chris_b

I have 4 amps: 2 Aguilar TH500's, a Mesa D800 Subway and a Thunderfunk 750. If something comes along that sounds better or has relevant options I'll try it. If it works for me then it will take over as #1. I bought the D800 because it was 2 ohm and the reviews were strong. It sounds very good but I still prefer my TH500 on the gig. I'll be selling this soon. I've had a Thunderfunk since 2007. First the 550 and now, for the last 5 years, a 750. It's so good it will probably be the last amp I own. It runs at 2 ohms, which used to matter when I ran a Berg 312 rig but that's not so important now with the Super Compacts. It sounds huge, clean, clear and full of tone. The TH500s sounded fantastic with my Berg's and are just as good with my Barefaced cabs. They are my go-to amps. Nothing has come close in the last 2 years. After 9 years of Bergs AE and CN cabs I've moved to 2 gen 3 Barefaced Super Compacts. Happy or what!! For me this gear has a synergy. It all works together so well.

. . . . I can't play 35" basses because I have small hands. . . . . I only have loss of hearing in one ear. . . . I don't need earplugs yet.

For 2 weeks now my wife has been asking me when I'm going to buy the Sadowsky Will Lee 5 I tried before Christmas. I told her I didn't think I could as I only bought a Mike Lull M5V Jazz a month ago. Apparently, she doesn't think that is a good enough reason not to buy the Sadowsky!!

Email Alex and ask his opinion about the other cabs you've spotted. Personally I'd only add another Barefaced cab. They are pretty unique and adding the wrong cab could ensure that neither is working as well as it should. That really wouldn't be a good use of your cash.

What's the problem? Just sell one to restore harmony and balance.

On my 5 string I move my thumb around between the pickup, B string or E string. When I played 4 string it was either pickup or E string. Seems to me this is a solution looking for a problem. Watch your favourite players on YT. Hardly anyone uses fully floating thumb. Most people, including most top pro's, seem to be able to mute the strings without this technique. You've got to be anchored somewhere, either your forearm on the edge of instrument or all the way up at your shoulder. IME it's easier to use the moveable anchor. Also I think you get better control of each note with a grip between a fixed thumb and the plucking fingers.

Basses that shook the world? I'm biased. . . IMO the first 2 on the list are 51 and 58 P basses, the third is the Jazz, the fourth is the first 5 string bass and the rest come next.

Can you buy tapered flatwound strings? I'm not sure I've seen any of those.

I'll start the list with Charlie Chandler in Hampton Wick, the ex-Chandlers guys in Richmond and The Bass Gallery in Camden. I changed the pickup on my P bass to Bartolini and got a huge improvement in the tone. Later I added a J pickup and only got a small improvement. So small I didn't think it was worth the money I paid out! Have you upgraded the existing pickup yet? I'd suggest you think about that as a first step.

Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends. It's got to be on a short list of one for the best cover.

After the banking crisis, Brexit and the impending oil price hike, it's pretty pointless comparing current prices against a decade ago. The price is the price: people will pay or they won't. . . . so, I played a Fender Am Pro Jazz V today. If they're all like this then Fender might have finally come up with a 5 string bass that can compete and win! About time!! It had a reasonable set up, a lowish action and had a very clear and even sound across all strings. I'm not looking for another Jazz but if I was this would certainly have enough plus points to get my attention. If anyone's looking for a 5 string Jazz this should be on their audition list.

I played a Fender Am Pro Jazz V today. If they're all like this then Fender might have finally come up with a 5 string bass that can compete and win! If anyone's looking for a 5 string Jazz this should be on their audition list.

You've got to go back to basics. It's all about knowing what the written notes are and where they are on the fretboard. You've got to put in the hours. Just try C and one other key until you get it into your head, then add another. It doesn't matter if it takes a month as long as you assimilate it. Write the keys down with their sharps and flats as reminders. There are patterns in all this. If you can suss those playing in different keys becomes easier. You already know the fret board so that's more than half the job done. When you started out you learned to play by taking things slowly. Now you've got to go back to slow and deliberate again. I'm the same with slap, modes and other bass playing stuff. I want to be playing at the speed I can play and not stumbling around as a beginner. Have some lessons. A good teacher can show you more effective ways of achieving the technical side of bass playing.

