sammybee

I wouldn't spend £3k on anything BUT a new Stingray if I were in the market for a new bass. I think I've had my current 'Ray for about 10 years (not selling it anytime soon), so if I wanted to replace it £300/year (based on a 10 year ownership) seems a small price to pay for something that gives me so much joy.

£80 - thats a bit of a bargain. I'm sure you could flip it for at least double if you don't like it I have an older Kurzweil at home that my daughter plays and she absolutely loves it. The piano samples/sounds are really nice

I've been an MPC user since 2004 - started with an MPC 2000xl, then an MPC 3000, flirted with MPC 1000, MPC 2500, MPC Studio. My current MPC's are an MPC 2000xl special edition, and an MPC Live. The latest incarnations are fantastic songwriting tools, but nothing makes pumping drums like the 2000xl and 3000. It's amazing what you can do with an MPC Live/One/X, guitar and bass -> and have a great deal of fun while you're at it

I think we are all wrong, and the 50k members of the MPC forums on FB are too Anybody want to buy an MPC Live & an MPC 2000xl - I'll consider myself schooled!

Yes a touch on the heavy side! I think I may fit casters to the bottom

When I started out I was given one piece of advice, buy a bass that makes you want to play - and spend as much as you can on it. I know bass prices are crazy atm, but I think this advice still holds true. Learning any instrument is hard (particularly once past the teenage years), and if you have a really nice instrument you will be more inclined to continue the learning journey & not give up at the early hurdles (there are many) Plus if you splash on a 2nd hand usa/mex Fender you will get all your money back if you decide to sell... A cheap Harley Benton, you'll struggle to sell for half what you pay

Thank you... yes utterly amazing.. although I'm not sure my neighbours would agree with you

One of the main reasons I love my MPC(s) (And hardware in general), is that the process doesn't hinder you from making music. I always find if I try to write music within Logic that I'm composing with my eyes rather rather than my ears. Yes it comes out perfectly sequenced, but at the expense of sounding robotic & plastic-y You'll find (as @SumOne says) there is a 'lot' to it, but it is very intuitive, tactile way to make music. As a die hard lover of vintage (old, heavy and clunky) gear I was really sceptical about these new fangled MPC's but I'm really glad I took a punt on mine. Even if it didn't do drums, it would be worth it for the audio recording/loop pedal/fx functionality

There she is in all her glory! Super clean considering her age

I've never really been excited about amps/cabs before as I don't gig and my bass playing is limited to recording (DI into the desk). I picked up an old Trace Elliot combo today and WOW. The tone and power from this thing is just awesome. It's a bit weighty, but these things are utter bargains for what they sell for today. Excited to put it to use, and it might even inspire me to get out there and play live!

But (good) human drummers, don't really add randomness to their playing, which is why the R-8 (to my ears) sounds a bit weird when you turn on the humanising feature. MPC's allow you to do all sorts of funky stuff with the timing (push/pull, swing, turn quantise off etc, etc). If you're looking for the ultimate control of your drums, I'd be shortlisting one

I'm not so sure about that.. I was in there last weekend and it was looking a bit sparse. The basses they stock seem to be the same ones that were there 6 months ago (ie. crap ones no one wants to buy) I bought a GHS fast fret & got charged a few quid more than PMT are selling them for on their website. It will be a shame when (not if) they shut down the physical stores

From my experience, I would go through eBay - for two reasons. If PayPal find in your favour, you will have to ship the bass at your expense back to the seller. If you do it through eBay, 99/100 the seller will pay. Also, if you file a claim through PayPal and it falls over for whatever reason, eBay wont entertain a claim for the same issue. Beware how you proceed if you claim through PayPal first.

Most definitely 100% satisfied, the thought of shopping for a 'new/different' bass fills me with dread!

I also bought one of these recently for playing bass https://www.andrewsofficefurniture.com/lugo-mesh-operator-chair . You can swivel the arms completely out of the way, which makes it a really comfortable seat for bass/guitar playing. Andrews has branches in Northampton, in and around North London too. They were super helpful with advice too.

+100 for the Herman Miller. My ex-employer gave me one when I started WFH.

OP says he has a windows desktop

An Akai MPC will do this (play downloaded .mid midi files). But it's not a cheap option (expect to pay £400+ even for a used unit), might be a little OTT for what you need - but it does tick the boxes

I just took the plunge and invested in a more 'Modern' MPC, the MPC 'Live; gen 1. Did quite a bit of research into the options before I pulled the trigger. Basically all modern MPC's( MPC one, LIve gen 1 and 2, MPC X) are the same platform, the only difference is in the I/O - the core machine underneath runs the same software. Initial impressions. Very, very easy to get going with. I had a complete hook to a song going in about 10 mins (multitrack drums, bass and keys) just using some of the built in sounds. It is really intuitive software in a lovely hardware shell. Given the right samples, you could probably get away with this being your only piece of gear. Next I decided to see if I could easily record my bass into it (and drop the synth bassline I'd previously recorded)... plugged a stingray into input 1, and it was plenty hot enough to get a good clean signal.. took me about 5 mins to figure all this out, set the level and get my first take down. I'm not going to sell off the rest of my synths/drum machines just yet - but for what these things go for used these days, it's a no-brainer for anyone producing electronic styles, or anything needing sequenced drums, synths and samples. It also has an internal battery (6hrs) so you can sling it in a bag, jam in the park or wherever the mood takes you.

Start really simply. Learn basic intervals. Use an app like Earpeggio. Dont worry about all the intervals - focus on root and iv first, then try and recognise the v . That will take you a couple of weeks/month. Once you have that down, you can play 90% of all i,iv,v pop songs with a basic root and fifth on Bass. Expand your knowledge of more intervals as the app guides you. When ever you listen to music, just try and identify the intervals - after a few days thinking in terms of numbers it will become more natural... You dont need to try and play the bass at the same time - in fact trying to train your ears will probably be hindered if you're trying to play Dont try to think of Notes - c,d,e,f... think of the intervals. Once you have this down, when someone calls out a key - '..lets go for x in 'C'..' you can apply your interval knowledge, and the notes will flow naturally

+1 for the audient, works lovely with my Mac - for midi from my keyboard, I just use a cheap £10 usb converter from amazon

Nice playing! Although I think that the original (record) works a little better with the sparser bassline on this particular song.

This is really sensible advice, if you can use a righty - you'll have a lot more choice of both new and used instruments to pick (and at much keener prices)

There are loads and loads of them up and coming (some very good) on YouTube... I definitely don't think there is a shortage of female Bass Players in 2022

Loving the 'B' Side - shoulda made it the 'A' side