meterman

For bass, not so much. But I did some recording sessions last month and the temperature was 32 degrees C in the room I was in and the guitars and drums needed retuning a few times. Not usually a problem during winter but the winters here are mild and instruments don’t seem to mind.

Fair point, that. Repeated rimshots will either dent the metal tube or at the very least chew up the rubber or the plastic over time. I’m not a heavy hitter either but I’ve never had a pair of wire brushes disintegrate on me. I had a cheapo plastic set of nylon brushes fall apart in rehearsal one time only, but they weren’t something I’d have gigged with anyway. Buy a decent pair to start off with and they should last for years.

I’ve had a pair of Pro Mark wire retractable brushes for years and they’ve been great. Gigs, studio sessions, you name it, they’ve been rock solid. Recorded with them today in fact, they’re still doing the business 7 or 8 years on. Otherwise, Flix do many different gauges of nylon brushes and again, they seem to last years in my experience. Vic Firth, Vater, Regal Tip etc all do quality brushes. I’d rate any of the major companies for decent brushes 👍

I never had any particular bass player in mind when I bought my first bass, I just needed one to do some studio recordings with. I bought the cheapest bass in the shop, and it was horrible 60’s tat really but it did the job. The only player influences I ever had when buying any of my basses was when I bought a Hofner violin bass, and it was specifically Aston Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare who’d used them that tipped it for me. Otherwise I’ve never really been fussed. That’s probably the wrong thing to admit here I guess 😂

I used to, along with studio work. Sometimes it was a bit stressful if there were lean times, but I’d got into the habit of putting earnings away to tide myself over. The pandemic saw off all my 2020 live work, then emigration and health issues seem to finished off my gigging for good. Never say never and all that, but I’d be surprised if I got back into it again now. But from 1984 till xmas 2019 wasn’t a bad run, and I reckon I was pretty lucky to have fluked it for as long as I did.

His first electric bass with Can was a 1960s Fender Mustang. Looking at old live footage he may have got his Fender Jazz in 1971 or 72 but the earlier stuff is the white Mustang bass with the weird mods done to it.

I bought this 1/2 size kids P bass from a charity shop pretty much because I liked the colour. Also it was less than £5 which might have swayed me... I’m fully aware that these things are regarded as trash but still use it now, it actually records really well.

Reggae artist Pachyman definitely uses a Fender Musicmaster bass on a lot of his recordings. Not sure what’s on Spotify cause I’m not on there but there’s plenty videos on YT: And there’s a band called Black Sea Dahu that use Musicmaster basses live and in the studio. Again, I couldn’t say what’s definitely a Musicmaster on any of their tunes on Spotify but there’s clips of them live with an early 70’s one.

That Air track on “Moon Safari” was recorded with a 1960’s Hofner violin bass that Nicolas Godin had on loan from a friend in Paris. There’s an interview online somewhere where he mentioned it had old black nylon tapewounds on, and that he tried to buy the bass but his friend wasn’t selling it. Afterwards he got a violin bass and another Hofner (similar to the one Tina Weymouth used), possibly a Club bass? I can’t find that particular interview on this phone, but he briefly mentions the Hofner in a Red Bull Music Academy interview here: https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/nicolas-godin-lecture

My humble jazz, a cheap B-stock Squier Affinity in Charcoal Frost Metallic. Haven’t got the blingy chrome covers for it yet but I will. Nobody will ever accuse me of having good taste 😂

I had both the Oly White and Fiesta Red ones but would have definitely gone for the sunburst if I’d found one. Looks ace!

That, and possibly Middle Earth, would have been my first picks 👍 Or the Cromwell. Or the Bag Of Nails. Or Ally Pally ‘67...

On bass I’ve only ever played in originals bands or done session gigs for artists who write and play their own material. But bass isn’t my main instrument (they’d be: percussion / drums / Hammond / guitar) and I’ve done all kinds of gigs from originals to functions. I’d love to say that playing the big gigs with signed acts was my favourite, and they were all I’m interested in, but tbh I’ve had the absolute best times playing ska and rocksteady covers at sweaty pub gigs for next to no money. Or doing latin covers at a mate’s wedding as a favour for food and beers. (hangover included, free gratis). I miss all that. My gigging days might be at an end now, due to living hours away from any proper venues, in a country where I barely know anyone, but I’d still be up for it!

