thodrik

Just a little bit but not really enough to cut through, probably on account of the low tuning.

Wow, thank you for the advice. From playing bass guitar for over 20 years I had never before considered that EQ was important and I particularly appreciate your expertise which is based on a presumption that the guitarists in my band don’t know how to use EQ to compensate for their chosen tuning. Cheers!

I have the same amp and it has been my main gigging amp for the better part of 13 years. Usually I have used it in the 1x15 combo format. For three piece acts it is ideal though I have often had the master volume dialled to 60-75%. It struggles in a two guitar format when the band is playing loud, low tuned rock/metal, but through a decent cabinet it is totally fine. I have played outdoor festivals and stuck it through an Ampeg 8x10 and had headroom to spare. I used to have a Mesa M6 Carbine but sold it because it was too loud, clean and aggressive sounding. In addition to that the master volume had virtually no taper and acted like an on/off switch. So it had to go. I got a Mesa Big Block 750 instead which is a bit like a more powerful Walkabout but with more gain and a less sophisticated EQ. I don't think I will ever need a more powerful amp than that and it is 'only' about 500ish watts at 4 ohms.

I tried one Elite Jazz and thought that they were the best 'American Deluxe' type active Jazz basses Fender had ever made. Not tried the Ultras, but I was a big fan of the truss rod wheel on the Elites so in several ways I though that the Ultras were a bit of a regression rather than progression. However if the pickups and preamps have been improved further on the Ultras then maybe I could be persuaded otherwise. I personally think that the Elites looked nicer.

Generally I leave my Trace Elliot V6...at home! Seriously, after finishing a gig, I would ideally put the amp on standby for a minute before switching it off. Then ideally wait a couple of minutes more before moving it. Get your bass put away, cables put away. If you still have time to spare offer to help the drummer. Then finally move your own (hopefully cooled down valve amp head) off the stage. The reason I leave my V6 at home is with multiband gigs there is often a quick changeover so I might need to move my amp almost immediately after I play or I potentially have to let every bassist on the bill use the amp. Generally, if something goes wrong it will be incredibly expensive to fix (6 power amp tubes). Just not worth it.

Big triangle Stubbys: either 1.5mm or 2.0mm. But this is with five strings and downtuned basses with thicker gauge strings. Very difficult to drop during a gig, every side works equally well, last for ages and easy to spot on the ground if I drop it because they are massive. With guitar either .88 or 1mm Dunlop Tortex. I would probably use the 1mm for bass when using a 100-40 set in standard tuning.

‘ ‘ That was the band A but with one letter removed. ‘…And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dad.’

I have generally always used single coil basses. Recently I have been keen to buy a bass with a humbucker or dual JJ pickups in the bridge position, potentially a Musicman or Warwick Thumb five string. I can generally change from Jazz to Precision to something else entirely without difficulty. However the main switch I have done lately is from using fingers to using a pick. After 24 years of playing it feels like a revelation!

My friend bought the deluxe version for about £100. The person serving him in HMV asked him ‘are you sure?’ three times before he presented my friend with the chip and pin device to enable my friend to complete the transaction.

I would offer the Lou Reed/Metallica Lulu collaboration with Metallica as a further bar. Ian Astbury from The Cult loved it: https://thequietus.com/articles/07865-loutallica-lulu-ian-astbury-the-cult Frankly, there is more artistic beauty in Astbury's defence of the album than in the music itself. On The Cult, I actually think that Beyond Good and Evil is their best album. It was released on 2000 and they were kind of going for a harder edged sound to fit in with the nu-metal crowd. They then made a brilliant psychedelic/stoner rock album almost by accident. I still really like it.

Played last night at the final night of a local rock festival. It was our fist proper gig since last November when we opened for the Wildhearts and even then one of our guitarists missed that through COVID... Anyhoo, the venue was jammed. Very sweaty and very much like a pre-pandemic gig. There ended up being a mosh pit in the last song that spilled over on to the stage resulting a large semi-naked man crashing into me, also bashing the jack socket in my Vigier Excess, resulting in the jack socket falling out of the bass with the lead still attached! The bass was somehow still working, albeit with the loose lead and jack socket hanging from the bass, so I just kept playing until the end of the song (and with that the gig). Inspected the bass when I got home and discovered that the problem was that the nut that holds the jack socket in place must have been knocked loose and then fell off. An easy fix. I've had the bass for 18 years now and it has always been used as a 'workhorse' bass rather than a 'boutique' bass, so it has had a few bashes and knocks over the years. All being said, it was a pretty fun gig and the band are looking to finally get things going again after a period of job changes, house purchases, engagements, marriages and kids over the last couple of years which tend to happen to people in their 30s.

The track would also open up with audio of either: - the US President ordering some kind of nuclear strike; or - slightly eastern sounding music to signify some kind of terroristic threat

Pretty much every new rock/metal album by an older metal band is considered to be their 'best' album since their last good album by most of the mainstream rock/metal press. Even St Anger got pretty positive reviews on its initial release. From reading Classic Rock and Metal Hammer and Kerrang for years, I could pretty read the headline for most album reviews by certain 'legacy' acts before I had even heard a single note. Every new Megadeth album is the best since Countdown to Extinction; Every new Metallica album sees them 'return to their roots'; and Every new Def Leppard album is a 'return to form' which is entirely unrelated to the fact that the magazine reviewing the album is also co-sponsoring the tour;

If I am being honest, I would actually pay to see Come As You Are performed by Brian Johnson, Geddy Lee, Lars Ulrich and Nile Rodgers.

