals and these are my favourites. I think they both blow the Bass Big Muff away. Just something else to consider.

I always put my tuner up front in the chain so that it gets a clean signal, although I take it out if the chain using a tuner out on my volume pedal. With effects, I generally put any synth pedals first because they need a strong signal, then octaves for a similar reason. I like the sound of envelope filters after my octave, so I put that next. I put overdrive/distortion/fuzz next, followed by any modulation (chorus/flanger/phaser). I put my delays and reverbs at the end. So with your setup, I'd go Tuner> Synth Wah (if used as a synth)>Octave> Synth Wah (if used as a wah)> Distortion>Delay. I'd choose the position of the synth wah based on what effect I would be using mostly. I never put any of my effects in an effects loop. I think pedals are usually better up front, while rack gear works in the loops. Also, it's more messing about and more cables to plug in. The great thing with pedals is that you can swap them around to get the sound you want. All pedals react differently with each other depending on their position in the chain and how you play them.

I've just picked up a 3.25" Levys strap. It's got quite thick padding and really takes a lot of weight and makes the bass feel lighter.

A year ago, I was able to visit F Bass in Hamilton, Ontario, where I was able to try out a bunch of their amazing basses and take a tour of the factory. And now, a year later, I've been able to return to pick up my new BN5. It has a Northern Ash body, 3 piece maple neck with maple fingerboard, gold hardware ( F Bass branded Gotoh tuners, Hipshot B style bridge, Dunlop straplocks), and F Bass' own pickups and preamp. The blueburst finish is so deep, that photos don't do it justice. The playability is crazy good. The neck is so smooth and easy to play. Tonally, the boost only preamp is super versatile, and never becomes unmusical. I also had an F Bass branded gig bag, strap, and spare F Bass branded strings. This is undoubtedly the best bass I've ever played, and I've played a lot. Big thanks to George and Marcel Furlanetto for the bass and the service.

I know you said that you've tried a lot of EMG pickups, but have you tried their HZ series? They are passive pickups, and should have similar housing to their active series. The basses are Toby Pro's aren't they? I'd be very tempted to try Bartolini pickups and preamp in them because that's what Michael Tobias used to put in his top line instruments.

The Fender Bass: An Illustrated History is a good book if you're in to Fenders. The Bass Book is a good history book. Bass Player Magazine did a load of good books a few years ago- The Bass Player Book, How The Fender Bass Changed The World, American Basses, The Jazz Bass Book, Session Bass Masters, and a few more that I can't remember off the top of my head. There is a book called In Cold Sweat: Interviews with Really Scary Musicians, which is extended and unedited interviews with Gene Simmons, Jerry Casale, Peter Hook, and Scott Thunes, that were originally in Bass Player Magazine. That's a fun read.

Bargain. Those ealy MTD Kingston basses are great. I've had a 4 string Heir (which is the same bass but with an added Jazz pickup) for years.

This is all cool, but the question was how to memorise a song. If the OP would have asked about learning, I know that I would have given a different answer. The OP says that he's got a tutor, in which case I would assume that he is learning things like learning the notes, reading, scales, chord tones, etc. I always recommend to my students that as well as practicing the lesson material, they should take some time to try and learn some songs too.

For me, it's about being familiar with the song in the same way that you know your favourite songs. So, I'll try listen to the song a few times without playing the bass, so that I know the form and the basic idea. That way, when I pick the bass up, know what's happening. If I've got to learn in a short space of time, I'll listen once or twice without playing, and then go through it section by section. Either way, I'll normally write some form of chart. If it's a simple line I'll write a chord chart with any rhythmic hits. If it has specific riffs, I'll notate these out. Sometimes I'll notate the whole thing if it's got time.

I did a session just before lockdown where I was asked to use the studios Tanglewood violin bass for a track. They aren't my kind of thing, but it was a nice feeling bass, and it sounded great on the track. I think there are some good cheap basses around right now, and I often use a Sire v7 when I want that 5 string Jazz sound. I've had a lot of students with cheaper basses, mostly Squier, and they are fine. I wouldn't rush put to buy one, but they are a hundred times better than the old Axe or Encore instruments.

Take your pick- Respect, Natural Woman, Memphis Soul Stew, Land of 1000 Dances.... but I guess that you're referring to Mustang Sally.