Conan

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1333032976' post='1596523'] Not Rotosound! [/quote] That's not very helpful! Can you be a bit more specific?

There is no "best" configuration for any style of music. Just what you like the sound of and can afford.

Lovely!! That's the best bassline I've heard for ages. Perfect summer driving tunage

I have a no-name J copy which I believe was made in China. It plays great!! Pretty much on par with my Jap-crafted Geddy Lee but with a much fatter neck of course. Now that it has decent pickups in it sounds great too. The original ones were very high output but microphonic and clanky. A real gem of a bass that I paid £100 for!

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1333016040' post='1596133'] The only problem is our music is maybe a tad heavy to go advertising in schools. Might not go down so great [/quote] Have you seen A-level art students?

DRs. Newtone are pretty good too for about a tenner a set less, but don't seem to last as long. You can buy DRs in bulk from the States - but if you get hit for import taxes the savings aren't all that great. To my ears, the DRs (and especially the fatbeams) seem to have more midrange. They feel good to my fingers too, smoother than the Newtones and MUCH smoother than rotos. D'Addarios are nice too and I used Elites for years. Three is plenty of choice. Try [url="http://www.stringbusters.com/"]stringbusters[/url] or [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/"]stringsdirect[/url]... Expect lots of different answers!

One idea my wife used when she was working for a conservation charity was to approach a local school/college and set a competition, with prizes, for the students to produce artwork. Obviously they had to sign over any copyright, and the winners received various items of merchandise (do you have T-shirts, CDs and such-like to use as prizes?). The students also get the kudos of being a prize-winning artist while still at school/college - which can help them with applications to jobs, uni etc. Win-win situation!

I recently bought Stuart's Geddy Lee jazz bass. Communications were very good and the bass was very well packaged. No problems at all.... although don't let him anywhere near a soldering iron! Highly recommended.

Find a local and poor (shouldn't be difficult) art student!! Even at A-level, there are some genuinely talented people. Very cheap too...

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1332944882' post='1595259'] Cue drummer joke........ How do you know when there's a drummer at your front door? The knocking speeds up and slows down...... and speeds up! [/quote] And he doesn't know when to come in! Baddum-ching!

Most drummers I know should be [b][i]doing[/i][/b] time...

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1332879647' post='1594458'] There are quite a few well know members that have dissapeared within the last year.[/quote] haven't seen or heard much from Cetera or BottomEndian for a while either...

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1332800926' post='1593457'] As I remember it he had a rather shocking close personal tragedy, about which he spoke briefly on here. I hope things are improving for him, he is one of the good guys!! [/quote] Yes. It was bloody terrible. Hope that he and his nearest and dearest are OK.

Not that I've used him myself.... but he has worked for the likes of Fish, Marillion, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest... [url="http://www.the-masque.com/mainpage.html"]http://www.the-masque.com/mainpage.html[/url]

James bought a set of strings from me and paid within nanoseconds! A smooth and hassle-free deal from start to finish. Cheers man!

[quote name='fatboyslimfast' timestamp='1332767409' post='1592742'] I'd say that was a little pricy for an affinity - they are good basses, but secondhand I'd be looking for no more than £100 or so - I paid £80 for mine. They are only £160 new. Apparantly the affinities can be variable in quality, but mine has been fine, so definitely one to check out in person, or from someone on here with decent feedback. [/quote] Yeah. I bought mine on here for £65 used! New strings, a new custom-made scratchplate and a pickup upgrade and it was a very decent bass indeed! Indeed, I only sold it as I had too many basses (and I prefer Jazzes). Even with the upgrades it was only £125.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1332851917' post='1593918'] After using DR for nigh on 20 years, I have binned them for Newtone. I feel Newtone are now making strings that DR used to. [/quote] Just tried a set of Newtone Diamonds on my Geddy. They're OK - especially for the price, but I prefer the DR MM fatbeams if I'm honest. Are they a-tenner-a-set better? Dunno. Time will tell!

[quote name='pburrows' timestamp='1332847725' post='1593820'] Seymour Duncan SPB-1 Lindy Fralin DiMarzio There is quite a large price difference [/quote] I'm not convinced that you always get what you pay for. All of the above-mentioned manufacturers are pretty pricey. I put a brand new set of [url="http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-PB-Pro-PLUS-OVERWOUND-Alnico-P-Bass-style-VERY-hot_p_334.html"]these[/url] in my Squier P and the difference was amazing! You can't go far wrong at that price. Look in the for sale threads on here too - there are plenty of used pickups being sold by people who are on the same tone journey that you are about to embark upon!

[quote name='dan670844' timestamp='1332800590' post='1593452'] Well those cabs do! Maybe twenty years out of date but it works.... [/quote] Depends how they are wired up? If they have some sort of internal crossover feeding only the lower frequencies to the fifteen then yes, I would agree.

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1332764142' post='1592662'] Sell the Badass (which contrary to popular bass folklore, adds next to nothing to the tone) and upgrade your pups with the proceeds. [/quote] Sounds like good advice to me!!

Personally I have to gripe with Ashdown, but it would certainly be a good idea to try your bass through a different set-up before selling it on. Where are you located? I'm fairly sure you will be close to at least one Basschatter who would be happy to let you try their amplification. If you are anywhere near Newcastle you can try mine! I would also try some different pickups. You don't say what you have, only that they are "upgraded". The pickups are a huge part of the sound, (so are the strings BTW!!) so try another one and it might give you the tone you crave (whatever that is, as you also don't say!). Second-hand pickups go for great prices on here and if they are not to your taste you can usually sell them on for pretty much what you paid for them. Be careful wiring them in yourself though - it's not always as easy as some would believe!

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1332508831' post='1589342'] 70s spacing [/quote] Actually, I was thinking about this. The bridge pickup is certainly closer to the neck pickup than it would be on a 60s spacing, but due to the extra length of the Badass, the bridge pickup is actually quite close to the bridge itself... More like a 60s spacing in fact! Which factor is more important, and would have more influence on the sound? Hmmmm....