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Of the 3 basses I own I would hesitate to use my favourite one on a pub gig. Why? Because like a child and some Lego I'm embarrassingly attached to it. One day I'll grow up and get over it 😂

Yes - My EBMM USA Sterling 4HH is my do everything bass at the moment. I do have others that have, in the past, also been my do everything bass. It goes to all my gigs where ever they are. It gets checked in as hold luggage on crappy airlines. It gets left unattended at venues for hours while we're off doing other things. They don't make them anymore and they seem very rare on the secondhand market, particularly with matching headstock. It is insured. Luckily I haven't needed to test that insurance yet.

Thanks for the advice, I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s experienced something like this. I’ve just tried swapping around the outputs and unfortunately it hasn’t helped. I’ve ordered a new power cable for the HX Stomp, to see if that helps. If not I’ll have a look at the Joyo. Thanks!

Looks great Daryl. Oddly enough i don't see you working there at the back of the van or were you getting the beers in. ? 😂🍺🍺 Dave

£250 you say? What a steal!

As it's my only bass, that would be a yes.

Sounds crazy. Works very well. I never persisted purely because the hassle of using them outweighs the vanity of the easier glasses option.

My fave Precision doesn`t go outside my flat. It`s by far from irreplaceable as an item as it`s a regular US Standard Precision but it has too much sentimental value for me to risk taking it to areas where it could be half-inched. I use it far more than any of my other basses as it`s my home use bass so not like it`s a case-queen.

I found the Stomp could be a little sensitive to being run off the same power supply as other pedals, even if it's getting the correct supply. I use a CIOKS Sol with their own recommended Stomp cables and I found if there was another power-hungry pedal off the output next to it, it didn't like it (even though they're supposed to be isolated). Swapped the outputs around a couple of times and suddenly it was fine, so might be worth trying that? Or you could try an pedal noise isolator like the Joyo ZGP and see if that helps? https://www.joyoaudio.co.uk/joyo-zgp-guitar-effect-pedal-filter-isolated-output-power

It's been three years since I left the Smoke. I guess the Gallery has changed since. They used to have a good selection. Whilst BF are undoubtedly excellent cabs, they do tend to be an automatic recommendation, when in reality, they're far from being the only option. Stevie on here offers the LFSys designs, which I like a lot. I also play in a soul band and use PJB cabs (with an AG700 rather than a TH head). They work very well for me, with a nice blend of warmth and clarity. The downside is that they're a bit inefficient and you need several to make a lot of noise.

Haha...the very same question (word for word) originally appeared over two years ago in another thread. Victory dance bassline? - General Discussion - Basschat

I gig all my basses, regardless of how much they cost. Instruments which don't get gigged get sold.

Congratulations on your new bass! My own Stentor took me from beginner to professional, and before that it did the same for another UK jazz bassist. I highly recommend some lessons with a double bass teacher, to get your left hand technique going. As someone who has had several playing related injuries over the years, I cannot recommend enough spending some time and effort on learning the basics of established technique. Other avenues exist, but good technique is effective, safe and speeds up learning in my personal experience. Enjoy the journey!

I do bring my best (a Status Graphite S2 Classic - which is no longer in production and difficult to replace, especially as it is a rare lefty). It is a solid and dependable workhorse and out of all my basses it does best what I need it to do in the band I'm currently with (doom metal in the very low tuning of A). I didn't purchase it new and didn't pay a huge sum for it (traded a Stingray 5 + 100 GBP). I might have been more hesitant if I had paid the 4000GBP+ new price for it. It's still not nearly Fodera or Alembic money, but I couldn't see myself A: spend that much on a bass and B: feel comfortable taking it out of the house.

Have you tried just playing along to it..? It's not hard, just two chords, and it's all about the salsa 'swing' and rhythm, which is best 'felt' rather than written out. An intro (optional...), a first riff then halfway through a second riff, and that's it. On the video, you can see where on the neck the fellow is playing, so just listen to the notes around there and fit them in. Bloomin' good exercise in 'ear-wigging'; highly beneficial. Dancing on the spot optional, but recommended. Try it..?

Hmmm...... I put a set of Elixirs on a Jazz bass I have. I was practising some slap (a very rare thing for me) and noticed that the G string was very dull sounding. As the action wasn't great I took the neck off and inserted a shim in the neck pocket. When I put everything back together the G string sounded fine. I'm not sure what changed, possible something to do with string tension over the nut?

I have the opposite problem with glasses. My long distance vision is ok, but everything close up is out of focus. For work I have "occupational" glasses which are for reading and computer screen use with the balance shifted towards computer screen use. I tried full varifocals and they were terrible for me for all the reasons described by others in this thread. For playing I have a Helix Floor which has a nice big display and scribble strips that I can read fine without glasses and I have a pair of gig glasses that I use when setting up and if I need to do anything to the computer that runs our drums mid-set. These are out of the way on the computer stand and I only need to wear use them during the set if something has gone wrong. Because my glasses are needed for near vision I can't really wear them when standing up and moving around because they make all objects more than 2m away out of focus and make me feel dizzy if I wear them while moving.

Welcome dude. Also Aberdeen bassist here. We’re a nice bunch. Mostly.

We normally try to strategically time our playing with food service so they don’t overlap, but sometimes its just impossible, especially if there’s stroppy kitchen / venue staff involved! Weddings are the worst for this, and it can often be best just to go with the flow. However, when our meter is running to finish by the agreed time / cost then it can be annoying. Goes with the territory I’m afraid!

It really depends on the bands and how dedicated the musicians who are in more than one band are. I think that covers bands can be more flexible as to who is on stage, original bands not so much. I've done originals bands with deps and it's never been as good as having the proper band member on stage. Those deps that had a couple of rehearsals weren't too bad even if the musical vibe wasn't quite there. Those who thought they could wing it with recordings of the songs we were going to play and some practice at home on their own came unstuck, sometimes quite spectacularly. Also not one of them could follow simple dress code of "wear black, no obvious band or brand logos, no trainers for guitarists". If you are a band with a definite image and stage presence, having someone on stage who obviously hasn't made the slightest effort looks totally crap and in retrospect it might have been better to cancel the gig. I have tried four times to be in more than one band and every time it has not been a success. Originals bands thrive on the last-minute important gig. If half the members aren't available because they are playing Dad rock covers at the Dog & Duck it's going to acrimonious. If members are in two originals bands there is always going to be jealously if one is doing better than the others. As an example the band I'm in currently weren't doing a lot of gigs when I joined. They were mostly writing and recording, so when the opportunity came up to join a much better known band (in the same genre) who had an album out, a publishing deal and some fairly high-profile gigs, I jumped at it. For a while it was possible to be in both bands, we had separate set rehearsal nights, and our gig schedules only overlapped when both bands were playing the same event. I had a strict rule that I wouldn't try and use my membership of one band as a direct means to get gigs for the other. However over the last 2-3 years it was obvious that fortunes of the two bands were shifting, and there were starting to be problems with my availability as my first band was getting more and better gigs. When the singer of the second decided to call it a day at the end of last year, I used it as an opportunity to tell the others that wouldn't be joining them in their next project as my other band was too busy for me to be able to dedicate sufficient time. It looks like this was the right decision. The band I'm still with are very much on the "up". We have on average a gig every other week until the end of the year and two gigs already booked for 2026. We're currently finishing off our album for release later this year. As far as I know the other band have done nothing in the last 6 months.