chris_b

Lindy Fralin are supposed to make good vintage pickups. https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/jazz-bass/

To the OP, your attempts to start a band always fail. . . . you always use the same guys! There's your problem. And you've been trying for 20 years??? You've got 19 years more patience the I have. If you want to do things with your mates, play golf, go down the pub, have BBQ's but don't start a band. That's the easiest way to fall out with mates.

Willie Weeks on Donny Hathaway's Voices Inside is a favourite, as is Dexter Redding playing The Awakening.

Why do you want to change? Are you unhappy with your sound or is there a problem with the amp? If you want a clean sound (headroom and all that) I think you should stay with a 500 watt amp. It's difficult to advise. Watts are cheap, so the lowest powered amp I'll use is 500 watts because I find it's the most practical size and flexible enough to work well with any of the bands I play with.

I went to see a Victor Wooten bass clinic and he was asked about his basses. He said he would always use his 4 string bass at clinics because he's most comfortable doing the "show off" stuff on a 4, but he uses 5, 6 and fretless on other gigs. Unsurprisingly he'll use what ever is appropriate for the gig. Ian King posted a video on BC of him playing on Hamilton. He's using electric, bass, double bass and bass keyboards. The "best pro players" don't seem to have the hang-ups that so many semi pro players do.

The best bass players (pro or otherwise) are the guys playing the best bass lines. Who cares what instrument they used. Do what the best pro players do. . . make your own decisions and resist following the herd.

My basses don't seem to be affected by the heat. All I've done is tune them the normal number of times, ie at the start of each set and a quick check in the middle, usually before the first slow number.

I've seen the Kodo Drummers. A total assault on your senses.

Love these guys . . .

Change one thing at a time.

I did too, but the image I had was all about fire wood!

+1 and that's a percentage of every thing you earn from music, even earnings unconnected to the program ie if you write or have written songs etc. These contracts are every bit a strangle hold as those of Alan Klein, Don Arden, Tony Defries, Bert Berns and Norman Petty etc etc

I knew a guy who played a Mark King 810 combo. IMO it didn't sound very good, the band thought is sounded like crap and so no one would help him carry it. According to the bass Centre, my Mesa Road Ready 210 EV was part of the rig MK used in the 90's. It didn't make me sound like Mark King at all!!

Hipshot make tuners with different sized barrels, 1/2" and 3/8". Do you know which size you need? Then again, why do you need to change the tuners at all?

Sounds like you're looking for an amp that goes higher. GK amps do that. The Mesa D800+ and Aguilar AG700 do too. I run an AG700, which I like a lot, but if you have tried the Orange and like it that much, why would you want anything else. That's what you should get.

Good move.

I briefly had a 4 string fretless MB-2. Loved it as an instrument and the sound was incredible, but the mixture of fretless and 4 strings defeated me in the end. The Deep 5 has always looked just right to me. Good luck with your search.

I guess you might have been advised by Alex? I'd drop him another email if I were you. I would usually use 2 SC's in a band with a loud drummer. What do the rest of the band say? Do they think you are quieter with the new cab?

IMO the coolest bass gadget ever is. . . the chromatic tuner. I started out at a time when you either had a tuning fork, pitch pipes or you had to tune up to a trumpet, if you had a brass section, or an organ. Trying to stop the others making a noise when you needed to tune up was a nightmare. And forget it in a noisy night club. I just don't know how we managed to get a whole band in tune back then! Silent tuning is a wonderful evolution.

I couldn't gig without my ACS plugs and I want to gig so there is no discussion for me. I've been using ACS ER15's and now PRO17's for the last 12 years. Of course they change the sound but I find they're easy to deal with. This is what I get for taking insufficient care of my hearing since the age of 16. With these plugs I can hear everything comfortably from a manic screaming guitar solo to an ultra loud "animal" drummer to an acoustic guitar to a stage whisper.

I'd rehearse if something can be accomplished, otherwise I'd reschedule.

When the banner came up it seemed to stop BC sending messages telling me I'd submitted a post. I didn't know what was going on and hit sub several times. It submitted the post every time and didn't tell me it had done so. The reply message box wasn't cleared down either after the first post. !!!

I'm on this side of the fence. IMO foam works in the studio. I love the sound of a P bass with flats and a ton of foam right next to the bridge but on a gig I prefer as much dynamic range as I can get.

I have GAS for gigs but not so much for gear. My idea of "aural heaven" is playing with a great drummer. In the last 10 years I've used Thunderfunk and Aguilar amps and Berg cabs, followed by Aguilar amps and Barefaced cabs. I don't touch the EQ after the first couple of gigs and I don't recall any of those rigs having a bad night. My aim is to get to the point where the default sound is good and then the gear takes care of itself. I'll adjust the level with the band, but that's it, forget the back line and just play.