chris_b

I know presentation/looks is important, but are you sure you're not choosing that Markbass amp because it looks like a traditional valve amp? IMO sound should be first, second and third in any list when choosing an amp. Find the amp you prefer the sound of and then decide if the looks are going to put you off.

Some guys prefer to feel the bass behind them others don't need that. Does your band rehearse with the full rig? That's the place where you should be running both options and then deciding which one is best for you.

I assume you are talking about selling the Ampeg rig? Good move. IMO there really is no point owning stuff and not using it. The gear you load into the car is obviously more appropriate than the stuff you leave sitting in the corner. So while it might be the "best amp in the world" to someone, it's plainly not the best amp for you anymore. Always look forwards, not back, and sell the gear you no longer use.

I haven't bought a bass for 2 years. Not even looking. Well not seriously!

This is the problem with the new breed of amps and cabs. With the level of clarity and definition on tap, never mind full blown mistakes, all the fluffs, hesitant notes and the slightest inaccuracies also stand out a mile!

Sad news.

I don't often buy stuff, but if I do I'll mention it to the wife. She just says, "If you think it's good, get it". She has 11 dolls houses around the house (and 2 in the loft), about 10 big boxes of quilting fabric, 20 cacti and various other house plants and the whole garden is hers to do with as she wishes. My corner of the front room is tiny by comparison.

I currently have a set of D'Addario NYXL (45 - 130) on my Jazz and another set waiting to go on. I'd recommend them for a fat and full sound, with a nice defined top end. They'll take as much EQ as you want to throw at them, at either end of the scale.

Everyone is influenced by someone. Nothing in music is new. It never was. Also it's not new to criticise music based of your own preconceptions and preferences. I saw Knower at the Jazz Cafe and liked them. By the end I was hoping for a different groove, but I was glad I had seen them. I took my son to see Vulfpeck and even he (not a natural fan of this type of music) loved every minute of it. A night to remember. Great presentation, rapport with the audience, songs and playing. Those guys are great together and in their separate projects. I also saw an outstanding gig the Meters played at Earl's Court, supporting the Stones, in 1976. Those guys were easily the stars of the show for me. These are all fantastic bands making quality music and as a unit or separately their members will be influencing musicians for decades to come.

This type of observation happens all the time over on Talkbass where someone posts that 5 string basses can't be that good, because there are so many for sale. Over there the guys who notice this can also be the ones who post "Jaco only needed 4" when 5 string basses are discussed! There are always far more 4 string basses for sale. Does that mean people don't get on with 4's? I think this is a case of trying to make random data fit a hypothesis.

I check out about 7 different bass sites on a regular basis. Just to keep abreast of developments and I trawl Youtube for great bass playing, but that's it. At home my basses live in their cases unless I'm working up a set for a gig.

Why would Vulfpeck or any of the other bands mentioned be anything like a 70's funk band? Arrested musical preferences are par for the course, but a 2010's funk band is a marvellous creature. Funk isn't a museum piece. It lives and breaths. Changes every week and is still as great today as it ever was.

Good move.

Do you need more volume than the 810 can give? Is this for show? I'd put the 610 next to the 810 and not bother to plug it in.

If you back really won't hold up get one of these. . . .

Get one of those stands that Joe Dart uses in the Fearless Flyers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P-y0mD442I

You can't put rules on a real jam night. If it's open door then they all get the 2 songs they've chosen and even get a second stint if there are not enough players to fill out the evening. We had a guy who turned up for a couple of years playing Hendrix. In the end no one would play with him so me, as the house bassist, got lumbered. He was extraordinarily loud, had no timing to speak of and didn't play any of the chord changes in the right places. We was told to turn down a few times but never told he couldn't get up. Thankfully there are usually enough good guys to balance out the idiots.

Well.. . . . apparently it was legal in Memphis but not normal, as the US press coverage indicates.

They were already a band and were booked to do a US tour with Mick Fleetwood. FM had broken up and contracts had been signed so they were going to be Fleetwood Mac! The band had flown to NY and were waiting for Mick to turn up for rehearsals, when he backed out. The management still put them out on tour with another drummer. It didn't go well with the audiences!! I occasionally play with Stretch's drummer at the time. The guy who was left at home, then sensibly refused to do the tour when MF left them in the lurch. Back to banned songs. . . . . . .

Are there any BB800 users out there running them at 2.67ohms?

Also check out Matt Bissonette playing with Boz Scaggs. As you say, a great player.

Just don't let him get a glimpse of your drinks cabinet!!

The FBI spent a couple of years trying to decipher the lyrics of Louie Louie by the Kingsmen, because they thought they could contain "hidden obscene meaning". They were never able to work out what the words were and the case was dropped!! Looking back, it's hard to understand how much the "establishment" hated the differences between them and their children's culture in the 1960's.

All good advice. Sell the bass and get something you can stand up and play for at least 2 hours in comfort.

I can't find the article I was reading or any other info, so I guess I've misremembered that.