chris_b

Nice one Ben. Great choice. Flats or rounds?

I haven't bought a bass since 2017. I bought the other one in 2011.

Did you know the Allparts strap locks are rebadged Dunlops at a much lower cost. . . . although I've just found some Dunlops on Amazon which are slightly cheaper than All parts. I guess it's best to Shop around.

My strap is one of these. It's about 1/8" or about 4mm thick. https://www.harvest-guitar.com/en/Buffalo-Silverado.html Unless your strap is extra thick, you should be fine.

Who told you that? Mine fitted my thick leather straps, no problem. Dunlop should be able to tell you the maximum thickness it will take.

The political system is responsible. The two party, first past the post system is to blame. If your choices are limited to toffs from Eton or Hampstead lefties, you have no sensible choice at all.

Muting problems can affect any number of strings. It's not the fault of the bass or the string layout if someone is not muting correctly.

I play at least one note on my B string in every song. Sometimes I play the low notes, but many times I just play notes above E on the B string for convenience and economy of hand movement. I prefer to use the same bass on everything because it's the best sounding bass I've owned so far, but mostly because I prefer to keep the same geography under my finger tips.

Hold on, I'm just dusting off the crystal ball.

You'd think they could have been more inspired when they came to design the headstock and tuners!!

Over the years I've had a lot of interest in my 5 string basses, and compliments on the sound. It might have been a small overall percentage, but I'll chat about gear, after the gig, until they chuck us out. I guess less than half the bands have noticed what I'm playing. Most of the guys I'm playing with at the moment haven't mentioned gear, mine or theirs, at all.

They can also list 2 separate weights for a bass!

There are no downsides or limitations going from 4 to 5. Not so the other way.

Would a preamp pedal, like a Sadowsky, Sansamp or Aguilar turn your Yamaha into the Precision bass you want? Have you tried flatwound strings?

Jon Banks, bassist for the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, (many years ago we both depped for a local rock band) played an electric bass when they started, then moved to an acoustic bass. Sometimes the look is as important as the sound.

I put my current NYXL's on before the first Lockdown. My Jazz wasn't played much in 2020, but I've gigged it a lot in the last year or so and the strings still have a lot of life left in them.

I remember my Careers officer, a Mr Ford. He was pulling his hair out by the time I'd finished with him!!

I was playing my 800 watt SS amp last night, with the Master on 3. Maybe I should have used a less powerful amp. That's the problem with using a bass putting out a strong signal and sensitive cabs. Every watt sounds louder and you need fewer of them.

Depping is not one thing. There are 3 kinds of deps. Those who can read the dots, those who can read chord charts and those who just wing it. They are good for different situations. Give me the set list, YouTube links, MP3's etc and a week and I'll get the job done as well as the guy I'm depping for. That's fine if the situation is planned and managed. Last minute deps or the likes of Steely Dan gigs will probably go better with the dots.

Sadly, my "dream" only lasted 6 years. It was an unequal struggle and I ran out of money, prospects, contacts and determination so completely that I took up a job in IT!! Most of the guys I play with have married, bought houses and raised kids on musicians pay. I envy them their ability to survive and prosper. I wish that had been me but I realised my limitations early on.

When I left school I told everyone, including the school careers officer and my parents, I didn't know what I was going to do. It was the easiest way to deflect the stupid comments about real jobs etc. I knew exactly what I was going to do. Two weeks later I had joined a pro band and was recording my first album. For the last 30 years I've been playing with professional musicians most of whom have made 40 year careers in music.

I did hassle a dep drummer once. He was using a small piccolo snare in a rock blues band, and he sounded terrible. I told him not to bring that snare again! He didn't and the band's sound improved. . . . a lot!

I was given a set list for a wedding. . . of 96 songs! I emailed back, "Surely you're not going to play for 19 hours? Can you be more succinct?" I got an amended list of 86 songs back! There were a lot of Elvis and RnR 12 bars so I just charted the songs that I didn't know. On the gig the band leader alternated songs with the guitarist, and they hadn't given me any of his numbers!