chris_b

As I said earlier, Paul Tutmarc advertised in trade magazines and attended trade shows. All the manufacturers, on the West Coast, would have been aware of him, but I guess most wouldn't have seen a future for making money out of a solid bass. Tutmarc was an inventor and wasn't interested in manufacturing and marketing. There were many ideas floating around, at the time, and being "borrowed". For instance, the Strat headstock was a nick from the Bigsby Merle Travis electric guitar. What Leo Fender actually invented is open to discussion. He had a team working with him who had a lot of input. A lot of the final Fender "ideas" were honed by the local musicians who used to hang out at the factory. Apparently if you could convince Leo that your idea worked, was an improvement and wouldn't cost much he could adopt it. A guy called Bill Carson complained that the hard edges of the Telecaster cut into his leg when it was played sitting down. That started the idea of the Strat and it's rounded lines. History recalls that Leo did it all. He didn't. He had a lot of help.

The parasites in the music business used to be many of the managers and agents. Read up about the horror stories of the likes of Don Arden etc.

Cover bands are musicians and entertainers. That's a tradition that goes back thousands of years. There's nothing wrong in entertaining others.

That's what deafness sounds like! Best to learn to deal with the plugs and save your hearing. At least the plugs are temporary. Deafness isn't.

The gunshot plugs usually have a diaphragm that snaps shut when a very sudden peak of volume hits it. That isn't how music works, unless you do a version of the 1812.

That's why they have different dB ratings, so, depending on the band and their volume, you can hear everything.

I preferred the sound of my LM2 with the 2 filters (VLE, VPF in the off position.

Threads like this just prove how tribal we are. Which I find endlessly interesting.

Get proper moulded ACS plugs and save your hearing.

I don't get the "4 string was used on the original, so that's what I need to do" comments. Sometimes I play songs that were originally recorded on double bass. Why would I buy a DB for those songs? Forget the gear used on the original recordings. That is irrelevant. What bass feels right to you? Use that bass and make the songs yours, not carbon copies of someone else's ideas.

I had an LM2 and 2 x GS112's for awhile. The cabs were pretty heavy, but sounded very good. If you can lift it I would guess this rig will sound good as well.

Yep, Leo Fender, and his team, invented the Precision but the bass guitar was Paul Tutmarc's concept. There is quite a bit of information on Talkbass about Tutmarc and his basses.

That's what it's like to be going deaf, and there's no coming back from that! IMO any downsides from hearing protection is a small price to pay for playing in a band AND keeping your hearing.

You need to play better basses.

ACS Pro (17 and 26 filters) plugs for me. Most of the guys I know, who do not use hearing protection, are well on the way to hearing aids. . . . most of them are guitarists! The guys with sense, bass players and drummers, are nearly all using proper protection.

Play the bass that is right for you. I moved to 5 string basses in 1996. The additional notes, positions and sounds are now integral to my style and technique. In nearly 30 years no band has made negative comments about my gear or their music being played on a 5 string bass. It's the right instrument for me.

The delusional aspects of the MM, NME and Loot Musicians Wanted ads cannot be overstated. Fortunately I've been working by word of mouth since the mid 80's so have totally missed out on the world of online ads.

I thought I was GAS-less. . . . until I heard a Tec-amp Puma 900 this afternoon. I really liked it!!

I think you are overthinking this. There are top rock bassists using fingers and others using picks, so both work. How many is "many pedals"? If you have EQ issues I would look at what all those pedals are doing to your sound.

Just rediscovered this one last night. Great 5 string bass lines. Love this one

Most of the people at my gigs are checking their phones to see when they should take their medication.

Ry Cooder banned smoking at his 80's Wembley Arena gigs. It was a very early anti smoking stance which IMO improved the gig no end.

If you want dirt, get a pedal.

Back in the 80's I was in a great Chuck Berry/Dave Edmunds boogie band, and for many years we started the second set with Little Lisa, followed by Bad Is Bad.

This. . . . The playing, the music and the people are the exciting bit.