Jackroadkill

I use two basses anyway, one tuned to E and the other tuned to Eb. We have about five songs that are in the latter tuning in our set so we play them one after the other, and then change instruments to return to standard tuning. Whichever bass I'm not using at any given point becomes a de facto spare. They're both Player Series Precisions with the same pickup, wiring loom and strings, so they sound pretty similar to my ears, and as mentioned above by @neepheid, no punters have ever mentioned any difference in sound regardless of which I use.

My uncle "played" the violin in that project. On the cover of the LP he's on the left at the front.

Now that's a review!!

I used to do this back in my roadie days and it was effective because it made sure the band, the gear and the audience were safe and that everyone could have a good time.

It sounds like you could do with a roadie out front on wilder nights.

That looks grand - glad it turned out well.

I'd play that. Who gives a crap if it's already had a life?

Is this the George Michael equivalent of being Rickrolled?

Not a big fan of Christmas songs but this is cool!

Low hanging fruit perhaps, but... Oasis?

That's very true, and making the leap can take a surprising amount of courage. Do what's right for you when it's right for you, and look after your head afterwards.

I did the same; many attempts to get a band together, many false starts. I gave up completely and didn't touch an instrument for a few years. I drifted back to playing guitar after a friend persuaded me to jam, but that didn't go anywhere particularly (although we wrote some great songs and had lots of fun playing them), and when it was obvious that it wasn't going to be a long term thing I had a word with myself and thought: what exactly do I want from playing music? It turned out that fame, fast cars and success wasn't what I wanted at all - I just wanted to have fun with my friends, so I did what I thought I'd never do, and formed a covers band at the age of 43, moving to bass as I did so. I've never enjoyed playing as much as I am now. Perhaps tossing it all in is what you need to do, I don't know. What I do know is that until I changed what wasn't working, I was in that endless cycle of starting bands and them slipping through my fingers until it was no fun.

It sounds like it's time for yourself and the singer to branch out on your own and find some more inspiring musicians to play with. I think that's what I'd be doing if I found myself in that position.

It seems we have some similarities; it was getting my head sorted that led me to pick up the bass and get a band together with my friends, so I'm just starting too. I'm very glad to know that the bass is working for you.

Not cheap but he'll never need another tuner. These work brilliantly, are fully programmable and are easy to see on a dark stage.

I saw Ministry at The Big Day Out at the Bowl in 1999 and weirdly Paul Barker was playing what looked like an Aria bowlback acoustic bass. It's annoyed me ever since.

Surely this is all just about what works for the individual. There are no rules about what age you can or can't gig to.

Thanks, Loz, that's great. A wide range of sounds is ideal. I'll check one out.

If you don't mind me asking, how are you finding the chorus, and what sort is it (as in, thick, wide etc)? I need a chorus but haven't got a clue which one I want.

I bought one for those occasions when I might not get to use an amp and I love it. Great sounds, and very easy to use.

Not bought much gear this year, but T bought this from @dmc79, and it's a corker: I also bought a 500w 2x10 Ampeg Portaflex, which whilst not as good as my big Eden is much more portable and engineer friendly. I guess that makes it my worst purchase, but only because the bass is so good.

The lure of the bitsa has reared its ugly head again. The last time this happened I built a Telecaster, and this time it has to be a bass. I'm going to do this a bit at a time, as and when money and time allow. I know it's cheaper to buy a complete bass but I enjoy the process and I can get exactly what I want this way. I went to Ebay and sourced a Jazz body for the princely sum of twenty quid and a Precision neck: I'm not sure what the body's parentage is, although it may be a Squier. The neck's from a Classic Vibe. Neither are that posh, let's put it that way. Someone's been at the frets with a file in order to smooth the ends, and hasn't done an amazing job. There are a few things to do in order to bring things up to scratch, let's put it that way, but nothing too dramatic. Right, the first job was to strip the body. Immediately it became apparent that something strange was afoot: I stripped the top coat off with gentle heat to find that the whole thing was covered in some sort of epoxy. Not totally unexpected, as this was similar on the Telecaster mentioned above. What was unexpected was the resin that had been used to fill gaps, presumably during the, ahem, lamination process. Still, I only burned this in two places... I can solve this with some judicious sanding and filling a little further down the line. There was also black goop under the dark parts of the burst, so I sloshed some standard thinners around and got rid. It's a good job I wasn't planning another sunburst or a natural finish, isn't it? I was planning a nitro CAR paint job, but I'll go for CAR in poly now, seeing as the epoxy is staying put. To this end there'll be a white primer, followed by the silver base-coat, transparent red colour coats and gloss top-coats. I'm intending to paint it when the weather is warmer, so don't hold your breath for an update on that front too soon. Plans are: Chrome hardwear A mint or parchment scratchplate Alnico pickups Decent pots and caps. Cheers, JRK

A lot of cool basslines to choose from with this band, but I think this might be a favourite.

The funny thing about that is that I did! I mean, to be fair, my sh!tlist does allow me lots of different Fender P and J options. Oh, talking of which - I hate PJ pickup combinations!

Soapbars Block markers Bound necks** Black hardware*+ Cheap tort* Active circuitry*+ Five strings*+ Headless basses Sunbursts (although this is okay on guitars for some reason)** Short scales (although I really want to like them) Pointy / melty / just plain stupid body shapes*+ Figured woods Wax / oil finishes Mirror scratchplates Thin necks*+ Narrow necks* Jumbo frets*+ Angled pickups Jazz Basses with Strat knobs* Jazz Basses with one-piece scratchplates Basswood bodies** Paulownia bodies Plywood bodies* Tidepool / LBP bodies** Pau ferro fretboards Laurel fretboards Volutes (just use a bloody scarff joint!) Barrel jack sockets*+ Skinny wee tuning machines*+ '70s style Fender Logos and block lettering Brass nuts Satin finishes on Fender basses Curved-section bodies I think that's probably enough to be going on with. *=I have owned basses with these features **= I have owned guitars with these features *+= I owned one bass with all of these features I am the most anorakky (is that a word?), sad, pedantic, lonliest bass player in the world and I claim my five pounds.