NancyJohnson

I need to get a small, inexpensive/cheap combo; doesn't need to have loads of power (I have loud elsewhere), just something capable/non-farty, that I can pull out at home and have a noodle on. Something like the Trace Eliot 1x8 Elf combo sized, but not the price. NS NXT5 EUB. Ideas?

Cheap Trick - Out To Get You Live 1977. Japanese CD. This is a RSD release from a few years back; it's from four shows in Los Angeles in June 1977, so about three months before In Color... dropped. Brilliant stuff.

You could plug the holes easily enough; the headstock looks big enough for a 12-string bass project. Reshape the headstock a little to mask its heritage. Could be a fun project.

Hopefully a solution. I've removed the bolt attachment from the original NS tripod (there's a decent hole) and have bought a long-armed Hercules wall hanger: My intention is to cut the wall plate off and then tap the end of the steel and bolt it to the NS tripod. In theory it should be quite simple. What could possibly go wrong? 😂

Just on the original post, I have never understood how or why MusicMan decided that that monstrosity of a pickguard/scratchplate on the Stingray 5 was a good thing or decent design statement. And yes, I know they've done 5-string models in the original shape. There are some (no pun intended) sterling finishes on some of these 5s (the deep purple sparkle), but then over half the top is just covered in big slab of plastic. It works okayish on the stealth models where there's a single-ply matte guard and it kind of disappears:

I feel that any band I've played in has benefited from decent backing vocals; I'll admit I that while I don't have a frontman's lungs, despite my stature, my vocals are somewhat thin and whiny (some compared me to Liam Gallagher) rather than coarse and full, but to my credit I'm pretty much always in tune and I have a decent range. The only thing I really struggle with is harmonising. I can't come up with harmonies and even when I do have a harmony part to sing, I still struggle.

Just on the OPs quote about solo karaoke singers, a couple of weeks back, I went to a wedding reception where said bride and groom decided they were just going to have a DJ until 10.30pm, then karaoke. The guests were probably about 50/50 parents and their 25+ year old children and their friends; stupidly, it did cross my mind that if there were any decent singers it might be worth hitting them up and asking whether they'd be interested in fronting a band. I suppose after decades of X-Factor (etc.) it's honestly no wonder that people think they can sing. Man alive, we stuck around until 11.30pm and not one of the people that picked up the microphone could hold a tune. It was all nails on a blackboard stuff. We suffered an hour of cats screaming.

It always fascinates me that people feel the need for a board like this! I'd never used stomps of any sort until I got a BDDI about 15+ years ago and that was a revelation. I've gone through a few (cough) upgrades (cough), but now I'm back to a BDDI and I have a GED2112-DI box. I'll just use swap these around every few weeks. Both do everything I could possibly desire.

I met John. Genuinely a lovely, lovely bloke. That said, (the late) Rambo Stevens was with him and I found him a bit unpleasant. I know they were great mates, but it was as if John was playing up for his benefit.

Afternoon. So, following my transition from a tripod stand to the NS Design frame strap sysyem, I find myself in a situation where I need a stand to hang the NXT5 on and none of my current stands are tall enough. I need a stand 48" from next volute/headstock. Tallest I've found is a Stagg stand (Stagg SV-EBD/ECL) - see below - has anyone got one or can provide me with suitable alternatives? The pictures or the Stagg stand are a bit rubbish. Website doesn't really give over much. Reluctant to check £80 at a stand and it doesn't work.

I'd heard about the Rick-O-Sound box previously. So is it just a glorified ABY box? Allowing you to take a stereo out and recombine to mono? ie two in/one out?

I had a 4003 and tried it. Rig wise I was running multiple Hartke HyDrive cabinets (a choice from 1x15, 4x10 and 2x10) and a Matrix stereo power amp. Set up was reasonably straightforward; I ran a stereo cable from the bass into a Sansamp BDDI (or RBI) and a GT2; I'd favour the neck pickup into the BDDI (run slightly dirty) and the bridge into the GT2 (which was quite a bit gnarly,). These units ran into each side of the Matrix and then into the cabs. I preferred the bridge/GT2 to go into the 2x10 with the horn full on and the neck into either the 15" or 4x10 with the horn rolled back. To be honest, because the poweramp and RBI were racked up, I only needed to carry the GT2. I always giggled with two cabinets. It was interesting to experiment and have this percieved additional level of control, given each pickup was going through different circuitry. It was kind of fine if you were just playing off your amp with nothing going through front of house, but sound guys generally just want a quick turnaround and found having to run bass through two channels an irritant. Recording was great fun. I suppose in hindsight it was just easier to go the mono output; it sounded fine that way as well.

Recommendations please!

