chris_b

For all the 112 players who can't hear their cabs, angle them up. You don't need a wedge shaped cab, just improvise.

Riff songs. Warning: May contain middle 8's. Sing A Simple Song - Sly and the Family Stone Express Yourself - Charles Wright and the 103rd Street Rhythm Band Get On Up, Get On The Good Foot, Soul Power, Licking Stick - James Brown Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield Superstition - Stevie Wonder Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry Same Love, Lonely Town Lonely Street, Who Is He, Grand Ma's Hands - Bill Withers

My best gear purchase this year is a Barefaced Super Midget. It's the only thing I've bought so there isn't a worst.

Time Is Tight, Green Onions - Booket T and the MG's Cocaine, Same Old Blues - JJ Cale Higher and Higher - Jackie Wilson Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Ball Of Confusion, My Girl - The Temptations

I believe he's playing his Custom Shop Sean Hurley 1961 Precision bass. Comes with the mute. The last thing I'd buy would be a mute when a piece of foam does the job just as well. This isn't my favourite P bass tone, but the playing has a beautiful groove.

The first thing I did when I got my Mike Lull PJ5 was to put on a set of DR High Beams. What a great sound. I later went with a set of TI flats . My Jazz bass gets all the gigs these days (now on my 3rd set of NYXL's) but occasionally I have an inkling for another P bass with rounds.

I did a dep gig a week ago and the drummer packed up 3 drums cases and a cymbals case, all fixed to a trolley. The stands were in a bag on his back. The gig was near Ladbroke Grove and he was getting a bus to Walthamstow. Trolleys, buses and gigs can work.

All amps will have similar EQ, until you get into the super amps, so I don't know if changing amps really buys you much. Having said that the reviews of the Berg Forte seems to indicate it is something special, if pricey. If you always have access to backline and a PA then I'd keep your amp. If you need a full rig and want to change, then I'd keep the head, get a Super Compact and a good trolley. You'll have a clean sound , headroom to spare and be as light and manoeuvrable as you can get these days. The SC is only about 6" wider and taller than the One10, so marginally larger but will have a great deal more tone and volume.

I played through 2 SC's and they were a great sound but I was after a little more top end so I replaced one with an SM and now I'm happy as. I use both cabs on quiet/small gigs because, even at low volume, I just like the sound of them together.

On the website, Alex does a comparison between the old Midget and the Super Midget and there is some info on the differences between the BB2 and the SM, but you would probably get a fuller answer that question via an email to BF.

That's like replacing a Ford Focus Estate with a Mercedes Benz GLS SUV. Go for it you'll be amazed at the step up in sound quality. And that's not taking anything away from Markbass or Fords.

Why do I keep doing this? What else can I do. Playing to an audience with great musicians is the biggest buzz I've found so far in this life. Getting it right just makes me smile inside and want to do it again and again.

High end gear is sold for exactly the same reasons as less expensive gear. I sold my mk2 Wal so I could buy a better mk 3. I sold the mk3 Wal because I had moved on in my playing situation and it was not being played. I sold one of the best basses I've played because I found a better one. None of this has any bearing on the quality of the gear.

My loft is insulated to 400mm and there is ventilation on all sides. It gets very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. I wouldn't store my basses in that environment. If you really think burglary is a possibility, can you leave the basses with a neighbour? But then your neighbour could be burgled. Where does it end?

Can you count these songs in?

Fender already have their relaunched series. These are supposedly the instruments that are going to save the company. They don't need to churn models, like the US auto industry in the 50's and 60's. A rename, small adjustments and few extra colours is just rearranging the deckchairs. If the shape of the truss rod adjustment is the most important thing to potential buyers then they are sunk. IMO more players would appreciate 2020 being the year of a step change improvement in quality and tone at all levels and at the same price. By now Fender must have realised that players won't buy Fender just because of the name. If they did Fender wouldn't have been inches away from Chapter 11.

. . . . worth their weight in gold?. . . . and then some. A couple of weeks ago I did a dep with a band who I'd never met before. It was an easy enough set but afterwards they were saying all the nice stuff people say when things have gone well. I didn't let on, but the drummer was the guy who made it all possible. He was fantastic. Like riding on a magic carpet.

I'll only buy a new bass that does something better than my current bass, usually that means it'll sound better. So my new bass always supersedes the old one. The old bass is replaced and becomes the backup. That's how it's always been from a Fender Precision thru MM SR5, Lakland, Wal and Lull to Sadowsky. Any mistakes, and there have been a few, go on the transfer list immediately.

True, but in small technology led companies, those products don't make it to market.

I think one term that cannot be used for any Bergantino cab is mushy. I have yet to see a bad review or comment about Berg cabs and when I used them the tone in every part of the room was fantastic. There are several manufacturers, Phil Jones, AudioKinesis and Bergantino, with a range of upwards and rear firing drivers and tweeters in their cabs. If designers of this quality think they can get an acceptable and workable upgrade to the sound of a cab by firing drivers in different directions then I'll believe them.

I'm sure you all love your tats, but IMO, many stickers are like tattoos, good in theory but usually pretty naff in practice.

I think Year Zero for this vocal style is buried way back in the black gospel tradition, but Aretha Franklin put it into the mainstream in the mid 60's. The difference was, she could sound good doing the vocal gymnastics, many others don't. There is much to like about the likes of Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan (mostly their bands) but those vocals are always a turn off for me. Whitney goes from good to "shouty" at the drop of a hat and Chaka just shrieks her way through too many songs!!

I totally agree.

I bought all Joni Mitchell's albums up to Hejira. I know I'm in a minority here, but I thought it was a great album ruined by overplayed and unsympathetic bass playing.

IMO we don't need "new" music all the time. We just need good music played well.