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Great thread! Find a problem, try to throw money / gadgets at it before realising the simple solution! "My new bass is too bassy!" "What new pedal shall I buy to fix this?" "Lets come up with an uber patch that uses an LPF and multiple parametric EQs!" "Hmm, I'll just turn down the bass on my amp."

OK...so it wasn't technically today but I wanted to at least get a gig under my belt before shouting about it! Limelight 69 P Bass in aged Charcoal Frost. Plays beautifully and is quite a stunner. Looks like a different colour depending on the light!

Small : 1966 Fender Jazz with Daddario EXL165 -> Aguilar AG700 -> Aguilar DB112*2 Big : 2016 Sadowsky NYC Jazz with Blue Label SBS 45 -> Shure GLXD16 -> Aguilar DB751 -> Aguilar GS410*2

Ok, probably around 2 years ago I bought my first stingray 5, and it was a revelation. I decided that I was going to transition to playing 5ers full time, so I sold all my basses (including my previos go to bass a Spector euro) and bought a stingray 5 HS so I would have a spare, and to have some extra versatility. These two basses have served me well, and I thought it had cured GAS, until I woke up one day after a gig with sciatic pain from my lower back through to the back of my knee 😮. It took a couple of weeks to figure out that it was only after playing gigs that this would flair up, and could only put it down to the weight of the ‘rays (10.5 lbs each five or take). So I made the drastic descision to switch back to 4 strings, and today saw these two lovely ladies arrive. I have had limited time on them tonight, but they are just amazing. The fit, feel, weight and tone are perfect, familiar but new at the same time. I am still getting used to no low B, and wider string spacing which will no doubt take a bit but so far couldn’t be happier with the choice. I had forgotten how great these basses really are!!!

Well, after the 12 / 8 string debate, I decided there was no point getting an 8 string. So here it is - took a while to come as Andertons had it in their books but not in their warehouse, and it took a while to come. So it came the other day. I instantly loved it, then went off it and now I like it again - that was in the first two hours. It is harder on the fingers than a 4 but not excessively so. It does bring some more harmonics to the party. So the problem is, I now have this, and I have just got a dean 8 string as well, so I am going to see if I like the dean and if so send this back, otherwise move the dean on

Not quite the same as a neon pink G string so, pass. Sorry. It's completely the wrong gauge for my cleft.

If you're playing in Europe, you probably need to know 'The Final Countdown'. Well, someone had to say it 😁

Just to get back on track, I'm thinking of ordering another Mike Lull with a bradypus pygmaeus body, a brachylophus top and a honey badger fingerboard.

For an enormous chunk of the population of the planet, a bass is a guitar; end of story.

My band play on mainland Europe a fair bit. We approach the power requirement by buying a couple of European plug and change the UK plug on a couple of 2m single socket extension leads. They take up a small amount of additional space, are not expensive and then allow you to use your own extension leads from there on. Generally, the venues will feed and water you too. The audiences are also far more receptive and even seem to appreciate you being there. Pretty much the direct opposite of a UK audience!! If you go through the tunnel to get there, I heartily recommend the burger van in the car park where you queue to board the train. The 'dog and egg' is a wonderful creation (pork burger with a fried egg on top). I can guarantee you'll have a great time and drive on the right. It's always the first roundabout that (almost) catches me out!!

I picked up The Legend Lives On many years ago. I didn't know anything about him at all and have no idea why I bought it. I remember the quizzical looks from friends whenever it went on the CD player. I don't think I understood it either, but it remained one of my favourite CDs for years.

StingrayPete don't dress up as no Fedex guy

Any excuse to pop a picture of this 1981 SBR-150

Bass heaven - bass sounds, techniques, lines, specific players whatever that make you go aaaahhhh!!! Bass hell - ditto the above that make you go aaaarrrrgh !!! But just one nom for each .For starters... heaven - the whole of the bass line on Forget Me Nots. It's all there for me; tone, phrasing, feel, the whole kit n' caboodle hell - trebly galloping basslines

id be thinking of using it in this band, its way more experimental than most but i bet theres a few sounds i could use in my more normal bands which are the other two links.

I've recorded 3 minutes of silence for this one.

Well... new to me! Got it off ebay as a bit of a impulse purchase, but I've fancied a wee change for a wee while and I *Think* it was a decent price so i treated myself! Plays like a dream and the neck is lovely, although its a lacquered which I'm not used to. It came with a big chuck out the paint work, which I've simply gave a light glossing, and I've fired on a black 3-ply pick guard. Always fancied an allblack Fender with Maple neck. Now I have it! Doesn't seem to be much talk on here talking about the Special model, what what i gather it was just a cheaper level model under the US standard? Anyway... i like it!

Bass heaven - Instrument at waist height. Bass hell - Instrument at chest or knee height.

He could play rudimentary bass, bootlegs bear that out. I've no doubt that if he could've got off of the skag and settled down with domestic goddess-in-waiting Nancy Spungen we'd be mentioning his name alongside Jaco now. Probably 😵

Yessssss

It arrived earlier in the week, a 2018 Wal MK 1. (I'll get some better photo's once there is enough light)

Heaven- tommy cogbill, duck Dunn, chuck Rainey. Hell- slappity slappity slappity slappity, especially on gear demos.

Heaven - Drummers who can play and understand the relationship between drum and bass. Hell - Drummers that can't count, can't play in time, follow the vocals rather than beats or time and make it up as they go making it different every time.

