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Welcome Laura! 👍 I think Kiwi above got most of your questions covered. How's the bass playing going?

Welcome @Cjay9 First bass guitar...............that's a tricky one. We all have our favourites & preferred brands etc. First recommendation I would say is, go to all your local music shops & try out what they have to offer. Then you should get an idea on what feels best for you & what sound you like. Let me know how you go! 😎👍

Thela hun Ginjeet - King Crimson. 🫣

Welcome Joel! 😎

In other words take yer pick from many very different tones.... maybe try an old Trace Elliot Amp and a Status Bass ??

Welcome AJ!! 😎

Maybe he should check out Gwyneth Paltrow's Jade Egg 😄😄 She can definitely afford him !

Welcome Hugh! As soon as I read your comment about your first bass, a Maton, I thought, he's from Aussie. Then I saw you are. Cheers mate!

There was a divide between bass tone on British and American-made music. With UK artists it was brands like Wal, Jaydee and Status you were hearing regularly on records, and ubiquitous Trace Elliot amps and cabs for live rigs. In the States it was more Steinberger, Spector, Alembic and Fenders always had an enduring popularity with American players, and Gallien Krueger amps and still plenty of SVT's about. If you listen, there was huge variety within that modern '80's sound.

Jessie F Keeler?😮 JFK? Why did no one tell me that earlier? Well, that puts a very different complexion on things. Jessie F Keeler! If only I had known. My mistake then, apologies to all concerned.🙂. . I totally get your point a Rickenbacker's eccentric design and marketing philosophies. I'd love for JFK and/or Rickenbacker to explain the ergonomic advantages of this design. Then again, if they weren't a bit Kookie maybe the guitars and basses wouldn't have such a gloriously distinctive sound and look. Few things in this world are as beautiful as a Rickenbacker. I'd love to see Rickenbacker do a faithful reissue of the 4002 rather than (ironically enough) the short scale approximations I've seen. They could have my money for sure. I've seen some really sumptuous one-offs from their custom shop on the internet, too. Sooner or later I'm sure I'll end up pulling the trigger, despite the fact that I should have learnt by now that I can't play on a Rick. I wish I had got one when I first started and couldn't play on any other bass either, so it wouldn't have made any difference.

permission to add a certain mr tony levin to this list.

Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - More Jam

I concur with all of the above. My own design onboard pres have individual buffers for each PU. Swap active and passive in your comment to better reflect how I feel about the two topologies.

IMO rehearsals are not for learning songs, but getting the arrangements right and topping and tailing the songs. If you're paying for a studio the band has to turn up knowing the material. Play with guys who don't need to be told.

Going Underground - The Jam

Sums up 80s bass playing for me 😂 Oh, and some guy called Mark King

I have a Blackstar amplug, and with the gain up high it has a really heavy distortion that sounds great to me (in the right context) I haven't found an affordable distortion/overdrive that is comparable. It does seem to be heading for Darkglass territory but I don't want to spend that kind of money for maybe one or three songs. If anyone knows this sound and can suggest a pedal...

It helps to remember that there are no right or wrong answers here. Each to their own. I have both active and passive basses, and I enjoy playing all of them.

Bury the hatched. NMA

Well done Richard! I'm in as long as I get back in time to eat and then set up for my gig. Probably need to leave about 3pm to avoid stress

In order: Yes. Depends... is is a new material rehearsal or moshly a revision session with one or two new songs. If we can't get it right after 2 or 3 attempts it's "go home and learn it properly before the next time". What'sApp Not in any structured way.

Ooooo a streamer Stage 2. Is that the P-pickup one?!

Because it was a custom build made for a specific person (Jesse F. Keeler) who requested it that way and rick built it for him. He was happy for it and they made a few other ones for people. Then people requested a reissue, that is what this is. This is what some people wanted, and they will all sell just fine - it is the rickenbacker way!.

My passive basses are much easier to get a good tone than my active ones. It's like having to solve a puzzle where >90% of the settings are poor and you have to find something in the usable range, then tweak it to what you want.