chris_b

I was in a folk rock band in the 70's and the guitarists had sanded the varnish off the front of their acoustics to increase the volume and they said "release the tone".

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1423228365' post='2682479'] ....but for electric, the debates have mostly said it's minimal.... [/quote] Not so. Anyone who says different is usually shouted down to the point that any kind of sensible debate is cut off. Anyone with a different view has to be pretty thick skinned to get into this and many other debated here. So we tend not to hear the other side of the story. I will trust a manufacturer when they are the likes of Mike Tobias and Roger Sadowsky. These guys, and others like them, are not trying to sell basses by BS but by putting into practice what they know. And they know a lot more than most of the members on Basschat.

it will make no difference to your sound or reliability if you daisy chain or not, unless your cables are made of bell wire or each is excessively long. My OBBM cables are [s]1/2 [/s]meter. Google speaker wire gauges. Correction: My cables are 1 meter in length.

Looking at the cabs you own it's no surprise that you didn't like the 18's and 15's. I know people who get a great sound out of Ampeg 15's, but I prefer tight, warm and punchy for my sound.

[quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1423089085' post='2680738'] ....For that money I'd go for a post 2008 American Standard Precision. They come up here often enough and often as good as new condition. Lots of bass for your money.... [/quote] +1 Excellent advice here. I'd go for a used AM Std, in good condition, from the classifieds. I'd also hold back £50 to invest in a good set of flatwound strings.

Why all this effort to define a professional musician? The term professional in the context of being a musician relates to earning a living not to ability. Professional musicians get paid to do what they do, exclusively. Semi pro musicians have a day job and play as a hobby for money. Very good players are better than good players and fantastic players are better than that. They may or may not be professional musicians. One of the best guitarists I've played with spent his life working in a factory.

The Sadowsky pre amp is supposed to be a very good one, but all this is going to change the structure of your sound. I'd experiment first with some new strings. . . Dunlop Super Brights?

I thought that just as I was typing it.

[quote name='GregBass' timestamp='1423072938' post='2680375'] .... After a lively email conversation with Alex at Barefaced I have ordered a Big Baby 2.... [/quote] Alex knows his stuff and importantly understands how to match you as a player to the right cab. I did it the wrong way around. I bought a BB2 from the classifieds, then spoke to Alex. He said he thought I should be using a Super Compact. After hearing Merton's 2 SC's, I find that Alex is exactly right.

I played with an "elite" guitarist many years ago and what I got from that experience was invaluable. We never discussed the hardware. You were expected to have a certain level of equipment but gear wasn't even in the top 10 of interests. I learnt to focus, strive and shine, be original and reliable. I learnt that thinking about bass lines was more important than playing them. You learn to quietly and quickly raise your game or you know the phone calls will evaporate. If you have the ability and right mind set a good pro player can push you to be a far better player than you'll ever be on your own, and none of it ever relates to frigging speaker sizes, etc.

Makes you smile, doesn't it.

If you're going to increase the size of the cavity, work towards the front of the bass, towards the neck, then you can reinstate the original scratch plate without any of this work being visible. I'd get some stacked pots.

The online sales plan will fail if Fender don't greatly improve their QC. Rightly or wrongly, Fender have a reputation for trying to sell too many "dogs". They can't make a long term success of a mail order business with a reputation for indifferent QC on that scale. But this still has the potential for good to come out of bad. GC will fail, drag down Fender, who will be sold, re emerging with new owners, minus the debt, with a greatly reduced catalogue, realistic sales totals (no one can sell 3 to 4 hundred thousand instruments a year any more) and a focus on the customer and quality. Hopefully the new management will learn from the cock ups of the old management. But I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1423050212' post='2679936'] Sometimes on the forum, people state their opinion as though it's a fact [/quote] Jeez. That happens every other thread. [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1423050212' post='2679936'] and this does rankle, causing the sort of personal/insulting posts we saw on that thread [/quote] No. insulting posts are never justified. [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1423050509' post='2679941'] +1 Horses for courses and all that. [/quote] You're back then. That was quick.

Good thread Nige. It's very interesting to see that some players on here feel that talking to a pro player can offer them nothing. I would have expected there to be more push back on that view. A pro player gets the affirmation of his skills, ability and choices on a daily basis. He doesn't need to discuss what's the best cab and be called out by a geek because the rule book says his gear sounds crap. He's got people lining up to offer him work based on how he plays, how he sounds and his attitude and his approach. He knows stuff that's far more important than what's the best bass for metal. Any player who has "made it" or just managed to get to the next level can offer something that is worth hearing. These guys should be welcomed.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1422973451' post='2679008'] ....I don't really get this - you only notice the bass when it isn't there.... [/quote] +1 We've just had this discussion in another thread. Everyone hears my playing, but I don't care if the audience thinks it's me or a bass or bagpipes. The band knows what I'm doing and that's the important thing.

What is your budget? I too hear differences between 10's, 12's and 15's. I don't care if that is coming from the speaker, the cab or where ever, it's there and is part of what makes my mind up when I'm listening to cabs. I prefer 12's but if Punk is your thing, maybe 10's is the way to go. The only 112 I'd gig with is a Barefaced cab. Apart from Barefaced, I'd always run 2 112 cabs and I'd also ran 2 210's when I had them. 2 cabs just sounds so much better than 1.

Start by extending your homework to look at existing function bands. As JTUK says, these are not pub bands that get lucky with a few weddings. The difference is night and day. A successful function band is not a hobby. It's a level of professionalism seldom seen on the pub circuit, and you are unlikely to prosper over time without impressing an agency.

What about the bass tone (and playing) on Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk. Punchy, in your face, growly. . . . love it.

That's God's way of telling you that you need a better amp. It's also the reason I don't like combo's. When one part fails you can't use the other part. I'd take it to a tec, get it working, then replace it.

[quote name='NoRhino' timestamp='1422796671' post='2676805'] I played with a drummer who turned from a good fluent drummer into a tippy tappy couldn't care merchant during a song he didn't like [/quote] Get any dissension sorted out before the gig. On stage you're a band not a bunch of warring factions. Some arguments you win and some you loose but the default is, if it's in the set then you play it properly. Any half arsed playing makes you look like a petulant nob and the band look bad.

Whynot has a TECAMP 212: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/247747-tecamp-m212-4-ohm-bass-cab-with-cover/"]http://basschat.co.u...cab-with-cover/[/url] If you can stretch the budget this could be the last cab you'll ever buy: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/252541-barefaced-generation-3-big-twin-2-price-reduction/"]http://basschat.co.u...rice-reduction/[/url]

I have played it several bands, but never played any walking lines. A quick listen to the record, there seems to be a rundown along the lines of octave, flat7, 5, 4. flat3, root. But anything bluesy would do. I tend to just concentrate on a lazy feel, and reining in the drummer and guitarists, who usually over play, rather than worrying about the notes. Will Lee has a great version here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INIicQM7QyQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INIicQM7QyQ[/url]

Nathan East with Clapton on River Of Tears, live version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDskctp8O-o Reggie McBride on any Keb Mo record. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPAbNCALzUA Those 2 guys get the best tone I've heard from a bass.