basexperience

They’re definitely more a studio thing for me, but they’ll quickly dial up some harmonic differences with the various in phase / out of phase possibilities. Only slight allowance I have to make is not to get too enthusiastic with my thumb and catch a micro switch on the neck pickup. I love them!

Uncanny. My Rikkers Bodyline actually uses those switches on the humbuckers!

Check out Rikkers in the Netherlands - they do a bass in wood which is literally almost this design! They call it the “treeline” bass

Currently building a Bass Filter board to plug into my main pedalboard as an extension (using the Stomp loop). Some great sounds on here, and the chance to bring my original Q-tron back into use. That SZ funk face sounds killer.

Haha, wicked! I've been telling people about this for years - picked the tip up a couple of *decades* ago and stopped boiling strings to switch to this, and it's so good! And yep, they kind of feel played in, but with all the zing you could want - my guess is, the stretch they've had has them at "comfortable playing tension", so they don't need playing in. Such a cool trick, and it saves a fortune! And it'll work great the second time around, and the third - at least. The only thing that happens is the paint deteriorates on the ball ends - but that's it. And thanks to the XLs not having any thread winding on them, the string tops always look good. Nobody can tell it's L'oreal (or whatever)

BTW thanks for the info on HB and meths - that's a good price for 500ml! I could use a top-up

The ones I linked to are actually being sold in the Amazon D'addario shop, and the 3 sets I've had so far have all been legit.

If your bass has a quick release bridge, it makes it a lot easier - if you have to straighten / rewind the tuning peg end it still works fine, but the strings don't last quite as long as the metal up that end gradually weakens a little. That being said, it's still well worth doing. Welcome to saving a whole load of cash and always having loads of fresh strings available 🙂

@Woodinblack I feel your pain. I depped a full-tilt rock band a few years back, and the pub use a pair of old church pews to separate the crown from the floor-level window alcove the band set up in. We had to play with one food on the pew (facing inwards to us) to keep them in place, which works well when you're in full rock mode (hello Harris and his Monitor Foot Stance) I'm gigging tonight in Reading with Jagged Little Alanis (http://jaggedlittlealanis.co.uk) at the Facebar (just off Reading's internal ring road, easy access and chatham street car park very close by). Should be a good one!

Picnic! At the Disco And maybe Arctic Donkeys if it hasn't been done already

HELLO Basschatters! I've joined an Alanis Morissette tribute this year, and the bass on her songs turns out to be enchanting, sometimes complex, supportive and really interesting to play. If you're a fan of her work, and you can make it to Reading in Berkshire, come and check us out tonight: Facebar is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wYr6u83XvQDjPjyX7 Tickets from Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jagged-little-alanis-alanis-morissette-tribute-band-tickets-1116495962479 The band's accessible from http://jaggedlittlealanis.co.uk - CHEERS m'BASS DEERS Andy W

Yeah, sure! It's dead simple - just find a receptacle big enough (I'm using a plastic Costco snack container, the kind with a big screw top lid) - fill up nearly to the top with the meths, then wind up the strings tight enough to pop them in the meths, leave them there for a day or two, then pull them out and air dry (preferably outside or somewhere with really good airflow). That's all there is to it! Periodically I have to extract the gunk from the bottom as it can stain the strings eventually if it gets on there, but otherwise, that's it!

Fascinating, I didn't see these other offers, even when I looked into the D'addario store - there doesn't seem to be any single page presenting this stuff.

Seriously good value if you use this brand / gauge - 2 sets for under £30 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0007MWDOC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title Fill your boots! I clean my strings in a meths / denatured alcohol bath so I get several uses out of one set (never had one break yet!) and they come back bright and played-in. Cheers m'deers Andy W

Do you go full Ash?!?!

I only just got a stingray, a HH 5-string (2017 IIRC) with the 3-band. I was impressed that the Q wasn't ridiculous - there's so many preamps out there with unusable EQ ranges - like half of the range - but that stingray EQ is musical across all 3 at all 3 extremes, no pot travel is wasted. Ive got OBP-3s in a number of basses and those preamps have ridiculous bass boost you just don't use half of. I love a subtle EQ.

