chris_b

Yes. Yes. Yes!

Several times I've lent over, after the first number, and told the keys player, "There's only one bass player in this band and it's not you!". With a smile, of course.

Fortunately I don't play with guitarists who are sitting in my frequency range. . . my beef is always with electric piano players who think they are the only bass instrument on stage. Most will change if I ask nicely, but there are a couple where I just have to alter my bass lines in certain songs to get away from them!!

+1 Being felt rather than heard was never a "thing" on recordings. It was more of an excuse to explain away the poor live sound many bass players were lumbered with, back in the days of crap bass gear.

I'm working up the numbers for a new band. I've been given a couple of YT videos to work from, but the bass player was so quiet that even with earphones I'm guessing what the guy played most of the time. They said, "Yeah he was a little quiet on the night!" And no one thought to ask him to turn up? I've played with 3 out of the 4 members before, so they know what they are getting, but no one is going to be straining to hear the bass on their next gig.

I had a conversation with a sound man on a gig. Him, "You're loud. I don't even have you in the PA." Me, "OK, I'll turn down." Him, "No don't. It's sounding good." QED

Just back from town and parked at the side of the road was a McLaren Senna. https://cars.mclaren.com/us-en/ultimate-series/mclaren-senna Who needs one of those to get from A to B when you have a Volvo? Wow!! I bloody do!! Same with basses. I buy the best I can find in my budget. I can't afford the top end but I can certainly appreciate them all the same.

Check out Hipshot lightweight tuners.

I discovered this when I bought my first "good" gear. Every fluff, squeak and fumble came through very clearly. I was shocked. Stuff I'd been getting away with for years stood out like a sore thumb. I had to reassess my playing to bring it up to the level of my gear.

+1 All they want from us, is to turn up on time, sound good and get the notes right.

Larry Graham and Doug Rauch on the first album. Larry Johnson on the rest.

Many years ago I was guilty of scooping the mids. These days I prefer to buy an amp that sounds right with the EQ flat, maybe adding the occasional small tweak of bass depending on the room.

Tosh. You won't paint great pictures if you don't know how to combine the colours at your disposal. Knowing your notes is what every good bass player does from Dusty Hill to Jaco. You'll play interesting lines more regularly if you know the notes that fit and can put them together in interesting ways.

That's a bit like Dali's melting clocks. I can see the attraction for an LSD frame of mind.

Learn your scales and modes. Tasteful is melodic which requires you to know the notes and make good note choices. It doesn't have anything to do with speed or tortuous time signatures.

I went to a bass clinic at GAK with Nathan East and he said, always play what's right for the song, but the best guys "leave something on the table". So put in a memorable lick or few notes that will make the bass line special and stand out. That's where your musical understanding and superior technical skill can be best used.

You got it. In his dreams. Going on 45, with a heavy right foot! I had a fuel meter on my last car and coming down a gear at lower speeds was way more fuel efficient. Not very rock and roll, but what do you expect from a Volvo driver! At least I don't wear a hat, well, not yet!!

If you are thinking about "back friendly" gear you should do whatever it takes to keep future back issues at bay. So you're not using the trolley you already own, and you're carrying 2 cabs at the same time, and you don't own lightweight cabs! My first thoughts would be to use the trolley, only carry one cab at a time, buy the lightest cab I could find, which wouldn't be a 212, and I would do all of 3 them. I use 1 or 2 112's (at 21lbs each) and if using both I put them on a trolley. I have a bad back, a suspected herniated disc. I wish I had this rig 15 years ago then I would still be fit and healthy.

My friend let me drive his Porsche 928. I admit I drove it like I drive all my cars. When I was trying to change up into 5th at about 40, he finally commented, "Dear boy, we should be in 2nd at this point!" So it seems different cars require different driving skills. Who knew. I played several Fodera basses on visits to Bass Gear. They were the best basses I've picked up. Their sound and authority of tone was stunning. The comparison to my bass was Charles Hawtrey to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Appropriate as my musical life has mirrored a Carry On film on so many occasions. I've just noticed my Mike Lull PJ5's replacement would cost $5100!!

"A little stiff" doesn't sound like a problem to me. My uneducated guess would be that lubricating the tuners could cause them to slip.

I'm good enough to play any bass, cos I say so. You can be one of the Fodera crowd, Precision crowd, Yamaha crowd etc etc. Only 2 things matter, can you afford it and does it make you happy.

If both volume controls are on full a jazz bass will sound a little anaemic. Back one of the volume controls off about 10% (I back the bridge pick up off) and the sound gets beefier.

Only if there was no bottom to start with. The guitar shouldn't be providing the "bottom end" anyway so when the rhythm parts stop and the solo begins, the mids and top, ie guitar frequencies, should be the only thing that changes. I have only seen Geddy Lee briefly, but long enough to know that I'm not a fan of his style. The big trios from back in the day, Cream, ZZ Top, Jeff Beck Group, Hendrix and even Led Zep, none of them "filled" up the sound with bass when the guitarist started soloing. If the bass needs to fill out the sound during solos then something is fundamentally wrong with the sound of the band in the first place.

No you don't. You can stretch out if you have something to say, but playing more or changing your sound just to fill out the sound is not a good thing to do.