No, a bit of Skiffle but mostly Rock and Roll was their starting point. They were trying to be Little Richard, Elvis and Carl Perkins.

IMO the wrong reason would be because "you always fancied it." The right reasons would be because you have a need for the extra notes, need the flexibility of playing different positions in different keys and the great feeling of making the room shake when you hit a low D or C. I've seen people buying 5ers who think they'll sound great and when they don't, the penny drops and they realise that it's going to take some time and discomfort and then they loose interest. IMO a 5 string bass is a very flexible instrument. They give you more choices as to how you play the song. Sometimes I don't play the B string at all, but I'll still use the 5er for continuity. I don't want the faff of switching and adjusting and prefer to be on the same instrument no matter which number of strings I need for the song. Also I don't want to carry different basses to gigs. I'm not immune to these "problems" and I've got it wrong in the past. I bought a wonderful sounding Rob Allen fretless 4 string bass. . . . with my heart, not my head. When I realised I couldn't play it as easily as my other basses I lost interest. Instead of sticking with it and overcoming the differences I sold it. I should never have bought that bass in the first place. The bass was great but all the "fault" was mine.

My 4 string P bass went into its case when I bought my first 5er. That was over 20 years ago. It's still there. Have a good reason for buying a 5. Too many seem to to buy a 5er and then look around for something to play on it. Most problems with a 5er are the player not the bass. If you don't make the decision to switch for the right reasons you will never stay. In the beginning most players will feel comfortable on a 4 and uncomfortable on a 5. If they keep switching back and forth they will never make the jump to feeling comfortable on the 5. It's a natural thing to want to keep going back to what you know but by doing that the chances are you'll never get up to speed on the new instrument and will lose interest. IMO those guys shouldn't have bought a 5 in the first place. Also don't fall into the trap of thinking, that song was originally played on a 4 so I'll play it on a 4 as well. You can play any song on a 5. Lastly, there are a lot of 5's that are just not very well made. I had a Basschatter, who had unsuccessfully dabbled with 5's, play my Lull. He just said, "I've been playing the wrong 5 string basses!" Make sure you buy a good one.

Very, very sad news.

I played through Bergantino 112's for about 8 years. Fantastic sound. I sold them for 2 Super Compacts but as we're not mentioning those, the Berg 112's are some of the best cabs I've owned in the last 25 years.

I guess the people previously moving from heavy gear to lightweight gear weren't listening very closely to what they were buying if moving back the other way sounds so much better.

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1482480798' post='3200861'] Whilst technically true this isn't helpful advice stated so baldly. [b]You can blow a speaker using an amp rated at half the speaker rating, [/b]yes but only if you exceed the excursion limits of the drive unit. Most designers are aware of that and whilst a theoretical possibility it is less likely the lower the amplifier power. [/quote] Thank you Phil.

This was my point a few pages ago. Design your rig so that the amp and cab will work together safely at the volume levels you require and you won't have to listen out for anything other than the great sound your band is making.

Liked it. Will be forwarding to the Funk band for their enjoyment.

I hate it when depping and you ask the key and they tell you the name of the first chord. . . and it's not the key. Time for a train wreck.

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1482403626' post='3200198'] The drained batteries that get removed from my bass go in the Seiko tuner [/quote] +1 I used to run the amp on high volume and the Lakland on low volume. I changed the batteries in the bass every 12 months and they would either go into the tuner, or (when I had the battery powered ones) into my smoke detectors at home, where they would last forever (and yes they were regularly tested). I always carry 2 spare batteries. . . just in case. I've had active basses for the last 25 years and 4 years ago went passive on a P bass. I will always listen to the overall sound (just bought a bass with an active 18v preamp) but after buying 2 great sounding passive basses on the trot I'm not so much of an active fan any more. The passive option on both active basses is like a "get you home" tyre. They'll get you to the end of the number but in comparison they sound terrible.

My experience with batteries running low with 2 basses was a slow decline into ever increasing distortion and swishing noises. Maybe they fell off "the cliff "after that but they were unusable way before that point.