Norris

Time for Eb tuning... :-)

Try both. You'll probably find the Squier almost indistinguishable from the Fender - except for a big difference in price. Buy second hand and you won't see any devaluation. There's nothing wrong with Squier pickups - my P-bass special (PJ) sounds great

That looks very nice, but I have enough basses already. [i]Must not GAS...[/i]

As others have stated it comes down to practise, practise, practise. First of all you need to know your bass part so you can play it unconsciously. You then need to learn your vocals separately, and finally put them together. A good way to start on the mental compartmentalisation you need is to play a bass part you know well while trying to hold a conversation with someone. If you can do that and keep the conversation flowing without pauses and stutters you are most of the way there. Another advantage is that you'll be able to talk to audience members who insist on making a request while you're playing some devilish riff. So while you're sitting there noodling away of an evening, chat to your partner. ... from a chap who takes the lead vocal on Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile) - a straight forward enough bass line, but vocals pulled off the beat all over the place!

Doing an A level was enough for me - and bored me rigid! I wish I had done a more 'useful' course instead. I never seriously considered any higher education in music and instead went for IT. (I did A level music & got grade 8 on trombone, so did seriously consider it for a short time) I came to the conclusion that being a good musician does not rely on how you do in exams, but how you perform on your chosen instrument(s). Look at how many 'stars' have a degree in music - most of them can't even read dots. Disclaimer: I can understand that there are certain areas of music that might benefit from higher education e.g. composition, conducting, etc., but that's a lot of stick waving to recoup £50k of education debt!

I stipulated no financial reward as that seems to me to be the most obvious reason why there are so many signature models around. By taking out the money we're basically left with either ego (I want everyone to know my name), integrity (sod off, I'm a serious musician here) or altruism (the world needs my vision of the ultimate bass) Some great responses

Another vote for the Kay SG - truly horrendous!

Assuming that you were famous enough to be offered a signature model and you would not benefit financially from it, would you want one? I can quite see why people would want a custom bass made to their own specifications, but don't really see the attraction of flogging copies of it to all and sundry. There are a lot of signature models available; many from people I've never heard of. Would there be so many if the signatories didn't make money out of it? If you did want your own 'sig' how would you make it different from the many already out there?

I have a fake SM58 and it doesn't sound too bad compared to a genuine one - slightly more top end if anything. It still sounds good enough to gig with, and it's certainly not worth forking out another pile of cash for a genuine one. If I was going to replace it I'd probably look at some of the Behringer equivalents, but I generally avoid singing too much anyway for the sake of the audience

The output of the pickup coils is proportional to the mass of the string vibrating within the electro-magnetic field, so a heavier gauge should give a higher output. Having said that, I'd still stick to the strings you're comfortable with and use your tone/volume controls to tweak the sound.

A second hand Stagg would get you a very affordable EUB that will not lose you any money if you subsequently decide to move it on. If you've never played any sort of DB before it will give you a rough idea & cure some immediate GAS. Personally I'm very happy with mine and currently have no desire to upgrade. It's compact and very giggable as a bit of a novelty. Shame you couldn't make it to the Midlands Bass Bash ... from the chap that took the EUB!

Many thanks to the organisers for a fantastic afternoon. A special mention to whoever made those delicious rock cakes. Finally an apology to all wives of bass players now GASing for an EUB!

I'll stick my combo in the car but don't intend to bring it in unless we are short (unlikely!). Instead I will bring along my GT6-B multi-effects pedal and a pair of headphones. I'll also bring a pair of headphones that can plug straight into the EUB. Hopefully then you'll be able to hear what you're doing. I've given the meeting a plug on the "Leicestershire Musicians" facebook group, which should hopefully pull a few more paying visitors in. Will there be a supply of basschat merchandise in attendance? I wouldn't mind a polo shirt

I have a very strong opinion on this subject, and just as soon as I work out what this thread is actually about I'll express it in SHOUTY TEXT. So there!

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1398542897' post='2435152'] If you happen to be lucky enough to own an early Fender Precision Lyte you will need to replace the battery every other month without fail, mine is fantastic is gives you precisely no warning what so ever that the battery is dying, literally plugged it in for the sound check it worked perfectly, unplugged it again, went onstage twenty minutes later played the first note and it died! (apparently it is a known fault on these basses and again apparently there is a fix for it but the guy who mentioned it couldn't remember what the fix was!) Still one of my favourite basses but I always have a spare bass close to hand if I am gigging it [/quote] I had similar issues with my Aria Pro II SB-1000 and used to have to change batteries at least every 2 months - which involved removing 3 screws to get the cover off. With dead batteries there was no sound, even in 'passive' mode! Having to remove the cover meant there was no such thing as a 'quick' change. All of my basses have been passive since then.

A depth

Uncle Tim's Badger Sandwich

I picked up a Squier P-bass Special on here for about £150 and it's a fantastic bass for the money. P body, J neck & P-J pups. If you get one make sure you play it a bit before changing anything. I've never felt the need to 'upgrade' the pickups as the stock Squier ones are actually pretty good IMHO.

How can I have been a bass player for 30 years or so and never seen/heard Stanley Clarke play before?!! I was watching my Old Grey Whistle Test DVDs (the third disk that they call "Disk 2" for some reason) and up popped Stanley. It's not my style or even the sort of stuff I usually listen to but heck is it impressive, even if just as something different. If you've never seen or heard him play before then I urge you to get searching on youtube

For me, to be a bass player is to play; to play is to gig. Everything else is just fluff

It was bad enough when people used to wave their phones around in your face. Now it's hulking great pad things. Next time I go to a gig I'll try to take a big flat screen television in with me and spend all night staring at it at arms length.

Last time I went in, Sheehan's had a couple of Fender Bass VI's and Music Junkie has a couple of Squiers. Both shops are in Leicester, which isn't that far from Nottingham. Sheehan's have also got a Coronado bass in stock (short scale, hollow body, still not exactly light though) [url="http://www.sheehans.com/"]http://www.sheehans.com/[/url] [url="http://www.musicjunkie.co.uk/"]http://www.musicjunkie.co.uk/[/url] Edit: I'd call them before you make a trip down though, as the VI's are not currently listed on either of their websites!

I'm jealous. The walnut looks absolutely gorgeous.

A lot of the bass players I know seem to be using R***********s, so at my last gig I dragged out the T-bird. Copy that!