Franticsmurf

My first Fender and I'm impressed.

Played a local cider festival with The Hulla Band last night. We were due on at 5pm but as with multi-band line-ups, everyone was running late. Each band had been allotted an hour and the sound guy said they were all playing their hour with no set up or break down consideration. We went on nearer 6 by which time the crowd had increased and the cider had flowed. We were the first band with a drummer, played a tight, rocky 45 minute set and had the crowd up and dancing from fairly early on. We were allowed an encore and were off stage within the hour, much to the delight of the sound man. A really enjoyable gig and free cider afterwards! 😃 And I found out this morning that we've been re-booked. In the pics I'm behind the Uke players. First outing for my Guitarbass VI through a Trace Elliot combo provided by the gig. I was happy with the guitar apart from an inconsistency in the volume in the higher register strings, partly due to not having set the equaliser on the combo properly but mainly due to the pickups which need replacing - something I was planning to do anyway.

I was looking at it this morning thinking 'a different pick guard, perhaps?' - Now I can justify it to get the sound just right. 😃

As above on the 2nd hand advice. I'd go for something that is nice to play, which will make it more likely that you will practice. A bass that you can take into your first band (if that's your goal) would be good. Scour the for sale threads here for bass amps and cabs (getting separates means you can upgrade one at a time). If you're going down the combo route, something that will hold its own in rehearsals would be a good first step. As for specifics, there as many opinions on what's best as there are choices of gear. 😃 The best things is to collect a load of suggestions and then do some research based on you, your goal (band/hobby/recording). I have a nice Cort Jazz bass which I bought new in my local music shop for £249 last year as a stop gap to gig with while I waited for another bass to arrive. I practice at home through a 2nd hand Vox VX50B which is a rather nice and small 50w amp for which I paid £100 2nd hand from the same shop. It has a headphone socket and an Aux In socket (so you can feed in a signal from your phone/mp3 player to practice along to). Add a decent lead and strap and you still have more that £100 of your budget left to spend on stuff. Good luck and remember to keep us up to date with progress. 😃

Spotted online on the Bax website, a 'B' stock Precision for £490. I expected scratches in addition to the damaged packaging that was listed on the site but I have yet to spot any. My first Precision style guitar and so far (about 90 minutes in) happy with sound, feel, neck and weight.

I've walked from a couple of bands, both because I was getting stale playing the same stuff over and over. 2nd time the BL was, by his own proud admission, 'winging it' (which in his eyes made him more professional that those in the band who wanted to rehearse and stick to agreed arrangements, because he was able to turn up and play anything). It was hard to take the actual decision because the band was busy and despite everything, I enjoyed playing but with hindsight I should have gone earlier. It turned out that the rest of the band were on the brink of going, too, and went within hours of me leaving. We're currently working slowly on a new band project. I went from busy to nothing at first, and it was hard to motivate myself to play, record or work on the new band. But gigs have picked up with the other band I was in, I've had some depping work and the new band has gigged (albeit only the once) and is making some progress. Like anything new, it takes time to adjust, particularly if you have invested your time and effort into it. But ultimately you'll look back and realise it was the best decision and move forward with a new project. Imagine what you can do if you find like-minded band mates who are prepared to invest as much into a new project as you are?

Gigging in the 90s Gigging in the 20s 'Gigging' in Morocco. 😃

Thanks for the info on your setup @stereoplayer. I've been a Chris Squire fan since I started playing in bands and loved his sound. Over the years I learnt about his split output from the Ric. I don't have a Ric, nor do I have the funds to get one, but I have been experimenting with splitting the signal from my MM and using a graphic equaliser to remove everything below 250hz on one signal and processing that with distortion while leaving the other signal clean and uneffected. So far not so good but I'm enjoying the journey. It doesn't help that there is no call for that kind of sound in the two bands I'm currently playing with and I wouldn't try and force it on them. One day...😃

Me too. I'd be interested in more details.

Behringer Bass Distortion and/or Behringer Tube Amp modeler.

As I don't have a case for the cardboard box, I just took the Guitarbass VI to rehearsal last night. With the 100 (E) and 84 (A) replacing the supplied 84 and 72, I got a really nice bass sound through my BAM200 and TE 1x10 cab. Our sound guy liked the tone through the PA, too. I noticed the neck pick up pole pieces don't align with the top B and E strings and this came across in a drop in volume when playing those strings. Overall I'm still happy with the guitar and I've just about got used to the string spacing. Fingerstyle playing is not really practical but for the songs I'm doing with them, I find plucking with my index finger works quite nicely. I tried a pick, but it seemed a bit too harsh. I think going forward it won't replace my four string basses but I will be using it on a regular basis (bassis - ha ha ... I'll get my coat) with this band. In the medium term I may replace the pick-ups.

