FinnDave

If you don't eff it up occasionally, then you ain't trying hard enough. I'd much sooner hear a passionate performance than a perfect one.

It's interesting how different we all are - certainly there's no 'one size fits all' when it comes to basses (not even Precisions!).

I'm really surprised that people want the action in their basses as low as possible - I appreciate it means less effort to fret the strings (or whatever the equivalent word is for fretless basses) but I find repeated small movements of my fingers more tiring than working them a bit more. I use an action of at least 1/8" (3.2mm) at the 12th fret for my basses and play long sets without trouble. I've tried lower, but my fretting hand gets cramped after an hour or two of playing. I'm not criticising people who prefer a lower action, I simply don't understand it, as it doesn't match up with my experience at all.

PM sent, the file was attached when it left me….

I managed to download the piece I wanted and then ignored the rest - I use a private window in a different browser for that sort of thing. If I still have the file, I'll send it to you by PM, if I can.

I've got a copy somewhere of an academic paper analysing Phil Lesh's bass playing (Grateful Dead) and it only mentions a few other bass players - but Lemmy's playing in Hawkwind has a favourable mention. He's in good company!

The ideal for me, based on the amount of space I have available, is four basses. Unfortunately, I have seven, though one (Ibanez 6 string) is currently for sale. That leaves the tricky question of which other two are going to have to go.

i've never understood the posts that say they have an action of 1mm or so - my strings would rattle if I even looked at them at the that kind of action. I find a medium (1/8" or 3.2mm) action at the twelfth is less tiring to play than having to go easy with a lower action.

Mine are usually at least 3mm at the twelfth. Any lower and I have to really concentrate on playing gently.

Lemmy's playing on the Space Ritual version of 'Down through the Night' remains a highlight - a perfect example of playing to fit the music in my opinion. I'm not a fan of his later music, but that one track was part of the reason I got into bass playing back in the early 70s.

Sounds great, lovely 'singing' tone on the G string - bit like a Jazz bass on steroids. It is a lovely bass, but currently I am completely obsessed with my Epiphone JCB - so comfortable. I do remember noting that the Panther was the only bass I've had that I could play a full Dudes' show with without getting any hand cramp.

I know very little about Sandberg basses or the company's history, but I did fall for, and buy, this about three months ago. Used it for our February gig, since when it hasn't left its case!

I was a very hard core Gong fan back in the 70s, but Gazeuse was the last album of their's I bought. Completely different band - I didn't much care for Shamal, but Gazeuse was so un-Gong like that I lent it someone and never asked for it back. But I guess that if you like Gazeuse and the other Pierre Moerlin led Gong material, then you probably wouldn't rate the Radio Gnome trilogy too highly - horses for courses and all that.

Same here, just the same.

My current 'go-to' bass is my most recent purchase, a £500 Epiphone Jack Casady, which is the only bass I've played for the last 4 weeks or so - my 4 Fenders and a Sandberg have remained unplayed since the day the Casady bass arrived. (I feel sure I've typed something similar in the last 24 hours, but can't find it!)

Thinking about it, I am often thrown by chord sheets with Gb on - probably because F# seems more common! In fact the only notes I 'see' easily as flats are Bb and Eb. Stupid bloody brain I've got!

That would explain why I haven't noticed the difference!

I've had quite a few Jazz basses over the years, and there's still three upstairs. Two of them are MiM 'Classic 60s' models, so I assume the pick up spacing is different on them to my Jazz deLuxe. To be honest, the only difference I noticed between the Classic 60s and the more recent US Standards I've owned is the fingerboard radius. I've never noticed any difference in sound that I could attribute to pick up spacing, only to different pick ups and strings (and technique, of course).

The NFA/GDTRFB/NFA medley is one of my favs, there's some great opportunities for the bass in there! Would have loved to have seen/heard Bear's Wall of Sound in action!!

I bought a brand new gold top for 499 just a few weeks ago. I've seen some daft prices on line, but that's still possible. If you can cope with the neck dive/forward dive that is inherent in the design, they are very good basses for the money. Very clean sound.

I think I saw that one as well, but I prefer something a bit brighter than black - one of the red ones would be great, otherwise another gold top. Black doesn't look too good against the tie dye!

I was forced into pick use about 4 years ago after a bike accident left me unable to play finger style. I experimented with all sorts of picks, but settled on 3mm Dunlop big stubbies. Zero flex, so it's like playing with your fingers, I find picks that bend mess up the timing. I now have to check the date of recordings of my bass playing to see whether they were pre or post accident, as I can't really hear the difference now. The only drawbacks of the big stubbies are that they scare guitarists if they ask to borrow a pick (actually, that's not a drawback at all!) and that they are quite hard to find (especially if I've already been there, as I tend to buy them all 'just in case', though in the 3-4 years I've been using them I have not worn one out nor have I lost any). There only other drawback is one I hadn't considered until I saw Lozz's post - they don't have cool tortoises on them, which is definitely a serious drawback.

I don't much else to do at the moment, and I do enjoy playing the stuff I play - it's certainly no hardship!

I'm just looking on the bright side, Al! No gigs in the immediate future, so just playing at home 2-3 hours a day to keep my hand in. For that, the JCB is ideal, and I do fancy a back-up - I used to gig one and it was surprisingly versatile. The Sandberg (just the one!) hasn't left its case since the February gig - not because I've fallen out with it, but because it is too lovely (and expensive!) to bash into things in my little practice room. The JCB's 2 per side headstock is a little shorter and less vulnerable than the Fender style on the Sandberg.

Never heard the term 'bass drop' before, but kind of get the idea now someone's used something I recognise as an example. The band I'm in is 100% Grateful Dead, and the Other One is always popular with us and our audiences.