lownote

Why spend that much? Revelation < £200 new, Harley Benton < £150 new. Both brilliantly made, just a tad heavy if that matters. Otherwise Sire for flexibility.

Unlined's even better - great watching their little faces drop: "Sure, here..."

Not sure if you're looking for rounds or flats, but I adore La Bella RX nickel rounds, from Bass Direct. You'll not see much mention of them but for me their sound and tension are perfect.

Twiddle away until you find what you want. And don't be afraid to go off piste. I was carefully trying logical combinations of settings and getting nowhere when my hand accidentally brushed over the knobs and achieved the above combination quite by random chance. When I hit a note it was the sound I'd been searching for for ages. But what works in private on your own may not work in a band mix - I generally need to up everything to the middle to cut through in a loud rock band.

If you like your playing oomphy and low, my EQ on a similar rig that I happened on by accident is, in 'clock positions: Bass 11.30; Low mids 10.30; High mids 9; Treble 8.30 VLE 8; VFF 10.30.. FYI, YMMV

So talk to Tonerider about pups and KiOgon (on here) about a new loom. That's what I always do in these circs but then my envelope is stunted.

LowEndLobster just posted this review of the JB40FL

I am a unlined fan, but doing a SBL jazz course with the need to go north for soloing and chords I did find that quite hard. £138 for a very nice lined Harley Benton jazz bass (Jaco clone ) gave me the option of easy navigation up the dusty end.. So I prefer unlined up to the 9th fret and wouldn't mind a hand above that, either width lines or stub lines (a la Ibo Portamento). I think when I order my custom Overwater I'll ask for a hybrid neck of that spec.

Try the Revelation. Under £200 new, in a white or red P bass, PJ or Jazz style. Beautifully made, unlined with dots on the main fret positions. Here's mine. I've put a KiOgon loom in with Tonerider pups but the original Entwhistle pups and looms are mighty fine.

Try reading the whole thing and not selectively quoting me. I tried washers. They were a pain to get on, kept on slipping past the screw and had to be dug out. Then as a solution it never rfeally worked. If it worked for you great, bully for you.

Twice I tried to save a maxed out trussrod with washers. Not worth the hassle and soon had to revert to skip idea anyway.

I took to doing it all after my local tech asked me why I was wasting my money on getting him to do it (I live near Norfolk). Moved on to converting fretted to fretless. The biggest confidence booster is to splurge a few bob on a crap bass and just get stuck in. I can't do active electrics but all is is fair game.

I posted the following very recently in response to a call on whether or not to play unlined: Welcome to the (un)marked side! I mindlessly bought a cheap bass on eBay assuming it was fretted and it was not only fret-less, but unlined too. I had a choice - offload it, or play it. So I set to learn to play it. Background - I had around eight years of fretted playing and a bit of lined fretless along the way. So I wasn't entirely unused to not having the 'tin ladder'. First thing I did was check the position of the side dots - the only guide on my Revelation - to ensure they're actually on the notes, not in between as on fretted and many lined fretless. You are stuffed if the dots aren't on the note. To do this I carefully tuned the bass then then placed my finger in line with the side dots and checked the tuning in each case with a good tuner. In my case all my side dots were on the nose, except the 12th fret dots which were a centimetre adrift: really odd. I had Bass Gallery in Camden black out the existing 12th dots and drill and mark new ones on the note. Then I started playing, simple tunes for a while, where possible using G, C, D, A, etc, notes that are in line with one of the side dots (1,3,5,7.etc), looking to see where I placed the note but also listening to the result, and occasionally using the tuner to check I was in the right place. This all came much easier than I expected pretty much from the get-go. The key is starting to really listen and think with your ears, not just plonking your finger behind a fret. Then I started on the 'inbetween' notes; that is notes like F# (2nd fret E), C# (4th fret A), etc which fall between the side dots. I tried to work out carefully where these notes should be, remembering that there are two notes between the nut and the third fret mark, and again each side of the 12th fret. And also that the gaps between notes get smaller as you go higher up the board. I found that being slightly out doesn't matter so much, providing your rhythm is good, even more so if you're playing with a band or track. But finger position does get more and more critical the higher you go. It took me just hours to master the note positions up to the 9th fret marker; months to get the hang of 'frets' above the 12th, where the space between notes is much smaller. So playing low down is pretty easy, chords or soloing high up is really difficult without guide marks - I keep a lined fretless for the latter activities. In summary I'd offer five advices: 1/ don't let it terrify you, it's not as hard as you think 2/ spend a little time at first working out where notes are and consciously practice finding them, looking at first, then looking away after a while. 3/ Correct yourself when you get it wrong then practice the corrected move - don't get into the habit of guessing a position and then adjusting your finger, you'll do it all the time. 4/ Start simple and slow at first and then speed up. 5/ learn to trust your ears and fingers to get it right if you give them a chance. You can use chalk or other temporary lines to help but it's just prolonging the conversion process. I didn't have a book, or video, just worked it out for myself. I'm pretty thick, even challenged, at music and I could do it. I hold down the bass chair in a good regional blues and R&B band playing U/L FL all the time and haven't been sacked yet. Come back if you need more. John

Yeah, my accountant got twichy at the number of basses I was buying and selling on BC, thought it was a business. When I pointed out I usually lost a little on every deal he said that didn't matter. Anyway, when I worked I was a media trainer and once had the pleasure of ripping the then deputy Head of HMRC to shreds, including telling her the HMRC wasn't fit for purpose. Her response was luke warm... I spect she has my number.

Why? By declaring my pub gig earnings I get to claim all my gig petrol, coffee, table bass,amplifiers, cabs, etc against the tax I pay on my pension. In fact the two sums almost cancel each other out this year. Which makes my coffee and table bass 20% cheaper and means HMRC gives me a cheque and not t'other way round

It just doesn't make sense, I can't see how pubs make a profit even on a £250 band - like we are (2-300), let alone 500. I know Covid's got in the way but our last two gigs we were playing to mostly our own supporters, which numbered around six people. There were other punters in but would they have been there anyway? Shirley it depends on so many things: city/sticks, popularity of the band, size of venue, time of year. Also, in many tiny pubs the band set up and their 'deafening radius' actually take a chunk out of the available boozing area. But then I don't run a pub so what do I know. My band mates have been gigging since the 1860s 1960s and they charge us at aforesaid 200-300 max.

I tried these. They take forever - like, days - to tension up. You keep on a cranking and crankin and you're convinced they're going to snap. I'm told that eventually they do settle and then are very good. But as a gigging sort of bod with the need to possibly change strings quickly it's not an option.

La Bella RX nickel rounds

I'm mulling putting Toneriders into my Harley Benton JB. Maybe even with a KiOgon loom. Logic tells me that for £138 new this bass cannot have good wires. But maybe I'm being too negative. Any of you cats with knowledge got a position on this?

Scott Devine has posted useful tutorials on simple walking bass in the public domain. Google for Scott or SBL and walking bass. He does more in depth stuff but it's behind a pay wall.

Yes. But I love the thrill of the chase too much so I find the perfect bass, then flog it - and then maybe even buy the same again. Four Sires, three Hohner B Bass VI... and so it goes.