uk_lefty

I've got Fender tapewounds on it at the mo. It sounds great with loads of character BUT I want a bit more top end out of it while maintaining the vintage vibe so it's going to have flats next when I get round to it. I think Ernie Ball chromes would be the ideal string but I've got a pack of Maruszczyk flats ready to go so it will be those.

Yaaaaaay!!! My Thomann wishlist is a long list of almost every variant of bass Sire makes. Now to find the cash and the time to play one...

So gigink produced this pickup surround for me to cover up some bad routing. It's not a standard part so there was some creativity required from them and I got a printout template to check fit and measurements. I've not even fitted it properly, but look....

A guitarist I played with a few years back uses a Jedson Tele through a really rubbish Digitech multi effects from the 90's. He sounds absolutely fantastic, even though he knows he's playing on ropey gear I think he'd just had that stuff so long he knew how to make it work for him. The bass looks like a different story though... Still, would look nice hanging on the wall.

Not sure. I'd love to try one of these bass vi versions but I just can't see me ever using it for gigs. I wouldn't even know where to get a Burns new and with three sets of strings and in what looks like good condition that's probably a decent deal. I can't remember how much the Revelation lefty bass vi costs as a comparison.

So this is my "all in one" with a Helix Stomp.... There's not enough buttons on it so I have an external tuner. And external buttons for scrolling through presets. I need a volume boost pedal sometimes on stage so I got one of those. The Helix doesn't play nicely with an expression pedal and doesn't have a bass wah anyway so I need a bass wah (plus the extra buttons are in the socket the exp pedal would plug into). The Helix doesn't do synth sounds very well so I bought a Boss SY1 and use the expression pedal with that. All these extra pedals need powering so I need a power pack. Really I could ditch the Helix for a good preamp pedal with a drive option and a good chorus pedal.

However you want I guess. There are no rules when there are no frets.

I can only talk from my own experience here... I had been playing bass for three years or thereabouts and had only just really started to accelerate my ability after a very, very slow self taught, pre internet age, starting point. It was coming up to my 18th, I was in a band and had just started to listen to Pearl Jam, hearing fretless in rock for the first time. My only "trick" on bass was to slide up an octave and play above the twelfth so when I wanted a new bass I thought a combination of my one trick and having heard Pearl Jam's Ten I thought grabbing a five string fretless would be a stretch but worth it. Playing a fretless, especially if it's your only bass, really does make you stand out when playing with new bands, but only if you can play it in tune! Mine is lined. I had an unlined for a short period and was fine up to the twelfth then it got chaotic for me. I think it builds up some fretting hand strength but also some real sensitivity, not just in your ear but in what you play too. The fretless is so expressive and so sensitive to your note choice there's not a lot of hiding if you're improvising a fill and you play a bum note. Even if you don't intend to gig it, I'd get one as a practice tool to change perspective a but keep you on your toes.

Thanks, it's enough reassurance to hear that someone else has used his stuff before. It certainly looks good, I think he does Jaco and John Deacon books which are interesting. Have you used them and what do you think?

Yup! And a new mic. And a wireless system that can be powered from my board. Big web order tomorrow.

It's getting worse....

This is not something I've ever had a preference for, never even thought about. What is the advantage or annoyance? Fear of missing out here...!

I keep seeing these studies of Jaco and other bassists advertised on Facebook by a chap called Igor Sardi. I'm very wary of handing over money for something like this, so seeing if anyone on here has bought or heard of this and has any views? I don't mind supporting someone who's done something like this to earn a few quid extra and it could be really good! I just know that Facebook is also rife with scams and half truths.

My band use www.gig.ink and they look great (band logo printed on Scratchplate) and I've just ordered some pickup surrounds like the Yamaha BB basses for my Bitsa, will report back on quality once I've received them.

When a bass made up to look like symbols of the British slave trade, or other atrocities committed in the past by the British Empire, I'm sure you will see similar commentary.

Gigging mine tonight with just the one cab, angled up with a wedge. Love the big, round, clean sound I can get... Then roughing it up and making it dirty!

Yeah but you're a lot bigger and scarier looking than me!! 😂

I'd be ok with it tbh. But whether it was "First name Surname and the backing band" or just a band name, if one member is a massive egotist and considers themselves hugely superior to everyone else I'd be out.

I had a sound guy do that to me at a festival while we were setting up. He was also in the "headline" band. "Sh!t bass" he said to me as I was tuning up. It was my Japanese Fender P, a true beaut of a P bass in my eyes. Was it a compliment, was it a dig? I don't know. Was it inappropriately timed, Yes! Did it make me think he was a d!CK regardless, Yes again!

I've been practicing this for ages, getting both buttocks to do this in time is very tricky.

Yeah I loved their first gen five string jazz, it was that bass that got me confident in active EQs. I'd always had two band or really rubbish actives before and never got on with it. I'm toying with their passive jazz for the neck, but I do like their active system, but it's a grand for the v10s that have both. Then there's the colour schemes on the v7s. But I like the D5 (is it D5, the fifties P bass?) Because I think a p bass will be more useful to me in the current band. I could get a V7 or V5 and a D5 for the price of a V10 and then there's no regrets........?

Haha I've got a "wishlist" on Thomann.... It's got there Sire basses in the list. Though I'll probably buy an MIA Jazz.

Well... I've never understood the whole neck dive thing anyway, but others don't understand why I like hi-mass bridges. Either way we're all keeping someone in business somewhere in the world 🤠