martthebass

I always take my own bass, if I take a cheapy then I'm happy to let someone else use it if I take something more precious to me then (unless I know the borrower well) no. I'd expect the PA and backline to be provided by the house/organiser. As an aside I had a run in with a pillock a few months back at a local jam. I plugged into the bass amp and the aforementioned came up to me and said not to use that amp to which I was plugging in. I said sorry mate, didn't know it was damaged to which he replied, 'it isn't, it's mine'. After that I may have requested that he do one, but Personally I would only put backline on a Jamnight stage if I was happy with all using it ....albeit I might tape down the controls!

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1393422330' post='2380018'] Otherwise, we are just passive consumers and will take whatever old s***e is thrown at us. [/quote] Oh Bilbo, so young yet so cynical ;-)

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1393377559' post='2379634'] I still don't get the Beatles mate. Nothing about what they did speaks to me or moves me. It has little to do with the music. [/quote] It helps if you were alive in the 60s.....if not I guess a lot of the Beatles may not resonate with you. I never understood George Formby.....

Cheers guys.....looks like I might save myself £500 going down the upgrade route. Then again there's a thread on the other channel that says that basswood and agathis sound like the devils sphincter lol.

Cracking bass BA, same colour as mine minus the bit of sparkle (best colour on a 4000 IMHO).

Thanks for the responses. If I was looking at the upgrade route I'd look at the 'tronics and the pups....any suggestions, bearing in mind that the bass is probably worth <£200.

Over the years I've had an on-off affair with Jazz basses. Usually I drifted backwards and forward between having a Jazz or a Precision, that is until last year when I decided to break the loop and sold both my P bass bitsa and my 75RI MIA Jazz. I ended up Fenderless for the first time since about 1997 and the Status and a 4003 became my main gigging basses. No surprises after about 6 months I began to miss having a Jazz (but fortunately not a Precision) and as cash was tight, picked up a VM77. I expected to mainly use this for Jamnights and 'toilet' gigs but recently I find myself using it at least 50% of the time. Now the VM is nice but it isn't as nice in feel or sound as the 75RI I had.....but then again I wouldn't want something that good for the 'toilets'. So I'm finding myself thinking, should I upgrade the VM with some better pups or sell it and get a used RW 60s Jazz? I have had the odd fumble with the RW acoustically and it sempt to be not far off the 75RI quality wise (though not as aggressive in sound) and as it comes pre-distressed I don't think I'd be precious about damaging it. I'd appreciate any words of advice....I don't want to spend money for the sake of it.

I didn't think there should be much variation what with modern CNC and all but my 2001 Ray does feel slimmer and faster than some of the mid 2000s Rays I've had and the 1990 specimens I had some years back. If youre coming from a Jazz I guess it could feel more of a handful but it's hardly a baseball bat. As others had said above if you're a Jazz man then the Sterling is your man!

If I had the cash and the space I'd have a few more, but four seems about right for me. I go on and off the fretted ones so having a different 'flavour' available keeps me interested. At the minute I'm using my cheap Squier VM Jazz77 more than anything else, in a couple of weeks I'll probably be back on the Status...

To get a good approximation of the sound go for the high gains......not cheap though but cheaper than the toasters. I'd avoid the HB1s, a bit cheaper than the high gains as a pair but a bit dark sounding for many. Try and get a good copy of the harness or much of your work will be undone without the right cap value etc. Don't spend the extra getting the vintage tone selector, it makes the neck pup far too thin for most peoples tastes and to my ears nothing like a vintage 4001.

[quote name='Alan Fourstrings' timestamp='1392301869' post='2367001'] Yes, but very easy to use once you understand the layout. It's in fact a classic setup with Blend, Volume, Treble, Bass. And the 4 knobs near the output jack are: semi-parametric for high, and semi-parametric for low. The 2 toggles are to switch the pickups from humbucker to single coil. [/quote] I get lost beyond V/V/T lol

My god, that has more switches and knobs than all my basses put together!

I use an iPad, amplitube and iRig. Works well for me as you can pull anything in from the iTunes library and slow things down without altering pitch. I know there's cheaper alternatives but if you've got an iPhone then the only cost is the irig connector.

Mine will be getting a run out this evening.....granted I'll be using it for Talk Talk and other 80s covers though.

It may indeed J, generally though I'm pretty much buggered when there isn't good monitoring on stage and I have to resort to the side dots. If the stage lighting is crap....chaos ensues.

Good to see a class piece of kit being given a new lease of life! I had 3 GP7 combos on the trot over a 20 year period.....only change to Markbass when my back got fragile. Still miss em.

I just use Dunlop spray on mine and use a microfiber cloth. Seems to come up fine. One thing to note though, I'm on my 3rd Rick and not one of them has had the sort of deep gloss finish of say, a Musicman. They seem it have fine lines in the top coat which doesn't polish out using a standard prep like planet waves polish.

Following the 'insanity' comment above. I've had umpteen precisions always expecting to like them because they are iconic. I like the feel and simplicity but I've never been able to get a sound out of one that works for me and I've had a JV, an MIM, a couple of MIA and I don't recall how many copies/squiers. The first Rick I had went back to its seller within 2 weeks, far too different from my Ray/Jazz type comfort zone. 2 years later I got another off BC, bugger me if it wasn't the same Rick from a different seller. It still feels funny but the sound is worth it. Some basses just need perseverance....

Warwick Thumb.....loved the look and feel. Waited ages to get one, just wasn't me. Rick 4004.....another one I coverted, thought of it as a more refined 4003 but it sounded so completely different that I couldn't get my head around it. On the other hand, my Status Streamline.....I was determined not to like it because it looked goofy (it was originally my stepping stone to a s2) but 5 years or so on it's still the mutts.

Thanks for the answers guys. Cabs will be a pair of NY121s. Not sure if there are two inputs on the back of these....there was on my old 151HR. If there are 2 then ill daisy chain if not then different leads. I was concerned about using standard jack speaker leads, I thought it was necessary to use speakons with 500W output amps?