No idea whether anyone else does this (with their partners). Wife will fire up Gumtree or Marketplace, she'll do a search for bass guitars and will scroll; she'll show me a photo of an advert and ask what the bass is and how much it's on sale for. In most cases I'm correct with the bass, points deducted for a question ('Which country is it made? USA? Mexico? etc.). Typical exchange: 'Fender Jazz Bass Special,' I'll go. '£950.00.' '£900.00,' she'll answer. '£50.00 out. How do you know all this? You really need to stop spending so much time on Basschat.' Lots of fun.

I'm in a Chibson group on Facebook, it's interesting how a lot of the people buying knock-off Les Paul models tend to be unhappy with them use the husk as a means to customise; not uncommon for all the hardware to be stripped and replaced with 'better'. Would I order one? Hmm. I'd like a Rick Derringeresque Explorer with a split headstock; I'm sure someone (in China) would build one for me quite cheaply. Gibson logo on the headstock? Sure, why not? If it makes you feel better, then fine. Now don't start getting on your high horse here about fake logos/decals. There's a load of basses here with Squire decals replaced with Fender ones. Frankenstein models with Mighty Mite necks, Gibson truss rod covers on Epiphones. Perhaps the whole Chibson issue should just make Gibson think about how much they're selling guitars for, but it won't.

Obviously some bias from current ownership and past glories. Hamer Mike Lull Gibson Thunderbird Spector (I still maintain you could put an NS headstock on any bass and it would look better) Travis Bean I really feel the headstock of Anderton's East Coast basses looks decent.

If it's varnished, rub it back a bit with some fine grit sandpaper/wet and dry. To emulate a bit of extended use, I'd say you need to get some colour into the wood; get some brown liquid shoe polish (the sort with the sponge applicator) and apply sparingly in the busy areas, maybe up to the 7th fret. Smoke and mirrors.

It's very obvious the power here is fairly transparent; there seems little or no colouration, which is what I've been after for a long, long time. I know as bassplayers we tweak things constantly in search for a perfect tone (cue angels singing), but realistically we need to realise that 99% of the listening audience care not about how we sound and anything we route our outboard gear through will change things, but this is near as dammit as close to stomp>desk>headphones. The amp's response to changes in bass/treble/mids don't result in these huge swings/spikes where everything starts shaking; it's just huge, delicious amplification of my choice of pre-stages. Honestly, I don't know how they've achieved this, but I'm genuinely stunned.

This in a nutshell. I know there's people that want things 100% original, but it's pots and cap(s). As soon as you take them apart and repair/upgrade/change the innards you're losing originality. Pots are one small facet in the signal chain; apart from the immense sense of wellbeing you'll get, nobody else will care in the slightest. Trust me.

I suspect I'll pick up a Sansamp XB Driver at some point, although for the life of me I don't know why. Brother-in-law does frequent business trips to the US, so I'll get one shipped to a colleague of his in Houston and he'll bring it back. About half UK retail in America.

I've downsized considerably over the last few years. Cab-wise just running a pair of Darkglass 1x12s and I have a Barefaced Big One (a 15/6) which doesn't weigh much at all. I can run a single 1x12 or double it up. After 35+ years in this game, you realise with every passing year that it's absolutely unnecessary to have these huge cabinets any more. Also on the whole downsizing thing, wife got me a GSS Baby Sumo for my birthday,(today) which decreases the whole weight thing even more.

Wife got me a GSS Baby Sumo for my birthday. It's tiny! It's loud! Comes in a lovely little metal flight case. It's barely the size of two paperback books. Just gave it a brief test with my Hamer Cruisebass into a GED2112-DI. (We live in a detached house, neighbours away. Chortle!) Man alive, the clarity is incredible. I've jacked the Ged into a variety of amps and effects returns thereof over the years and it's never sounded like this... it's almost been a disappointment at times. It sounds like when I've just gone straight into a mixing desk. Lovely!

See the little amp below? Knob on the right labelled 'MASTER'? You can rotate that and the amp will go loud or quiet. Amazing bit of tech right there.

Interface to PC/Mac to headphones/active monitors is one way to go, yes. End of the day, while tech has evolved in the last decade, truth is it's probably not what most of us do. I'd wager most of us here have an amplifier of some sort set up 24/7 so they can noodle on that.

Back in the day, we were never about covers, but when we did throw in the odd one while jamming I recall Rush/Bastille Day, Police/Message In A Bottle and an instrumental I thought was based around Frank Zappa's Apostrophe' (never having listened to the original until a few minutes ago, it bears little resemblance to that, so god knows what it was). My first proper band were just original punky material; it was all very XTC, song titles included 'Woggle Your Bunkum', 'Let's Go Disco', 'Applecham' and 'Rosie'. Some 40+ years on, I could still play them note for note.