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After much trying out and research, I’ve finally sorted out my small rig. It’s unbelievable that this little lot ( Aguilar AG 700 and a Barefaced One 10) can produce the sounds that it does in such a lightweight package. Rehearsal tomorrow night should be fun!

My Maruszczyk Jake was based on the specs of a Duck Dunn I had blocked and bound neck matching headstock I decided against a jazz pickup at the bass , this comes in at around 7.5 lbs , I've had several laklands Dj , Bob Glaub , and loved them however I now have 2 Jakes and they are at least the equal if not better than the laklands , i had the bass pictured below up for sale I have since come to my senses and removed it

I'm glad he's managed it saw the announcement today. Although, as dingwalls are already quirkily shaped seeing it in lefty REALLY sent my head spinning

No but I got him to stop gigging with a Les Paul which is almost as good!!

If you just want 30w in a bedroom, a Fender Rumble is brilliant and good value. the Roland series of Bass Cubes are awesome too.

I wouldn't be too happy if I had to spend a whole gig with my foot gaffer taped to a cymbal stand!

Update o'clock: Posted the pics on my fave MIJ FB group and after lots of (occasionally heated & fractious) discussion, it's been established that the serial number & neckplate style is a dead-on match for Tokai. This is from a 1980 JB-65N: This seems to be the standard format Tokai used on their replica-level Fender copies & it's interesting to find that they were presumably building slightly more modestly-specced off-brand instruments simultaneously. There aren't any other 100% match components as far as I can see, although the tuners (which I'd say have distinctively large backplates) are quite similar. Here's the link to the full listing: https://reverb.com/item/3703632-1980-tokai-jazz-sound-bass-very-rare-natural-finish-birdseye-maple-neck-custom-shop-quality so @steviedee, looks like you got a vintage Tokai for £75. Not jealous or anything...

Team work folks!! Following correspondence with Andy and the seller I managed to pick this up at the £525 price. Andy's agreed to pick it up tomorrow once he's agreed a time with the seller. Bit of a steal? So much for downsizing, eh..

If you have an audio interface, then you should be able to write a simple beat - or set up a loop - and record some bass to it within your first hour with any DAW (certainly using YouTube tutorials). If not, then you’re probably not using the right DAW for you. And you won’t discover that unless you demo a few and try. But yeah, it’s a cyclical discussion that comes back to Reaper because it’s the cheapest DAW for people to ‘dip their toes with’. I suppose I’m just more of a tart ‘cos I enjoyed playing the field before finding my sweetheart

Haha. It's clear that all 'real' upright players are going to vote for the real thing...I'm definitely going to be out voted here, but I'm sticking to my guns in saying that an EUB is a great (= convenient, not overly expensive) place to start for a 'real' electric bass player

Well I've just taken advantage of the 20% - thanks to the BC community for that! Ticket booked for Saturday 3rd - see you all there...

Provided you have an iPhone, Focusrite have designed a product for this exact purpose: https://itrack.focusrite.com/products/itrack-pocket https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Focusrite-iTrack-Pocket/13CV?origin=product-ads&campaign=PLA+Shop+-+GENERIC&adgroup=GENERIC&medium=vertical_search&network=google&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=51007d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=125996608879&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvrfSBRC2ARIsAFumcm-G6uIRReLLQpd2lBv2i6xjLPfGIYhfIwKkPZan5jjDG6_EbjUA-2IaAlywEALw_wcB The price has been dropped massively, too!

This one actually looks pretty good, but generally I think they're tasteless, tacky and a right pain in the bum. There, I've said it. An insert for the kick drum works OK though, there's nothing worse than pics of your band playing with some other band's name on the kick. That is, if you're on a multi-bill and there's just the one kit.

Phil bought a cab from me. All as it should be. Recommended

we use a couple of pull up banners for quick get in gigs and a proper printed fire certificated one, which is great for more established venues that require the proper paperwork the pull ups were £23 each and the full cert one was about £220 i think, the print quality on that one is superb, its just set up at our rehearsal place in the pic. overall i think they were both good purchases.

there is a new thread elsewhere on this site about the new Sire Marcus Miller V3 - the 4 string is priced at £238. That would be a stunning first bass for any player.

