Osiris

I have one of each of these cases, they're both tougher than gig padded gig bags but not as heavy and bulky as a full flight case. Both are well made and fit my TT4 perfectly; Protection racket Protec Contego Both are great cases. If anything I prefer to the cheaper Protection racket one, it's every bit as well made and offers the same level of protection as the Contego but the zip seems a tad smoother and it has adjustable inserts that you can move about that fit into the contours of the bass body to stop it moving around.

I always liked Duff McKagan as a bassist, some great melodic lines, but the rest of Guns & Roses leave me cold, including Slash as a guitarist. There's something about his guitar tone that irritates me. Nowhere near as much as Axle Roses nauseating screeching does though, that man makes my ears bleed. I really like Bernard Edwards' bass lines too but really don't care for whole Disco style, it's too happy and twee for my miserable disposition 😀

Cheers @scrumpymike In that case Osiris junior might find himself getting one for Christmas even though he has no interest in learning to play

What about those of us that have got turds for brains?

Am I the only one who sees Captain Jack Sparrow?

After more than 30 years of playing and gigging I'm starting to come to the conclusion that all the many thousands of pounds I have spent on bass gear in that time (I daredn't even begin to total it up ) has largely been akin to chasing rainbows. As has already been pointed out, there is a lot of very good, cheap gear about these days, far removed from my first bass with a body made from a soggy bit of bread that I started on in the mid 80's. I'm currently happily gigging a short scale Ibanez Talman, cost me £150 used (yes you can get them for that new but this has had the pickups, bridge, jack and pots upgraded) alongside a couple of other basses that I paid 10 times as much for. And the diddy Ibanez holds its own against them. That's not to say that it as well built, indeed if you care to scrutinise it you can see where costs have been saved - but that does not automatically make is a pile of 💩. It plays well, it is comfortable - and most of all it sounds great. It sounds like me. As do its considerably more expensive peers. And it also means that I don't get too precious about it when the walking dead take to the stage at about 11.30 each gig. There isn't much gear that I've played over the years that I haven't been able to get a good, usable sound out of. Yes, sure I could name a couple of names but that's not the point. The point is getting a solid, usable sound. As someone said earlier the key factor is getting a sound that locks in and compliments the other sounds going on around you, whatever they are. That often means a sound that isn't particularly pleasing in isolation, but works as part of the whole. The cost of, and the badge on your bass/amp/cab/pedals is utterly irrelevant. If it works for you then it's the right tool for your job regardless of the RRP.

With more than 3 decades of playing and gigging behind me I've started to come to the exact same conclusion myself over the past couple of years. And I dread to think how much I've blew on bass gear in that time too But let's keep this to ourselves, eh? Otherwise Basschat will implode within minutes

Thank you Yes I know what you mean about the headstock, the one on the Talman is a bit of an acquired taste but I have so much fun playing it that I can forgive the design!

@scrumpymike that looks as though it's possibly an ex-demo model that's been booted around the shop before being posted out to you. The one I bought used was in better condition! But hats of to PMT for sorting it out - even if they should never have sent it out in that condition in the first place. Let us know how you get on with the short scale Jaguar, they seem to be very well regarded and I'd like to know what you think of it as I'm thinking of possibly picking one up myself.

To my eyes the Bugera bears more of a similarity to one of these than the Streamliner.

What a ball ache Unfortunately I have no other suggestions.

OK. You mentioned the possibility of it being OS dependent. What operating system and browser are you using? If you have a few minutes it's still worth trying the suggestions above as even fresh installations can occasionally go wrong. Hopefully that will solve your problems but unfortunately there's no guarantees. If it does you're good to go. And if it doesn't I'd suggest contacting TC electronic to see if they can offer any detailed technical advice?

It's a bit of an IT cliche but switch (your mobile?) off, leave it a minute or so and reboot it. You'll be surprised how many times this resolves all sorts of issues! If that doesn't work, uninstall the app, clear your browser cache (another reboot won't hurt) and then try reinstalling the app. If neither of those work, I have no idea

@mikel I've also got a short scale Talman and fully agree that they are superb instruments for the stupidly cheap they are. I bought mine from a mate who had installed some Kent Armstrong vintage pickups and a set of D'Addario rounds and given it a set it up. Since I've had it, I've swapped the bridge as I found the stock one on mine to be a bit flimsy, and had it rewired to include a blend pot instead of the stock individual volumes for each pup. It plays and sounds great, sits in the mix where I want it and is regularly gigged along side a couple of my basses that cost 10 times the price of the Talman shorty! My only gripe is that mine is pretty heavy, I'm not sure if they all are but I use a comfort strap so it doesn't bother me come the end of the night.

