chris_b

I got lots of "Whinging Pom" digs (good natured, mostly) when I lived in Sydney, but. . . . you've never heard whinging until an Aussie gets going. It's another thing they can beat the Brits at!!

Never be in a band that used the singers name, you can never fire him. Some friends were in a band which used the singers name and he left. They couldn't carry on using his name so it made for a bumpy transition period until their audience caught up.

If your price covers shipping, you still have to pay VAT and various charges. . . . all extra to the price of the bass. Are you paying in Pounds or Euros? Who is paying the bank charges to convert one into the other?

If the CITES docs say it's OK then OK. Don't forget the 22% - 25% additional cost of importing a bass.

There are various levels of interest. The A list, or whatever it's called, is the stuff that cannot be imported or exported under any circumstances, Brazilian Rosewood, Ivory etc. There is no exemption for anything on that list. Various other rosewoods were added to the list a couple of years ago, but were later taken off for musical instruments. I'm not aware of any of the details, and don't know what they were, but the restricted materials will be listed in the CITES documentation.

123 means that in the lower positions #3 has to stretch. There is no point in doing that when the pinky can easily cover the note without stretching. Your pinky is a much stronger finger than your ring finger. Get it into your playing style and see the benefits.

Brexit has changed everything. When we were part of the EU Customs Union we could send anything between member countries without any customs involvement. I imported a bass with a Brazilian rosewood fretboard from Europe without any difficulty. Now we are a separate country with no customs links, so anything that is on the CITES list will not be allowed to be imported or exported.

Freddie Washington is fabulous, but that drummer gets me every time. What a fantastic groove!!! Freddie's bass isn't standard, I know the bridge was changed to a Badass and the pickups are non standard, maybe Barts.

Zombie threads are just threads. Discussions, information and ideas can still be valid 10 - 15 years later.

You can never be sure with the US legal system. That's why so many chancers bring spurious court cases and why no win no fee started up.

Yet another person after a payday via the US court system.

I've got the Forte HP. I was interested in the features; compression, HPF and 1200 watts, and after a positive experience using Bergantino's cabs, I wanted to check out their amps. First impressions, I think this amp sounds great. There's an authority in the tone that I like. A full, solid and warm feel to each note. I've never used compression before and after several sessions playing with the controls and a couple of gigs, I'm finding I can take it or leave it. The HPF just works quietly in the corner. With my Barefaced cabs I'm not sure I have a problem that requires an HPF to fix. I have it set at about 9 o'clock, just before I start to hear it thinning out the sound. 1200 watts. . . . that's lots of punch and there is headroom to spare, but this year I've taken a step back from doing many of my very loud gigs, and really my 500 watt amps are fine for what I now need. There is an overdrive, but I have no interest in that. The firmware can be updated from the Bergantino site which gives different base sounds. It's something that I'm not sure I really need. Whatever download was on the amp when I bought it suits me just fine. I'd probably never change it. My conclusion is the Forte HP is like buying a Ferrari to run the kids to school and then do the weekly shop at the supermarket. I have nothing but praise for yet another world class Bergantino product. That company is just in a league by themselves. This is the most amazing amp I've used so far, but the truth is, I'm an old skool player and it's way over spec'ed for my needs.

Good news. Another one lured to the dark side.

Over the years this is a familiar story. I know a band where the bass player is in because he owns the PA.

If I can't work a number out by ear I know I'm not going to be able to play it anyway!!

The £25 my 4 piece band used to get for pubs and clubs in 1971 equates to £376 today. So some of my pub gigs pay less than they did 50 years ago, some pay about the same.

I've just put another set of D'Addario NYXL's on my Jazz. Nice feel and they last. I change strings every year, whether they need it or not.

Looks like his technique has worked for him, being the multi millionaire bass player that he is. Probably not a good role model for others, but who knows. The rights and wrongs of a technique are debatable if the player is very successful.

Really? I have no idea where my thumb is when I'm playing, only where my fingers are. The fingers play the notes, the thumb follows. If you lose track of where your fingers are, you need to practice more, that's got nothing to do with your thumb!

A P and a J? Sod it! Get both.

To a greater or lesser degree, the construction and materials used will affect every part of the sound of a bass.

And you also have at least one volume control on the bass.

Sorry, no idea about other basses. In 20 years I've only played these 3.

The same notes on different strings never sounds the same. An open G doesn't sound like a fretted G on the D string. The differences sound greater as you go down the strings. I haven't noticed any issues on my Sadowsky or Mike Lull basses, nor with the previous US Lakland, all 5 stringers, but then I probably don't play many lines on the B string above the G/8th fret. Up to the G everything sounds good.

Keb Mo has recorded about a dozen albums and uses some of the best bass players working in the US. Work your way through them and experience some great and well played bass lines. Also check out Jeff Golub.