?What gear would take me up to the...

[Guest]

Well MickyK,  

You need a.. 7 3/4 string with a body made from The One True Cross, a fretboard of pure Sonicperfectionwood, diamond strings with a wiring loom & pickups designed by Einstein with hardware made from metal melted down from the casing of the Manhattan Project atomic bomb. And then blessed by The Pope. 

It's the only way,  Everyone knows this 😀 lol 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[paul_c2]

Just to throw a spanner in the works......do bassists need a (powerful) amp at all, any more? I'd have thought a modern sensible approach is to keep volume levels on stage down to a sensible level (for many reasons, including hearing loss) and let the PA do the grunt work for FOH. We bassists have an advantage that this can be achieved with about £20 for a DI box; where a guitarist would need to have their amp mic'd up; and a drummer would need at least 4 mics to capture their sounds properly.

[tonyquipment]

Buy a looper? Some new fx? 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, paul_c2 said:

Just to throw a spanner in the works......do bassists need a (powerful) amp at all, any more? I'd have thought a modern sensible approach is to keep volume levels on stage down to a sensible level (for many reasons, including hearing loss) and let the PA do the grunt work for FOH. We bassists have an advantage that this can be achieved with about £20 for a DI box; where a guitarist would need to have their amp mic'd up; and a drummer would need at least 4 mics to capture their sounds properly.

Depends on the gig and the quality of the PA surely? Not all PA speakers can handle the low end well and the ones that do are relatively heavy (well certainly compared to my amp and cab, in my experience).

And on a less serious note...

1 hour ago, Tobe said:

Well MickyK,  

You need a.. 7 3/4 string with a body made from The One True Cross, a fretboard of pure Sonicperfectionwood, diamond strings with a wiring loom & pickups designed by Einstein with hardware made from metal melted down from the casing of the Manhattan Project atomic bomb. And then blessed by The Pope. 

It's the only way,  Everyone knows this 😀 lol 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'm not sure the papal blessing is entirely necessary, but the rest obviously makes good sense 😁

Edited December 16, 2018 by Al Krow

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

I'm not sure the papal blessing is entirely necessary, but the rest obviously makes good sense.

I found the blessing helped with 'Dead spots'.  YMMV 😁

[discreet]

12 minutes ago, Tobe said:

I found the blessing helped with 'Dead spots'.

Or 'Lazarus points' as they're sometimes known.

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, discreet said:

Or 'Lazarus points' as they're sometimes known.

I have a 'Lazarus effect' on my pedal board.  It really brings my sound back to life!  😁 

[mcnach]

On 15/12/2018 at 22:49, Mickyk said:

Next Level.In peoples opinions what would need to acquire to take me up to the next level of being able to hold my own in a band. I am currently in a band of sorts which does rock n roll covers but i am starting to get boarded  with it slightly so i may decide to branch out a little but i don't think my gear is good enough to be honest..Here's what i currently own  and play...

 

1/Yamaha BB424X .2/Ibanez sr500. 3/Ashdown 100 amp combi. Basically this is all i use at the moment ,but i feel i need to upgrade.

So what should i be looking to buy to take me up a notch.

I have a budget of 600 squid at my disposal so help me out.......

 

 

What you are playing seems just fine to me. More than fine. Perhaps you will find that a 100W combo ends up being short... but in most cases you're only likely to need a stage monitor, which it could probably do just fine.

I'd save the £600, keep them safe, and... play, practice, and find a band, find two bands (you can be in more than one band, it's allowed  ) and then if/when you find there's a particular bit of gear you need, you already have some money stashed away for it. Maybe get a few lessons to open up new avenues for you and help you improve...

Really, I would but nothing at this point. 

 

 

[mcnach]

2 hours ago, paul_c2 said:

Just to throw a spanner in the works......do bassists need a (powerful) amp at all, any more? I'd have thought a modern sensible approach is to keep volume levels on stage down to a sensible level (for many reasons, including hearing loss) and let the PA do the grunt work for FOH. We bassists have an advantage that this can be achieved with about £20 for a DI box; where a guitarist would need to have their amp mic'd up; and a drummer would need at least 4 mics to capture their sounds properly.

 

You're right assuming there are decent monitors onstage for bass, which is not always the case for many of the bands we are in here.

Having some kind of amplification able to serve as stage monitor is maybe not absolutely necessary, but almost.

[FinnDave]

Nothing wrong with a 500 series Ibanez, I have Fenders, etc, and until last week an Alembic, but my SR506 (6 string version of your bass) has been my most often gigged bass in the last few months.

I've used Ashdown gear for years, it's good stuff, and easy to operate. If you really feel the need to upgrade something, I'd go for a bigger combo, plenty of ABM 500 combos around for well under your budget, but better suited to strong backs as they aren't light. Good sound quality and plenty of volume, though. 

I've been playing for over 40 years and have never bothered with any effects.