Boodang

PS my #poo bass... literally the worse bass in the world and always happy to lend it out as it's funny to watch people try and play it!

I'm always willing to lend my #poo bass but never the #1.

Phil Collins in Brand X, yes, but please don't say you like his solo stuff!!

Good point! I'd actually erased that from my memory... until you'd mentioned it. That took many years of therapy to forget!

Yes, but... (and this according to Graphtec!), we're talking standard tuning, standard 34" scale, with medium string gauges, one tone is an approximation. What they're really saying, and which I think is quite neat, is that each string has a different gear ratio as it makes sense to do this if you can be bothered. Which if you were having a custom bass done you might be. Actually makes tuning the E string easier.

I was massively influenced by Weather Report but not by Jaco's playing. Technically amazing BUT... his solo album tracks sounded like technical exercises and his live solos in a band context sounded like a drunk member of the audience had jumped on stage! And it's not because I don't like jazz, quite the opposite in fact.

Graphtec Ratio tuners. A neat evolution in tuner design where one turn equals one tone on each string.

The song 'Grandad' was a no.1 hit.... does that mean it's genius?! PS as good a bass player and all round nice guy as Herbie Flowers is, he still hasn't been suitable punished for inflicting this on us.

Well, you asked for it.... for me pretty much any music that has vocals in it I don't like! Vocals impose a structure which then becomes repetitive and repetitive = boring. This is compounded when A. the lyrics are banal and B. the musical structure is simple. Repetitive + banality + simple structures = excruciating boredom. Of course these days you can't do anything, like go shopping, without this kind of music being forced on you, so pretty much my life is hell! Of course shops could play jazz but then I guess they want to keep customers in the shop.

Why one pickup when you could have 3! Buy the Sire and get your local luthier to install a couple more... sorted.

MXR's vintage bass octave is based on an original Boss OC2 pedal from Janek Gwizdala's collection which he lent them. He does a comparison between the two in one of his YouTube pedal episodes. The MXR comes out quite well and a cheaper and easier option than trying to track down an original.

I'm a fan of analogue octave pedals, my fav at the moment is the Aguilar Octamizer. Octave filter control (smooth to edgy), clean and octave mix, plus a tilt eq. Everything you need in a octaver, does subtle to full on but with a very organic sound.

The 'Captain East' toneprint is great. A tri band comp that tightens things up nicely and makes the bass nice and punchy without being squished. They're so cheap I've got 3, one for each bass with different settings to suit.

Actually I've found the TLC is quite transparent until you get to the more extreme settings. It does a great 'crush the sh*t out of it' 80s style tone when it's cranked up.

Well, if you don't mind shelling out for something decent, check out the Aguilar TLC. There's an Andertons video on YouTube where they go through a bunch of Aguilar pedals so you can hear it in action.

I wouldn't be without a compressor on my pedal board. But as others have said, you need to find the one that suits you. I use compression as the main means of my tone shaping. Best place to start is a tc electronic Spectracomp... cheap s/h, comes with a bunch of toneprints (presets) you can download so you don't have to worry about being able to set one up properly, only one knob so can't go wrong, and later you can edit in the app if you want to experiment with it in more detail.

I went through a similar thing a few years ago. Since I first started playing back in 1978 it's been fretless, it was 25 years before I bought a fretted bass. Even then it was just a novelty that I'd play only occasionally. And to add to the fretless thing I started playing EUB and that became my main instrument for about 5 years. Then, I picked up a 5 string fretted strung high C and really enjoyed the chordal capabilities. This became my main bass for a number of years and the fretless basses very much took a back seat. At this point I thought 5 string fretted high C was the future for me, but then I came across a s/h Squier vm jazz fretless in a shop and on a whim bought it. Then I had some custom pickups made for it and before I knew it fretless is back baby! The EUB is being played more and I recently got a custom fretless made to seal the deal. The 5 string still gets played but I'm back in love with fretless and I think my playing has improved with the fretted side adventure.

Vocalists who don't even have their own mic, turn up late to everything and indignantly ask why their mic and stand has not been set up for them. One the prime reasons to only play in instrumental bands.

Behringer xenyx 802 mixer, Samson Zoom SR850 headphones.... job done.

TC Electronic Spectradrive.... got the lot!

Bands, gigs and my job have never been very compatible. I mostly work abroad, a few years at a time, so just as you get settled you have to move on. Flexibility is the way I've dealt with this.... get to know the local musicians and do any gig that pops up. It also keeps me on my toes as you never know what music you're going to play and how much notice you'll get. Also, the internet has helped loads. I work on music writing projects with other musicians in a similar position which I probably wouldn't be doing if it wasn't for the job but actually is really rewarding and has helped me on my musical journey.

I find the biggest difference is the flexibility (tension) of the string rather than the gauge. I like the TIs and Galli strings as they're very flexible and have a soft feel on the fingers which suits my style of a playing (and to a certain extent influences the way I play).

I just ordered a new custom bright onion with a custom paint job, so they still seem to be in business.

Never had any problems with royal mail/parcel force, the complete opposite with Hermes which presumably accounts for their current re-branding exercise!

I went through an interesting bass acquisition process recently that made me rethink how I'll go about buying basses in future (as a back ground I have a collection from cheap Squiers, which I love, to expensive customs). So, out of curiosity I picked up a set of Seymour Duncan weather report jazz pickups. Rather than drop then in one of my Squier jazz basses, I just had the mad idea I would ask my local luthier if he would put together a jazz of some kind for them, which then turned into a project and ultimately something quite special. Now in the past my customs have been a one off but based on a design which the luthier is familiar, my Sei Flamboyant is a good example. However, with this bass it was completely free rein, anything I wanted. At first it was overwhelming but once you put a few markers down, things like neck dimensions, woods to complement the tone I'm going for etc, it soon narrows things. Well, I found the process totally engaging and I'm now thinking what sort of bass would I put together for a fretted version? I can't see many of my old basses surviving once I get another one made as I'm now just seeing the compromises in them, which before I was ok about but not any longer.