chris_b

DG uses Evidence in his studio as well. Have you had yours cryogenically frozen? That's supposed to be a noticeable improvement in sound as well.

This. 22 years ago I bought a Wal 5 string mk 3 for peanuts, played it for a few years and sold it for a bigger pile of peanuts. I wish I'd kept it. It would have been worth dozens of bags of peanuts now!!

I totally agree and that's my rule too. . . . with one exception!

"Sorry guys, I've decided this is not for me. It's been nice playing with you but I'm leaving. Good luck with the band."

My first proper bass, a Fender Precision which I bought new in 1969, is sitting in its case, where it's been since the mid 90's when I switched to 5's. I will probably never gig it again, but we toured, recorded and gigged together for 26 years and I'll never sell it. I certainly wouldn’t trade it!

I'm surprised and disappointed that a musician should think that way. If people are using your music, even 50 years later, to sell their products then the music should also be earning for the creators. If a scientist discovers something and patents the idea he earns from that. Music is no different.

It's not an integrity issue in 2025. It was a bunch of kids talking bollocks in the 1970's.

Over the years I've tried out a few Fender 5's and thought the sound ranged from great to meh. On the other hand, I don't think I've heard a bad Fender 5 string in a band context. My #1 basses for the last 25 years have been US Lakland, Mike Lull and Sadowsky. I wouldn't rule out buying a Fender 5er if I found a good one. Fender's problem is that it's easier to find better 5 string basses from other manufacturers.

An ideal gig? One where the band (and especially me) played well and sounded good, the sound crew (if there was one), promoter and the audience went home impressed and happy, and the band got paid and rebooked, and I played with great musicians, especially the drummer. That's happened quite a lot over the years.

I put a set of GHS flats on my Cort Jazz. Improved the sound a lot.

I have a 6 year old set of D'Addario NYXL's on my Sadowsky Jazz. They have just enough top end to help the definition and the rest is a nice warm thump.

Unless you are stuck on a Fender, I'd suggest checking out a good used Lakland Skyline. The 55-02's are a lot of bass for the money and have legendary B strings.

That'll teach me not to do mental arithmetic!!

In the beginning, every waking hour. Now, never, unless I have to work up a set for a gig.

No doubt all the LFSys cabs sound good, but the Goodwood is practically the same size (6cm narrower, and 3kg lighter) than your BB2. is that enough of a saving to warrant the outlay on a new cab?

Buy the bass that feels the best in your hands and has the look you want. If it has neck dive, replace the tuners with licenced HipShots, if it doesn't sound great, and it probably won't, they always cut corners on pickups, replace them. It won't be the cheapest bass in town any more, but it will be a much improved one. I have a £250 Cort Jazz and instead of replacing the pickups I use an outboard preamp. I haven't wasted any money on modding, I can resell the preamp and it gets me 90% of the way to a decent sound.

What would Green Day do? I reckon they'd do what Dave Grohl, Solomon Burke and Ozzy did when illness and injury happened. . . . they did the gig sitting down. If the bar stool is the wrong image, get one of those outsized thrones and plonk it in the middle of the stage. The show must go on!!

You can hang the strap over your right shoulder, but the bass might slide off. If it were me I'd just perch on a bar stool.

Precision guy here. I bought mine in 1969 and still have it. My taste hasn't changed much. After switching to 5's I played a couple of different basses, but in 2011 found a great deal on a Mike Lull PJ5, which has been my #1 ever since. A set of TI flats and a lump of foam finish it off nicely.

I'm a Grand master. I guess that means I've spent even less time practising, or living a life, than you!!

A few years ago, I was fired by a drummer and it wasn't even his band. I complained to the band leader but she was so intimidated by this guy that she wouldn't talk to him about it! Even more years ago I was being screwed around by a band leader. He started cancelling gigs, then started cancelling gigs and not bothering to tell me!! I told him to shove it and I'd never play with him again, and haven't. It was a shame because that was a very good band!

The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Pretty Things and Animals were a bad influence on everyone in the 60's, and I was going to the party. I was going to be rich, cool and famous. In any order! The Spanish guitar my parents bought me had an action you could fly a plane under. I couldn't press all 6 strings down at the same time, so no chords, just single notes. A friend and I got together to play songs and all I could do was single notes. He showed me the bass lines and hey presto, turns out I could do that. The penny dropped and my course was set. An electric bass (Framus Star Bass, small body) followed the next year, an amp and my first band followed the year after. Two years after that I was a professional musician. Many decades have passed and I'm still fired up every time I pick up my basses (Sadowsky and Mike Lull).

A great bass tone comes from how well the bass is made and the quality of the components. Cheap pickups will never sound good. The bass that ticks the quality materials, quality manufacturing and quality components boxes will get you the best tone, across all strings. The 3 best basses I've discovered so far are Sadowsky (Japanese, US and German models), Mike Lull basses and US Lakland 55-94's. . . . the Lakland Skylines are also worth a look. Don't rush this. Take your time. You have a great budget. Buy a good used bass and get much more bass for your money.

A couple of years ago I managed to book a gig on my daughters wedding day! To be fair she hadn't written it in the diary. I knew there was going to be a wedding, but I had no idea of the date!. It's the wife's job to keep track of all that stuff. The clash was noticed a couple of months before the big day, so a dep could be found, but I'm still regularly ticked off over that one!!

Props to Nile and Jerry for realising that it's pointless to try to make CHIC v2 sound exactly the same as v1. Jerry playing CHIC lines his own way was always going to be the best solution.