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Which preamp you use that has mixer instead of plain blend pot? EMG, John East, Audere, or do you have a Noll MixPot? (My single pickup fretless has just a step attenuator, and a coil switch. All others are equipped with some kind of a lo-Z circuitry.)

Ten bass brands: easy! Ten bassists, well now that you ask...

I would start from the simplest possible. It isn't easy to reduce the line to the bare essentials. Then if the song gives you any space, put some simple fills in there. I cannot see that a simple line would lack emotion. Yes, it can be played like reading a phone book, or you can dive into the music. Phrasing is so important. (Overplaying is so easy. How do I know? I bought a looper.) In Gimme gimme gimme Björn och Benny wanted to make bass and drums sound like machines. They managed very well: where are those few fills? Still the song swings, and there's actually quite a lot of stuff to play. Lost in music is "relatively simple", but that groove! Everybody wants to rule the world is just the same pattern from the start to the end, and it still supports the song so well. A driving bassline can be pretty straightforward like in Let's dance. Or if you want to do lots of work, try to play the synth line from Like a prayer. Melodic lines can be easily found from jazz. Jamerson was a jazz bassist, and he was able to transfer his chordal and rhythmic knowledge to Motown classics. Why wouldn't you try A night in Tunisia, and So what?

Really kool!

This is the way I would love to acquire instruments and accessories. And while talking about accessories it is OK, I think. But. I have read so many times that someone orders two/three instruments from the T-shop.de and sends back the ones that are not suitable in a way or another. Years back I wanted to try Laklands, because I heard good comments about them. A local shop happened to have 8 or 9 instruments. I went there and tried every one. Hated all except one Japanese Skyline. But even that wasn't for me. Where are the places to do anything similar? On line? How to compare instruments? Listening to the lousy slap fiascos where some SM activist is trying to convince us that this 3500th Fender copy is the thing I cannot live without? Sound quality: youtube, playing abilities: guitar background, credibility: none. It seems that there are only few serious shops available, and that usually requires travelling. Or finding a decent second hand bass from a fellow musician.

"...and surprised me with the most amazing gift for one my milestone birthdays..." Where to find such a gem? And I don't mean that glorious Ritter, but your astonishing wife. Happy 25th birthday!

Thank you anyway my dear bassic brother, that Arpège is of great interest.

@Hellzero: do you have Passion's schema as well? That Arpege was a really good find.

No. I mean that the wattage numbers give us a slightly faulty view to loudness. I do like headroom. To push 10 dB more out of my system would require a very powerful amp, two cabs, or some heavy processing, like compressing. Or just push the current system much harder, and use a pair of good earplugs - which is the wrong way. Volume war should be handled with lowering overall volume. This usually means discussion with others. Sometimes also someone is required who can use the mixer board.

To remind you about power and loudness, to get a very audible 10 dB more, a 300 W amp should be replaced with a 3 kW amp. Doubling that 300 W twice (300 - 600 - 1200 W) you get around 5 - 6 dB more. Not bad at all, but the same is available with two similar cabinets.

Buy "Standing in the shadows of Motown" and learn it through. Use a looper to get instant feedback of your playing. Stand in front of a mirror and try to improve your ergonomics, and playing technique. Try to push the string behind a fret to get a consistent sound. Light touch improves your speed. Less force, but good sound is your goal. Learn to play legato. Keep time. Learn the fretboard. Play lots of chords: triads, 7, m7, maj7, mmaj7, 6, dim etc. Two octaves helps to learn every fret. Learn two beat, and four beat, and then walking bass. Before that you need to be able to play at least the most common chords. Move your plucking hand and find new sounds. Listen to A from 5th fret @ E and an open A side by side. I hate metronome, therefore I play along with radio: you do not know what's coming up, and you need to follow the music. In time.