jonnybass

I compare bass players to goalies, teams can win football matches with an ok goalie or sometimes even someone else as a sub, but there are a couple of times in a football match a great goalie shows his worth, a good set of songs is the same, there are usually times a great bass player shows his worth (usually signified by enthusiastic dancing/moshing/chin stroking*). I have been in the audience where the bass player has been a dep guitarist and it doesnt sound good (often signified by a lack of dancers/moshers/strokers). Maybe after they play with the dep they will realise what you bring? Joni summed it up well "you dont know what you've got til its gone" *jazz only

I think its especially useful if its a small town with a small circle of musicians. It feels more professional to me, harder to bad mouth you if you are up front and offer them a chance to fix it. "I wouldnt use him, he thought the mix was wrong when we were too loud and looked for cues in songs where we changed the arrangement, when we wouldnt do it, he gave us notice and left when we had no gigs." said no band ever.

Been in many bands over the years and this isnt uncommon. Personally, I'd lay my cards on the table. Tell them how I feel, not in a way that makes the guitarist feel like hes in the wrong, but more "the band backline mix is wrong", "Im not getting these structures, can you give me a cue for the change" sort of thing. If they arent willing to fix it after that, I'd tell them that they need to find a new bass player, because its not working for me, but I'd offer to see out the gigs and leave either when the diary is empty or when a new player can take over.

Unlined. Still have it, just dont play jazz at the moment. I'd prefer lined these days though simply as it reduces the need to have great onstage monitoring.

Practice really, scales and intervals up the dusty end. When I used to play jazz on my fretless, I'd approach the melody like a singer. Judicious slides into certain notes, I not too much vibrato, lots of space, I also found that playing round about frets 7-12 were good for me for intonation, anything from the 14th fret up I'd struggle with my sausage fingers.

I have the Darkglass B7k ultra (v2). I use it almost always as a clean preamp. I find it adds a just the right amount of sheen to the live sound, the DI with cab sim is great for recording. I dont really do metal bass playing.

My CS is a custom classic, which comes with noiseless n3 pickups and 18v 3 band eq. To my ears the east pre and nordstrands sound better.

Agree, all in (bass, electronics, pickups, work) it comes in around half the price of a brand new one. Very much VFM..but if I paid over £3k and had to do this much work? Nah. To contrast I have an ACG recurve 5. Never felt the need to do anything but change the strings. Costs less than a brand new CS fender.

Picked up a CS custom classic a few years ago, looked great, played pretty well and sounded ok. Had it set up, changed the pick ups and pre amp. Now it’s an absolute beaut. Not sure I’d pay the prices new though.

Cheers Kev. 😊

Help! The foot switch from my darkglass bk7 ultra seems to have popped off.. how do I fix it?

I’ve been using an ACG for about 3/4 years now. With the filter eq. I understood the concept, after @skelf explained it, but it took a while to get my ears and brain into dialling it in. Even now I will have active practice sessions just dialling in different tones. I love it.

I owned an s2 classic five string. Couldn’t fault the fit and finish. Weight was manageable and loved the neck profile. Found the headless neck a little difficult to get used to, but got used to it eventually. For me, what I didn’t like was the electronics. They are powerful, flexible and clear, but I like more “character”. oh and the growl they make is a wonderful thing.

This is the my fourth five string bass, every bit as nice a b string as the two music man V’s I have owned. Only my ACG feels better for my fingers.

Good shout haimesy

The sheer weight of expectation I think 😊

A couple of weeks ago I ordered myself a sire v7 five string. The idea being that I needed a backup bass when I didn’t feel comfy taking out my ACG recurve 5. I currently work with two bands, a covers band, doing most styles (but allot of disco and soul) and an originals band (5 piece zappaesque proggy stuff). this week I had rehearsals with both bands so took the sire along to give it a run. Wow what a bass..feels comfy, although after 2.5 hours wearing it with no break, it’s heavier than my ACG. The main thing was the sound, the preamp is very flexible but totally musical, clear across the range, varying the sound between soul deep thump and articulate modern zing was no problem. Love the rolled fingerboard, the neck shape is chunkier than I prefer but I’ll get used to that. the down side? The tuners...not the easiest to tune, but stable enough. They are Heavy so on a five they bring the neck down a little. I also don’t like where the passive tone knob is, too easy to turn down the volume accidentally. Overall what a bass, comfy, it’s going to need minimal mods to make it absolutely killer for me, and I haven’t even restrung it yet and set it up for my preferences. If you are thinking about a sire and weight isn’t an issue for you, I’d say go for it.

It’s a great colour, the neck is a little chunky but the sound and feel are great.

Cheers Rich...

Haha sorry...mis type..8.5 pounds ish I think...not as light as my acg but not too heavy (for me). Ymmv

It’s a little neck heavy but overall under 8.5kg.

I have been on the lookout for a backup five for my acg for a while. Finally pulled the trigger and picked up a b stock sire v7 five in burgundy. Amazing amount of bass for the money. What a sound. ..here’s a quick photo more to follow later

I like it, I think it looks and sounds great.