chris_b

D!ckheads, idiots, narcissists, tw*ts, I've played with them all, and it can become very tiresome, but I've been gigging solidly via word of mouth for the last 20 years. You can't do that sitting at home, so I've learnt to live with the 10% of people I don't like in order to do the things I do like with the other 90%.

I bought my first set of Dunlop strap locks in the late 80's. I'm still using the same set on my main bass.

Tab, Bah humbug.

A month or so ago I saw Marie and Rosetta in our local theatre. Beverly Knight was incredible, but her co star, Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, was just as good. The two of them made a couple of hours pass like minutes.

i love the drummer and drum sound on this . . . .

How many times have I envisioned myself doing that!!!

No drummer beats a bad drummer every time, but why does anyone put up with a bad drummer? Play with a good drummer and your workload is halved. Play with a bad drummer and your workload increases 10 fold!!

There are always examples of players who can excel when being busy, but that's not the same thing as overplaying. A good player like Jamerson does both simple and busy. Overplaying is almost always negative, and comes with a lack of rhythmic ability, lack of good note choice and clarity of execution. Jack Bruce and Francis Rocco Prestia are more examples of very busy players who got it right.

Jeff Genzler makes some great bass gear.

Harp players never know when to stop blowing. Guitarists never have control of their volume. Neither do drummers. Drummer are always putting in fills that don't fit. Keyboard players don't understand that 2 bass lines don't work. . . . in any song. . . . ever!! Last week, I saw a quote from an engineer; "The best engineers have the simplest solutions". You could say the same about musicians, and definitely about bass players. The simplest lines are always the best. The spaces say more about your ability than the notes. Overplaying is a curse and the only way to fix it is to play with guys who don't.

All of them.

Good move.

My top 10 list of things to spend £20k on wouldn't include any basses. Carl Thompson and his basses are always interesting to read about but I have no inclination to own one.

There is a great Aguilar TH500 and 2 x SL112 cabs in the Classifieds.

Nice. Now you need a good set of flats and a lump of foam.

About 10 years ago, I had that with a Fender AM STD J5 Jazz. It wasn't noticeable when the band was playing, but I could hear it playing at home.

Good move. A few years back, I was provided a backline of an EBS 250 and 2 110 cabs. That was a very good sound.

I'd keep the Jazz bass and buy a Precision. If you really have to, I’d replace the pickup in that. I own a Sadowsky Metro Jazz and wouldn't change a thing. I also play a PJ. Those two have been my joint #1 basses for 8 and 14 years respectively.

Sounds like you got yourself 2 bands, one fronted by a female and one fronted by a male. And you need to be playing different gigs for each band. A nice diary filling situation.

OK, you've been offered 2 basses and you don't know which one to choose. Step one - play them both. Step two - decide which one feels, sounds and looks better than the other. Step three - if you can't make up your mind, don't buy either. You haven't found the right bass yet.

I completely missed Trace Elliot. Never owned or played one. So I don't get the "love". I was using Music Man and Dynacord gear at the time.

200 million??? I'd fire that accountant!!

Do what the pro's do. Have a wall of Blackstar for the audience and your favourite combo in an acoustic box back stage miked up for FOH.

Enlighten us then. . . . .