dmc79

Tech 21 VTDI is versatile and about as compact as these things get. I mainly go straight to the sound desk with this by XLR unless practicing at home. The magic with this is in a full band mix. I'm not crazy about it during solo practice, but the band mix is where it really shines. The key is to take your time figuring out how the Blend, Character & Drive knobs interact. It can get grindy & aggressive if you want it to, especially with the Bite switched pressed in. You can also turn the Speaker Sim off if you want. Basic EQ controls, ground lift & more. The only thing the Tech 21 options lack for me is the option of plugging headphones in for quiet practice.

Has anyone tried the D'Andrea Snarling Dogs Brain picks? Just wondering if they are like a Dunlop USA Nylon, or more like a Dunlop Max Grip Moving from a 1mm Dunlop USA Nylon to the same in .88, that extra flex / speed in the .88 really suits me. I also found a tin of Tortex .60 orange triangles. Ordered them as I read that Simon Gallup from The Cure uses them. I can see how they work for some of his faster basslines. I recently heard about the trick of loosening a couple of screws at the top of the pickguard a little so you can put a plectrum in the gap. Whilst having a go with a new orange Tortex triangle, as I pulled it out of the gap, that weird stuff that's on the grip surface when they're new left some scratches on my black P bass body. Ouch! I forgot how a black body shows the slightest mark.

Thanks for the links, I will have a good read. I bought a Keeley Bassist from here, hopefully this will complete my pedalboard. I've read that it's a good transparent compressor that doesn't colour your tone, but just does whatever a compressor does - which I'm still learning about! It seems relatively simple compared to others, with just Compression, Threshold & Gain knobs. I guess I don't want a sound that's mega squished, Keeley's site says that 4:1 is a good starting Ratio, I suppose I won't need to go higher as they recommend 5:1 or 6:1 for slap, and 10:1 for synth bass. I won't be doing either of those. Also I'm not sure if compressors go before or after drives. Any thoughts @LukeFRC ? I don't plan on going bigger than my Pedaltrain Nano board, especially as my board (including isolated power supply mounted underneath) is worth more than my bass for the first time ever, even though everything on it, under it, and the board itself, are second hand!

Marc bought a Fender Jazz neck from me. Paid up quickly and was friendly & helpful throughout. Thanks!

I still have a few of the old Spring Harvest wire bound music books from when I learnt to play bass in my old church back home (1998/9) that I can't bring myself to part with!

I found this too with the Dunlop Max Grips. I wanted to like them but just wasn't keen on that grip surface. The normal Dunlop USA Nylon feels better and grippy enough to me. I actually played Tortex triangles (going between yellow .73 & green .88) for a good while, then I ordered a variety of picks from Dirty Riffs Guitar Shop on eBay as I wanted to try some different ones. I really like that seller, you can buy loads of picks in any quantity (including selection packs if you aren't sure exactly what you want), and if you need a tin (like the one near the top of this page), just make sure you order a set of picks that comes with one. I have one on my pedalboard. Another one I tried was Dunlop Gator Grip triangles. Again, I wanted to like these as they are slightly smaller than a Tortex triangle (I find those just a bit too big now having tried others), but the very first time I used one, it slipped out of my hand onto a black stage and I never saw it again, and I hardly ever drop picks. There was just something I disliked about that grip (the fact that it wasn't very good!). Also the nice picture wore off pretty fast. Probably a silly thing to complain about, but I prefer something plain like the Dunlop Nylon, as there is no picture to fade/blur/wear away! The only others I haven't tried yet from that batch were the Tortex Jazz III XL, they just seem a little too small for me (I'd seen them recommended on another bass site). I haven't tried and may do sometime: Tortex Flex, Tortex Sharp, Nylon Midi, Ultex (rhino) triangles, Clayton Acetal rounded triangles (duraplex), Fender Heavy 346 rounded triangles. Anyway, I really like the Dunlop USA Nylon and don't feel I'd ever need to go below .88 or above 1mm, so I plan on sticking with those two. I like that there's a little flex compared to the more rigid Tortex, the grip feels perfect, they don't feel clicky, it's just great all round. Another one I don't mind is the Fender 351 Heavy .96.

Sorry forgot to reply, I will see when I'm home, as long as that's something I can measure without removing the neck!

They are really nice necks with a lovely satin finish on the back. For those interested in numbers, these are the front to back thickness measurements of mine as measured with digital calipers: Black Player: 1st fret: 0.825” 12th fret: 0.905” White Player: 1st fret: 0.800” 12th fret: 0.911” For some context, the last USA P I had (2008) measured: 1st fret: 0.850” 12th fret: 0.955” So the black player neck is far from what I’d call chunky, and is really comfy (and measures similar to a 2013 MIM P I had briefly), but the neck on the white one is a little slimmer, I guess almost as much so as the 2010-2014 American Specials. I guess there’s a chance the previous owner of the black one had the fretboard edges rolled, as it feels nice and rounded on the edges, near identical to the neck of the 2004 American Series P I had for years. The neck on the white bass feels nice and slim but doesn’t feel as good on the edges. Both feel very fast with the satin finish on the backs.