That is beautiful 😍 I don’t really need one but, oh lord I’d certainly love one!

If you’re checking the bass in, always use the toughest, most resilient case you have access to. I haven’t flown with an instrument since late 2019 but I’ve toured Europe many times and usually used Hiscox Liteflite cases and they were always fine. The only time I used a different hard case was a plastic Fender case, which looked similar to a Hiscox, but on arrival back at Heathrow the case was completely destroyed. Like, unsaveable. It was the last item to come off the baggage carousel and it had been gaffa taped together (badly) and I thought my guitar (a 1968 Telecaster) was a goner, although it was fine. After that I went back to using Hiscox cases, and travelled with a cheaper instrument. Other thing to check is the airline’s check-in weight allowance. But you’ll probably be fine 👍

My jazz bass with flats and foam at the bridge sounds like Serge Gainsbourg taking Brigitte Bardot’s dress off, on a Scopitone, in 1967. I checked with Brigitte and she reckoned it was pretty close. Then one of her 87 cats widdled on my shoe so I scarpered.

I had a few Mustang basses, would still like another some day, even though I don't really need one. Here's my old Squier partscaster (Mikey Way neck / VM body / replacement 'guard) which was a great little bass. La Bella flats and foam, thump for days. And an old 2000's CIJ reissue that I foolishly traded for a 1966 Gibson ES-125T... Excuse the skinny stringers 😜

My default playing setting is sort of plucking with the side of my thumb. But a felt pick will give me a similar sound, even though the feel is totally different. I think it’s the lack of attack that a felt pick gives that gives it more of a ‘finger’ sound. Your mileage may vary though. T’s and C’s apply, etc...

I wasn't familiar with Soame basses, they're a custom builder from Argentina. But they popped up randomly on my Instagram feed and there's a few of their short scale basses that look great to me, so I thought I'd share some screenshots. All seem to be offset Mustang types, some semi-hollow, and priced around 2400 dollars. Nice looking 😎 s https://www.soamecustomguitars.com

Totally sympathize with @Masse I bought a couple of back issues of a British music magazine (total cost £12) in October and they were held up by customs for ages. Took over seven weeks to get to southern France. No customs charges but then my wife bought some pet supplies from a UK company (total cost £18) and delivery took a month and we had to pay €9 to receive the parcel. Small fry compared to the OP’s situation of course, but still BS.

Not sure there is such a thing as too many is there? If you’ve got the money and enough room for dozens or hundreds of basses, then why not? No harm in hoarding them, surely? I got up to 5 or 6 at one point which was waaaaay more than enough for me, and now I’m down to one. But I would like to have another one.

Bax have always been good when I’ve had to buy online, and living in the middle of nowhere I don’t have much choice. I’ve found them reliable than Thomann that’s for sure.

Don’t muck about with pedals or chords or arpeggios or whatever. Just get a Hammond organ player in the band. The sound will be filled out and the audience will enjoy the visual side of things. Sorted!

Oh that’s a great idea, and your neighbours will love it! 😂 I needed a small, portable kit for acoustic gigs and also something that wouldn’t take up much room as I’ve got loads of other instruments and gear cluttering up the house already. I’d seen some of the little kits available (Sonor, Ludwig, Pearl, Tama, etc) and they all looked great but I thought I could probably put something together that sounded a bit better, and under budget too. For around £120 it was definitely worth doing 👍

I started out as a percussionist then got into drum kit a little later. Have owned dozens of kits ranging from 1950s round badge Gretsch, 60s and 70s Ludwigs, old 60s Slingerland and Rogers kits, vintage Premiers, etc, but also had a Yamaha 9000 kit at one point. The last nice set I owned was 1979/80 set of Tama Superstars (22-12-16) they were beautiful sounding drums and really solidly built. I had another set of 80s Superstars in jazz sizes for a while too but the bigger set was really special. When we downsized and I stopped doing drum gigs I sold them to a local kid who wanted a decent set to learn on. Now I just have a ridiculously tiny kit that I put together from stray 1980s Pearl toms, that has a 15” kick drum. I use a 1971 Ludwig Acrolite snare with it and usually vintage 70s Paiste Formula 602 cymbals. It records well but I still might get another larger kit again someday though.