thodrik

'100 basses some guy wants to try' Filed alongside his '5 reasons NOT to play a five string (which is actually a video mostly focusing on why the bassist uses a five string)' Next week: you will never to be able to guess what these 1990s alt-rock bassists look like now! (number 6 will SHOCK you...)

Don't buy Metallica albums.

All my basses have a case. I have two gig bags for taking basses to gigs, practices etc. I use the cases when touring (not doing much of that these days), moving house or long journeys on public transport.

The price for the cabs is a complete joke. The 'relaunch of the relaunch' of Trace Elliot by Peavey has left me completely underwhelmed: a single head, two expensive minature cabs and two oversized pre amp pedals.

Tough choice. I nearly bought a Sandberg JM4 (pre name change to TM4 and change of the body shapes to be less 'Fendery') in 2009, but ended up going for a Sadowsky Metro. The Stingray is an utterly iconic bass though. In terms of build quality of both I think you would actually be okay to buy them without having played one if have made your mind up on what you are wanting. My view is that if you have been wanting a Stingray for years then you should buy a Stingray. The Sandberg will be a great bass but my guess is that no matter how good the instrument is, your brain will still be sending you 'I want a Stingray' message for months and years to come. Try the bass that is in Guitar Guitar and if you like it, buy it.

Looks kinda cool. Kind of reminds me of an updated Bass Pod that I have sitting in my cupboard somewhere.

Interesting bridge as well. Can't be any worse than the three point bridge on my EB3!

I would love to try two 8x10s stacked horizontally with a big valve amp.

Guitar Guitar in Glasgow is great though I haven't seen the new bass room since it opened. Got my Sadowsky Metro there though in 2009. Staff are generally pretty friendly and helpful. Frankly though, I have good experiences at most of the shops around Glasgow, whether it was CC Music in the West End or Strung Out Guitars around the corner from Guitar Guitar. Sound Control was different though, rarely had a good experience there, though that might have been the staff not liking fat teenagers with little money frequenting their stores.

I used to have an 12 band SMX head, a 1x15 GP7 SM300 combo, Peavey era 1x15 and 2x10 cabs and a V6. Have sold everything Trace related apart from the V6 and 1x15 cab. A bit annoying as the 1x15 is 8 ohm and the V6 is only 4 ohm and 2ohm input so I can't use them together. I will get another cab eventually.

Exactly. They do it when they think the song requires it, not because it is the only thing that they can play.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1500986917' post='3341491'] I think when people say it, they're talking about some "overplaying" which is not serving the song. This could be an unnecessary drum fill for example. The band would say "You know, sometimes less is more". The producer would say "leave that sh*t out!" [/quote] That is my interpretation as well. I sometimes find it a bit amusing though when very limited players praise the virtues of simple bass lines but at the same time have a dig at anyone who writes more complicated parts and fits them into a song. I have seen so many interviews of limited players giving quotes along the lines of 'you know, I totally could play more complicated parts, but I deliberately keep my bass parts simple because I'm really not into ostentatious playing and I really want to take a more mature approach towards the instrument', as if they they had the technical chops of Marcus Miller or Billy Sheehan but were just holding themselves back for the sake of the horrible indie/rock/metal song I can't stand listening to. To that I would (sarcastically) say that 'Less is more if you are capable of more. If you are only capable of less then less is just less.'

I used to have three Trace Elliot heads, now I only have the one, though it is the V6. The SMX head I had was really nice, the GP7 SM300 1x15 combo was used for over ten years without any problems. I ended up selling them just because the V6 was getting all of the use for bigger set ups and my Mesa Walkabout was, and still is, my main 'go to' head. Don't get me wrong, I still like Trace Elliot, I just got fed up of the 'pre shape' function as pretty forming the basis of my sound for so bloody long, it was just time for a change.

Nice. If we were on Talkbass we could start a 'non-collectable but ultimately cool late 1970s-to early 1980s Precision' club.

It will make no difference to the value. I have one of those s9 serial number Precisions. I have never even bothered checking when the various parts were made. Condition and the issue of whether it is 'all original' will be the main indicators or value. Playability and sound will be the indicators of whether the bass is worth buying. When I was young the basses from this era were cheap to buy as they came from an unfashionable time in Fenders history. I bought mine for under £400 in 1999 whereas the same bass would be worth at least a grand now and probably more if I'd not been playing it regularly for 18 years!

Don't get me wrong, I really like Tool and really rate Justin Chancellor. I even tried a Wal mk I but once I tried it I just didn't think it it was any nicer than the basses I already had. Horses for courses and all that, as I'm guessing a lot of folk would have preferred that particular Wal to any of my basses I owned at the time! Looking forward to the new album when it eventually hits. Can't believe it has been 11 years since I saw them live touring 10,000 Days though...

Looks nice and if stops a few 'I need a Wal to have a bass sound like Tool' forum posts then I'm all for it.

That is just beyond outstanding customer service. In fact it really goes beyond customer service considering it was a pre-owned unit. Well done!

I love Ampeg 8x10s.

I have never played a Musicman bass that wasn't a well built, well designed instrument that could be used a variety of different styles. I have also never played a Musicman bass that I would actually buy. You definitely don't get a dud. At worst you will get a good bass that just isn't right for you.

I'm watching it too. Some utterly class playing.

I thought 'what a pointless pedal' when I heard about it, and then 'I NEED THIS' when I heard it.

I haven't listened to it in years. I mind playing it when I was about 15 and it didn't seem too over the top as bass line, especially by Flea's standards. I think that it is a classic from that era. I always think though that Chili Peppers songs are hard to cover because it can easily turn into a mess of umm, jangly guitars, meandering bass lines and atonal vocals! I really rate Flea as a bassist. His work in the first Mars Volta album is the best work of his career in my opinion.