chris_b

On the US airbases in Germany we did 4 x 5 hour gigs and 2 x 6 hour gigs a week and still went out partying afterwards. These days I need a day off after every gig!

Cheap can and often does mean poor quality. That's a fact that has nothing to do with "gear snobbery". Not all good gear is expensive but you need more than just the price to know if anything is good or not.

Cheap is a very poor way to decide what musical gear to buy.

. . . and Earl Palmer, Al Jackson and Roger Hawkins.

I don't understand the use of "basses as decoration". Mine live in their cases unless I need to play them.

Brilliant and very talented drummer. . . though probably not the easiest person to be in a band with.

Obviously very talented and successful. She had/has a great band, but it's not really for me.

I know a drummer who uses mostly IEM's and swears by the Porter Davies drum stool, but, as a bass player, I think I'd put that money into better IEM's.

It is, but the main characters in top US shows are nearer to a million per show.

I've been thinking that for a couple of years and in that time I've checked out at least half a dozen Sadowsky Jazz basses, including a chambered NYC, a Modern, PJ, a Satin and some other Metros. They all sound good, but so far, I'm just preferring the sound of my Metro RV5 Jazz. Now I'm not sure that I need an NYC at all.

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.