chris_b

+1 for don't complicate things. One thing at a time. Floating Thumb is not essential to playing a 5 string bass. You will never see any of the "greats" using FT anywhere. Just focus on extending your current technique to cover the new instrument. It will work if you give it time.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1468748238' post='3092995'] I've said before the vast majority of bass players need a P bass because it does what most people need it to do. If I hear a bass with a weak sound..it very very often isn't a P.. [/quote] +1

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1468743233' post='3092948'] i suspect the neck profile may have something to do with this weird black art of why Ps and Js sound uniquely different [/quote] Fraid not. P basses were offered (maybe still are?) with an A neck, basically a jazz neck, and they still sounded like a P bass. The unique P bass sound is generated by the design and placement of the pickups and the limited amount of tone control.

[quote name='ivansc' timestamp='1468737831' post='3092912']Maybe we have all been looking at it from the wrong perspective all these years! [/quote] No [i]maybe[/i] about it!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1468605632' post='3092139'] No, Blue; that's [i]your [/i]job. [i]Our [/i]job is to have fun and educate the audience, whilst (hopefully...) entertaining them. [/quote] Has no one here been fired because they didn't pull in the crowds? Blue is right. Beer sales pay the band. Dad, you've got the right ideas but in the wrong order. A cover band should entertain the audience whilst, hopefully, having fun. Education? From a cover band? Good luck with that!

She played on two of my favourite records. Bass on River Deep, Mountain High and guitar on You've Lost That Loving Feeling.

A 5 string bass is just another bass with an extra string and a couple of extra notes. Put your 4 string basses away until the 5er becomes second nature.

Has anyone suggested balancing the volume on each bass so they are similar?

Why is Laphroaig 40 more expensive than Black Label and a bottle of Aldi Scotch is cheaper still? They're all just whiskey. If you can tell the difference then you'll appreciate a better playing and better sounding instrument. If you can't tell the difference will probably be unimportant to you, hence all the questions asking how people can spend so much on "expensive" basses. To me there is a definite improvement in feel, playability and sound in the custom made basses I've owned over production line basses I've tried. Even between them. You really could hear the difference between my Wal and Lakland when recording, and the Wal sounded so much better. On a gig the difference swung the other way. In my case I currently have 2 £3K basses that sound and play much better than my £1K bass. I can't afford these prices so I did the only sensible thing. I bought them both from their original owners at much less than the RRP. I'd love to have a £300 bass that felt and sounded this good, but so far (and I do look) I haven't found one.

Steve Rabe was a cleaver guy, also when he worked for Acoustic he was Jaco's amp man.

If the truss rod adjustment irritates you that much why is this bass on your list in the first pace. I'd be looking for a good used Am Std P bass.

[quote name='lucky' timestamp='1468356678' post='3090446'] And i never knew Ford had Volvo [/quote] They did but now Volvo is now owned by the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China.

I put this in the last thread about dark stages. . . . if you can't see your frets the audience can't see you. Get some lights.

If you are not travelling to gigs in a car, and you don't have guaranteed access to a PA system, you'll have to go light, small and powerful enough to be effective. 500 watt D class amps are between 4 and 7 lbs and the smallest, lightest and loudest cab I know of is one of the Barefaced 112 cabs. Put it on a trolley and you're in business.

You say, there's more of this in these cabs and more of that in those cabs but if the band can't tell the difference between either rig. . . . . why carry the extra weight?

When your band says they can hear "no difference", is that between 2 x 210's and 2 x 110's or 1 x 210 and 2 x 110's?

What flexibility is there when they are all racked up? Will you have different preamps that you can slot in?

Is this bass a good one? Does it feel and sound unique? Many modern basses can beat vintage instruments on a gig. When you see interviews with the top US session guys they all have old Fender P basses purely for recording but use newer basses for the gigs.

There are 2 routes you can take; keep the bass as it is as an investment (and look out for an original case) or use it as a player. Collectors will only be interested in paying higher prices if the bass is in its original condition. If this bass is totally original then any changes at all will adversely affect it's resale value. Can you raise the bridge to clear the buzzing frets?

Fantastic Anthony Jackson video. I'll be depping without charts or safety net tonight. The Band Leader apparently sent the set list to the wrong email. If finally getting it right by the third verse is good enough then this is going to be a great night. For me I know it will be a bad night of cock ups and bodges as I don't know most of his songs. Music stands have their place.

I've played in bands where anything was OK and bands who wanted everyone to dress the same, or banned jeans, or banned charts and one where we had to do the Bootsy Collins shuffle during the numbers. Some of the least professional have been the guys trying to control the image.

It's all about image. No stands means you've learnt the songs. I use a music stand because I'm either depping, playing with occasional bands or playing with guitarists who can be rather flexible with the arrangements. I never rehearse in any of these situations, so I'll use all help I can get. In the old days I never used stands because we rehearsed a lot and wanted to look "cool".

Amps don't get damaged by music being played through them.

Good move. Should sound much better than 1 cab.

You're throwing away everything in this cab that makes the sound you love. It won't sound anything like it does now so. . . . is there really any point? I'd buy a cab that you can audition and will give you the sound you want. For me that would be a 4 ohm 212 or a the 4 ohm Barefaced Two10.