Delberthot

I was using Chromes 45, 60, 80, 110 so I could drop the E to B. I then changed to Rotosound Billy Sheehan strings that lasted about 5 minutes and now I'm using standard D'addario EXL165s. They still handle the drop to the B pretty well, last a good length of time and are pretty cheap by bass string standards ( £11ish ) I think anything 105+ is good for prolonged drops to the D and beyond

Cool - I'm about to learn this so this will come in handy

Following on from the amps you currently own thread I thought it would be interesting to see how many people have suffered from Amp GAS. I myself was riddled with GAS for a good few years and even now I tend to change my amps every year or so. Over the years I have owned: Amps: GK 800RB GK 700 RB II GK1001 RB II GK MB500 GK MB200 Ashdown ABM 500 RC Ashdown red face MAG400 Hartke LH500 x2 Hartke LH1000 HArtke HA5500 Trace Ah150 Mk V Ampeg PF500 Genz Shuttle 600 Orange Terror Bass 500 x2 TC Electronic BH250 Cabs: Trace Elliott: 1528 - V-type - 2x15" 1524 - regular ported 2x15" 1248 - V-type - 4x12" x2 1048H - 4x10" 1153 - 1x15" 1518 - 1x15" 4052H - Bright Box 2103H - 2x10" 1152 - Multistack Wedge 1x15" Ashdown MAG 8x10" Hartke 215XL - 2x15" Laney Nexus 1x15" Laney Nexus 4x10" Behringer BA410 - Aluminium 4x10" x2 Schroeder 1212L - 2x12" GK 210MBE - 2x10" [size=4]Vox Super Foundation 2x15"[/size] [size=4]Ashdown ABM410 - 4x10" x2[/size] [size=4]Ashdown MAG410 - 4x10" x2[/size] [size=4]Ashdown ABM115 - 1x15" x2[/size] [size=4]Ashdown MAG414 - 4ohm 4x10"[/size] [size=4]Hughes & Kettner BR410H - 4x10"[/size] [size=4]Barefaced One10[/size] Combos: Squier 15" guitar combo Peavey TNT160 Trace 7210H - 2x10" Trace 1110 - 4x10" Trace V-type 1x15" Trace 7215 - 1x15" GK MB210 GK MB150 Fender Rumble 500 - 2x10" HH VS-1x15" Hartke A100 That's actually obscene and these are only the ones I either remembered or had photographs of. Some of these never saw a gig as I had changed my mind before I got round to gigging them.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1481646290' post='3194003'] I'd be interested if they made a signature version of the one he's actually using now, with a B string too. [/quote] I did think that it was odd that they released the bass Flea uses only in the studio as the signature rather than the one he actually uses live since most of the people buying them will be using them live I would have thought? Then again, the bass Flea uses live was probably only made due to the signature model so that the paying public could see him using something that resembled the signature than something by another manufacturer

Fantastic. Thanks for all of the suggestions. That gives me a lot to get going with

I once heard his Warwick Thumb fretless tone described as the Jack Bruce fart

I decided at the end of last year to get back into playing a fretless so I have one on the way that will be with me on Wednesday. [size=4]I want to learn to play it properly rather than approach it like a fretted bass. I'm thinking more Tony Franklin and Jaz Lochrie kind of playing.[/size] I'm familiar with Paul Rodgers stuff which is chock full of fretless bass but I'd like to listen to as much as I can so I can pick up bits that might come in useful. I'm really not into the Jaco style of fretless which Youtube is full of although I acknowledge that there may be bits of it I can use, I just can't listen to it for more than a couple of seconds. So I'd appreciate if anyone who's into what I'm looking for can steer me in the direction of more rock oriented bass playing and if there are any useful Youtube instructional videos as I've been searching all night and can't really find what I am looking for. Tony Franklin's videos demonstrate the various techniques but he doesn't explain how to do them.

Never thought about at the end of a gig but I'm really OCD about having clean hands during the gig so won't let anyone shake my hand. I do explain why though so as not to appear antisocial. At the end of a gig I'm always straight to the toilet anyway so would wash my hands before and after. One of the down sides of drinking a lot of water during a gig and getting older [size=4] [/size]

I think towards the end the '51 was about £900 brand new but originally much less. Like I said, I picked up a secondhand one for about a third of what they are selling for now but they were still being made at the time

My 4003 midnite blue had paint that was so soft that it ran underneath the top clear coat and the binding turned pale blue

