chris_b

I reckon that B string is tuned down to, maybe A or even lower. It's got no tension so looks impressive when he pulls it like that.

. . . . and Bernard Purdie is claiming he played drums on the first 3 Beatles albums and Ringo didn't!!

I don't disagree. Of the 5 string basses I have owned, 5 were 34" (SR5, Wal mk2 and mk3, Sadowsky and Fender) and 3 were 35" (Mike Lull and Lakland x 2). I don't "dig in" and don't have an answer why IME some of the best 5 string basses are 34" and some are 35".

Didn't Edison take all the credit for the inventions of the guys who worked for him? Just saying!!!!

Good move.

But I believe they do. They influenced the guys who influenced the guys who influenced you. There is a direct line between the Beatles and everyone playing today.

I don't think he's a great technician on the bass. He doesn't either and was quoted in the early days as, "Just following Ringo's bass drum", but as a musician he played exactly what was required. Which is never a bad thing. Then, when the Beatles went into creative overdrive his bass lines kept pace. He changed the way bass players thought about bass lines and empowered all of us to use our elbows and move right up to the front of the song. I think you can talk about McCartney the bass player in the same breath as James Jamerson. They were both imaginative, creative and important to the instrument and they released bass players from the 2/4 "hell" that had been their lot up to that point. They opened that door and made everything we know today, possible.

I've been using ACS moulded plugs for over 10 years and speaking as someone who has buggered their hearing over the previous 40 years I can say I dearly wish I'd found them earlier. They work. My poor damaged hearing has been protected for that time. First I had ER15's and now Pro 17's. If I lost them I'd replace them immediately with more ACS moulded plugs. You're sticking filters in your ears, so of course they make everything sound different. Apparently the one big thing about going deaf is the isolation you experience, so I don't rate any changes to what I hear through the plugs in a band situation as particularly bad. Basically it goes with the territory. As I found out to my cost, hearing can be fine one day and damaged the next! My ACS plugs have minimised the damage and I can still hear everything from a stage whisper to a heavy-hitting drum solo.

Sorry. . . but yes! Replace the amp with something better and improve your sound. IME separates are more flexible when you need to upgrade. IMO a one-handed load in is greatly overrated and shouldn't take precedence over a great sound.

Odd, isn't it! Well maybe we are both right. My experience was nearly 20 years ago but, while I don't spend much time checking the shop price of gear, in the intervening years I have never seen new Mesa gear at discounted prices. If anyone has please enlighten me.

As I posted earlier. That was my experience with Mesa Boogie. They rigidly controlled the prices and the dealer (in my case, the Bass Centre) had no say in the matter.

I'm currently getting a fantastic sound out of my PJ5 through an 800 watt Thunderfunk and 2 Barefaced One10's. This is in my front room and the neighbours don't hear anything.

I haven't been to BD for a few years now. I bought a lot of stuff from Mark in the early days, when he was selling from his band's rehearsal room on the farm. Mark has chosen a tough road by only selling top quality bass gear. I have nothing but positive experiences from BD and I hope he survives the trade "nuclear winter" that might be on the horizon.

I guess the whole country will have to stop playing Rolling Stones songs? This trial by smear campaign is pretty sad. Start to take interest when there is a court case and make your decisions if anything is proven.

The price of my brand new 400+ was just shy of £1500 in the late 90's. The Bass Centre ordered it for me and were surprised to find Mesa dictating the price to me and their mark up. I have no idea what Mesa do now but back then they had a reputation for rigidly controlling the prices of their products.

Have the MJ accusations been proved? The Ted Heath and Leon Brittan claims turned out to be false. Keep playing the songs you want to play and don't believe anything unless there is real evidence.

Seems he suffered a pulmonary embolism in Oz on the eve of the 2019 season. It's hard to remember F1 without him. Very sad news.

I have used most DR strings and settled for either steel Lo-Riders or Hi-Beams. I used DR for 10 years or more, recently I've been trying a set of D'Addario NYXL strings on my Jazz. I'm probably switching to the NYXL's. IMO they match DR for feel, tone and longevity.

At 2.33. . . . . looks like a Jazz to me. Some nice simple and direct bass playing here.

Aston Barrett was rather good on his Jazz basses and there is a Reggae player on here who plays Alembic basses. There are no secrets just get a good feel and forget the stereotypes.

When I depped in a band many years ago I caused the regular bassist some "problems", when the band leader wanted him to sound just like my 5er playing a riff starting on the low D. I believe he had to drop down a tone, which he didn't like doing at all!!

I have 2 basses and 2 straps, permanently attached and never taken off. Plus 1 spare carried in the accessories case.

You've gone from "woolly" to a razor sharp clarity, from a narrow, shallow sound to a wide, broad sound . . . . I'm not surprised that a BB2 sounds different to your Ampeg 115 to the point that you're unsure what you're hearing. You've gone from one end of the sonic scale to the other. It's not unusual when you upgrade one link in the signal chain that you highlight weaknesses in the other links, but in this case IMO you've just got to learn how to use what you've got. Get familiar with the step change in sound quality. I run my amps at 8 ohms all the time, that's 250 watts into my Super Compact and I have no problem filling the room. Alex suggests 150 watts as the lower end of the BB2 power requirements. I'd suggest your amp is fine and you're just on a steep learning curve. Maybe you need some help. Do you know anyone who can listen to your sound, or play while you listen?

I prefer the sound of my passive Precision. In my old fashioned estimation a preamp doesn't add much of what I want to hear in a P bass. IMO pre-amps are a great option for a Jazz or 2 pickup bass. But just because you have them doesn't mean you have to use every last ounce of the controls. Use them sparingly and they can be a nice addition to you sound.

I don't know the strings (I would guess it was the bottom 4 of a 5 string set) but the instrument was a regular Fender Jazz bass. We've never discussed it so I don't know what made him set up his bass in this way.