Norris

They missed off "Have your own music stand?"

We rehearsed quite a bit one year. 1985 I think it was. Since then we have gigged lots and only rehearsed if we have a particularly tricky one to do or it maybe needs a bit of rearrangement to fit to our trio. Having said that I did rehearse weekly with a Floyd tribute for three years without playing a single gig. Needless to say that folded eventually

We down tune a semitone but it's not so much about the singer's top range as making it a bit more comfortable to get through the night... and the next one.

Leicester a bit of a trek? Peavey Databass combo...

/popcorn at the ready

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1425029224' post='2703035'] Band 1; singer sacked Band 2; the singer was not very good Band 3; Singer left Band 4; singer's gone AWOL [/quote] What to do next? Learn to sing & play bass at the same time!

That looks really nice. In fact all the burst colours look good. Mantra: I need a new amp, I don't need a new bass. I need a new amp, I don't need a new bass

My Databass combo is going nowhere. I hope to get a new combo this year as the Peavey is knocking on a bit. I won't get rid of it though as it is too useful as a reliable backup. I'll have to check out that programme. It's a shame they seem to be in decline

I use a long Comfort Strapp [size=2][sup]TM[/sup][/size] (big slab of neoprene with elasticated strap over the top) with mine and never had any problems. I use the same type of strap on all my basses, but have one dedicated to the T bird, as the Schaller lock needs to be installed t'other way round to normal on the neck end.

I could do with changing my combo this year as it's getting a bit long in the tooth (Peavey Databass). I was thinking of going the barefaced + amp route, but the Rumble 500 looks very interesting (and a lot cheaper). Hmmm.... GAS lit

Would it be feasible to incorporate some of the design into a more conventional cabinet? i.e. use more standard materials for the main part, including bracing & padding, etc., but then have nice plexi front panel with all the lighting?

Many, many years ago I used a Marshall 100W guitar head. Not for long mind you, as it could not cut it volume-wise on larger gigs, and getting a clean sound was nigh on impossible.

Nirvana made a point of never playing any song the same - which makes me remember a truly awful rendition of one of their hits on TOTP once. It was excruciatingly bad

I like to have physical media. I have quite a lot of vinyl, but don't generally buy it now. I usually buy CDs and then rip them on iTunes as mp3 for convenience & sharing around the family iPods Vinyl: Rega Planar 3 / Arcam Alpha / Kef Coda 7 CD: In car or the Philips mini system in the kitchen (the best [u]sounding[/u] one within budget in the big electrical retailer shop back in the day) MP3: Computer with 5.1 system or iPod nano 3rd gen + my new Betron DC950 earbuds (highly recommended - excellent quality/price!)

We formed our first band at school aged around 16 or 17. I was originally going to be the keyboard player, having learnt the piano as a kid. However we didn't have a bass player, I didn't have a keyboard - and certainly wasn't going to lug an upright piano around! Between us we decided that bass was more important than keys anyway. It just so happened that my music teacher, who ordinarily wouldn't allow any electric instruments near his music room, had an old Kay shortscale SG style plank bass. This was duly purchased for a nominal amount and off I went. Of course my mum wasn't pleased, as she wanted me to play the trombone in the Royal Marines band. Despite having reached grade 8 on it, I really never wanted a trombone-related career, let alone being in the armed forces - you still have to do physical training, being told what to do, and being shot at, etc. Our school band's first (and only!) ever gig was in Germany. That may sound impressive, but we actually just took our guitars along on the school choir exchange trip. We got to play all of the three songs we knew, with two guitars (a Columbus 'strat' & a Les Paul copy), bass (my Kay SG) and vocals all going through a tiny little combo. In fact the singer was singing through one of those cheap tape recorder microphones, and had to sit on top of the combo because the mic lead was so short. Our poor German hosts never knew what hit them. The combo was of course inspected by customs heading both ways. Within a year or so the Kay was ditched for a Franconia Jazz copy, and that then for a Ric 4001, and I was playing bass in a real band, starting my 'career' with a 9 month summer season at Butlin's Skeggy playing 6 nights a week. After a few 'pro' years being pretty skint I eventually got a proper job, but continued as a weekend warrior to this day - about 30 years later.

Nothing else sounds like a Ric. Most basses can't sound like a Thunderbird. Neither of them can sound like a Precision. IMHO there is no one bass to rule them all. Having said that, you may find a bass that ticks all of *your* personal boxes (although as you're a basschat member I find that hard to believe !)

Dunno about you, but I find a lot of stuff online isn't actually correct or misses a lot of the nuances. If you want a job doing properly...

[quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1424078105' post='2692161'] Now I'm really confused. I've got a series 1 and always assumed it was passive with the switch on the rearward most position. What is being switched in and out if not the pre amp? [/quote] I must admit it's always confused me too

On the flip side, the Marc Johnson album I mentioned on the other thread (I think it was the track crossing the corpus calloseum) actually curtailed the fumbling as I was so intrigued. She didn't go out with me again

Like you said, it's active only. The switch alters the tone but it doesn't make any sound without batteries in it. It put me off active basses - every bass I've bought since has been passive. It's always drained batteries quickly. I bought it second hand in around '86 Edit: I'll check the jack socket power switch when I get it back. Although there's only one if I recall, which disconnects both batteries

Propaganda Duel (same girl, she had eclectic tastes!)

Ignore particular 'smiley' or 'frowny' shapes on your eq. Use your ears not your eyes

Thanks for a great informative post. However my mk 1 doesn't have an LED. I ended up putting a small piece of gaffer tape on the battery lead of the one that flattened quickest so I knew which one to change

Inspired by The Admiral (and a similar story with very fond memories) I'm going to chip in with another. It might be a bit electronic for most tastes... Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless

[quote name='Bloodaxe' timestamp='1423936646' post='2690617'] Yup - a Series 1. The thinking on the dating-by-serial sketch has changed in the last year or so... It used to be that first digit = year, but it's got a bit more complicated as it looks like they changed the system in 1980. The new interpretation runs like this: Pre 1980 — MM-Y-NNN, where MM is the month (05 = May, 11 = Nov etc.), Y = Year (either 7, 8 or 9) and NNN = the production number for that month (not necessarily restricted to SBs) 1980 7 beyond — Y-MM-NNN(N), where it goes Year/Month/Prod. This should apply to Clarky's. At some point the production number went from 3 to 4 digits. [/quote] Thanks for the info. I've not seen it for some time but I'm pretty sure mine is pre-80 but with a 00 serial number. I should get it back soon