Paul S

Bought some strings from Rob - good price, instant dispatch, nice chat. A decent man and a pleasure to deal with. Cheers! Paul

If it were me, for home use, I would be looking for a second-hand Roland Cube 100 or Line 6 Studio 110 amp, both of which come with all sorts of effects/modelling already plumbed in plus MP3 play along/headphone out etc. Or, to totally maximise your money, Peavey combos sound great and are as cheap as chips. I practice at home with a TKO-80 that cost me £50. Bass-wise, I'll make my usual suggestion of Westone Thunder bass or SGC Nanyo Bass Collection, either of which secondhand will cost you under £200 and are better than the Squiers I have tried or owned. There is high regard for Ibanez SR series on here, too, although I haven't ever played one.

I started off with that intent - a x7 rack for basses and 2 guitars and strictly 'one in, one out'. Funny how 'rules' change to 'guidelines' so quickly... Now I keep the extras in their cases.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1319963256' post='1420464'] I found the Quo version equally pedestrian and dull. [/quote] it's what they do best! I saw them about 4 or 5 times in the early 70s, when they were fresh but YEEGADS they 'aven't 'alf spanked it. Great White - not keen on this one but I do quite like 'Rock Me'

Of the basses I have experience of I would add a couple more in the mix - Westone Thunder basses are incredibly good value for money. SGC Nanyo Bass Collection are arguably better value for money. I recently bought a late 80s Yamaha RBX800A from a fellow Basschatter for £150 and it is superb. All three are IMO better made instruments than a Squier.

Thank you! trial and error it is.

I am just putting together a mini-pedal board, having drifted away from my multi-effect Zoom thingy. I now have: Boss LS-2, mainly so I can use the effects mixed with the clean sound, so everything will go through one loop. EBS Unichorus Dunlop 105Q Wah EHX Big Muff I will add, when I get one, a Korg Pitchblack tuner (anyone got one they want to sell?) Possibly a daft question but do these need to be attached in any particular order in the loop? Ta!

Mine looked similar to that once I started sanding it, not afterwards. If only I had known - I could have made a killing by putting it on eBay. I'm guessing the expert refinisher lent the body against something before the lacquer had hardened?

Size of hands is neither here nor there - someone recently posted a picture of one of the smaller female bassists sporting a 6 stringer. It is what feels comfortable to the individual. Comfort is my #1 priority, tone can be changed.

Trying one in the shop is surely better than buying one blind? I love everything about P-Basses but can't get on 'regular' P-Basses (see below for the ones I do have) I have tried because a/ they are too heavy and b/ I prefer skinny necks. Unless you try them you can't possibly know.

Washburn Force 4 on eBay [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170718966628?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_949"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170718966628?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_949[/url] How I wish I were in the market for this beauty - it is at times like this I wish my back was in fine fettle, not when I see vintage P-Basses

Brilliant. I have been doing, variously, all the wrong ones! Simple when you have it explained - thanks!

Could someone please explain the right way to coil leads? I try to pack them away nicely but when I unravel them the knot gremlin has always visited.

if you can do this you are a better man than I am I need some sort of clue as to where my hands are.

My last couple of forays have been into the middle territory - turd polishing, I think it is called Except not all have been turds. I customised a Westone Thunder Jet, bought for £77 on eBay, with a pup upgrade, high mass bridge and a J. East P-retro. The body and neck were of good enough quality to justify this and I have have a unique and fun lightweight bass that sounds the business. When it comes to move it on I can revert it back to stock and sell the extra bits without losing too much. My second turd was a Fender Precision Lyte, bought unseen for £300. When it arrived it was a dog - really badly refinished and the electrics didn't work properly. I couldn't live with it as it was but would have taken a massive hit trying to resell it. Instead of cutting my losses I decided to treat it as a teaching aid and completely renovated it - refinished the body from orange peel red to a decent gloss black, took the headstock back to natural from red. Shielded all the cavities and it now sports a custom 3 band eq from J-East bought second hand from sliddx. I have learnt an immense amount from doing this, have bonded immeasurably with the instrument and thoroughly enjoyed the process, too. I'll never get my cash back on this but it is now pretty much my perfect bass. I think as long as the start instrument is of decent enough quality this is worth exploring.

For my black Bass Collection (and now other basses) I got some of these [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glow-dark-Vinyl-light-switch-stickers-x-9-/280462619707?pt=UK_Crafts_StickersScraps_Decoupage_SM&hash=item414cdff43b#ht_1362wt_991"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glow-dark-Vinyl-light-switch-stickers-x-9-/280462619707?pt=UK_Crafts_StickersScraps_Decoupage_SM&hash=item414cdff43b#ht_1362wt_991[/url] and made dots using a hole punch. I have now put some clear nail varnish over them as they did tend to move a bit after a while but they work a treat - especially if you can be bothered to charge them up with a little torch or whatever.

Bought two pedals from Shaun - good comms, friendly guy, well packaged immediately dispatched - he even sent me some free patch leads to hook them up with! So yet another thumbs up for Shaun - cheers!

For me it wasn't an cumulative thing but a single life-style changing event. After spending most of my adult life being fit and pushing heavy weights at the gym it came as a shock - one minute my back was fine, the next I injured it, went into spasm and, although much improved, haven't been the same since. I am sure a lot of people can tell similar stories. My initial thoughts were that anything I was able to do bass gear-wise would end up being a compromise - I never thought that lightweight basses, amps and cabs could deliver the kind of sounds I was used to but the reality is far from that and I am slowly edging my kit towards Nirvana.

All points taken on board, thanks for the input chaps.

Thanks for that - it is exactly what I was wondering might be possible. I just need to make some decisions - I am going to do away with my multi-effect pedal which I use mainly for distortion and the tuner. I could keep the Classic 450 and use stomp boxes for these or change to an RH450 with a footswitch and have it all in one box. ta.

That is what I have been doing and it isn't quite enough. I recently started trying with added overdrive from a stomp box. And it is ok - I am just exploring other possibilities.

I was thinking maybe the tubetone would do this - have it dialled in to, say, 2 for the quieter passages then much higher for the loud bits. There are a number of tracks that would be useful for if it would work - combined with a footswitch.