mangotango

...is the right answer. As for the rest of you....yer a bunch of weirdos!!

One thing made me chuckle - the Maritime Room is part of the Cliffs Pavilion in Sunny Sarfend, and last night Joe Brown was on in the Main Theatre. That finished earlier, to let all of the wrinklies home in time for their cocoa before bedtime. The number of them looking in through the glass doors of the Maritime Room on their way past and out...and each one pulling pretty much the same grimace at what they could hear of the funky groove stuff (maaaaan)….. was so funny!!

Dutch Acid Jazz group Tristan, in the Maritime Room, Cliffs Pavilion last night. Totally groovalicious, though unfortunately, due to having to catch my last train home, I left just as Frans Vollink started his bass solo.... dammit!!

I have a Bass VI. N.B. I also play guitar. I regard my Bass VI as a kind of hybrid instrument. My plan is to use this bass on tunes where I want to play high-register figures, or even lead lines/soloing. For my other basses, I have 2 Spector 5-strings and an Aria EUB, so I regard this as a completely different instrument, which is underlined by the fact that I play it with a plectrum (unlike my other basses); I also use a lot of right hand muting. I even occasionally use the Twang Bar (which is not a venue for Duane Eddy tribute bands). I won't ever use the Bass VI as my only bass at a gig. I did need to make adjustments to my board, as my other two basses are active; so I have added a Carl Martin boost pedal to bring up the level and add some oomph; and I will at some point add an overdrive for lead playing. And before anyone says it....there's no guitar in this band. Nor are we going to be adding one for the sake of the higher-register parts on a couple of tunes, out of a book of 25 pieces of music. To have those parts played on 6-string bass rather than just assign them to the keyboards - it's something different tonally and visually.

This. My rig at the moment consists of a Genz Benz Streamliner 900 that I run into a Genz Benz Neox 2 x 12" for most gigs, and that set-up is great; but for rehearsal rooms and small venues, I have a Barefaced One10, which copes pretty well with most things that I throw at (through) it.

When I started playing bass again at the tender age of 58 (see? You're not alone!!), I bought a combo, mostly because the technology had all changed since last I'd played bass regularly 3 decades before - and I couldn't get my head around the intricacies of all of the heads and cabs out there quickly enough, I wanted a simple solution. And because I also play guitar and use a combo for that, I knew that the "one-stop shop" simplicity of the combo would work for me. So I bought a TC Electronics BG250-112, a nice, simple, 1 x 12" combo that was light but powerful enough for what I was doing (250 watts). That worked for me for the first year or so. During that first year, I was doing my research and soon enough I moved on to a reasonably powerful and flexible head and cabinet(s) set-up. So now I'm going to sell the combo, as I now have more headroom than I'll ever need before going to a PA, and a much better sound for my purposes. The TC's a decent piece of kit, but now my needs have changed, so it's no longer what's required. However to get to my current set-up, I had to go through re-acquiring the knowledge of what I needed by having, then moving on from, the combo. Sometimes you have to ask other people, sometimes you get the knowledge yourself. You're in a great place here to obtain a plethora of other opinions. Good luck!!

Before you go crazy on that....I spoke with the Shergold guy at the Bass Guitar Show back in November. He assured me that they were going to be building basses again "very soon". Now I know that their more modern offerings aren't exactly the same as their 1970's product, so there's no guarantee that they'd build the 6'er; but Peter Hook's bass (along with Mike Rutherford's double-neck) must be the company's most iconic instrument, so maybe, just maybe..... Give them a call/send an e-m. Worth a punt.

Yep, and I recall an interview of the time in Guitar Player magazine where Sammy Hagar told the story of how EVH had started jamming on the bass as though he were playing his usual Frankestrat guitar; and Hagar was complaining "No, no, no - you got to think more …...bass". Whatever the f*** that's supposed to mean. Though I've a sneaking suspicion that he intended "crochet root notes for you, Sonny Jim, and yes you may be the most technically advanced guitarist in Rock; but when you have a bass in your hands, don't forget your place". From my perspective, nowt wrong with a bassist who also plays guitar, or a guitarist who additionally plays bass...as long as you play each appropriately to the instrument in your hands and don't try to turn on into the other.

