Bassybert

It’s an Ashdown ABM. If it’s a made in the uk one then it’s pretty much guaranteed to be... a. A great sounding amp b. Well made c. Pretty heavy, but reassuringly so

Really? I've read the book a couple of times and have been a massive Neil Young fan for a long time. He's probably my favourite artist so I may be a bit biased here but I've always found him someone who just has to follow his muse - it's part of who he is and what he is, it's not something you can just turn off like a tap or walk away from like a 9-5 job. Yes a few people have been hurt along the way, but if you hear quite a few of them speak about Neil they've kind of realised that's just how he is and it's nothing personal, it's just his desire to create and move on that keeps powering him forward. For me I'd have my top 5 as... 5. On the beach 4. Rust never sleeps 3. After the gold rush 2. Tonight's the night 1. Zuma - have literally played this record hundreds of times

Great song and great cover. The puppy is the cherry on top.

looks like hot melt glue probably in place to stop things moving around/vibrating on the pcb, pretty standard stuff inside amps

HI Jonny, welcome to the forum. Where are you based in Somerset? I'm a fellow wurzel myself living in a village near bridgwater

$200k!!!

I only joined this forum a few weeks ago, but it's pretty clear to see there are some proper snobby musos on here! I'm so glad I love all sorts of music and love it for what it is, rather than look down on some of it from my ivory tower 😉 Anyone who says the Ramones didn't have a huge impact on music (especially punk/new wave/rock) and inspired generations of future musicians in general, are either seriously misinformed or slating it purely to get a reaction imho.

Or just maybe that he plays what the song needs rather than what it doesn't?

That is one hell of a performance!!!! All of 4 of the blew the roof off and nailed that song perfectly. You're right about the singer, she's got the feel of the track in her back pocket as much her mobile phone. Kids eh!

Thanks a lot @Al Krow, i'm already loving this thing!! I forgot about the built in tuner, what a bonus. Anyone else having trouble with the B1 being recognised on a Mac though? Have tried both Guitar Lib and ToneLib and the device isn't being recognised on either piece of software All sorted, tried a different USB lead and it works. Weird!

My B1 arrived yesterday and had the chance to try it out today for a quick run through. This thing is immense for 60 quid, I can see it being such a useful practice tool. Some of the patches are a bit gimmicky but also fun, but I was really impressed with the standard sounds, the SVT stack sounds brilliant, and the motown patch really nails that 60's soul sound I love with my P Bass. I might have a look at installing the software to edit the patches and have a bit of a cleanse of the patches, but for £60 this is an absolute steal.

I think @peteb mentions he's using a Windows 10 laptop @TheMaartian

I'd be very wary of poking around inside the power section of an amp unless you know exactly what you're doing. Some of those capacitors can hold 3-400v of DC current. Not something you want to be on the recieving end of!

Sounds like a great idea @stewblack thanks for the heads up 😀

I've just pulled the trigger on a B1 Four from Thomann - I'm looking for something to silent practice through headphones using backing tracks on my phone or an iPad. The fact that it has a load of rhythm tracks built in and the ability to edit a lot of settings and patches via a Mac is brilliant. I was looking at a vox amplug for simplicity, but for £67 delivered I don't think you can go wrong with the B1.

I can't watch bands like Iron Maiden or Megadeath without imagining a tiny Stonehenge being winched down to the middle of the stage, or them getting lost on the way to the stage. Spinal Tap has completely ruined my ability to take metal/heavy rock bands even remotely serious 😩

What exactly is average anyway - different strokes for different folks. As long as you're enjoying what you're doing then that's all that really matters. You haven't got to be Victor Wooten to have a valid opinion on basslines 😉 I've always loved the bassline, even more now for all it's quirks, and have always found Novoselic a really melodic player that serves the song. I'd take playing with feeling, warts and all over sterile technical proficiency every day of the week

One of my favourite Nirvana tracks and a great bassline. I've listened to this song countless times and have never noticed anything really out once everything is mixed down, but obviously there's some out of time and bum notes on this version. I don't think Krist will be losing any sleep, the band were never interested in technical perfection, just capturing the spirit of the moment. I'd much rather listen to this than some boring donkey trad jazz played perfectly in time 😀

This pretty much sums it up totally for me 🙂

This pretty much sums it for me - Slap bass makes up a tiny percentage of actual bass use in music, yet it's almost always the first thing I hear/see when I see someone demoing a bass and that tinny, percussive sound isn't something that sits well with my ears. Fair enough it's a tough technique to master and respect to those putting the hours in, but it's not something I choose to listen to music wise much at all, I actually want to hear some bass frequencies! A lot of the time for me it's the bass equivalent of some technique obsessed guitar player showing off their licks and saying look how much faster I can play than you, rather than serving the song.

The buttercream was my first choice colour - I saw that and thought it looked gorgeous until I saw they did the tidepool, then there was only ever going to be one winner! Nice to see a fellow Somerset player @yorks5stringer , I used to work in Hambridge which isn't far from you at all 🙂

After quite a few years away from playing bass, I've returned back to my spiritual home on the low end side of things, and I honestly couldn't be happier. Quite a few years ago I traded in my 75 Jazz as p/x on an SG (Yes, I know!) so have been pretty much bass-less since then apart from the time I borrowed a friends Encore Coaster to play a few gigs (including one on the back of a lorry in a field in Kilve, Somerset where Guy Pratt was there and played it backstage in the gazebo - but that's for another time!) Even though I've normally played a Jazz I've always hankered after a Precision as I really love the classic sound and versatility, so after shopping around for a while I took the plunge on a Tidepool Blue Player Precision. I've read great things about the new Player series and having played several MIM Fenders before I can safely say these are by far the best I have ever seen in terms of build quality, features and playability. The quality of construction is fantastic, very tidy indeed, the weight is really nice and the satin neck finish really caps it off. I was really taken by the Tidepool colour, as although I've always been a sunburst/rosewood aficionado, blue's my favourite colour and this particular hue is stunning - the maple really does look gorgeous next to it and the finish of the body itself is flawless. It's a 2 piece neck with the aforementioned satin finish on the back, but with a gloss finish to the fretboard which again looks really nice. Seems narrower at the nut than other P's I've played which is nice, and the neck profile has a reassuring but flat-ish feel as you progress up the neck making it really easy to play. The action is fairly decent out of the box but I'll spend some time setting it up over the next week or so - It's nowhere near as high as it looks on the side on neck shot below, must be the lens on my mobile making it look that way. I think Fender have got these Player basses absolutely spot on, unplugged the sustain and resonance is great with a reassuring throaty growl when plugged in. Now I need to sort a backline out! Here are some pictures taken with my phone but will try and get some better ones later on when I can. Feels so good to back playing bass 🙂

Thanks a lot everyone, great to be on here. Hi Mike, nice to meet a fellow bumpkin on a bass forum 🙂 Bass bash sounds great - are there many people on here from the south west?

Hi everyone, Based in Somerset, UK, have been playing for 20+ years but just returning back to playing bass after quite a few years away playing guitar. Have really missed it, and in retrospect I wish I’d just stuck to bass but hey ho, you lives and learns. I’ve always been really into no frills players who play what the song needs, players like John McVie, Adam Clayton, John Deacon, Duck Dunn, Tim Drummond, Stu Cook etc as well as James Jamerson. Biggest regret of my life was trading in my 75 Jazz for an SG so have got back on the wagon with a brand new Tidepool Blue Player Precision, and will be looking to build a nice rig over the coming months. It’s great to join the forum and feel like I’m coming back to my spiritual home with the bass, and looking forward to many more years of fun playing 🙂