Painy

It's all my childhood best friend's fault. He got a drum kit for Christmas (which he picked up and got very good at very quickly indeed) and wanted someone to jam with. I'd had piano lessons so assumed he'd want me to play keys which didn't really appeal to me but he was really into Nirvana at the time so was thinking more of guitar. He lent me an old steel strung acoustic that only had the low E and A strings on it and gave me a copied cassette of Nirvana Unplugged I've always had a good ear for music and within a week I'd learnt to play every song on that album well enough to at least play along. Turns out though that I'd actually learnt the bass lines. I'd been listening to Quadraphenia a lot and it was the bass in it that I was drawn to (even though I didn't even know it was a bass) so it made sense to me to learn that same part of these songs. Fortunately my mate was just as happy to jam with a bass player as a guitarist and actually lent me the money to buy my first bass (a Hohner B2a).

The only bass I've ever experienced any significant amount of neck dive with was my old acoustic which was hardly surprising given the lack of weight in a hollow body to balance out the neck. Fortunately I only ever used it for learning songs sat down at home and never on a strap so a bit of a non issue really.

I've also just received a strap from Martyn. Honestly couldn't have been an easier transaction. Thanks again!

From a playing point of view it would be John Entwistle. I was about 12 years old when my sister's boyfriend gave me a cassette tape of Quadrophenia. I was completely blown away by The Real Me. I didn't even know it was the bass at the time if I'm honest but there was this incredible, thunderous sound that completely dominated and drove that song. A couple of years later a friend suggested I try taking up bass as he'd just been given a drum kit. It was only then when I started to listen out for the bass lines on songs that I realized that was what it was. That one song meant that I have never viewed the bass as 'just' a supporting or background instrument. It can certainly do that all day long if necessary but John Entwistle was the man that first showed me it is also capable of so much more. From a purely visual point of view though an honorable mention goes to Jason Newsted headbanging his way through A Year And A Half In The Life Of Metallica. He influenced me most when I first started playing to be visually entertaining as well as musical and I've never been one for staying still on stage.

These are what I gig with. [URL=http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Richard_Pain/media/stuff/IMAG0558_zpsxrbp7252.jpg.html][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/Richard_Pain/stuff/IMAG0558_zpsxrbp7252.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The jazz is used on the 2 or 3 songs where I use a pick. The strap is set a bit longer as I find it more comfortable for pick playing. The precision is used on the 8 or 9 songs where a more oldschool tone just works better. The Ray basically gets used on everything else. They obviously all sounds very different and if I didn't gig with them all then I wouldn't really be able to justify owning them all (to my wife).

Have you ever thought of phoning up Vigier and saying "Hey Patrice, I'm the owner of Europe's largest online bass guitar forum and also a long time user of your lovely basses. How about a cheeky endorsement deal? Eh, eh, eh. Nudge nudge. Wink wink." This time next next year we could all be queuing up to buy our very own Vigier branded Ped signature tuning-peg cozies!

[URL=http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Richard_Pain/media/stuff/FB_IMG_1487106883311_zpsbiwsjuii.jpg.html][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/Richard_Pain/stuff/FB_IMG_1487106883311_zpsbiwsjuii.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Congrats! I still can't get over how good these are and not just for the price either. Enjoy!

Am I the only person that actually likes the look of a 4+1 headstock? [URL=http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Richard_Pain/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0590_1_zps4y1nxrac.jpg.html][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/Richard_Pain/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0590_1_zps4y1nxrac.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Does depend on the style of headstock though. 3+2 obviously looks better on more symmetrical headstocks like Warwick, Spector and Ibanez SR etc. but I've seen a couple of Maruszczyk basses with more of a Fender style headstock in a 3+2 and to my eyes it just looked weird. Maybe it's just me though .

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1487514150' post='3240348'] 5 mins later... [/quote] I've been paying £28.50 a (5 string) set from Stringbusters for the Prosteels plus postage and I got 2 sets of the Rotos (again 5 string sets) for £37.00 including postage which is obviously quite a bit cheaper. Hopefully that'll compensate for a shorter life span. Fingers crossed.

Just to update, I have just put a new set of Rotosound 66s on my bass for the first time since switching to D'Addarios in what it turns out was actually nearly 4 years! Straight away, and despite this being on a completely different bass (was a Warwick now a Precision), that something that's been missing from my sound all this time is back. The lows are thicker and more rounded and that zing is more of a metallic growl in the high mids than the D'Addarios which I felt are more about the higher end of the treble (like I said before, more of a ting than a zing) so didn't fill out the sound in the same way. Now to see how they last!

The Who. I'd like to be allowed to move around a bit on stage though please.