Yep, your BC is substantially identical to mine. It's a great bass, and I will not be selling it ever. I just found that I preferred the feel (esp. the neck) to that of the Toon.

Have to say, having had the chance of a noodle on each of @Stingray5's Tune basses in the past, in a straight comparison between his 4-string (the "Hot Slapping "model - and be honest, who wouldn't want a model that's a Hot Slapper??!!)and my Bass Collection 30-something...for me, my BC wins every time. YMMV. However, that 6'er is just a whole new ball game. It's a very lovely piece of work that IMHO would keep up with pretty much anything you care to put up against it. Here, in the hope that I'm not causing Mr. 'Ray5 to blush, is said bass in action; a video of our band Heads UP! at the 2017 Writtle JazzFest, playing my tune Killergram. To be merciful to those who aren't fond of the jazz, or who just want to hear the bass, his solo starts at 3:16. (To be merciful to everybody else as well, I have never worn that orange t-shirt at gigs since seeing that video. My eyes....my poor eyes...)

@Stingray5 has a couple. You want to chip in here, mate?

All sorted and I have my ticket for a Saturday in Sunny Mancunia. So, @ped - will there be a Basschat stand where we can congregate?

If you ask Al Krow, I caused that feeling.... Congrats on your Spector, that is a lovely thing.

So obviously the whole thing was videoed and will be available on SBL Academy at some point. It was a really interesting session - Hadrien was at times trying to overcome the language barrier for technical musical terminology...but when he played, it all became clear. Great player, very jaco-esque phrasing and sound, but his technique looks like he's playing classical guitar - barre in positions, moving chords up the neck, right hand positioning.... Anyway, although we'd been told not to take basses, because only Hadrien would be playing, just before the start, Scott Devine asked if anyone had a bass in their car? SOOOO tempted to reply "Yes....but my car's in Essex!" but on reflection, glad I didn't. 🤔 Eventually, someone rustled up a 5-string Jazz which was deemed OK, and applicable for the guy with the tinselled dreadlocks who came in and sat at the back. 'Cos it was Thundercat. Of course it was. So they jammed over a few tunes, and even though the amp started screwing up, what they played (and in TC's case, sang) sounded very good indeed. Tried to get some video, but wanted to see it happen rather than just watch in on a screen, so not much of any use. Will comb through what I have and add it later if it's any good.

I'll take my phone, my iPad, maybe see if I can sneak my Tascam recorder in as well!!

How many "basses I should never have sold" threads do we see? Agree with other posters. Sure you could get by with one....but who wants to "get by"? You have two great basses, they do slightly different things, so you can do slightly different projects with them. I think that you can be perfectly happy with that.

You can always catch a train to Liverpool.

Certainly "nothing sounds better" in that vein, to my ears at least, than that Spectorbird!! Quite simply, it's one of the 5 best basses that I have ever played.

The Scott Devine Academy has organised a Clinic with Hadrien Feraud for next week. They ran a comp for 20 lucky academy members to be amongst the attendees. Yesterday morning, I had an e-mail telling me that I was amongst that number. What a great way to start my 2020!!

Yeah, but wasn't "Rissoles Give You Wind" (as it's forever known here at Chez Mango) a Nick Heyward solo career thing, not a HC100 track?

Ah, Kamikaze Washington!! Always thought he was a bit Emperor's New Clothes, all honk & squawk; but after a bit more of an extended listen, decided he's alright. Don't know the other one at all, so will find it and give it a listen. Thanks!

Yes, mine are Korean-built and bear a little sticker on the control cavity cover stating that the battery is inside. That'll teach me to buy cheap basses, huh?

I have zero Tats and a similar amount of hair. I play a zero amount of metal or heavy Rawkan'Roll. Actually, I play bass in a funky jazz group, and my basses are Spectors. (Gratuitous Couch Photo follows).

Unless you're getting a new bass for Xmas...no, it's fine.

Great stuff, thank you. And I have to say - my right hand looks very much like yours in your video, except that I tend to anchor my thumb on the side of the neck - which probably doesn't help either.... My cramps really started after a good few tunes on the spin up around 160 on the metronome, sixteen songs into the evening (though a break after the first 10).