chris_b

I prefer buying CD's and knowing that the artists get's his share as well.

Reading is good, it will improve your timing, reading (obviously) and dexterity. The good thing about reading music is you're not running through your comfortable lines, party pieces or usual stuff. You will be playing different lines and making new neural pathways. Always be working on new stuff and adding to your library of bass experience.

For a great P bass sound listen to Bob Babbitt on Midnight Train To Georgia, Vernie Robbins on Mr Big Stuff and Duck Dunn on Mr Pitiful.

Neither of my P basses have neck dive, but Fender made so may variations of their basses that there might be some out there that do dive. IMO, get a good strap and that will tidy up most neck dive.

I like to hold my music. And my books. If anyone thinks that's old fashioned and indicative of someone who isn't "moving with the times", then I'd proudly agree with them.

That's the bass you're looking out for. The one that picks you.

The two parts, execution and interpretation, will be considered and judged separately by music colleges etc.

Fender are trying to regenerate the company after their financial difficulties, so I believe the new Fender ranges should be a step up in quality. As for the old stuff, there were always lots of good basses in amongst the indifferent ones. You just had to find them. If your budget can run to slightly over £1500 you should be checking out the Sadowsky Metro Express basses. These will/should be an eye opener and a step up in quality to anything Fender have produced in the past.

A factory set up? That's totally uncharted territory for me! I take my strings down till they buzz, then take them up until they don't. After that, if the action is too high or one string or fret is still buzzing I'll probably get the Bass Gallery to level the frets. Whatever they do, the bass comes back feeling exceptionally good to play. My basses only get 1 set up. After that they seem to stay right for years.

Best bass builder? I'm sure there are a lot guys who qualify to be on that list, but "apex" basses I've owned have been Wal (Pete Stevens and Paul Herman), Sadowsky (Roger and Yoshi Kikuchi), Mike Lull and Lakland (Hugh McFarland).

My Markbass LM2 EQ was all tone controls at noon and the 2 filters off, fully anti-clockwise. That was with my Lakland and 2 Aguilar GS112 cabs. A great sound and only sold due to the weight!

I've had both makes (not the cabs) and my preference would be for Markbass. My MB could get a very warm and fat sound but I found the the TC was just bassy, a bit one dimensional. IMO from Markbass to TC is a sideways move. I'd keep your amp and put it with a Barefaced Super Compact. That would definitely be taking a big step forward.

Clearly you don't understand "groove".

It would have been quicker, but I'm closer to your way of doing things and have been for years!! Being able to pick up lines very quickly gets me gigs, but it's a curse because I don't do any of the other stuff. I started well, teaching myself to read music but got distracted in the middle years. Now I'm trying improve myself before it's too late. . . it's probably already too late, but people who want to do better will always get encouragement from me.

It's the basics. It's important to know this stuff if you want to progress to be a better musician, and I think the OP wants that. The biggest chore for me was learning to play the bass in the first place. If you have the drive to push through and beyond the chore stage you'll do well on the other side.

Have discipline and a plan. Write down a list of 10 things you're not very good at, 10 things that you want to do better and work through them. Pick 10 bass lines you can't play and work them out. If you can knuckle down, Scott's bass lessons (the free ones and the pay ones) are worth investigating.

I got that on every school report. They were right, of course. I wasn't interested. I'll never forget Mr Ford, the careers advice officer, practically banging his head on the desk in frustration with me during our interview. I just knew telling him I was going to join a rock band wasn't a "career" choice either of us was going to agree upon! Fortunately, when rock stardom when down the pan, I discovered a fledgling IT industry, and I slotted right in. I can apply myself now but I find the lessons I'm having are even more effective because I have to sit in front of someone and demonstrate what I achieved between visits.

Ever played "Life's A Bowl Of Cherries" in 5/4?

Good move. Don't forget to improve your networking. Find a better band to utilise this new-found bass prowess.

An hour to travel to do anything in London is about par for the course. The real question is why do some bands rehearse so much?

A couple of years ago we did a wedding in a venue which had a meter. We we're surprised to see the gear trip. . . because we weren't playing at the time. The guests were making so much noise that they tripped the power supply!!!

I usually have the bass volume control on max. IMO a clean sound comes from not pushing your amp and/or cab so that the signal distorts. My regular amp is an AG700 and I usually don't have the volume beyond 10 o'clock on normal gigs and about 12 o'clock for the loudest gigs. I'm running that amp into 2 500 watt 210 cabs. Maintaining "headroom" in your amps and cabs will usually get you the cleanest sound.

Too young!

We supported Status Quo in the Winter Gardens. We were 100 yds away from the stage, in a far part of the building and on another floor, and when they started we had to shout to be heard in the dressing room!