Mog

Yep the DR's are a fine string. Not a bright as I like but the do have more life than most IME. You could give Warwick Black Label a try also, very nice string. I've compromised lately and switched from Prosteels to nickle D'Addario's not as bright but theres an extra 3-4 hours in them. As Lozz196 said a wipe with Fast Fret can do wonders. I use surgical swabs on my strings after a show to get rid of grime/sweat/human tissue.

[quote name='neepheid' post='1080887' date='Jan 7 2011, 11:44 AM']Necks are too thin! Boo![/quote] Aren't all Squire necks built to the same specs? ie. Modern C shaped and some other C shape?

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1080681' date='Jan 7 2011, 01:59 AM']There's still a few around £300 in the UK, if they creep down to around £200 when the new ones arrive then i might grab one, esp a fretless From what i recall on my old German Streamer Standard the one piece bridge is the same. In fact the entire bass is identical apart from neck/fingerboard wood although my German one didn't have the strat style jack socket that the RB did[/quote] Fine bass the old Streamer Standard. Wenge board, brass alloy frets, Ovangkol neck, Carolina body.....I could go on. Very tasty, in fact I used my Standard more often than the Lx and I ended up selling the 'higher spec' version! Its almost like they never existed if you go searching around the Warwick site.

Depends on how you define dead. Mine are usually dead after 4-5 shows. If the 'zing' aint there unplugged they're dead to me. Others would consider that they would only be broken in at that point.

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1080489' date='Jan 6 2011, 09:42 PM']I don't think Warwick will allow such an oversight RE the neck, they're usually pretty good with that sort of thing. Also i think the reason the old Rockbasses were being sold on the cheap was because Thomann will have had loads of stock and these new (ie close to German spec with 2 piece bridge, nice finishes and "W" logo) Rockbasses were announced a year ago as the 2010 range. [b]I think the quality on these new ones is supposed to be a cut above the old range, i might scout for a bargain on the older RB Fortress though - the honey-coloured one was really nice. Those cheesy logos and basic bridges get on my nerves though![/b] If they can put these out at around £300 they'll be a steal[/quote] No sign of them now. [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?xsid=3d53ed9f5b64a0c93bf6226e10b6acb4&sw=&gk=gieb&bn=WARWICK&x=8&y=11"]Thomann Warwick list[/url] Dont really mind the single piece bridge on the Warwicks if they're the same as the ones on the old German made 'Standards' Edit:couple of lefties listed on the irish site and thats it.

Burning Tree - Burning Tree. Great band, unfortunately they only recorded 1 album. Easily the best power trio of the last 25 years.

Dunno bout that humbucker. Looks kinda skimpy. The sunburst special could do with the block inlays IMO. PaulE, I wouldn't worry about quality when it comes to squire. Everything above the Affinity range is uber reliable.

[quote name='Skol303' post='1080187' date='Jan 6 2011, 05:46 PM']^ Cheers Mog, that's good advice... those DiMarzio pickups look right up my street I'm amazed that you used to own a LX90B! There's not much about them on Google and I've yet to meet anyone else who even knows what the hell I'm talking about when I mention it. Not a bad little bass at all - I've just converted mine to fretless and it plays very nicely. PS: off topic... but just noticed that the word "sw***y" (as in "showy" or expensive) was automatically moderated in my original post. Reminds me of the following UK place-names, which have been known to cause problems: Penistone (the noise made by one's private parts??) Clitheroe (a hero of women everywhere...!) [/quote] Still own and still use it lad. Great little bass, rock solid. Price tags/Brands count for nothing IMO. Hohner did some fine instruments over the years.

Ah, the lx90b, my first bass (dunno if it was a Rockwood though, I thinks that badge came in a little after I got mine) . Shipped with decent pups and outdid MIM P basses in reviews at the time. Pups can make a hugh difference, particularly cheap £10 ones when compared to something up at the £50-£70 end. I'd suggest getting a DiMarzio pre-wired scratch plate. Great sounding pups.

So out of interest what would it cost to manufacture a high quality valve amp with basic but usable functionality? Considering its unlikely to be made in China or India? Or perhaps more importantly to the OP what would you be willing to pay?

Wondering about the neck though, that thing is so thin it will warp/bow in no time. For within the same price bracket I'd almost suggest a Squire Active Jazz ahead of the Rockbass. Thomann were selling off the Fortress Rockbass for under €300 last year. Must have been a bargin price in ££.

Something around 50 watts with a decent parametric eq section. No bell/whistles. If its low powered theres no reason for 2ohm stability. Liking the KT88 idea but why not have it switchable anyway. (Edit: Available for beta testing )

What about Kustom and Drive. Seem to be all over the place over here. Edit: Are Torque amps still around? Always did a solid amp did Torque.

