Delberthot

A 6 string bass, preferrably an Ibanez, preferrably the SR1016 I stupidly sold a few years ago to someone on this forum, preferrably for a good price Instead of constantly buying and selling basses I'm going to keep maybe 5 or 6 and pick whatever one takes my fancy for a gig. Loads of Roto flats. I've just put a brand new set of what were my favourite 5 string sets - Warwick Yellow label - onto my Ibanez and they feel like barbed wire compared to the silky smoothness of the flats on my thunderbird

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=115605"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=115605[/url]

Its a worthlessless technique to me, I could never think of a single use for it but if you find it adds to what you play, it then becomes valuable to you. Larry Graham plays the way he does as he was trying to replicate the kick and snare of his band's departed drummer and the style felt natural to him. I have to stop here before I say any more as I don't like VWs playing in the slightest

C'mon guys, he's clearly talking about [i][b]the[/b][/i] [url="http://www.sawiki.net/index.php/Eric_Ball"]Eric Ball[/url] get with the times

[quote name='Norris' post='1059488' date='Dec 15 2010, 01:05 PM']The Boss GT-6B is a little more sophisticated (and more expensive), but is a bit easier to tweak settings,[/quote] Easier than what, mapping the flight coordinates for the Hubblle Space Telescope? A fantastic piece of kit but I couldn't work on patches during the gig otherwise the song would be finished before I had managed to save the edited patch. I've had my Korg DT-10 for about 5 or 6 years and its still working perfectly. As for other effects, it depends what songs you do - I have the bass player's favourite, the Boss OC-2 which is great for some specific songs or adding another layer if you're playing with a single guitarist and they go for one of their extended solos. Flanger and Chorus are probably the most commonly used with distortion or overdrive coming in next. Phasers, Envelope Filters and other things like that are mainly useful if you are playing a song that used one on the original recording or you are writing a song yourself and the sound suits.

With most strings you have to stretch them initially when you first put them on but once they're on they just need occasional tuning for different room temperatures, accidentally knocking out of tune etc. Someone (perhaps DR) had prestretched strings and they were obviously highly successful as I've never heard them mentioned although it could have happened in a dream. In which case patent pending patent pending patent pending.

Another point I'd like to make is that a few years ago I had a job where I had access to three different works vans and occasionally hired one for long distance gigs. At first I found it hard to get used to going from my car to the one of the vans and then back again. As I did it more and more, the more I got used to it and the transition became almost seamless from one to the other. I am of the opinion that I am now the same with basses. I've owned that many that I can now pick up any bass and make it my own: as long as it can be adjusted, it can be gigged and I'm having a lot of fun playing a few different basses as opposed to having the GAS pangs that I used to - the chase, the find, the guilt, the sale, the end.

What was the question again? oh aye - I don't claim to be the best bass player in the world but I have quite a unique style and I've found that i can pick up any bass and within a couple of minutes have a close approximation of my sound. So much so that i've given up on buying expensive basses because I sound like me whatever I play. I buy basses now because they look nice

I bought Brian's Ibanez SRX705 last week. Spoke with him over the phone before committing to the deal and Brian comes across as a very trustworthy fellow. I certainly wouldn't have any issues with buying from or selling to in the future. The bass was exactly as he described it in the ad, right down to the damage to the finish which was pretty unnoticable and was packed very well.

[quote name='JP Soundsystem' post='1063550' date='Dec 19 2010, 02:30 PM']T-Birds are sh*te and they are a one-trick pony! (sorry, couldn't resist!) I was looking at the Sixx Blackbirds the other day. I noticed that the ONLY control on them was an on/off switch. No volume, no tone controls. If you don't like the tone, you're pretty much screwed. Which kind makes the Blackbird a one trick pony (the irony!) I'd get a standard black one, at least then you can blend the pickup volume/tone to your liking. I hope this helps. JP[/quote] It would appear that even Mr Sixx is fed up of having no control over his bass [url="http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Bass/Gibson-USA/Nikki-Sixx-Thunderbird-Bass/Specs.aspx"]http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-G...Bass/Specs.aspx[/url]

The best B in my opinion was one of the first 5 string basses - the Musicman Stingray. Its not that heavy but probably a bit too heavy for you if your looking for something a bit more lightweight.

I went through 3 or 4 Rickenbackers, 2 Warwicks, about a dozen Stingray 4 & 5 strings, Modulus Flea bass and a whole bunch of other relatively expensive stuff before I realised that none of these basses made me any happier or improved my playing. In fact, some were terrible and my 20th and 30th Anniversary Stingrays never left the house as I was too scared of damaging them, careful as I am. I'm loving my Thunderbird and have been happy with it for a long time now. it cost me just over £200 including gig bag, new pickups and Hipshot Supertone bridge. I found it remarkably simple to set it up to my liking and the roto flats were the icing on the cake. I look after my equipment extremely well but the odd bump against my music stand or whatever doesn't phase me in the slightest as I know that it wasn;t expensive and could be replaced cheaply enough if anything were to happen to it. I'm happy in the knowledge that I have 3 different basses that i could confidently take to any gig and their combined cost was just over £400

Seriously, I struggled to move the output volume on my Terror 500 between a whisper and deafeningly loud with a 2x15". It was like that finite point on old power showers between icicle inducing coldness and taking the skin off your back hot. I couldn't really see the 1000 being of any real benefit over the 500 unless you're playing large outdoor festivals, and I mean huge, or big arena concerts. They probably only make it for bragging rights so people can say that have a 1000 watt amp

boss OC-2 for 2 songs with the wedding band, other than that I just use the overdrive bullt into my amp - I've never found a decent overdrive pedal that did exactly what i wanted either plus I cannot be arsed faffing about on my hands and knees changing setting or going to night school to get a qualification to be able to work one of those multi effects units competently enough to be able to change effects settings at a gig Occasionally I have a flanger or chorus but for now its just the octave and all its glitchy goodness

Benoit David does do a really good Jon Anderson with the added bonus that Yes can now play stuff like Tempus Fugit which was the Trevor Horn era stuff. I'd be going back to see them if they play again next year

[quote name='bigjohn' post='1060652' date='Dec 16 2010, 03:17 PM']I've got some black nylon rotos I like. I've not tried their flats, didn't really get on with their rounds when I used to use rounds, which I don't ever any more - not sure my fingers would take it [/quote] I'm using Roto flats on my Thunderbird. I love them, the tension I would say is about the same as the roundwound Rotos. They are very clear and have a lot of top end, although mine are still quite new. they are even good for slapping, although i tend not to do too much of that these days. I would say that they're right in the middle between Chromes (very high tension) and TIs (low tension)

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='1056198' date='Dec 12 2010, 04:56 PM'][url="http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/allparts-guitar-amp-parts/bridge-parts/bass-saddles/bass-bridge-saddles-for-gibson-bass-tunematic-4-p-2020.html"]http://www.allparts.uk.com/online-shop/all...c-4-p-2020.html[/url] [/quote] £21.94 [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Bass-Bridge-Saddles-Gibson-Tunematic-NICKEL-/330388039965?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4ceca9691d"]Slightly more reasonable[/url] and looks like an identical picture [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-3-Point-Bridge-Gibson-Bass-3-11-32-NICKEL-/360108212945?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item53d81f42d1"]The entire thing[/url]

The bridge parts appear now and again on Ebay. The Supertone bridge is a vast improvement but £70 is a tad steep. Probably be easier to make another cover using a small piece of single ply scratchplate material or something like that.

I always list for more on Ebay than I do on Gumtree and here both to cover the fees and because I am a chancer