Norris

A decent set list takes a bit of curation. Stuff that's in your genre/niche/usp that people have heard of but no other bands do. We centre around 70s rock and absolutely refuse to play Mr Brightside, etc. because nearly every other band does that. We venture into funk, pop and prog too - the proggy stuff especially helps us to stand out

My Boss OC-2 tracks pretty well. Make sure it's first in the chain, as the more "pure" the signal the better

'78 Rickenbacker 4002 in Azure blue I traded it in '85/'86 and have only one or two "analogue" photos of it to remember it by. I do still have the '80 Aria Pro II SB-1000 that I chopped it in for though. Ah, those good old days when you could only afford one bass at a time, eh?

Comfort Strapp. I've used them for several decades and wouldn't use anything else

Cough... https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/473690-nbd-sire-marcus-miller-p7-5-version-2/

A wipe with a damp cloth with a little detergent (washing-up liquid) will fetch most muck off - that is going to come off. Anything more than that is probably permanently stained

Having played pretty regularly for nearly 40 years now, I have a finely honed list of essential spares to carry, which has got me through hundreds of gigs... Strings Guitar lead Battery (if active bass) A tool kit with screwdrivers and a pair of pliers I've never had a bass "break" I've had an amp die maybe twice, that involved plugging into the PA I've had a few strings break, but not in the last 10 years at least More likely something comes loose that needs nipping up with the pliers

I wanted a 5-string Fender Precision So I bought a Sire

This. For more info search for "gain staging"

If a spring washer doesn't work, then the tiniest drop of clear nail varnish on the thread will act as thread lock

The luthier that taught me had a pair of pincers that he ground down to make the tips quite sharp for getting under the frets to remove them. Some heat will help too e.g. from a soldering iron For nut files, don't buy cheap. I'll say it again - don't buy cheap. Hosco are a decent brand, but are not cheap

The film will not make any difference. It's just there to protect things from scratches until it gets in the grubby hands of the customer The screw will be going through the base plate of the pickup. It certainly wouldn't be unusual for a pickup to make a noise when tapped with a screwdriver, and this could also be affected by the screw too. Don't worry, it's all perfectly normal Underneath the scratch plate will be a spring that the screw passes through the middle of, and then into the pickup base plate. Be careful if you loosen the screw too much while taking off the film, or it may unscrew completely and you'll need to take off the scratch plate to get it all back together. That's still not a problem though - people fiddle like this for fun

Oh, you'd be surprised how much "heft" you get out of a pair of 10's in the Rumble 500 combo!

I've no experience of the Ampeg, but absolutely love my Rumble 500. Sounds great, fills any rooms I play in, looks classy imho and a one-hand lift out at the end of the night.

There are three types of necks: fat ones, slim ones, and those that need winding in

You may not have intended it, but this thread comes across as "I have an opinion and everyone else is wrong". I've played bass guitar for over 40 years, pro and semi-pro. I think I know what kind of neck I prefer by now I'll now retreat back into the woodwork.

I've hefted some kit around in the past. Now it's a Fender Rumble v3 500 combo. One hand lift, sounds great, job done.

That's another thing - the (pro) guitarist has the busiest diary so takes the bookings, and as I said it's up to the rest of us to let him know what dates are NOT available

I get custom leads made up with an angled jack both ends. Tidier at the bass end wherever the socket is located. Less likely to do damage when a drunken punter stumbles onto your pedals. Strange that you can't seem to buy them off the shelf, but custom made leads are not much more expensive and last a lot longer if made of decent quality jacks (always Neutrik!) and cable

We don't take a gig unless every member is free and has agreed to it. If we need to keep any dates free we let each other know asap. Extending those courtesies to each other has kept us together for many years now Deps are then minimised to absences due to illness, or wanting to slot an extra gig in at late notice. We would generally do 98%+ of the gigs we commit to. On rare occasions we may try to move a date if something crops up. The guitarist is pro, so I'm happy with him taking solo gigs or putting scratch bands together to help fill his diary. I'm a weekend warrior and he's happy with me wanting a weekend off now and again. It all works out well. The main thing is we are all adults and talk to each other if there's a problem.

Where do you naturally pluck the strings? Put it there

Well I've actually had it for a couple of weeks but only gigged it for the first time on Friday night. You can play it at home, but it's not until you get a bass in a proper band situation that you can properly evaluate it. Out of the box it was very close to being in tune. Action was good, intonation pretty much spot on. Probably set up by Anderton's (? good job if so) but not damaged by DPD either. Factory fitted d'Addario strings were a nice touch. Gigging wise, well it's a Precision so what's not to like?! Clear, articulate & punchy and slotted into the mix nicely (guitar, bass, drums trio). Plenty of positive comments from the audience too, including many musos (which is always fun when you're not so familiar with 5 strings!) There's a lot of knobs! Master volume/master tone (split), pickup blend, active treble, active mid/mid frequency (split), active bass. Then an active/passive switch. The balance between active and passive is pretty good, although I stayed on active all night. It is a very impressive bass for the price. I was actually looking for something like my beloved (passive) Squier P-bass Special, but with 5 strings. It seems that Fender don't have much to offer currently, and latest Squier reviews indicate that production standards have dipped again recently. Sire seems to fill that gap according to the reviews I read. The Sire seems to be well spec'ed and built, with some very nice features for the price. Build quality is very good. The one thing that lets it down slightly is the battery cover, which is is held on by 4 wood screws rather than a compartment with easy release cover. However, that is the only negative thing I've found about the bass so far. I enjoyed playing it, it sounded great (and looks great imho) and is a keeper. Oh, and the B string is nice and tight, and well matched to the rest of the strings

7 basses and an EUB 2 electric guitars 2 acoustic guitars Also... Son #1 has 2 basses Son #2 has 1 bass + 1 electric