Cheers McNach that explains it and i get what you mean. Had a wee listen to some of your bands there. Nice rounded tone with URANG MATANG. Bands sound tight and looks like all having fun. Dave

One thing I did find with my last band, was that no one wanted to buy demo's, but they bought band merchandise. In fact, we made more from selling merchandise than anything else. Gigs didn't pay well (if at all), even low priced demo CD's didn't sell well (though we did shift quite a few at gigs). It is definitely worthwhile getting a batch of 100 t-shirts printed up to take to gigs, as well as a bunch of demo CD's.

Maybe a magnetic badge you can peel on and off like a fridge magnet... bonus being you could also put it on your fridge when not playing through your BF cab.

I believe Aguilar used the same power module in the TH500 that other manufacturers used in their 900 watt rated amps. It seems to me that Aguilar under rates their products.

Reaper is extremely capable as long as you get on with the workflow you'll be just fine. At these levels we're talking about a preference in how you work rather than quality IMHO (unless you move into ProTools HD territory which is a whole different realm)

If the room's looking a little empty then you should fill it with another few guitars!

I use 2 RCF Evox 8's with a 6 piece covers band. For your band, 1 will probably be fine as they have good sound dispersion and good feedback rejection so you might be set it up in such a way that you can hear it and use it as a monitor. A word of warning about in-ear monitoring. Unless you have a sound person controlling the FOH sound you can be blissfully unaware of how bad you sound to the audience because you have the perfect in-ear mix. Been there, got the tee-shirt etc etc N

Spot on. If you have up to £500 budget and like the 'one stop' solution of a quality Markbass combo then you could do far worse than a second hand Markbass121P or an 802. But there are a lot of great options out there. I personally would recommend going for a min 250W to give yourself enough headroom to jam with a guitarist and drummer and be comfortably heard.

I used some cheap short to medium bungee cords to hook ours with. The fact they stretch a little takes up any slack in the banner too.

8.5lbs is pretty light, and Skyline's aren't renowned for their light weight. *WARNING: WoT'S PREDICTABLE STANDARD RESPONSE ALERT* For the thick end of a grand you could pick up a nice light Maruszczyk Jake. Like this one: https://www.public-peace.de/bass-guitars/maruszczyk/jake/4-string/515-jake-4p-heavy-aged-classic140400

Not least when the band ask you where the rest of it is...

Who'd have thought the first Barefaced cab I'd see without the obligatory amp overhang either side would be the smallest cab they make!

Thanks for the welcome! I am indeed - an underrated classic!

Welcome mate, are you named after Tommy Saxondale? Brilliant series!!

agree 100%. It's taken me a couple of years before my musical ear came back after a 25 year lay off. I worked out a bassline for a young bassist and he and the rest of the community were AMAZED that I worked it out just by listening to it. They had no concept of it at all. TBH it was easy to work out, a Bruce Springsteen slow song

I smell GAS 😄 Personally I would buy something second hand, if it’s for use at home not something you will be relying on to gig with. The great thing about used gear is generally you can sell it on for what you paid. I got a Markbass 121 P combo in a trade a few years ago. Small, light, sounded great, flexible tonally. Ultimately overkill for my needs at home so I sold it for what it owed me. Basically a free rental for 12 + months. I knew I wouldn’t need anything to gig with. I wanted something very small light portable and sounded good. After looking around for a while i decided a Phil Jones Double4 was exactly what I needed. I was lucky and got a really good deal on one. My advice would be decide what you can realistically afford, avoid credit, define what you need from it now and then start looking. You can always trade up if you decide to take it further in future.

Indeed - so yes, you do care who makes it because of 'heritage' and 'history', which are obviously not real attributes of a musical instrument and the 'look' which is subjective (and frankly a 60s Jazz bass looks pretty similar to a copy of a 60s Jazz bass). I have played a couple of older fenders (in the 60s, P and J basses). Some were good, a couple weren't. Whether they sounded good or played well didn't really seem to affect the price, it seemed more related to how original they were and the quality of the finish. Certainly I don't count any of the 60s / 70s fenders in the 'best basses I have ever seen / played', and as I am not a particular fender fan, the look isn't something I am that bothered about. Yes, a collectors item, no question about it. Although there are far better investments, they are nice to have if you like the look of them and are into the history and heritage aspects, in the same way as classic cars and old wines etc. I would never judge anyone for having anything they wanted, but that doesn't fundamentally make them better instruments, it makes the better choices for retaining money, and for me, not being interested in heritage or collectors items, and not being good with money, seems crazy money to pay on something that looks just like anything else, unless it was the best sounding bass I had ever heard, and for me, I have yet to hear one that is.