[quote name='markdavid' timestamp='1487441720' post='3239866'] Maybe you have a bad set ,personally i love new strings and mine get changed monthly but that's just me [/quote] I'm with you on this one. These arrived today. I'm a happy bunny ! [URL=http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Richard_Pain/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0588_zpsycs0huos.jpg.html][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/Richard_Pain/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0588_zpsycs0huos.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I don't know how they sleep at night (apart from on their stolen pillow obviously). Seriously though, we had our whole PA system stolen out of our van a few years back (all except the rather bulky 2x15 bass bins anyway). Horrible experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone and I sincerely hope this chap has more luck recovering his gear than we had!

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1487362711' post='3239373'] 80s pop = chorus pedal and sh*t fashion. Bad news on both fronts I'm afraid 😞 [/quote] Oh come on. It's not all THAT bad. I quite like sh*t fashion!

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1487352908' post='3239276'] For early 80s pop you can't go far wrong with an Aria Pro II SB 1000 and a fretless Wal through a Trace Elliot amp. [/quote] Pretty much covers it I'd say! Although, for a truly authentic tone you should probably also get a mullet haircut.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1487339539' post='3239127'] Many moons ago, my first bass had flats on it. When I broke a G-string, the local guitar place only had rounds so being the poor lad that I was, I just bought a round G. I spent the next few weeks playing almost exclusively that string in awe of its zingy characteristics. With this in mind, I never played flats after those strings came off. Why would I want my bass to sound like it had year old rounds on it? [/quote] Not really flats vs rounds but does remind me of the first time I ever changed strings. My first bass was a Hohner B2a bought second hand and I guess the strings that came on it were pretty old already but the chap selling it included a new set of Elites double ball ends. I kept the old strings on for a good while and at that stage (with nobody to guide me otherwise) I was cutting all the mids and treble on the amp, boosting the bass, rolling off the tone and playing with my thumb over the end of the fingerboard because, well "it's a BASS". When I noticed the strings were looking a bit gunky I decided to change them. Put the new strings on and actually thought that "weird metallic twangy sound" meant that there was something faulty with the new strings so swapped them back! A few months later my friend showed me the Year and a Half in the Life Of... Metallica videos and there was a bit with Jason soundchecking where you could hear his bass clearly solo'd. I realised that the mids and treble were how you could actually hear the notes that he played (I hadn't heard ...And Justice For All yet) so I put the new strings back on. Ever since then I've just preferred a bright, aggressive sound when playing with a band. Other people seem to make flats sound really good but when I tried them with my band recently it was just mud .

I've been thinking about putting a Delano in mine for a while (can't remember the model but it's the one with the chunky MM style pole pieces) but that's because I'm after a more aggressive sound. Trouble is it would require some routing to fit as the shells are equal sized which has held me off so far in case it turns out not to sound how I want. I did install a simple active circuit in mine (with KiOgon's help) - an old Dan Armstrong Yellow Humper - which really helped for me but obviously not what everyone would want from a P bass. I have heard a couple of positive reports from people who have put the Nordstrands in theirs though and did have a chat with 'Bass is the place' about his. Could be worth a PM to him?

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1487316606' post='3238817'] Who's on bass? This is obviously post-Jimmy H [/quote] It's Dane Alderson who is now playing with them after taking over from Felix Pastorius. With a bit of practice he could be quite a good bass player one day . Beaten to it!

[quote name='alibabu' timestamp='1487308394' post='3238795'] It is my favorite Yellowjackets tune, Geraldine. Studio version on The Spin, and a brilliant live version on Live Wires. [/quote] Thanks for that! It really is a stunning price of music. As I say, I'd never really appreciated jazz properly in the past and I guess my perception of it was that the notes all seemed a bit random so I couldn't find in it what I thought a melody should sound like. Again, I'm really starting to 'get it' now anyway but this piece completely blows that old perception away - so melodic and emotive!

My Squier VM P5 (£270 new at the time). Had GAS for a P bass (didn't want a P/J though) but needed it to be a five string. Not many options available for 5 String precisions and I didn't want to spend out on a Fender US Standard. Went to try the Squier out at my local PMT and, whadya know, it's only the most comfortable neck I've ever played! It's had some upgrades to the electronics to get it sounding right and I'm still considering putting a new pickup in it at some point but it's always the first bass I pick up and it puts a smile on my face every time.

I've just recently started to appreciate Jazz after years of not being interested in it at all and most recently I've really been enjoying checking out a lot of the Yellowjackets' stuff on you tube. There's a piece in this video that starts at 24:55 in that I'd like to know the name of if anyone can help me at all? http://youtu.be/rLjZUCtZpSk

Sorry posted in wrong forum!

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1487175150' post='3237776'] No regrets, as every bass sold was a necessity in several dimensions. That said, nearly every sale did hurt, except my nasty Rockinbetter and maybe the Ashbory, whereas the one that unexpectedly hurt the most by far was this one, which happily went to a good BC'er: [URL=http://s1170.photobucket.com/user/basstractor1/media/1IMG_0046_zpsd220d997.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r525/basstractor1/1IMG_0046_zpsd220d997.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/quote] Ooooo, Pretty!!!