I've always used whatever was needed in the band whether it had 4, 5, 6, 8 or 12 strings. At the moment I only need a 4. I have 4 songs that require low D and 2 that require a low B so I didn't see the point of playing a 5 all night plus I don't have time to change basses so the HIpshot double stop was the answer

The Lollar pickup is a killer. Incredible and sounds exactly what I'd expect a single coil precision to sound like. I had one in my Warmoth '54 If you're going to get one then do it now as the prices have been creeping up. I bought my 2 tone one from an Ebay seller in Japan for £260 delivered about 7 or 8 years ago before they were discontinued and therefore desirable. I've never found anything that sounds anything like it plus they are really, really cool basses

Some people like the initial zing you get from new strings that fades relatively quickly so change more often, hence the need for cheaper strings. Although my strings are cheap they're not cheap if that makes sense? I've used D'addario strings for years and the EXLs are the smoothest, longest lasting roundwounds I've found and I've tried literally everything over the years.

There have been too many to mention this year but by far the most upsetting have been Lemmy this time last year and Rick Parfitt today. The man was a machine. Anyone who can play strings as heavy as the ones he used and mainly downstrokes on the plectrum is awesome to begin with. As soon as I heard today, I posted a video of Big Fat Mama on Facebook which is one of my favourites. Saw Quo a few days ago and although the guy who replaced Rick was pretty good, he wasn't Rick and even Rhino had to step up to take care of Rick's vocals

The problem is that Flea himself said that the Jazz was great for recording but didn't cut through enough for live work - I'm guessing he is using a Jazz shaped bass with a Stingray pickup due to the deal with Fender instead of the Modulus. That's why I don't see the point in the actual signature bass unless you're using it for recording or don't want to sound like Flea live. If any of us want to sound like Flea or at least use what he is using currently live then we're going to need the one with the musicman pickup in it. I'd certainly like one of those

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1481101074' post='3189634'] You might look like a tool throwing shapes while playing the bass, but I look f***ing awesome! ;-) [/quote] I'm with BRX on this one. On the run of Christmas party nights this year, who is the only member of the band to have had pictures taken with various attractive ladies? That'd be me then [size=4] [/size]

Bax shop are doing free shipping this week on orders over £75. I've just bought 4 packs of the twin pack D'addario EXL165 for £87.20 which works out at £10.90 per pack so that's me sorted for strings for next year.

I'd stick to the gauge I always used for E A D & G and use a 30 for the C - a 25 always felt too thin and shrill to me Strings direct do single strings for Rotosound, D'addario, Elixir, Elites & DR so buy a regular set and then add in your choice of C or you could even make your own custom set entirely of singles. My personal favourite set would be Chromes - 32, 45, 60, 80, 110. That way you could still drop the E as well if needed

[quote name='Treb' timestamp='1481585369' post='3193567'] What kind of RW strings? Mine is strung with MM's default Slinky's ATM. Planning on trying DR Fat Beams on it. [/quote] I did have a set of Rotosound Billy Sheehan strings as it has a heavier E which is handy when detuning but I got 4 gigs out of them before they went completely dead so I've gone back to my favourites which are D'Addario EXL165

Towards the end of last year I had an older Stingray 5 with the ceramic pickup that I found to be a bit too heavy for long function gigs so I decided to go for a Sterling which, although not identical, is pretty similar sounding to the Stingray 5 that I had. Side by side the Sterling is lighter than a [size=4]stingray 4, the neck is nice and slim which makes it easier to play, for me at least. To make it even better for me I changed the tuners to ultralights and fitted a Hipshot extender with the double stop lever so I can go down to low B on the E string.[/size] [size=4]I bought mine from GAK without trying it and am still loving it. GAK have a [url="https://www.gak.co.uk/en/music-man-sterling-natural-rosewood/25845"]natural one in stock now[/url] at a really low price compared to normal[/size] [size=4]I had Chromes on mine until recently but was missing the growl so changed back to rounds.[/size]

I'm the band eye candy apparently. Especially after last night Apart from that I also play the bass, showboat occasionally and generally have a good time

I used Chromes on my Yamaha BB1025 and the B was clear as a bell all the way up the fretboard

Chris (Thornybank) had one of these monster cabs - in fact I'm sure he had two but the second one had been cut down at some point in the past. It was something like 18", 15", 2x10" - might even have been a 2 x 15" - it was a long time ago I saw it

Since I've gone back to roundwounds I'm also interested in cheap strings that I can change often. The Billy Sheehan set I have on my bass are almost dead after 4 gigs. I've looked at the Thomann ones and they look suspiciously like the Alice branded strings on Ebay that double as cheese wire