A regular Sadowsky 5 string comes with either a 1 3/4 inch (essentially 45mm) inch or a 1 7/8 inch (essentially 47.5). The Will Lee five string basses come with the thinner neck but so do some of the other Sadowsky five strings (not sure about the modern German made Metros though) My 2009 NYC has the 45mm width neck which actually seems pretty wide to me, as my other five string is a Vigier Arpege which has a 42.5mm width nut! Both are very easy to play.

Generally very good service to me. The correspondence I receive (on the phone and email) is very short and to the point as opposed to the gushing, flowing, 'I am your friend' type of correspondence a lot of businesses try to deliver to customers these days. It doesn't bother me but I totally understand why some would find the whole process a bit 'unfriendly' compared to some of the competition. However I generally get a reply to an email query within 24 hours. They also deliver to the Scottish Highlands and Islands without making an issue or kicking up a fuss, which is entirely welcome as some businesses frankly don't. Ordering something that is detailed as in-stock and is then suddenly out of stock though is infuriating though. I had that issue with the old Bass Centre before it stopped stocking decent gear. I waited on a Mesa Walkabout combo for 4 1/2 months despite it being 'in stock' when I ordered it. The only benefit is that I received the newer blackface model rather than the old silverface model I originally ordered, and I paid the 'old' price rather than the updated price of the blackface so the delay technically worked out in my favour. Again, I will continue to use Bass Direct. Mainly because the second-hand section is brilliant and they deliver (as opposed to 'collection only' private sales which are not possible in my location).

It will also be downgraded to 800 watts, feature only a single band compression, have one mid control and the footswitch will be an optional extra at the cost of £250.

I used a Trace non-stop from the age of 12 to 22. It was eventually replaced by a Mesa Walkabout which has been my main amp since 2009. I even had an GP12 SMX amp for years but sold it because by the age of 30 I was just fed up of the graphic and pre-shape. Kinda regret selling it now though. My only Trace Elliot product now is the V6. A ‘drive’ feature on the new amp is one thing I would have liked to have been included, but I suppose that isn’t in keeping with the classic clean Trace sound.

I saw that Trace Elliot had stuck a 5-6 video on Facebook providing an overview of the amp and the 4x10 cab. I'm at work and can't provide a link but it was vaguely interesting. However not much sound samples beyond the standard 'slap in the key of E' stuff and no demonstrations of the EQ or compression. It does look nice, however I did roll my eyes at some of the marketing talk. The shots at competitors using 'off the shelf parts' (i.e. the ICE power modules used on many bass amps) was a bit amusing. Trace Elliot may not cut any corners in terms of the design if they do indeed everything from the ground up for specific use for bass guitar (if Peavey have designed their own bespoke power amp then great). However, production of the amps and cabs takes place in China and the items are priced higher than a lot of the boutique USA amps who manage to keep costs low on account of using said off the shelf parts. At a probable price of £1500 or so, it is a hell of a lot of money to spend on a class D amp. I'm still interested, but given that I can get a Genzler, Trickfish, Bergantino, Aguilar or Mesa (when they appear in the UK) for probably less, the TE 1200 would need to be one hell of an amp. However, the possibility that it very well could be has still got me interested.

This is going back a few years, but when I A/B a Skyline to a Sandberg I much preferred the Sandberg in terms of playability. However I am very much a Fender-design fan so I am at home with anything in that style. In terms of pickups and preamp, it really comes to personal taste. To me the Sandberg MM pickup in the JM position doesn't give a proper MM type feel (to me it is more like a really powerful jazz bass pickup, which I really like). So if you want pickup that can more accurately copy a single classic MM sound then Lakland might be a better shout for pure versatility. The Sandberg MM pickup though to me really blends well with the front pickup. In the end I bought a Sadowsky Metro, back when you could buy one for £1600. The Sandberg JM was a close second. My nephew actually has the Sandberg MM, which essentially to MM pickups. It is a beast of a bass.

Nope, never happened. I totally imagined seeing him use one on the 97 reunion show I saw on video when I was 12 which inspired me to eventually buy one six years later. Of course, some retro bands really want to focus on vintage gear, so want people to use instruments the band used in the 1970s rather than what they used in the 1990s.

Most basses are versatile. My problem has generally been that a lot of times I have been in groups where the band leader really wants a bass that is either a Fender or looks really like a Fender. If I didn't bring something like that to the initial rehearsal then there was the chance that I wouldn't get the gig. It is absolutely ridiculous but it does happen and has cost me money in the past when I didn't bring my old trusted Fender Precision to the initial try out rehearsal. The reverse happens as well ('oh god, not another Fender!') but is less common in my experience. For example, I didn't get a gig in a Black Sabbath/Deep Purple cover band because apparently my bass didn't look right and they wanted something that looked like a Fender, despite the fact that Roger Glover has played a Vigier Excess for decades and the bass that I brought to the initial rehearsal was...my Vigier Excess. If you don't anticipate that kind of thing being an issue then just get whatever you like. Rather than specific makes I would consider: - do you want/need traditional J style pickups in traditional 60s or 70s positions, or do you want/need a humbucker pickup - how many frets do you need? - (if you have a distinct preference) what string spacing do you like? - do you want/need a two band or three band EQ? - what kind of radius do you like on the fingerboard (something like a Warwick will have a very flat radius, a traditional Fender jazz type will generally (not always) have a more rounded radius. Generally if you are at the 'what should I get stage' then it would be worth trying different makes of basses.

My brother gave me that one too!

I listened to Electric Ladyland through my laptop from a YouTube video and was really unimpressed. It really didn’t compare to my memory of the first time I heard it on my dad’s really expensive hifi system in the early 1990s. I was particularly aggrieved when the solo to Crosstown Traffic was interrupted by an advert for a Nic Cage film.

Well, the Fender Board are just operating in mysterious ways and still haven’t found what they are looking for in terms of profits.