Will do, timing was never a strong point, despite playing bass!

Don't forget used Yamaha, some excellent buys up to £200. Try & buy used, if it doesn't pan out, you should be able to minimise any losses. Have a look on the Facebook pages for stuff local to you, as well as here, Bumtree & FEEBay.

Another vote for Ibanez, I had a lower middle range one and it was far better made than the MiM Precision I had. I have a cheapish Ibanez fretless and can’t believe how good it is for the money.

I had a Vintage V900 which the neck is very similar to an Ibanez and I just couldn’t get on with so I got a P bass instead and it felt so much more comfortable to me But I’m sure you’ll have loads of other recommendations of other people

@Harryburke14 The Entwistle JBXNs haven't been fitted yet. The Zodiac got them about 3 years back on the suggestion from a very nasty man by the name of @chrismuzz He was up to his tricks again yesterday so I'll be trying them in an old very Metal Washburn. The Washburn will still get 2 PBXNs fitted at a jaunty angle to match the lava finish and pointy headstock.

First time I get to use the new digital calipers JBXN neck 91.38mm x 18.5mm x 24.76mm deep JBXN bridge 94.59mm x 18.5mm x 24.76mm deep I've 2 Peavey Zodiac DE Scorpios. They come with Duncan Basslines as stock, replace them on 1 with Entwistle PBXN & JBXN. Bloody Hell they're loud. I'd heard folk bumming up Duncans as loud. Bollocks !! Entwistle Neos are easily twice the output. Both Zodiacs were strung with Roto Nexus,I find that a bright zingy string, the Neos were too powerful for the Nexus so that bass got a set of Fender flats.Stil very loud and clear. If you were swapping basses mid set I'd advise an A/B pedal or volume pedal,chances are you'd need it.

I brought this beauty last year, it is a 2016 CS 62 Precision, it is, for me, the perfect Precision bass, I couldn't really afford to shell out for a genuine 62 Precision and even if I did I would be reluctant to take it out and gig it so this whilst still pricey is the best of both worlds for me, that said I also own a sunburst Road worn Precision and whilst the colours are less vibrant on the Road worn playability, weight and sound wise there is definitely not a couple of thousand pounds difference between the two

Also this one is worth a look: https://www.cogeffects.co.uk/tarkin-fuzz.php

Something I'll never need again is a comb. Does that count?

Personally I never say never anymore. There are just too many basses and guitars that I despised for years, only to end up lusting after them.

A band I love, and have been lucky enough to play gigs with, Booze & Glory started out in 2008. They released their 4th album last year, and have been pretty much on a world tour since then. They started out as an Oi band, but have shifted slightly to a street-punk band, still a minority genre, yet they`ve all had to give up work in order to be in the band full-time. It is possible, yes the odds are stacked against us originallers more than ever, but with a clear idea of what is wanted, band members who are prepared to put in the graft, and a good working ethic it can be done. Even if the aim isn`t to "make it" but to venture forwards you can still have a great time, accepting that "making it" isn`t what is wanted. We`ve no intentions of that, we`re too old, and too comfortable in regular working life, yet in the four years we`ve been together our profile has grown and we`ve had a blast doing it. We released our 3rd album last year, and already in 2018 have gigs booked in (if you include England, Scotland & Wales) 7 countries. There`s also possibility of an overseas tour with a larger band being proposed. Our albums on vinyl are with record companies but on CD we handle that ourselves, along with all of the other merch. So it is possible to do a whole lot more than you`d think, but it requires no passengers, lead, follow, or get out of the way really (I`m a follower btw).

My latest attempt In progress

No? Really? Awww... buzzkill. I agree with the post above: compression threads have a tendency to get weird, which is weird in itself. Visit a studio engineers’ forum and you’ll find pages and pages of discussion about “which compressor is best for bass?” (ad nauseum). In that arena, bass and compression go together like beer and crisps. But talk to bass players themselves and it’s as though compression is some kind of dark art, a taboo. I’ve never understood this and just feel that many of you guys are missing out on a great tool that every bass player should understand and have in their ‘toolbox’. It’s really nothing to be afraid of