That is a great looking bass, I'd certainly be tempted to give one a go. It looks to my to be more inspired by a Sandberg VM with the domino humbucker and reversed P pick-ups with the oversized pole pieces. Even the 6 bolt neck joint is similar. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sandberg-California-VM4-Bass-guitar-Immaculate-condition-/232903409959

All good points and no disagreement from me on any of them but in 10 years or so of gigging it, reading up about sound engineering and trying just about every combination of knob twiddling, slider sliding and button pressing I could with my old rig I just could not get any convincing low end or mid range from it. It just wouldn't deliver. You could get it sounding OK-ish in isolation but once the band fired up it just couldn't project any lows or mids with any substance to them. And that was through a pair of TE 15's. Most folks are reporting the opposite, which is making me think mine was just a bit of an underdog. I'm not trying to be a contrary sod, I'm just relaying my past experiences But for less than £100 I'm might consider giving them another go. Likewise, I like those low mids prominent in my tone and I always use a bass sound that works with the band - and I totally agree, it may not be the sexiest sound in isolation but it works when the rest of the clowns are making a row 🤡 Anyway, back to your NAD (just the one ?)

That's a right bargain that you've got there Mr @discreet I was whining recently on another thread about how gutless and under-powered my old TE SMX rig was (which too be fair it absolutely was, it had about as much heft as a cigarette paper) but it seems as though I'm in something of a minority on that score when it comes to old TE gear. All this talk of the big old Trace sound has got me thinking that my old rig was probably just a bit duff. Not actually knackered as such, more like the fat asthmatic kid on the cross country run when I was at school, it just ran out of steam in seconds. And I still do. Anyway, for the sort of money that these are going for now I'm tempted to pick up another one and see if I can get that big, slamming, hefty sound that folks keep talking about - and to see if mine really was a bit 💩.

Thanks guys. I think I'll stick with my Protec for now at least.

It sounds as though it's little more than a dust cover, is that about right? It's a shame if it is because it looks reasonably sturdy in the promo pictures above.

How do I change the ratio, attack and release times, knee settings etc. purely through technique?

I have one of the RM 1x12 cabs that I use for rehearsals and quiet jamming with friends, I picked it up used locally for £50 and it was in very good condition, it's a huge amount of cab for what I paid for it. I've no idea what it's made from but I'm not too concerned anyway 😀. It's an easy one hand carry, 10-12 KG's at a guess. Soundwise, it has a bit of a mid range bias compared to my realitively flat sounding Tecamp 2x12, so it isn't the sexiest sounding cab when it's just the bass in isolation. But it makes perfect sense in a band situation. Mine is 8 ohm, 300 watts, I think. I power it with a Genzler Magellan 350 and it will easily keep up with our drummer and keys player at a moderate volume rehearsal. I set the volume on the amp between 8 and 9 o'clock, apply a touch of compression and HPF and the cab works just fine. My only concern, as someone mentioned earlier, is the grill cloth seems a little flimsy, a metal grill would give me additional peace of mind but also add to the cost and weight. But if you're careful with your gear it shouldn't be a problem.

Although I occasionally use a touch of low gain drive (definitely not balls out distortion) to add some richness to my sound, my default tone is clean, with a bias for a Precision or Jazz neck pup, relatively flat with a slight bump to the low mids. But my SMX just could not deliver, in more than 30 years of playing it's the one amp I have used that I could not get a workable sound out of without having to plug something else into it. But as you say, tone is a personal thing. Having said that, I recently pickup up one of the new Transit B pre-amps as I'm about to make the move to IEM's and it looked to be the perfect all in one amp replacement. Despite my trepidation based on my previous underwhelming TE experience it does seem to have the heft, depth and punch that Trace are famous for - that was very much sadly lacking from my SMX, so maybe mine was a Friday afternoon special? But the Transit B still has that ice pick top end thing going on that grates on me so it's looking for a new home.

Cheers @Lozz196