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That's true. But could you play Stereophonics songs constantly without thinking "could we drop in a spot of Muse"?

Don't get me wrong, it has it's place. My starting point as a bassist was U2, Van Halen, AC/DC & The Cult, but there's a lot of great rock bands that have great bass lines (that could have easily been replaced with plodding). Like 4000, I take the baseline as part of the song & consider myself a musician first, playing what fits with the song, but surely if you're plodding every single song on the set, it must get mind numbing unless you get paid like Adam Clayton does.

& here's me thinking Bi amping was when it swings both ways!

Something got me wondering about a lot of bands that my fellow guitars seem to like & the bass lines that are in them. I'm talking about the middle of the road rock bands, like Kings of Leon, Stereophonics, U2 & so on. You know, mostly straight 8s. I like a lot of this sort of music to listen to on occasion & from a singer's point of view, they're great for the audience to sing along with, but surely even the guitarists must find playing it almost as mundane as us bassists do? Or maybe it's the way forward if you want to earn money? I saw this advert & thought to myself, the only reason a bassist would take that job is for the money or if they haven't been playing too long. I couldn't think of a worse curse for a creative bassist... http://www.joinmyband.co.uk/classifieds/bass-player-for-stereophonics-tribute-band-t587173.html

I get those sort of looks when I turn up with a 2x10 combo to a gig, but you should see the old folkies faces when I pull out the Moog pedals at an acoustic gig! Priceless.

It doesn't say on their tintersite that MB is made in Italy (well not that I could see). It is a bit disappointing though, but then my Salomon boots are made in china & they wern't cheap either.

It's my favourite genre. Jazz covers a huge range of genres like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Kurt Elling & EST, but can then go to drum n' bass & the more experimental electronica sounding stuff like 4Hero, Skalpel & one of my faves, Nerve. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc4tk_7td7M

If you're playing to 5 drunks in a pub, I'd try the Hartke 2x10 combo on it's own.

I changed the original bridge on my Ibby to a cheap tin thing & there's no difference other than how it looks. If your bass is lacking something, try the strings, then if that doesn't fix it, try the pre, pick ups, amp & cab (not necessarily all at once ).

In my spaces between bands I write songs. I plug my bass in to the mac & load up a DAW & use the software instruments for the instruments that I haven't got (so that's everything except bass, guitar, ukulele & tin whistle). Putting a drum pattern & chord sequence down & then playing (noodling) over it is great fun & then you find a bassline from it & a song then starts. It's a lot harder in this band to write songs though!

Now that's a good idea. My ideal cab would be something that can handle low frequencies from an octaver, like when you stand next to a PA sub in a good nightclub & feel your insides moving. It would also need to have a good mid sound to help the filter sweeps come through when there's 2 guitars playing.

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1389430275' post='2334049'] Bear in mind some 250w combos have an 8ohm speaker, so e.g that Mark Bass is only putting out 150w until you add an extension cab. With PA support it's still probably enough, but something to consider if you ever want to compete with acoustic drums without lots of PA support (e.g subs and on-stage monitoring) [/quote] Markbass combos use Little Mark heads, which are 350w at 8 ohm, 500W at 4 ohm. The drivers in Markbass cabs & combos are B&C, which have a pretty good excursion (which is partly why they're rediculously loud for their size).

I was looking to get a new head & cab 6 years ago & ended up with the MarkBass 2x10 combo. Fits my needs perfectly. Easy to lug into a gig & plug in & plenty loud enough too. The Genz Benz gear seems to be a real bargain just now, but if you don't like the sound, then price is irrelevant. Go & try as many rigs as you can & see what suits you. To answer your questions... 1: driver diameter alone doesn't affect the sound. My 2 x10has loads more bass & goes louder than my 2 old Marshall 15" cabs ever could. 2: watts mean very little in respect of how many decibels can be made. I've gigged with a 30 watt 12" combo. Fine in small venues & fine for a DI'd monitor too. 3: haven't a clooo. I've never tried the Hartke cabs, but they get the thumbs up from those with them.

I find it a prime example as to how much watts relate to volume - very little. It wouldn't stop me buying a TC head. THey certainly look cool.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1389169361' post='2330742'] Really?! Surely I would have thought the 750 had more power? [/quote] Apparantly it is louder, but uses the same power section.

[quote name='r16ktx' timestamp='1389126238' post='2330429'] My understanding (and 2p) is that watts measure power and decibels measure volume and they are related by the speaker/cab sensitivity, also different frequencies are perceived differently wrt volume, so all this discussion about volume and watts is fairly redundant as every person/bass/amp/cab combination is different (thankfully :-) p.s. I just bought a rh750 and put it thru some cab at the practice room with a loudish drummer and only needed a third of the master range (if that helps) [/quote] +1 The RH750 is the same watts as the RH450, 236. The volume increments on an amp are different depending on the signal from whatever bass is being used. How far an amp will go isn't measured by a dial on it.

I'm not in a covers band, but we do play a few covers in rehearsal, some of which may get played live. If you can play by ear, it makes things easier. I'll get the key/scale that the song is played in & learn the bassline from listening & then use the web if there's any parts I can't get. Then I take the song & rewrite the bassline to how I want it to go. The rest of the band does a similar thing. At rehearsal we just have a few A4 sheets with the lyrics & chords for reference to the arrangement.

When I read the title I was expecting a sad story, but it's actually a good one. You got a foot into playing & now onwards to something that may suit you better. Good stuff.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1388873203' post='2327302'] Wot..? ...and him a GM..? Nah, fat chance..! [/quote] I suppose he's more likely to pour some creme de menthe in your earl grey! Lol

Well he might let you off this time.

A year & you still haven't answered him? Shocking!

I've got an idea that ties in with the pics (got it straight away too!). I should get an entry this mumph. I'm looking forward to hearing all the entries.

You could make a small sub to go with the Minimark instead.

My current drive sound doesn't come from an actual dirt pedal, but the Moog Bass Murf gets the low grit that I like & I have a cheap PSK distortion pedal for distortion. The PSK is in a loop that's split from the Murf & used with the Moog LPF to get me some wonderful synth sounds.