Muzz

I'm a fan of the 'general' P-Bass tone (even though there's a vast spectrum available), but I don't have any Precision basses, or even copies. I do have some very different basses, but they all have a split-coil pickup in roughly the right place, and they can all do a very close impression of a lot of the tones posted in the thread. They're all active EQs, they have a range of different woods in their structure. To me, that emphasises what the P-Bass tone is all about...it's at least 95% the pickup and placement.

We have a couple of deps (a drummer and a guitarist) who don't drive, however they make efforts to meet up, rather than be picked up from their houses (unless the gig's their way). They'll also use public transport to get home. They still get the call because they're among the best musicians in our dep pool, but even so, they don't get the first call. In our originals band, the guitarist became unable to drive for medical reasons, and the logistics meant none of us could pick him up without adding an hour to our drive times for rehearsals. He's no longer in the band. To the OP, I'd echo what others have said, in that you're immediately at a disadvantage against other bassists, so you'll need to up your game elsewhere...

The main function band I'm in has a pretty big song list, from the aforementioned floor-fillers (SOF included) to some less-obvious but still well-loved ones, as well as some Oirish, some rock, some funk, whatever. The band leader will call these on the night, according to the crowd, much like a good DJ. It's a definite skill all of its own, but it keeps thing fresh(ish). Especially when he forgets to actually tell us, and just starts playing... The rock covers band is more setlist-y, but we've taken time to choose songs that are not the very very obvious ones, but ones that people might have forgotten they remember (if you see what I mean), and that we enjoy. Again, we have some more obscure stuff that we can wheel out if it looks like a good crowd for it. I'd say to the OP just give it a go; like a lot of folk have said, you might find you enjoy actually enjoy playing the more 'trite' stuff to a bouncing crowd...

As far as amps and cabs go, secondhand bargains aside, I've always found you get what you pay for. Cheap stuff has never worked for me. I have a Thomann deco HB 55-P thing which cost all of £35 brand new, including shipping. It's no Shuker, but for the money, it's very good. I've used it at gigs where the punter's ticket price was five times what I paid for it, just on principle... Oooh, that reminds me - the Behringer BDI21 pedal: 99% Sansamp (for what I use it for), 10% cost...

[quote name='Osiris' timestamp='1489950295' post='3261043'] I hadn't really considered the Magellan. A mate of mine had one of the Gens Benz heads a while ago (I don't remember which model) but I always felt that it had an unpleasant bump in the mids that was difficult to dial out without radically eq'ing the amp. But he played it through Mark Bass cabs which seem to have a reputation for a low mid bump, so maybe it was the cabs, or maybe the amp and cab just didn't work well together? Dunno. But it had initially put me off the Magellan. And for the record, I like to have the mids present in my tone However, the Magellan has got rave reviews all round so I'm happy to try it and see what I think. A few people have said that it can get that warm, vintage tone that I like, similar to the Tone Hammer. And it looks to be a lot more versatile than the TH too. The specs and features are broadly similar to the Subway but the Mag' is £200 cheaper. Tempting.... Do you have one, or have you ever played through one? I'd be interested to hear what you think of it. [/quote] I have a Magellan, the last in a long line of amps including Mesas, MB, TH500, Genz, TC, Ashdown, GK you name it. Well, eleven or so. The Magellan's the best of the lot, there's a very wide sweep of tones available in there, and the dual channel thing means you can have two set a button push apart. For me, it's the best of the Shuttles (without the slightly brittle edge) and the Streamliner (without the huuuuge bloomy bottom end). It might not have any tubes in there, but it does warm and tubey and cool and precise very very well. The power amp has a lot more than the TH500 I had for a while, too - it's got some real...well, I'm reluctant to use the H word, but there's a weight and authority to the notes, and a response to how you play them that I thought was lacking in the TH500 (amongst other amps). I have a Walkabout, too, and it's a toss-up as to which one I gig. Saturday night it was the Magellan, and I didn't regret it. Looking at Bass Direct prices, it's £170 cheaper than the Subway, and for that money it's got to be worth trying. You could A-B them at Bass Direct...

+1 for trying your LM head from the combo first (it'll sound different with the SC, so be prepared to have a play with your EQ), but after that, it'll be a case of pick a head you fancy. I've got a Super Twin (essentially two SCs in one box), and it sounds great with both my Walkabout and my Magellan, and they're pretty different amps. EDIT: Thinking on, the LM head might not have a lid once you remove it (you might be able to hook it up without removing it), but as long as you don't stick your arm in there when it's powered on, should be fine.

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1489677571' post='3258911'] [media]http://youtu.be/7v2GDbEmjGE[/media] [/quote] OT and all that, but I've always liked the sheer bonkersness* of that Hamer: Bright red Explorer body? OK...8 string? Fine... Fretless? Yeah, why not... * Not a real word, I know, but...

Man, that's a good-looking bass

Update to mine: two amps, one cab: still the Magellan and the Walkabout, but just a BF Super Twin. It does everything, very very well.

Sold three Bergs to Chris, a completely pleasant and straightforward deal. I know sometimes folk on the UK end of Basschat twitch at deals out of the U.K., but Chris and DPD Couriers made this one a dream Deal in confidence, folks, Chris is one of the very good guys.

Ooooo, that'd be a Hondo II Precision copy with a .88mm pick, via a curly lead into a HH VS100 head and a no-name 2x12. Possibly '79...

YYZ - it's a tricky set of riffs, but then there's another step up to try and make it sound like a song rather than, erm, a set of riffs... Oh, and those intro riffs to Spirit Of Radio...it's only been thirty years, dammit...

Mine's fairly straightforward, too (apart from the basses): Dunlop .88 picks Any two of four basses (two Shuker Horns, Dingwall ABZ4, Shukerbird), all have East U-Retros OBBM Cable Mesa Walkabout or Genzler Magellan OBBM Cable BF Super Twin Plus a 'just in case' Behringer BDI21 in the gigbag...oh, and a clip-on tuner

Dunno if this has been covered particularly well previously, but following on from a sub-discussion on the Thunderbirds thread (nooooo, not Gerry Anderson/-related, sorry), what's the worst culprit for neck dive you've experienced? I'll start the ball rolling by submitting the Washburn B20-8, which literally anchored your left hand to the neck: if you let go, it plummeted to the floor. I'm always amazed it got past the first prototype stage, it was that bad...

I have to admit it'd niggle at me, especially for the reasons given - Prog? It's not like you're a fully Stetson'd Country Band, or it's as extreme as a BC Rich in Lozz's example...there's a ton of precedent for non-Fender basses in Prog, fer Chrissakes... The BL sounds like a control freak to me, which can be good in a lot of ways, bad in others... Oh, and 99.9% of the punters (even Prog punters) won't give a toss... Only you know whether it's worth caving on this one...does the BL have 'opinions' on anything else you do/use?

Looking at those new Epi models, I don't see a strap button in the usual 'pointless neck dive inducing' position, so maybe that's finally a thing from the factory... It's easy enough to negate the neck dive with a button move....

I've had a few Fenderbirds (and Thunderbirds), and they're a long bass (not the neck specifically, just the shape overall) and not the most ergonomically perfect - it kinda depends on your playing style and how you hold a bass. I've handed mine to people at jam nights and they've looked a bit flummoxed, to be honest I love them, though...

Depends. In a band context, it's Geddy. For tone, it's early JJ Burnel But there's only one bloke I love to listen to playing bass on its own, and that's Bobby Vega.