chris_b

If I might suggest a Fender American Standard Jazz V [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/303149-fender-american-standard-jazz-v-5-string-passive-jazz/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url]

I guess it's like telling the guitarist what guitar he's going to play or you that you can only play this or that bass. Your sound, in your space, in your "office" and your choice. I'd want that to stay pretty constant no matter where I was playing. I've played without back line, through fold back, in an acoustic duo, on a festival stage, with the full professional sound crew in attendance. Not sure I'd like monitors only with a drummer belting it out right next to me and no sound crew. Also, not lugging 3 amps doesn't seem like a life changer to me.

Retail is very slow and not in a good place these days. At least it's a good bass.

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1491042376' post='3270042'] Eric Clapton is not looking to well. [/quote] I saw him looking worse several times when he was in his 20's!!

If your rig isn't cutting through in this band you have 4 options. Get a better rig, get the guitarists to turn down and/or change their tone or leave. Assuming you don't want to quit the band, I'd concentrate on what you can easily fix. You need a bigger and better rig. If the guitarists are in your frequency range you don't want to smother them with volume and bass (or they'll be telling you to turn down and the band will sound even worse), but you do need to get a cleaner and more defined sound so you can cut through their racket and be heard in spite of them. Your amp isn't powerful enough, get a clean 500 watt amp. GK, Genzler, TH500 (there are others but you need a clean sounding amp. Tubes are not the answer here) should all be loud enough and sound better than your current amp. You need good quality, punchy cabs. I'd go for 2 112's or 2 210's. The only 15 I'd go for is the Gen 1 Barefaced Compact in the classifieds, which is a powerful and punchy cab that would do what you need. I would be aiming for 2 cabs though. Do you use pedals? I'd start by leaving them out of the equation to begin with. Get a good basic sound first and add stuff like pedals later. Oh, and get some ear plugs.

Sounds like the drummer is bored with what he is playing. Or maybe he's just bored with you guys all playing the same lines in the same songs. Do you ever swap the set around? Get him to change his drum patterns. Work on some better arrangements. Add a few better songs. You don't need to throw the baby out. . . etc, just liven up what you already do.

I'd say Flats are good for a Blues/Rock trio.That's what I use on my PJ5. I have 4 Jazz basses, 2 are strung with DR's and the other 2 are strung with Dunlop Super Brights. IME DR's are the best for tone and longevity. The initial outlay might be more but they sound better for longer so, in use, they aren't as expensive as at first glance. I used to make a set last for about 10 months.

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1490861379' post='3268524'] In my experience, guitarists and singers are often the "difficult" band members. [/quote] . . . . and band leaders. I'm suffering from 2 band leading, singing, guitarists at the moment!!

[quote name='solo4652' timestamp='1490861379' post='3268524'] Another important consideration is keeping the drummer awake at rehearsals. While keys player, guitarist and bassist discuss the finer points of extended jazz chords and which key to do the song in, the drummer gets bored and starts checking their phone. [/quote] My definition of a rehearsal is that everyone arrives knowing their parts and you put all the pieces together in a band context. Things might have to be changed and honed, but working out the chords, inversions and arrangements should have already been done. You don't need to do any of that at full volume.

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1490810287' post='3268278'] The only problem is, he is in about 5 bands and sometimes we have to use a dep and that`s when the problems start.... [/quote] It's for you to sort out if you're being sent dodgy deps. Either find your own or insist on dep approval before he can back out of your gig.

I bought a bass from a guy off Talkbass. Then found out he lived in Denmark. It was a good sale and no customs were involved. Which was a bonus. Talkbass has a trading feedback system so you can check people out before you do any deals.

[quote name='funkle' timestamp='1490784373' post='3267903'] And my experience of custom basses is that if your requirements change, you take a massive bath on them. I'm not interested in custom. [/quote] That's also why I'm unlikely to ever order a custom bass. My solution to your problem is to have fewer red lines and more flexible goals. The bass is only the platform. What you do after is the important part. Anyway, sounds like you've homed in on G&L. They're good basses. I'd find a good used one and try it for a few months.

Put Nordstrand pickups in a StingRay or get ACG to make a bass for you.

Now that's a band.

Why "work"? One of the things that separates the good bands from the OK, or not so OK, bands is how they present themselves and behave on stage. How many times do you see a band end a number then stand around having a drink (a fag in the old days) and a chat before deciding what number to play next? If you're going out for a laugh with your mates and have some fun then that can lead to a very amateurish performance. If you approach gigs with a professional frame of mind then the band will usually look and play better. Work is just a short-hand for ensuring a better performance.

You don't want us to say "any bass", but that's the answer, What basses do you have in the almost empty rack? Mmm, that will do nicely.

Any bass is good for Blues. . . even Blues Fusion. There's not a lot in Blues genres so it's what you make of it that counts. You can be Willie Dixon or Roscoe Beck, it's all in your groove and style. Edit for clarification

[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1490606085' post='3266254'] . . . . And why anyone would wanna play bass in an indie band beats me as it's all seems to be about picking 8ths on the root while gazing at the back of the hall. [/quote] Why would anyone play in ZZ Top, Status Quo or U2? I get you don't like this stuff but that doesn't mean it isn't good music for others.

Green Onions, I Want To Take You Higher, Higher And Higher, Sharp Dressed Man.

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1490487269' post='3265508'] all our ears are different.[/quote] I agree. But listen to Whitney Houston singing The Greatest Love Of All and then listen to George Benson's version. He puts more soul and feeling into that song than Whitney ever did or could.

[quote name='Dropzone' timestamp='1490605119' post='3266239'] I hear you, but could you imagine Steve Harris without his signature sound, [/quote] I agree. There are always exceptions, but I bet he'd sound 95% like Steve Harris on any P bass.

[quote name='Ironbar' timestamp='1490589560' post='3266114'] I had a 5 stringer. I used the B string for approximately four notes on two songs. I finally asked myself the question, "WTF do I own this thing?" [/quote] Because you played those 4 notes. . . . and you were ready for any other low lines that you might have wanted to play. If you've got a 5 string bass and you're not adapting your playing to it then; 1) You're unnecessarily limiting yourself and your bass playing, or 2) You shouldn't have bought a 5er in the first place.

[quote] Do all Precisions sound the same?[/quote] When the band starts. . . . yes. Even if you have an extreme sound (JJ Burnell etc) or enough pedals to match the cockpit of Concord, when the band starts, you, your technique and what you choose to play are the defining criteria for being a good player and the band having a good gig or not. OK I know there are genres that use all sorts of extreme sounds, but in those you're probably hearing the pedals rather than the actual bass. In the rest of the playing world, good players are judged on what they play rather than what they sound like. Even when the best bass players in the world are chosen for recording they will probably all use the same make of P bass. The basses mostly sound the same but the players all sound different.

My wife doesn't come to many gigs; she's heard it all before, we're boring, too many guitar solo's, too loud, I have to get there too early, I stay too late and I don't talk to her enough in the interval. On the other hand, I don't usually go to her theatre nights, quilting group, Yoga classes or exhibitions. We still ask each other, though, and will go to the things that interest us. After 40 years there's no tension anywhere, except when I'm behind on the DIY.