The headlining Bredon Cider Festival gig with Jagged Little Alanis from a couple of weeks ago is the gift that keeps on giving. The official photographers have been rolling out loads of stuff but these ones are amazing - love his edits! 🙂

A Cali, and Ampeg and a joyo sharing a board?! You're braver than I thought (as they say...) hehe tidy looking rig

@dmccombe7 yeah, the bass is a Rikkers Bodyline - absolutely beautiful olivewood bass, sounds amazing. Has switchable humbuckers for HB, in-out of phase and single coil, for both pickups. Serious gear! The bass has pics on the luthier's site over at https://www.rikkersgitaarbouw.nl/en/basses/bodyline/

I'd say hold on to it. Basses take up very little room: it's also a beautiful thing. If you need money, sell it: but not until then. Hell, hang it on the wall as a trophy if you want to: there are plenty of very very rare instruments which wind up in safety deposits and never being played at all. I have a number of 4 strings, but I mainly play 5: I actually like swapping back occasionally, and I've considered fitting a D-tuner on one of them. I also have a drop pedal on the board in case I ever fancy playing a 4 with BEAD without having to retune (it sounds OK in a band setting, it works). You love playing the Dingwall, but if you pick up your old warhorse, do you feel a bit of mojo? It'll feel different, too: necks feel different. That difference could be something which inspires you a little to play something different. Why not have some tunes which use 4-string which you play on that one only, just for yourself? The bass doesn't need to justify its keep unless you feel like it has to. I love keeping older basses: I've never actually sold one since I started in 1988. I have a fair number.

Bredon Cider Fest 2025, Jagged Little Alanis (www.jaggedlittlealanis.co.uk) headlining Friday night - this is a wonderful small festival with a big feel when you're onstage. The crowd are great, no lairiness, everybody happy as anything. Cider selection (and beers) was outstanding, food was good, and neither was extortionately priced. A great example of a well run fest, getting in and out was easy and seamless. They ran like clockwork and the sound guys were excellent, even though they'd come on board late in the game and didn't get the spec sheet (which is extensive for the band). The wig was a £10 TEMU job, it's surprisingly good haha Video is of the crowd singing the first verse. Ends abruptly as I suddenly realised I had to get my arse in gear on bass! Tribute acts aplenty (really good ones!) over the 2 days, such a great little fest. IMG_3761.mov

I've depped now for a good 20 years, with increasing amounts in the last 10 years or so. I've done a couple of weddings already this year, and even had to turn a couple of last minute ones down last Saturday or risk being treble booked. This setlist is so familiar, and that's a good thing! Also - they've given you great key information. Excellent work. I think the key things which help me feel comfortable when depping, in no particular order, are: I play a lot of jam nights. Those songs - those core function band songs - these get played a lot. That helps keep them fresh. I make notes on iPad and have these on a mic stand in front of me. I'm using Gig Notes now but I was using OneNote. The notes are a sort of evolved shorthand shorthandbnotes with basic chord sequences and cover the gotchas like where the key is different, and include the chords in the right key. I try to keep them to a single page if possible, and note any silent bits or modulations / middle 8 weirdness. This really helps for songs I haven't played before. I might include a small piece of notation for some bass figure which *really* matters to the song. A lot of the bands who need a dep are playing standard sets and play them a lot. They'll be great, and that's half the battle when dipping - you need a solid drummer who is picking out something familiar to latch on to, ditto for at least keys or guitar. I always make sure I can hear myself well. I'm actually building a small personal monitoring system which will split the DI from my bass so I can feed a pair of in-ears, and I'll mix the ambient level separately, so I can use those if required (you find out pretty quickly during soundcheck if the band are balls-out) I get to the venue early so there's less stress full stop. I like to help break everything down - it's the right thing to do, and people will remember that you pitch in and don't just blow in, play, and vanish. I bring the bass I'm most familiar with, which I know is the easiest to play. That matters for comfort and confidence. Hope those help. It's a fun thing to do: I'm actually on a pretty large FB bassist-only messenger group which shares deps between bassists and there have been some great ones on there!

Interesting idea! I've built a bits jazz myself, from a rescued eBay AllParts body (a beautiful sunburst some guy had tried to mount everything on 3 times, including the bridge - took some fixing, but it's a gorgeous body) and a Warmoth ebony fretless neck I bought nearly 30 years ago, which had been languishing on a terrible Hohner body for years. Slapped in a pair of Squier jazz pickups I found and it sounds lovely, so I know where you're coming from - I actually repainted the Hohner body when I fitted the neck to it, just rattle can but it was a nice shade of midnight metallic blue. I've read some of the responses here and one of the ones which struck me as a good point was the sheer number of fender type basses out there you can get - and Squiers, too. I wondered if there might be any challenge / fun in finding a "good" chickenbacker from e.g. AliExpress, then upgrading it with better parts (making sure the basses were through necks, or whatever) - using the bass as a starting point. I understand some vendors do sell kits, as well, unpainted. You'd have to sell in places like Fakenbackers on Facebook, and you wouldn't be able to list here, unfortunately (IIRC)... they have other fake basses too though, there could be a USP in taking e.g. fake Dingwalls and making them far better basses. Could be fun finding out how to do things like round out sharp fret ends, improve neck condition, even finishing the kits, I guess. It is fun putting bits together and getting something playable out, no doubt. I'll probably do the same when I retire (when I'm not gigging)!