chris_b

If Punk was the starting point on your musical journey, that's all good. I'm in favour of anything that turns people into a fan, that inspires someone to play an instrument, join bands or just enjoy listening to music. Rock and Roll probably made a bigger impact on the music business than Punk, but only because there was more to change and the entrenched attitudes were harder to shift. In some ways Punk was a breath of fresh air but in many others it was just a new way to make money for a small bunch of people.

That's not accurate or logical. You can find 4 string basses that are far heavier than many 5 string basses.

Don't believe the myths and newspaper headlines. There was nothing wrong with music up until punk. As happened in the 20's. 50's and 60's, the kids decided they wanted more energy in the music they listened to. New entrepreneurs emerged, new business models were created and replaced some of the old, but while Punk got the headlines, the music business evolved and carried on. For the simple reason, there was still a massive audience that wasn't catered for by Punk.

I like shiny new looking Precision basses. The sound of my bass improved after I polished it.

Give it to me for a few months.

First let me stress, this is not directed at anyone in particular. . . . but my first thought when reading these 5 or 4 string threads (Talkbass is also full of them) is why do so many people buy a 5 string bass when they seem to have no need for one! It's hardly surprising that there is such a high drop out rate because they didn't make the decision backed by any specific plan or needs. Moving from 4 to 5 presents fewer difficulties than we overcome when starting to play a bass from scratch, but it defeats so many. With so many stories of failure, again, it beats me why so many keep trying without working out what they want out of the change. Then it's the poor bass regularly gets the blame for the players inability to settle.

Would you put several £1000 guitars under your bed today? Even the pro's only had one instrument back then. I believe the weekly wage was about £20. Hardly any of that would have been saved. The 1966 Precision I listed earlier was 147 gns, that would be around £2500 in today's money. These days, be grateful for CNC machines and very low wages of Far Eastern labour for providing us instruments in the low £100's. edit. . .. snap!

I used to see Boz regularly gigging local pubs. Gary Moore used to sit in with Papa George on various pub gigs. Many years ago Eric Clapton used to play occasional secret gigs at a Scratchers in Godalming, and at the Parrot Inn. We had a jam night and the landlord let it be known the Paul Weller was coming down to sit in. When I got there the pub was so full I couldn't get my gear to the stage! Apparently PW took one look and drove home.

It was them, but they wouldn't play Sex On Fire when I asked. Said they didn't do requests. They were crap!!

When I switched to 5 string basses I tried to swap back and forth, depending on the song. It didn't work as smoothly as I'd have wished. In the end I was making mistakes on both instruments. My solution wasn't to practice more (which I guess is really the best thing) but to put the 4 away and only play the 5. Problem solved. The penny dropped when I realised that the type of bass didn't make songs sound better, but the way I played them did. I stuck to the more flexible instrument and focussed on was the way I was playing it.

I have a Selmer catalogue from the mid 60's. They were importing Hofner, Futurama, Hagstrom and Fender. A red Fender Jazz was 155 gns and the Sunburst was 147gns. A red Precision was 128 gns and the Sunburst was 122 gns. The cases were 10 gns. That was expensive. A Hofner Verithin bass was £59 gns and the Violin bass was 55 gns. In 1965 my used Framus Star bass cost me £22 10/-. It took me 5 weeks, working on a summer job picking fruit, to pay for that bass and an amp (£34). Then 5 weeks the next year to buy the cab (£73). I bought a new Fender Precision in Brussels in March 1969 for £90 9/-. The retail price on the Continent was a lot less than the UK anyway, but it was even cheaper because, over there, musicians were allowed to claim the tax back on their "tools of the trade". In the UK photographers and many other professions could claim the tax back but musical instruments were taxed as luxury items and you couldn't claim any tax back!

The guy's got such a positive attitude, no hangups or blinkers. That's a lesson right there!

I know someone using a BF Six10 and it sounds huge. He bought it for big stages and loud bands. It always looks the part but I think it's overkill every time he uses it. If the OP is replacing 2 410's then I'd suggest a BF Four10 (at a weight reduction of about 75%) would be a good choice. It runs at either 8 ohms or 2 ohms, so with the 7PRO you'd get a maximum 600 watts at 8 ohms. The Four10 is a sensitive cab so 600 watts would be far more than is needed to fill a gig. I doubt you'd really need as much as that. I use 2 Super Compacts or 2 Two10's and I've never gone past half way on the volumes of my Aguilar AG700, even for the loudest of my loud bands. With other cabs you need volume to fill up the room and even then you probably won't reach 100% coverage. The fantastic clarity, definition and dispersion of the BF cabs means you can hear each note clearly in every part of the room. . . and you've got 30 days to try it and either keep it or send it back.

We know we're the cool ones so we don't have to shout about it..

Not everybody!

Firstly, I'd see a professional bass tutor and ask him to suggest right hand technique changes that might help you continue playing the Jazz. If you have a problem with long scale that a shorter scale would fix, sounds to me you're stretching to reach the notes. Your technique can change so that you move your hand and don't stretch. With such a change you might be able to stick with your Jazz. If that doesn't work, then you have to make the change. You can't think about preferring your old basses and the sound you used to have. You have to move on. There are great short scale basses out there, you've just got to find one that feels good to play and then learn to love the sound. There is always the option to change the pickups and/or pre-amp.

In an attempt to boost the rapidly dwindling number still qualifying for this project. . . . I'd suggest that if we buy 1 thing it can be offset by selling 2 things.

This. He's a great example of "good" slap playing.

At 1200 watts it will have a fan. I would put money on it being as silent as a fan could be. Jim Bergantino "road tests" al his gear before it is launched and a noisy fan would be picked up pretty quickly. Again at 1200 watts I would imagine this amp isn't intended to be played at home. Fan noise on a gig isn't an issue.

My thumb moves between the pickup, (B string), E string or A string. It moves automatically, and without any input from me, depending on the string I'm playing. I have only seen floating thumb being used on a gig (as opposed to a video lesson) once, by Alphonso Johnson. So far I have not seen any of the "greats" using floating thumb, so I don't see any benefit in trying to change my perfectly workable technique. I mute the strings positioned above (ie E when you're playing an A etc) the one I'm playing with my right thumb and the ones below with my left fingers. You will get problems with ringing strings if your accuracy when plucking the string isn't very precise. Try to only hit the intended string with your right hand.

This thing looks good!!!

Not so old. Little Feat have gone through several iterations and are still gigging. The early 70's when they were formed and led by Lowell George, the Dixie Chicken era. The reformation when they were fronted by Craig Fuller, Texas Twister, Let It Roll etc. Shaun Murphy took over from Fuller and now they are just a working unit fronted by Paul Barrere. IMO they are always on form and there are great songs and albums from all line-ups.

Judith Hill. Discovered 10 mins ago.

I can't slap and I regret that. I've tried but what came out had the grace of an elephant on his first day at tap dance school. Luckily I have never been in a band that asked me to. Still I wish I could. I'd like to be able to toss a few impressive licks into my bass solos. They definitely need to be rescuing by something. There's some good slap in the world and a lot of bad slap. Only hate the bad stuff. The techno slap, double thumb stuff is less interesting to me, but at the end of the day it's just another technique. If done well, and in the right context, then I'm all for it.

I'd check out some of the great examples of carefully owned high quality basses in the classifieds. You might even be able to afford two!