Hi Wingo, welcome to the site. It's a great place for answers and advice.

It's about what the band (including you) want. If it works, the rest of the band aren't complaining and you're happy then it's good. Imagine how things would be if we all had to play what the last guy played. In one of the bands I was in, it would have been all root notes and I'd only need a 2 string bass. 😀

They were flat when it arrived. I tried inflating them, but there must be a puncture somewhere. 🤔

Soooo....you're telling me that I NEED to buy more stuff to save money, right????....:) I think that is a very solvable problem.....:):):) I joined this site for precisely this kind of advice. 😀

My mate runs a music school with a number of tutors working in individual rooms. I remember him telling me that after a particular young student had a disagreement with his tutor, there followed allegations of improper behaviour between student and tutor (which were never taken beyond the angry dad stage). My mate immediately installed CCTV in all the rooms. It was a one off incident in more than 10 years of teaching all ages, but worth considering (along with the DBS check mentioned above). I was a trainer and training designer in a previous life and I would agree with @Coilte's comment that you should make sure your teaching skills are up there with your musical skills. Make sure you know what the student is expecting from the lessons. Do they want exam grade standard, 'just the basics' (what are 'the basics'?), to be able to play in a band etc? Once you know what they want, you can set a timescale so they know how many lessons it will take and how much it will cost and more importantly, you'll both know when you've successfully achieved their goal. If a student is taking bass lessons I would expect them to have their own bass. The exception might be if they are thinking of taking it up but haven't decided. This is one of the things you'll need to establish with each student. If you're providing a bass (and/or anything else) make it a decent cheap item as it will probably take more wear and tear. I'm no business expert but I guess you'd be able to claim it as an expense. Good luck! 😃

Thanks. Just ordered two sets although they're currently out of stock. In the meantime I stole a 100 string from my 5 string (technically now a 4 string) and changed the A(72) for the 84. I had to cut the strings to length and unwind the 100 a little for the thinner bit to fit through the tuner hole. Then had to go out and get an appropriate round file to enlarge the nut grooves. A great improvement but if I'd know it would be so much trouble, I would have stuck with the cardboard box and recycled the guitar. 😀

Sorry, only just spotted the additional 'The Box'. I wasn't ignoring you - I thought it referred to the previous post's Gretsch. Please see above for the box photo.

I suppose I'll write it off to experience and try to come to terms with the Bass VI. 😀

Not really sure what kind of cardboard to be honest, but I suspect a laminate of some kind. I do like the natural finish, but I was hoping for a little more corrugated effect.

Here it is. To be honest I'm a bit disappointed by the sound. I was expecting a solid body box but when I took the free gift out, I found it was a hollow body. The sound is a bit boxy and muffled - very percussive but there's no bite and I suspect it would disappear when played within a band. And the build quality! It's held together with staples and packing tape. The body isn't contoured so the playing position is uncomfortable. But worst of all is that neck profile and width. 🤣

Thanks for the recommendations above - and with the heads up about string lengths. I was thinking of replacing the 84E with a 95 or 100 and shifting the 84 to the A. Bearing in mind that this is experimentation until I find a combination I like. I'm happy with the other 4 as they are although I wouldn't be averse to going lighter on the B and high E. One of the reasons for this purchase was to use in a band with a lot of chord/rhythm instruments (3 Ukes, two guitars and a piano) to allow me to add some melody when the bass is not required to drive the songs. The lighter high strings will help cut through.

I can understand that. Day 2 and I haven't really put it down much (I didn't sleep with it). I have a gig soon and I intend to use it then so I want to get used to that string spacing after years of big boy bass spacing - that's the excuse I'm currently using. I'm probably going to change the string gauge (as has been recommended elsewhere) but apart from that I'm really happy.

Hi Rob. My hands are too small to be a bass player, but a bass player is what I am. It just means I have to move my fingers a bit further that other folks. 😃

New Cardboard Packaging Day! I ordered a cardboard box from Thomann and it came with this little beauty included for free! 😃 Reading another thread, I was intrigued by the Bass VI concept and I thought I'd give it a go with the Harley Benton version as I could do with the extra couple of strings but I have small guitar player hands. So far, very impressed with the quality (the only adjustment I've made is to raise the height of the neck pick up as it was quite quiet). Not too heavy and the string spacing is the same as a guitar, which is comfortable for me.