BrunoBass

What I do now: Bass into amp via small pedal board What I'd like to do ideally: Bass into DI box into PA / IEMs

When I was getting into music on my own, as opposed to the records my parents played, it was the very late 70s / very early 80s, when a lot of the pop music of the time had a strong Jamaican influence (The Clash, 2 Tone, The Police etc) with prominent basslines. I'd hear this stuff at the school discos I attended at high volume with big bass bins and I just sucked me in. Likewise the funk and disco tunes they'd play. That and seeing a picture of Paul Simonon, legs apart with a low slung white Precision bass, and that was me sold. I learned guitar first though, as I could afford a second hand acoustic on paper round money. I didn't get a bass and amp until I'd left school and was earning a weekly wage at 17.

Nice and simple for me: EBMM Stingray 2eq with Super Slinky's on (or any one of my revolving door of second basses - currently a Rickenbacker copy whose name I shall not mention, lest the looming spectre of John Hall's lawyers devour my soul) into an Ashdown MAG300 EVO II 4x10 (which sits on a dolly from Homebase), via a Pedaltrain Metro which houses a Korg Pitch Black tuner, an Ibanez PD7 Phat-Hed overdrive (used on a handful of songs) and EHX Big Muff Deluxe (currently used on just one song). I'm thinking about losing the pedals (except the tuner) and thinking about adding a 1x15 cab. Strap off eBay, brand unknown. I only use picks on three or four songs but when I do I like them grippy and bendy, .5mm will do. I'm not really bothered which brand. Same with cables, I think they're Planet Waves. I've had them for ages and they work, so that'll do for me.

[quote name='bigjimmyc' timestamp='1487956890' post='3244610'] Same here. It saw it voted best bassline ever, bought it, realised it was beyond my ability! Fast forward a year or two and the band suggest adding it to our set. Cue six weeks of slowly gathering pace and fx pedals! [/quote] http://youtu.be/E1cSLmKUYak

I find an old t-shirt works well.

I'm an intelligent, educated man. However I find this whole impedance / ohms thing utterly baffling. I'm new to the whole head / cab thing, surely there's a way I can get my head round it? I can't be that complicated?

[quote name='bigjimmyc' timestamp='1487956890' post='3244610'] Same here. It saw it voted best bassline ever, bought it, realised it was beyond my ability! Fast forward a year or two and the band suggest adding it to our set. Cue six weeks of slowly gathering pace and fx pedals! [/quote] Playing this bassline is a bit of a holy grail for me too. I can play it, just not with the speed, precision and consistency that Chris Wolstenholme does...

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1487935130' post='3244278'] I've got a Marshall 1x15 which is currently unused in storage.. You're welcome to borrow it for a couple of months to see how you get on? [/quote] Cheers Mark 👍

I'm thinking of adding a 15" cab to my Ashdown MAG300 Evo II 4x10 combo. Could anyone suggest something that would work well, it doesn't have to be an Ashdown cab? Has anyone paired an extensive cab with the same combo?

I have a MAG300 EVOII which is my main gigging amp now. I really like it, bloody heavy though!

Rickenbacker 4001 in white with black scratch plate. There was one in Andy Baxter's recently which was spot on. http://andybaxterbass.com/details.php?id=880 Failing that, I'm 50 in a couple of years so a Y.O.B. 1969 Precision will be on the cards, assuming I make it.

I joined a gigging band in my home town that practises exactly one mile from my home. Looking at the effort and time that many people put in to being in bands, I forget sometimes how lucky I am.

[quote name='skb558' timestamp='1487606275' post='3241137'] Interesting documentary on the enigma that is Tom Waits last night on BBC Four and iPlayer. Probably not a lot that afficianados don't know already but there was some great archive footage. Well worth 60 mins of your time (in my opinion, of course) [/quote] Thanks for the steer, will definitely check that out.

Paul McCartney for me. There are several bass players I love, but he's the one who started it all for me and he's the one I always return to.

I was a Nirvana fan, they were a great band and Cobain was a gifted songwriter I think. I wasn't a big fan of how destructive the grunge thing was (heroin, equipment smashing etc...) but it would've been fascinating to see how Kurt might have progressed as an artist had he lived.

I used to take a spare but I never needed it. I got sick of carrying extra weight with me to a gig so now it's just one bass, spare battery, pack of strings.

Good luck to you, my wife did it last year so I'm all too aware of the time, effort and dedication not only the training but the fundraising requires.

Our first gig of the year last night, at MFA Bowing Alley in Banbury, opening for AC/DC tribute band Dirty Jack DC. Bit of a weird place for a gig, but it was fundraiser for our local hospital which is facing major cuts. I used DC's bass players rig, TC 500w head with 2x10 and 2x12 cabs, which sounded wonderful with my Stingray, and meant I could travel light and amp-less. The first couple of songs were a bit shaky (our first gig since December) but a few songs in to what turned out to be a 1hr 40m set we were cooking. I was pretty pleased with my tone (although I couldn't get a good monitor mix) and we played well. Lots of good feedback, slaps on backs and drinks offered afterwards, very happy! Next stop The Punch Bowl in Warwick in a couple of weeks.

[quote name='Phil Adams' timestamp='1487348577' post='3239214'] Hows about The Handsome Family?? [/quote] Ha! I'm going to see them in Leamington on Sunday!

I'm a big fan of The Boxer Rebellion. Their album 'The Cold Still' is a favourite of mine.

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1487279520' post='3238664'] Árstíðir -- Icelandic folksters. [media]http://youtu.be/e4dT8FJ2GE0[/media] [/quote] I love Arstidir. I've never met anyone else who has heard of them.

I sold my Patrick Eggle New York bass in 1997. It was the first decent bass I'd ever owned, and I won it in a Melody Maker completion in 1995. It was an amazing bass to play but I wasn't gigging at the time and needed the money. Regretted it ever since!

[quote name='Burrito' timestamp='1487002289' post='3236172'] I like the original post but the jury is out on clip on tuners (no issue for me) & I think we have touched on the topic before. I think; [list=1] [*]Learn your parts. [*]Show up on time. [*]Don't moan about everything. [*]Know your place in the band. [*]Buy the odd drink. [*]Enjoy it. [/list] Seems to have worked for me over the last 30yrs! [/quote] + Offer to help carry stuff in and out. Don't stand there pretending you haven't noticed someone struggling with a 4 x 10.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1487095303' post='3237039'] You can't be Paul McCartney for all of that era... one of them died - so which one would you be? [/quote] I'd be the first one. Then I could think up 'Paul Is Dead' theories whilst giving my Rickenbacker a psychedelic paint job 😉

I'd be Paul McCartney, 1962 to 1970. I wouldn't have minded being in Motley Crue too, although I think a couple of weeks would probably have been enough...