Angel

Budget .... Hmmnnn. I'd rather keep under £200 I guess but that's not cast in stone. It's just something to noodle at home with. I looked at your suggestions, all nice but I'd say more than I intend to sped.

My trusty old Roland Micro Bass Cube RX Combo has died. I may well get the same thing again as I rather liked it, but I was just wondering if there is anything else out there that people like/recommend? Needs to be small so that the wife doesn't complain about it! Any thoughts?

Having experimented with various strings over the years, I came to the conclusion that I much prefer really light gauges. I'm happy with the sound and they just feel so much nicer to play. My current strings are Status 30-50-70-90-115. Anyone else prefer lighter?

Well played. Cool stuff

Pendragon - Concerto Maximo Rainbow - On Stage Iona - Heaven's bright sun Genesis - Seconds out Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Welcome back my friends ... Grand Funk Railroad - Caught in the act I love live albums!

Every once in a blue moon an album comes out and the bass blows me away - the sound, the playing, the place in the mix etc. So much of the time, I find bass playing on albums a bit boring, or it's pretty lost in the mix. And they something comes along that knocks my socks off and really inspires me! OK, so needless to say I bought one such album recently. Firstly I have to warn you that it is the most unfashionable of genres - Prog, but wow, this record blows my socks off! The band are somewhat under the radar - Lifesigns Their third album - Altitude The bass player - better known for his playing with Cardiacs - Jon Poole Also, if you love a heart achingly beautiful guitar solos, the song Last one home from the album is just superb and has a really emotive solo. Anyway, here's a taster on Youtube if anyone is interested:

I would argue that you are sailing dangerously close to making it a sport with a comment like that. He is merely playing along to a backing track and making music. We are all bass players around here, we can all see what he is playing or not. Still, I shouldn't really work at defending, you have every right to make that comment.

And that is fine, we are all entitled to our own opinions. Personally I don't like showboating when it is terrible, indulgent drivel (like many bass solos I've seen live over the past 40 years!), but when it is musical, when it has groove etc, yes, I really like that sort of thing. A bass player that I really enjoy is Charles Berthoud, he plays solo stuff on Youtube etc, and he has a mindblowing level of technique, but he keeps musicality at the centre, and gets a great groove going. To that end I really enjoyed this cover of Uptown funk. If you don't want his preamble, playing starts at 40 seconds.

@Bunion Bl**dy good cover there! Really enjoyed that. A favourite short Rush track of mine

I'm really enjoying playing Candy Dulfer live concerts at work the past week or so. (she plays sax if you don't know her). I'm loving the bass groove on the song DISCO, the song starts at 6.39 on this concert video:

Band: "we think you should buy this ba......" Me:"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ...."

Hah! words from my youth! Me and my bro were obsessed with RPGs back in the day!

Rush were one of my most important bands late teens. I absolutely loved the band, well, until the Hold your fire album. I found that plus everything after waaaaaay less interesting. They became a different band. But yeah Geddy Lee & Billy Sheehan and my two rock bass Gods.

I'm so disappointed that I have such a rubbish voice for singing. I'm 2 out of 10 at best. No range, often can't find the note, and 5 mins of singing in the car and my throat seems ripped to shreds. I love sitting at a piano at home, bashing out some chords (which I'm pretty good at!) and singing along, I just wish I could get to 'average' singing and be able to do it with others, or at a station piano if the world ever gets back to normal. If I used emoticons I'd stick a sad face in now ....

Have you found someone to pass the torch to yet?

Yeah, I always kept track of him. His Mythopoeikon (er .... not sure I spelled that right?) was one of the most important books of my youth, as was The Pentateuch of the cosmology (book illustrations, not the terrible Greenslade music!). I'm creating an illustration to put on my bass at the moment and the eyes I drew were influenced by Patrick!

I bought the Sentinel on vinyl on its day of release! Neo prog is my favourite thing. Great Patrick Woodroffe artwork as well.

For me the first 4 Marillion albums with Fish were amazing. The musical love affair of my life. I actually like them in the order they came out. I was a big fan from before they had a record deal so the first album was rather special (although the production was terrible!). I think they are a great band with Hogarth still, I just don't enjoy the music all that much personally.

er ... no. Can't sing to save my life and I've never been a looker.

I spent a few hundred pounds on bass pickups at a well known dealer. They showed up and annoyingly one of the 4 'tube' springs was missing from one package. I sent them an email stating that one was missing and could they stick one in the post (I'm all out of spares, and my OCD side would prefer 4 the same even if they can't be seen!). Ignored. I ended up buying some tubing off of eBay. The upshot is I have unsubscribed from their newsletter and will be going elsewhere in future for bass-related purchases. OK, so today I was going to install my old John East J-Retro 01, and to my consternation I found that I had lost the earth wire. I searched all over but couldn't find it. I emailed John and asked if I could purchase a replacement, and not 10 minutes later he had replied with "I've stuck one in the post for you". Now THAT is great customer service! Many thanks to John!

I'm the best guitarist, bassist and keyboard player of all the bands I've played in. OK, confession time. I've never been in a band.

I love early to mid Yes I love early to mid Rush I love early to mid Genesis I love early Marillion I love all Pendragon I love prog. It's my bestest music. Generally prog bands seem to have a sell by date though and for most it was a few decades ago.

I've actually had the bass assembled a few times to try out around the house with no sound. I'm loving it! It's actually quite a wrench to pull it apart again and sort the next stage out. Dare I say that it is turning out better than I expected.