I've had the same problems on [u]ALL[/u] of my basses. I've always assumed it was because of the extremely low action I use. All you can do apart from clamping the neck is use the truss rod but this only goes so far. The best way I can describe it is to imagine you have a thin length of wood between your thumb and index finger, start to apply pressure at bot ends and the piece of wood will bow in the centre. I've no idea why a low action would cause it to bow that quickly though. Maybe one of the luthiers around here will have an answer.

Mike Inez.

Fairly sure these are the ones my brother put into a bass he built a few years back. He originally had Barts in it but they sounded a little muddy. Lots of top end. Great pup for the ££.

A safe bet would be SWR. Secondhand Glockenklang cabs would be worth a look also.

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=337"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=337[/url] Pretty much everything is in here.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1069183' date='Dec 25 2010, 10:21 AM']To be fair though,I know that if someone came upto me and said "That was cool,can I have a go?",I'd probably say no. It's not about copping an attitude,but right after I've finished playing,I don't feel like teaching or letting someone I don't know play my bass.[/quote] How about when you unplug your bass, put it on the rack/stand and go sort out your leads or fx board, only to turn around to see some rat arsed fool 'playing' your bass. And why cant these people seem to grasp the concept of a strap? You know the pose. Half kneeling, half squatting, ALL bastard. Bass perched on their knee at some god-awful angle. One slip on a shiney tracksuit away from a new neck. Last guy who tried that with my Streamer was a very sorry buck.

Gear4Music have been spamming me all week. Sale started yesterday (24th) Cant wait to see GAK's sale prices. Usually the cheapest around when I go looking for gear.

New bass and head and maybe a new cab. Have most of the gear. Thinking bout the following as live rig. Fender 60's Jazz-> Crybaby-> Mxr M80-> LH-500 -> Ampeg SVT410 (or Hydrive if the funds allow). Nice and simple.

Man the merch stall or watch the ladies. I dont mind not watching a band when I can hear just fine.

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1066381' date='Dec 22 2010, 03:49 AM']Here I was, up to my eyeballs in work, working through the night to meet delivery dates, knackered, got man-flu and then I read this post. Perked me up no end it did![/quote] Yes mostly my fault I'm afraid. Myself and Jake are talking the matter over via PM and I've no problem with expressing my reasons for my perhaps petulent retort but I'll leave it up to Jake to decide whether to make public the PM I've sent to him stating that reason. As I said I have no problem either way. I've no idea why a third party entered the fray but thats not something which is in my control and I kept out of the matter. (perhaps my best move of the whole thread ) Again to the OP apologies for the hi-jack. As lee650 said its probably best to listen to the members who are currently in the same situation as you are aiming for.

[quote name='Doddy' post='1066015' date='Dec 21 2010, 06:44 PM']Just out of interest,I've never known anyone get a non teaching gig because of qualifications. You get the gigs if you can nail the job and have a good attitude. No one cares if you studied at uni or whatever.[/quote] Unfortunately Doddy thats the way its gone. Granted qualifications alone wont get the job, but then again I never said it would. The last time I met with Bruno Giuranno and Michael Wolf for lunch they were preping masters graduates before auditions for the National Chamber Orchestra. Thats the mimimum thats expected nowadays apparently.

[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='1065890' date='Dec 21 2010, 04:37 PM']Right, He's not said he wants to go straight in there and do the job that the seasoned pro's are doing. He's asking how to get there. The nonsense i was referring to was[b], "Forget about it for a year or two, Focus on getting laid more., Focus on beer more. & still dont have any type of University/collage qualifications that will actually get you into the situation you want to be in."[/b] 1. Telling him to forget it is stupid advice, if he wants to do it, let him, who are you to tell him to do otherwise. 2. Telling him to concentrate on booze & getting laid. He's going to do that in his own time, whilst studying what he wants to study. it's part of growing up. 3. No qualification is going to get him where he wants to be. Now, OP Alot of the replies here are talking about just a general gigging bassist, I'm guessing you want to be more than that, you want to be a [i]working[/i] bassist. It's going to be a lot of hard work & luck. But, you make your own luck. [b]I'm done with this thread, theres to many pub bassists that think they know everything.[/b][/quote] 1 As I said earlier I never said stop playing altogether. 2 If you cant spot light hearted humour then maybe you should be getting laid and having a pint or two. 3 The last I heard not one top orchestra, productions company etc is going to even look at someone who turns up without 3rd level training. Those days are long gone. No one has yet stated that they know everything, and if you would like a copy of my cv to be sent to your inbox this particular pub player would be more than happy to start a cock measuring contest. I'd gladly read yours if you care to send it on, IF you are not too busy working that is. To the OP sorry about the turn this has taken, mostly my fault, but I'll stick to my statements earlier. Theres not a whole lot you can do a 15. Its just the way the world works. Take your time and you'll enjoy it all the more. Stout yes, gingers no. Jesus you sound more Irish than me!