chris_b

My Sadowsky RV5 Metro, from 2006, is just about the best playing and sounding bass I've picked up. I have a bad back and the 9 3/4lbs (I know that's not heavy) is an issue so I stopped playing it for awhile. I've just started bringing it to gigs again, because it sounds so much better than the basses that I bought to replace it. A few years ago I compared it to several chambered NYC basses they had in Guitar Guitar and I preferred the sound of my Metro by a mile.

Everything is a package: you, your sound, what you play and how you play it. Some bands don't care but the better bands will notice all these things and will care.

If someone can damp 4 strings they should have no difficulty damping 1 extra.

There are plenty of YouTube videos about this subject.

The US and UK are poles apart when it comes to enthusiastic audiences,. The US has them and we don't.

My musical tastes, playing style, instruments and records put me squarely on the other side of the Atlantic.

When was the wiring changed? About 25 years ago, after hearing the fantastic tone from a JG Wal (with the leather pickguard), I asked Pete Stephens about the sound of the old basses. He told me there was a slight change to the sound when they had to switch from imperial wire sizes to metric. I can't comment on the OP's question, but differences are always possible when changing suppliers etc. Why don't you give Paul Herman a call.

We all have our budgets and preferences, but if someone thinks their Fender Custom Shop instrument is worth £5000, then it is.

Cheers Dave. The band have provided the dots so I'm working my way through the set.

What kind of bad back? Problems with posture, muscles or discs? What weight is your bass? If you have lumber disc issues the strap will matter less. We should always use good supportive straps, but a lighter bass could also be the right solution.

This. I once played a Pino and it was one of the best Precisions I've touched. These days £5k is beyond my budget by a mile, but it is within the budgets of many and they are the intended audience for these instruments. Good luck to them.

February has been an unusually busy month. I have worked up about 60 songs for 4 bands. That's for a 50's rock n roll, r&b and ska band, a blues, r&b, funk and soul band, a soul and smooth jazz gig and a reunion with the 3 surviving members from my school band. About 50% of these songs I've played before, 30% I kinda know but have never played and the rest were originals or I've never heard. There are about 4 which are a stretch and pushing me beyond my comfort zone and 2 are a worry, but I have 10 days to get them right. Fingers crossed.

I've used both, and a Three10 (Two10 + One10) and a Four10 (2 x Two10's). I thought they all sounded good. They were loud, punchy, light and had a great tone. The various combinations worked well in all my bands, but I had 7 BF cabs sitting at home and finally decided I had to rationalise the "collection". It was a difficult decision, but I slightly preferred my 5 string basses through the 112's (SC, SM and BB2), and sold the Two10's. I still use the One10's for practice at home.

I was picked up in West London at 8 am, we drove in an old ex-GPO commer van to Ponteland for a gig, then we drove straight back. Got caught up in the morning rush hour coming into London. Dropped off at about 11 am. About a year later also did the Sunderland Empire as a one-off. Sorry but no downsides for me. We had 2 great gigs.

Then you have chosen wisely. . . .

You'd get on stage and play your socks off.

If I struck a pose like that I'd need someone to help me up afterwards!!

I prefer clean, warm, full, punchy and well defined. I dislike distortion, hair, breakup, dirt, grit etc etc. My signal chain has always been bass, amp and cab. IMO simple quality ingredients make the best meal.

I was "fired" once. I noticed the band was gigging. . . . with a different bass player! I was never told, the band leader just stopped calling. Most of the people I know in the music business are nice, honest and reasonable. Of course there are exceptions, that's life. If you run into one of life's a-holes, they are not worth a second thought, unless they owe you money, just move on in the company of the good guys.

I was in a band 20 years ago and the band leader started to give a bass playing friend of his some of our gigs. Same story, I was down graded to a "pool of deps" in my own band. I told him to shove it.

Most of the gigs I see are being run by fans, people who love live music and work very hard to run clubs and gigs. Holograms might work in a pub environment but they won't be replacing live bands. The slow demise of the hospitality industry and noise issues with neighbours will have a more serious effect on the availability of live music.

That's all I ever wanted to do. Playing bass was the one thing, only thing, I could imagine doing for the rest of my life. In the late 60's we had a chance of making a "living", but now I'm no so sure. Most of the pro musicians I know are teaching or running their own non music related businesses. The week I left school I joined a pro band. It was tough, see-sawing between everything and nothing. Trying to make it, then not making it. You have to be resilient to deal with the constant ups and downs but I never regretted that decision for one minute. Now I know, being "pro" is a frame of mind, and it never leaves you. After 6 years of some success and a lot of failure, I finally jumped ship and joined the early days of the IT industry. That was almost as mad as some of the bands I played with.

The world is your lobster, but I would be looking at good used Mike Lull or NYC Sadowsky basses. Best basses I've ever owned and played. Or. . . . a long shot, a Rob Allen Deep 4/5.

I wish they'd bring out a superlight version of a 5 string P bass.

IMO Hi-Fi is fullrange, clean and undistorted. I have 2 amps that do that, Thunderfunk TF750 and Aguilar AG700. Other makes in the ball-park, Quilter, GK, Mesa Boogie, Genzler and maybe, at a push, Markbass.