chris_b

I've had all of those and a lot more over the years. The flawed personality type who is drawn to play in a band seems to have existed forever. Mozart probably had guys like this in his orchestra. If you can't change them or fire them learn how to deal with them. I'll endure almost anything if the gig is good. I've played with the mildly eccentric to the outright criminally insane, but I've met more good guys and they make up for it all.

I'm struggling to contain and tame a singer at the moment. We're running through songs and he'll do two of this and one of that, then the next rehearsal it's the other way around. I'm vainly trying to get him to play the agreed arrangement, every time. Apparently it's OK for him to change at will but the rest of us have to play our parts exactly and keep up with him. We're rehearsing for a gig at the end of next week and then that will probably be the end. Some people are just too selfish to be in a band.

I'm assuming the OP wants to mod a 5 string bass to 35" and not a 4 string bass! That's a mod which is never going to be a good idea. If you have a 5 string bass and you're struggling to play on the first fret you're not doing it right. Why not play that line starting at the 5th fret instead? And. . . no matter what bass you've got, how small your hands are or which postilion you're playing in, if you are doing any stretching at all you're not doing it right. Have some lessons and make playing these things easier.

I've owned my fantastic passive Lull PJ5 for about 5 years. I was looking for a good quality Precision and it just happened that the best one I'd played in decades came with a Jazz bridge pickup. The J pickup was superfluous to the sound so I don't use it. The P sound doesn't need a J pickup and I have the J5 for anything else that the Precision can't do. The Jazz does everything plus all the limited sound that the J bridge pickup brings, only it does it all better. IMO get the best sound, buy 2 basses.

Hi guys. . . . good news about the site. . . . please include weight in your specs.

Nice bass playing, but is that Jamerson? Jamerson was renown for his technique of changing his lines in every verse. By 1968 I wouldn't expect to hear him playing the same line throughout the song.

I just play one bass. I buy the next one, see if it works better than the last one and if it does that's the next bass I play. The last bass becomes the backup. Any others usually don't get played and are moved into the departure lounge. So, for example, instead of having 3 £500 basses, I play one £1500 bass. That's in a totally different league of instrument.

My passive Mike Lull PJ5 is a fantastic instrument.

I don't know the Little Mark Tube 500, but when I had an LM2 I ran it through 2 Bergantino 112's. Great sound. Bergs don't appear to have a UK dealership these days, which is a shame. Anyway, I know a player using a Markbass LM800 amp through a Barefaced Super Compact. He sounds very good. If you go down this route you can use 1 BF cab for the regular gigs and 2 for bigger gigs. That's what I do. Modular work best for me every time.

Rob Allen EAB's come with La Bella Black Nylon tape wounds. They feel and sound very nice on the RA and should be the same on the Alien.

Find the strings you like and want to use. Base your decision on their feel, sound and longevity. If they make you sound that good then just put your hand in your pocket. It's a small price to pay.

If your teacher is any good he'll have developed, or will be developing, your technique so that small hands won't limit or hinder your playing possibilities.

I've yet to meet a gentleman harp player!

The band won't want 2 bass players. There's only potential trouble for them if you try to go down that route. Do the gig, ie join and be the band member. Explain that you'll have to dep out some gigs due to other commitments. Don't be specific, then you can chose which gigs you do and they can find a dep for the others.

Not all jams are created equal. I've only been to a Jam where I've been the house bass player, so I get to bring my rig and sound like me. Currently, if you come to my jam, you get to use an Aguilar AG700 and 2 Barefaced SC's. Before that you'd have used a Thunderfunk and 3 Bergantino 112's.

In the BC classifieds there's an Overwater 5 string for sale in Berkhamsted. A fantastic piece of gear, that one.

You sound like you're at the point of upgrading anyway so get that 5 string bass. Also you would appear to be approaching this with the right frame of mind. If you appreciate the differences then do it.

I'm happy if your vote was no, but I'm not sure your man has been listening to the right basses. . . or the right players. Any inaudible, unclear, thin or dull bass sound is just a bad sound and has everything to do with poor EQ and/or playing and very little to do with the instrument.

Could you? Yes. No problem, as I said earlier. Would you? Maybe not. Every bass I've bought has been (IMO) "better" than the last one, so I guess a Squier is probably never going to win that one. Should you? For a few years I've been thinking I've got too much money tied up in my gear. I sold a few items last year but I've still got too much stuff. Finding a cheaper bass that could easily take over from my current bass is an interesting thought and I've been looking around for a couple of years.

I've just worked out Slither, in D, and works pretty well played down on the 3rd fret. But I get your point that open strings can be a "get out of jail" card if you're playing with a riff mad guitarist.

We did a bass cab shoot out a few years ago at the bass bash in Addlestone and out of the ten or so cabs I could have gigged with any of them. If I told you what I would avoid there would be a dozen posts telling you why they were the best cabs in the world! So I'll stick with telling you, in the last 10 years I've used Bergantino and Barefaced and I would recommend either to anyone. With the best one cab solution being a Barefaced. Where are you?

Eb? Good for me. That's just one fret down on my bass.

Could I perform my current role on a Squier Bass? Yes I could. I could also get by on a 4 string Squier bass if I had to. Find me a 5 string Squier that weighs 4kg or less and I'll buy it tomorrow. Also has to be 3 ts with rosewood fb and tort.

I wouldn't confuse "criticisms" as anything other than expressions of preference. These days there are very few "bad" pieces of equipment being sold. A good quality 112 cab and a 300w - 500w amp will easily exceed the capabilities of your combo.