Well these Player series basses are excellent. A few months back I got a 2021 Polar White P from here, and last weekend picked up in person from eBay, this lovely 2021 Black P. Mint condition other than the usual little scratches on the back. Just done a partial setup (truss rud, action/string height, intonation) but don’t feel I can properly judge it until I replace the dead strings (got some GHS Boomers on the way. I love that they put the Fender 75th anniversary badge on the 2021 models. A nice touch Here it is alongside the white one. Black is a touch heavier at a still reasonable 3.9Kg / 8.6lbs, white is an even lighter 3.7Kg / 8.2lbs. I’m a one bass guy, so will move one on when I’ve decided which to keep. White has CS62 pickups & a KiOgon loom installed and sounds fantastic, which I can easily swap over if I keep the black, which I probably will. I think these are outstanding value for money. I paid £575 with hard case for the white, and £480 without case for the black, both were mint. I was watching the black one at £550 on eBay, then one day it dropped to £480 and I was in there like a rat up a drainpipe. I’m not convinced that the recent USA models are worth the price jump (Mexican Player: around £700 new, £450-500 used. American Professional 2: around £1,700 new, £1100-1200 used). The Players are really excellent basses for a monkey

Sold a Squier Vintage Modified PJ bass to Mircea. Very friendly & helpful and paid up quickly - thanks!

Simon bought a pickup set from me and paid up quickly - thanks!

Oli bought some pickups from me and paid up right away. Thanks!

Bought a Hooker's Green Bass Machine 4K pedal from Bas - arrived quickly, well packed & as described. Thanks!

Bought a Hooker's Green Bass Machine pedal from Dan - arrived quickly, well packed & as described. Thanks!

So, anybody know about the meaning of those barcode/number stickers?

Ha! Mine has the 'Cancer and Reproductive Harm' warning, whatever the heck that is all about.

Just picked up a lovely 2021 black Mexican Player P. I'm not sure I've ever had a bass come with a Fender Inspection Tag, maybe once but a long time ago. I'm just curious what all the numbers mean. I've already done the Fender serial number lookup from the number shown on the headstock. It brings up the model number: 0149802506. This model number matches one of the barcode/number stickers on the red side of the card. Then there are 2 other barcode/number stickers alongside it: one starts MN followed by 7 numbers, the other starts MO followed by 7 numbers. So my questions are: what do those MN/MO stickers mean, and is there a reason why the serial number itself doesn't appear anywhere on the card? The white side of the card has signatures in all 4 boxes (prep, assembly, tune/test, inspector) but the Part Number & Serial Number spaces are left blank. Is that normal or did someone just forget to do their job? Thanks. Edit: I guess the P/N to the left of the signatures is the part number? Still, I'm surprised the serial number was left blank

Sorry to hear that you've had enough. I'm sure we've all felt like that at times for whatever reason/s. It's not always easy to do this, but I try my best to let any nonsense go over my head and just play and do my bit. Other than practicing at home, which I don't do a lot of because it's boring without a band around, church is the only place I play. I'd like to play elsewhere too, but since 2 friends moved away who I used to jam with a bit, I don't play anywhere outside of church. I work shifts, which makes it virtually impossible to commit to anything regularly on any given night. So when annoyances come along within the worship band, I just kind of grin and bear it, knowing that if I walk out I'll end up not playing anywhere and would miss it. I guess you don't want to go into it all in detail, but I'm curious what on earth happened to make you walk out mid rehearsal? Our frustrations often overlap somewhat here, maybe what you have experienced is something that someone here can help give advice on resolving? Thanks to those who responsed to my overdrive / compression questions. May try a compressor sometime. I feel overdrive is a rabbit hole that I could go into and never come out of, so I bought one more pedal and think will leave it for now. I got a Boss BB-1X Bass Driver, and whilst I haven't fully explored it or used it during a service yet, it seems like more what I've been wanting than others I've tried. I passed on a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes (VMT) recently as whatever settings I tried, I just didn't dig it, just sounded too baked-in / coloured and dark for my liking. Yet some rave about that pedal. I just don't get it. One Control Hookers Green Bass Machine is a fun little mini drive pedal, but again was just a bit too coloured for me. Still not sold on the EHX Bass Soul Food. I hate the loud EHX footswitch click and in-ear pop when stomping on it. It's a bit too middy for my liking. The Boss BB-1X seems more of a natural, organic breakup kind of overdrive without too much flavour, if that makes sense, and of course the bulletproof Boss enclosure and hinged footswitch is a bonus. I can't see myself using much drive in church anyway, but I like to have some drive on tap at home for playing along to stuff and just noodling about, so I'll just keep it on the board anyway. I've seen on Talkbass that some use things like the TC Spark (full pedal) either as a boost or just an always on bit of grit. I'll have to figure out if want to use the BB-1X as something to stomp on as needed, or to use as an always on lower gain thing. I can always get a bit more drive by playing with my VTDI settings (namely Blend, Character & Drive knobs) if I want to, but it's a fine balance getting a nice tone with some slight drive, without getting too much grind / clank / string noise - keeping the Bite switch off and Character down certainly helps with that!

Bought a Boss overdrive pedal from Patrick - arrived quickly, well packed & as described - and sounds great. Thanks!

Luke bought a Darkglass pedal from me, paid up quickly, deal with confidence

Andy bought an overdrive pedal from me. Paid up right away, a top fella, thanks