Stub Mandrel

Hope Medicare can help.

If you have to do a big jump up the neck dot's help a lot. I mostly use them when changing position, just like on a fretted bass.

It's appalling as ever so unless it's a Black Monks tribute...

BTDTGTTS

Bring the 3d printed bass!

I'd probably pay £80 for the excuse to learn a load of new songs and gig them with new people!

Nirvana!

Hope this doesn't count a hijack but a comment above made me think perhaps someone can help identify what makes my favourite fuzz-bass sound:

Placeholder...

Nice. Never Say Die vibes.

Do they want carved top or plywood double basses? I hope they want open notes...

I guess so... my knowledge is limited, but I'm assuming the Fender app does what I've seen Garageband do. I'd like to find something less mind blowing than Reaper.

The new Fender Studio app?

Ditch the Barefaced and get a 40 year old Sound City 18" cab.

Not really. The issue is that Trace power ratings are honest continuous RMS ratings so what a 250W Trace is rated at would be described as 1000W by less scrupulous manufacturers. Bear in mind 2,500W is only twice as loud as 500W, other things being equal.

TBH I take what I feel like to gigs, a combination of what suits the music, what deserves an outing, if the venue is a bit rough and how I feel.

I fitted neodymium magnets to my Squier Jaguar which balanced the p and j nicely (they were very poor before). I made a PJ (precision) bitsa with Wilkinson pickups and they balance quite well, as does my Sire P10 which is active. Vintage style pickups really don't seem to like the PJ configuration.

Mute

The Small Fæces.

Cunning Tip. Use paper to get the ideal slot height. Carefully remove string and ensure paper is well bedded down. Use a cocktail stick to apply superglue and make the paper permanent. Cellulose fibres are ideal reinforcement. Trim ends as needed with a sharp blade.

A good, level fingerboard is important, you can't compensate for a small high spot by scraping down a fret. If it has side dots, be sure they are where you want them. On some (mostly defretted) basses they are between fret positions. I learned on a bass with dots at the fret positions and trying to play with the other style is tough as they 'draw' my fingers away from proper intonation.

I'm in a band with a young lad who looks likely to make it with an indie band, but who has been told by several pros that he could make it as a blues rock musician. He does lots of side stuff as well. He's just completing an electronics degree and works part time for the post office. I would say flexibility and keeping options open is the best plan. Bear in mind student loan payments only kick in once you earn a reasonably decent salary.

It's a very unstructured situation at the 'cover band' level. I've done several deps for one band where I had two rehearsals first. Another band said 'we don't rehearse' so I went in cold. One interesting gig was with a dep guiarist too. We did Come Together... I knew the band played the the Gary Clarke jr. arrangement but the guitarist was all Beatles which came out a bit odd! As for bringing in deps, drummers generally do well, guitarists you need someone who can improvise instinctively by ear if they aren't able to rehearse. When I've been depped for apparently it went well but she knew the guitarist well. Usually you get a list of about 30-40 songs many of which won't be played! I might veto one or two which can reduce the learning time by 50%. Links to 'the version you play' are useful. People always tell you the starting chord not the key... Never come across anything other than getting the same share as the band, although one gig we threw in a bit extra for the dep as it wasn't a big payer. Deps aren't expected to chip in on rehearsal costs. Most deps do it because they enjoy learning new material and the buzz of playing by the seat of their pants. A good amateur dep who throws themselves into the spirit of things (maybe with some improv) can be great to play with.