chris_b

You took some of the tiles off our roof as well!!

For over 30 years, KM has been a hugely successful artist selling millions of records and playing to sell out world tours. So why don't you tell us why she doesn't qualify to play the legend spot at Glastonbury. And you've got to come up with a better reason than "I don't like her".

That is because we are all far too sensible at Basschat.

Sorry to nit-pick, but the P bass we know today was the second iteration. Leo Fender was in charge and made all the final decisions, but all his products were the work of many people.

Having said that, I went to Guitar Guitar in Epsom and tried a brand new Sadowsky Satin bass they had in store. I thought my Metro sounded better. So it's all about personal preference and what you can and can't hear in a bass.

Can you? I can't! I would love to release the cash tied up in my instruments so I regularly check out cheaper basses. A couple of months ago I went to Andertons and tried all their Sire and Fender 5 string basses and while they will certainly be someone's pride and joy, I haven't found one that sounds or plays as well as my current £1500 bass. Not even close. So what makes a better bass? What makes one bass more expensive than another? How can someone appreciate a more expensive bass over a cheaper one? IMO for basses the answer is, the quality and build of the components, the ability of the guy making it, the time he can devote to making it and the sound it makes. We all have preferences, so for me the diminishing returns rule depends entirely on the instrument, but I guess starts slowly at about £1000 and really kicks in at £2000.

I bought a 5 string set of TI flats about 2 years ago. I'm hoping to get at least another 10 years out of them!

I think the Sadowsky bit might be responsible for a lot of your happiness.

. . . or maybe they got better!!

I made a change to Youtube settings that disabled the comments. Can't remember what that change was, but I've been comment free for a couple of years.

I know several bands that went right down hill after I left.

The original Fleetwood Mac were astoundingly good. Cream before they discovered America were brilliant. John Mayall was equally good until Mick Taylor arrived. While John Mayall's records were required ownership for a musician in the 60's not many of the bands of this era translated well on to record. Cream and FM in particular never recorded half as well as they played on a gig. IMO both Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck never sounded better than they did in the Jeff Beck Group.

If you like the sound you get with this rig you should realise that if you change either part of it you will alter the sound significantly. That won't necessarily be a bad thing but just something to be aware of. I'd be looking at one of the "super" 112's. Light, small, loud and should easily handle the tone of your valve amp.

Rebranded. As recommended by Charlie Chandler, I've had them on my basses and they are fine. If you want to go Schaller (I guess it makes sense to use one make of strap lock then your straps are interchangeable), just check that the new screw is a tight fit in the body.

Allparts Strap Locks are re-branded Dunlops, at half the price.

The one thing I think is pretty pointless, is to take an amp and expect it to, or try to make it, sound like a totally different amp.

Every gear post should start with IMO or IME. Chopthebass made it clear that his was a personal opinion. His opinion is actually based on experience, which isn't always the case on the internet. If enough "personal opinions" are heading one way then maybe that is cause to investigate further.

Yep. That's why we need to see the "second wave" reviews. The guys who are after a good amp rather than the latest amp.

True. I've met Chopthebass, bought an Epifani cab off him, so I know he's got good ears, but opinions are personal and that's all. Reviews on Talkbass include "beautiful", " as good or better than any other Mesa head", "The WD can do a lot, tons of tones to be found in it", "WD800 sounded and felt thunderous". The opinions keep coming. No amp or cab will have 100% positive reviews, but so far Chopthebass is unique in that he's posted the only non-positive review I've seen.

What does that mean?

I'm only 5 mins in, but so far, what a great start to the show.

IMO this is the problem with combos. If you are happy with, say, the amp and want to upgrade the cab you have to upgrade everything, which is more expensive. Get separates and only upgrade the part you want to change.

I would keep your basses. I don't know them but IMO you can benefit more by upgrading the combo. Is it a 112 or 115? £600 is a tight budget for a new rig, so my first option is suggest a second cab, similar to the driver you have in the combo. That will give you a similar sound to what you already have but better and much louder, with more body to the tone. If you are serious about "the next level" then you need to add to that budget. I'd suggest a 500 watt amp and a good 212.

For me, bass gear in order of importance is bass, cabs then amps. The bass is what I'm personally connected to. As the most important piece of the signal-chain is me, making me play better is what a better bass will do. As long as I'm playing well I can "carry" any issues with gear or sound. The cabs are my interface with the audience. Everything else in the signal chain can be good or bad but if the cab is bad then nothing sounds good. IMO amps are the least important part of the chain. These days most amps are built to a standard that won't make anyone sound bad. I haven't yet heard an amp that I couldn't get a reasonable sound out of.

Mesa won't sell directly to the public. They sell though a network of dealerships and retailers. Mesa Hollywood will be a retailer.