chris_b

The list price for my Aguilar TH500 is £749. I fail to see what the issue is if the list price for the Subway turns out to be £739. Never mind rip off Britain. . . glass half full Britain more like.

Mesa have their pricing structure and it has always been high in comparison to the competition. Nothing new there. In this country we are regularly ripped off over prices and services. Nothing new there either. As long as our choices of leader are always between the likes of Cameron and Corbyn there will be no light at the end of the tunnel. Anyway. . . . I'm wondering if it sounds better than the amps I currently use.

All I can say is always have a good supply of batteries and a lead laid out as a backup.

Like Bergantino, Mesa tightly manage their RRP in all countries, ie discounts have to be run by them first. I can't see Westside having any say in that. The final price is made up of many components some of which are not under Mesa's control. As no one here knows any of the details involved in the manufacture, distribution and tax and regulation regimes involved, comparing prices around the world is a wast of time. If this thing sounds good then you decide if it's worth it or not.

There might not be many of them about, but a good teacher is worth their weight in gold. The OP has been playing for 5 months and knows what he "wants" and "doesn't think he's getting much from lessons". I'd suggest that's the problem right there. After 5 months you know what you [i]want[/i] but don't know what you [i]need[/i]. Find a good teacher who is following one of the recognised teaching plans and have faith in him to be teaching you what [i]need[/i] to know.

I don't mind that the wattage is the same at 4 ohms and 2 ohms. At the moment I only use 2 ohms for the flexibility of the cab config. I use a 4 ohm and 8 ohm cab for bigger gigs. I'm waiting to see what the early reviews say about the tone. I don't like amps with a pillowy and hard to control low end. Some Mesa amps seem to wallow in the low end. I use 2 different amps at the moment, so I'd be happy if I could get that down to 1 amp. Less boxes in the front room would get me some brownie points.

We play I Am The Walrus as a 4 piece with keys and Stax classics without a horn in sight. Be realistic and don't touch anything that is plainly beyond your playing abilities. As has been said take the essence of the song. Do that bit properly and you'll have a good cover.

I'd vote never again for Spanish Eyes. Over the years I've played most of the numbers listed so far. IME, play them well and the audience will think we are great and that gets us rebooked. If that happens I'll happily carry on playing them and others like them for as long as I can. The cover band set is there for a specific purpose, which is to make us as popular and successful as we can be. I also play in Blues, Soul and originals bands. The sets for all of these bands have a different job to do. You make your choices when you pick the repetoire, then the main criteria for any song is only did we play it as well as we could.

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1441060247' post='2855830'] Macca played his 5-string live through the 90s. [/quote] Sounds better than that Hofner he usually plays.

Light and loud 2 ohm amps are always interesting.

I gigged all the time with my 5 string Custom Mk3 Wal (even in grotty pubs) but I didn't think it was the best fit for the Blues and Soul bands I started playing with, so I bought a Lakland. After that I used the Wal in the studio, where its sounded fantastic, and gigging in several originals bands, where I thought it's fat and warm sound worked better than the Lakland did. The sound of one bass over another is a judgement and preference call. It's just finding the right tools for the job.

Your sound can be fixed. Money and good choices will do that for you. If you want to up your game and play in a band I'd concentrate on your technique and playing stamina. Work on your timing and get it spot on. The worse thing anyone can do in a band is have bad timing.

This is guesswork, but your problem might be your EQ settings. Sounds like you've got the high mids and mids boosted. You'll need a different sound for live band work. Try boosting the low mids. Your bad sound might just be due to your amp. What are you using? You'll probably need more and better gear when playing in a band. Most string noises will be drowned out by the band but your technique could probably be improved. Don't drag your fingers on the strings. Lift and place. You could also try flatwound strings.

I'm not good with "labels". Does Brian Culbertson qualify? I hope so. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJujuETSnI&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9&index=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJujuETSnI&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9&index=1[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEYr1dXjro&index=3&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlEYr1dXjro&index=3&list=PLi-Y73aIHeoOWKtECgUTjWvIDYhu-Bsl9[/url]

I see you're prepared with the crutches just inside the garage door.

My only experience of the basses on your list is the Skyline. I'd also add the 44-01 and 44-02 to the list They are great basses for the money. The necks are some of the best out there and as they are plek'ed they should play very well. I was wondering why there are no Fender American Standard basses on your list. If you can find one that plays well you can upgrade the pickups to get any sound you want, from genuine vintage to modern boutique.

I think the OP is in for a big change. Selling gear you like is easy. Replacing it with another sound and getting to like that one as much is a far more difficult task. Don't think this rig will be the one. You're making the first step on a journey. My suggestion would be to replace the cabs first. Running the current amp through a fairly neutral cab, like Barefaced, would keep a lot of the old sound intact, while improving the definition, punch and tone, in a significantly lighter format. One of the BF 212's should easily match the old rig for volume.

It's very easy to find a rig that [i]cuts through[/i] better than Ampeg, but you're going to loose that "Ampeg" sound in the process. You cut through by using power and volume from a big rig or by adding more mids from a smaller rig that has clarity and definition. What's your budget? To keep you in the "Ampeg sound" ballpark, a modular Ampeg rig would be a 2 ohm amp pushing a 4 ohm 410 and an 8 ohm 210. That's 3 rigs right there. I'd went for a 2 ohm Thunderfunk pushing a 4 ohm 212 and an 8 ohm 112. Both Bergantino. If you're in the UK (I see you put up the same post on Talkbass), there's a Barefaced Big Twin in the classifieds at the moment. You could cover most of the ground you need to cover with one of those and a good 800 watt amp.

Take the gig (never turn a good gig down) and change the set around. Back in the day I used to play several weekly residencies (Bob's Goodtime Blues and the Carnarvon Castle). If you're good enough then you can carry it off. These days we usually figure on 3 or 4 gigs per venue per year, but at the moment we're doing several 2 week turnarounds. It's OK if they like you. We change the set a lot and add new numbers.

I was looking at headphones and didn't see these in any reviews. The ones I found are the Grado SR80e and ATH-M50x.

I saw Pops with the Crusaders at the Victoria Palace London in 76. They were touring the Southern Knights album. What a fantastic gig.

[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1439898943' post='2846556'] Who's happy to be described as solid? [/quote] I get described as solid. I accept it as a compliment but I suppose it could be taken either way. I would much rather be called exciting, lively and innovative, but I know that's not what I do. I like to think I'm in the same league as Duck Dunn, John McVie and Bob Babbitt. An American bass player I knew called my playing "meat and potatoes". I guess that's American for solid? You are what you are. Just make sure you're better at it than anyone else.

The budget 5er that I'd start looking at is the Sire V7. Quickly followed by a Lakland 55-01.

My Lull PJ5 has a separate volume for each pick up, so I would expect there to be no interaction other than through the tone control. I have A/B'ed my bass with another Lull P5 and heard no issue with the sound when the J was turned off. I only use the P pickup on mine. IMO it just doesn't need the J to sound great.