Marvin

Interesting run down. It's quite intriguing how much the guitar techs do during the show, I hope they get a performance fee paid to them Duff is a great bass player. How he plays so low I don't know. I tried playing Paradise City with a band once and my wrist near locked up, and I play much higher.

Beware of poor quality tables. Things to look out for are the use of inferior materials and construction. Ones with poorly attached legs are the worst, the table gets all wobbly and unstable and prone to collapse

I've not got a table to bring anything to at the moment...so um...hmm. If I did have a table then essentially hard work, reliability and an appalling sense of humour.

I string my bass with 4 E's...just in case one does brake. All bases/situations covered there.

I generally play a Jazz style bass, which although not heavy, it's still noticeable. I picked up my Ibanez the other day and nearly flung it over my head it's so light.

Thanks chaps. Notifications all working

I don't seem to be getting notifications. Threads I've contributed towards don't seem to register notifications when someone replies.

The lightest bass I've ever owned is an Ibanez Soundgear, compared to some other basses you'd barely notice it was hanging off your shoulder. The Yamaha TRBX I had was ok for weight, a little heavier than the Ibanez but not as heavy as a standard Precision or Jazz style bass.

Super Fury Animals? Is it a part comedy list? There are several bands there who’ve had minimal impact outside the UK and many who are missing. Free, Iron Maiden, Cream...

I've seen bass players in bands play all 4 of them and not one plays them anywhere near. Most of the time they just follow the rhythm guitar, they'll drop fills, won't play 1/16ths but 1/8th notes instead...but they'll still rate themselves as really good bass players. I can't get the fills in 'No One Knows' nailed, it's just too fast for me, my brain and fingers don't work at that speed. And it was only recently I could get the phrasing in 'I Predict A Riot' correct. One song I cannot play is Paradise City by Guns 'n' Roses. It kills my wrist to play it...and as for the double speed part at the end, just forget it Sometimes it's best to leave them alone for a while, come back to it. All told though, it's not the end of the world if you can't play these note for note.

It's very rare there'll be a song in a covers set list I play that I'd listen to at home etc. Much of what I've played recently I can't stand. The originals bands were similar. One prog metal the other indie punk. Didn't like either one's material or genre. Probably explains why I don't stay in a band for long 😀

An early 90s Made In Korea Squier p bass. A GK BACKLINE 600 amp, cheap but great amps.

Fingers crossed ( as it's a bit of a journey etc) off to see Depeche Mode in Birmingham week after next

I like the tuners to be appropriately positioned to suit the headstock. Basically I'm not really fussed as long as overall they look good.

This is Billy Sheehan playing bass on this Richie Kotzen song (and Pat Torpey on drums) It's definitely not Billy's usual tone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5O5kxntR2w

[quote name='nilebodgers' timestamp='1508876205' post='3395114'] They probably need some degree of fret levelling, but having that done commercially will cost more than a brand new Encore given they are under £100 new! [/quote] [quote name='T-Bay' timestamp='1508880494' post='3395176'] I was given one for my Daughter, it sits unused in its bag while she has the EB3 I fixed up. The encore is truly horrible and I would think it would put off anyone who attempted to learn on one. When you think what you can get second hand for under £100 it's a no brainer but sadly schools are usually limited to buying new or at least second hand from 'reputable suppliers'. Last year I picked up a cracking Aria for £60, great fast action that's plays beautifully. [/quote] They are probably the worst basses I've ever encountered. They have definitely got the highest action of any bass I've played. The amount you'd need to spend to get it decent, you'd be better off getting a Squier or better still entry level Yamaha. If it'd been my first bass, I'd have probably given up

All avenues are filled with time wasting fools. It's just a case of sifting through the chaff and idiots...unfortunately it takes considerable time, to the point I haven't bothered even looking for some time.

I never measured my string height before. I tend to set the neck relief as per the manufacturers spec usually and then get the strings as low as possible. However, I've just measure my p bass (I can't be bothered to get the Ibby and Jazz bass out of their cases, they'll be very similar anyway) and to my surprise it was 1.9mm @17th fret on the E string. I always thought my action was on the high side but apparently not. I've been trying to fix up the basses at my son's school. They're Encore E4 p basses mainly. The lowest I can get the action on them is 3.5mm. Any lower and even the lightest of playing they buzz, rattle and choke. I don't rate them at all, there are so many issues with them. I find the 3.5mm almost unplayable.

They do a few of these every year. I think there’s a Blues weekend, a punk one and folk one as well. I think Fairport Convention headed the folk one. Some of the bands on the list might not be being paid. I know a few of them and they’d play at the opening of a birthday card. I seem to remember a band I was once in got offered a gig where there was no fee because the headliners ‘needed to be paid’. We didn’t bother

Could you add another cab to the MarkBass?

I picked up a 2nd hand VM Precision last year. It's the Amber/Maple one, the same scheme as the 70's VM Jazz. I shouldn't like it really simply for the colour, but I love it. It's got a great sound, it's incredibly loud and is great to play. I've probably gigged it more than my Sire V7 since I bought it, partly because it only cost me £150

If you get paid for gigs around here it's cash...and you pay for your ale with cash as well. Paying for ale with a card is rare to the point you'd probably be asked by the bar staff "what do you want me to do with this?" 😎

Cheers. A shim, I'd overlooked that. Thanks for the link, it's great 'how to'. All I hope is that the shim doesn't have to be something like 2 credit cards worth in thickness The bodies on these basses have got some real nice relicing going on, people would pay good money for this sort of ageing. They have lovely looking couple of Squier strats where the white body on one and the scratchplate on another have gone a lovely yellowy creamy colour. I'm hunting around trying to find bits and bobs to replace broken parts. As I said my wife works there, my kids go there and I know the tech (I was in a band with him briefly).

The local secondary school, at which my kids go to, have several basses, mostly Encore p basses, which are in a pretty dire state quite frankly. I said to Mrs Marvin, who happens to work there, that if the head of music wanted I'd pop in and give them a basic set up (if possible). It's the usual story of actions you could drive a bus under, dead strings, missing controls, cracked pickguards etc. However, all bar one is straightforward to sort out. This one bass has me a little foxed. The action is appalling, probably x3 times higher than what would be considered average. I checked the neck relief and although it was a bit more than you'd want it wasn't way off, it'd only need a tweak. The problem is the saddles are wound right down on the bridge, they won't go any lower yet the strings are a mile off the fretboard. The only thing I could think was that the neck looked very sunken into the neck pocket, only really the slim rosewood fretboard and a slim slither of of maple. None of my necks are like that. Advice greatly appreciated

PM'd