@NancyJohnson I was there for the shootout that @Lozz196 did, and it was, indeed behind a curtain. Over all the basses, the ones with the Rosewood necks were all distinctively had more bite in the sound. The maple neck basses were all more thuddy. I liked the maple necks, much to my surprise, as I've never owned one.

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I can't see anything saying they want to rehearse every week. I too think rehearsals are just one of those things, not something I'd do if I didn't need to but I'll do them cheerfully when necessary. The caveats are far from unreasonable, I read it as multiple bands are ok just make sure you've got some time for this and you wouldn't be taking on too much if you joined this band as well. The communication thing is reasonable too. If it takes you 3 days to respond then your pretty much out of the question for any team activity to be honest. The last one is applicable to any band. Les (who wouldn't be interested in this band either)

" Mashine heads are original. " " The base, when in use, was used in a studio environment only " He managed to spell ' environment ' , but not ' bass ' or ' machine '

I'm not sure, but it sounded great and you could change the rate/depth etc from the back of the bass

wow, one of the very first albums I bought on cassette was Jazz Funk ( I was about 18) had a massive influence on me at the time.

Thieves, the lot of em!!

The band i'm currently in had an advert running showing VIDS and pics of a full band but said they were lookng for a new bassist. Turns out it was only the original singer and drummer altho they had a new guitarist on board. To be fair they did tell me all this when they contacted me. I managed to find a 2nd guitarist relatively quickly. Great guys and it was the singer that i thought was the main attraction for the band. He gets right into the full image thing too. Dave

It's quite a practical design, really - it doubles up as a bottle opener

TC Polytune clip. Never failed at all. Even in Very noisy situations.

Bernie was also a 'star attraction' at the 2010 London Bass Bash. Would be great to see him again.

Going to get some pictures back of the other colours I was interested in, then I'll order them. I was contemplating doing a B&B Precision, but on second thoughts, that would be immensely wrong.

@D'Addario UK Andy is not coming out to play! He's been a very naughty boy!

Says he's not in a hurry to sell, which is just as well, really, at £600 per item. Dream on

All fender body shapes. Boring, unimaginative and definitely unattractive! Add to that most single cuts but I like the Les Paul shape. Oh and the Warwick basses with the dildo top horn!

Ooooft. Gorgeous.

I played one of the Proto705s - the older model with the more Fender style headstock - in a London shop about 10 years ago, it was great and I wanted one for quite a while, indeed my current Lakland DJ5 is pretty close in specs.

'kin love funk me, the proper stuff from the 70s going into the Washington DC Go-Go scene of the early 80s. I cant get into the retro copyist stuff like Uptown Funk etc. For my money no one did it harder and heavier and funkier than Trouble Funk

B*njos. Always make me think of that film, Deliverance...

The great thing about building your own guitars is that you lose the fear of changing things A couple of times, friends have gone pale - after agreeing with me that something might be maybe shaped a little differently - when I immediately get out the rasp file and hack into the gleaming beauty, there and then. "Something like that?" I ask, as they sway from the shock. Well - I'm just about to do the same here. Having played this myself over a couple of days, and having just watched someone whose objective opinion I greatly respect play it, I'm going to get the micro-plane rasps out tomorrow and create some sawdust This is what it looks like at the moment: And this is what I think it should look like: Yes - it's subtle but I think it will make a big difference to the playability. In summary - Slightly deeper cutout at the top horn. The contact I watched play is - a bit like me - a lazy-thumb player. That is, his thumb stays in the 'wrap-round' position even when he's playing the higher frets. And when he's playing the highest frets, he anchors his thumb round the cutout. In terms of my own playing (I rarely venture that high playing lead...makes my nose bleed) there is one number where I have to play barre chords with a capo on the 8th fret. It is possible with this guitar as is, but it would be a lot more comfortable with another cm of hand space Slightly deeper cutout on bottom horn. No real benefit to me, but same logic to a 'proper' lead player Slightly further rearward lower waist. This guitar, as is, is GREAT on the strap...but, for me, it's just not quite right played over the knee. I was interested to see exactly the same when my contact played it It will only take 1/2hr to make the changes, but it will then, of course, need refinishing. But that itself is an opportunity because I'm going to give the Gloss version of the Osmo one more go - but applied closer to how it is supposed to be applied than how it's been applied above. This, of course, means a complete strip-down but what the heck - what else am I going to do in the evenings?! Oh...just to add. My contact runs a very successful guitar and music shop and - with me allowing maybe a smidgin of smugness to creep in - I feel obliged to mention that he loved the neck profile and feel. Took a while to get my swollen head through the shop door back onto the street

I play Franz basses, a Sirius DC 5 fretted and Sirius fretless 5, and also gig a Thomann (by Hora) slimline upright. As I double fretless and upright at virtually every gig I run them into a Bassbone OD, which then goes into my rig which is the fabulous Markbass CMD Super Combo K1, to which I add the matching Markbass TRV123 cab too when I want the full 1000 watts. I also have a Blackline 250 for backup. OBBM cables, Harvest straps, La Bella and Newtone strings, Mono bags complete the setup. This picture shows a pedalboard from last summer, but that's all been replaced by the simpler yet more versatile Bassbone.

You should like Rick Wakeman for this alone ......

Ever since I missed out on a Fiesta Red Limelight P, with J width neck - I've been kicking myself However, I recently became a convert to the P/J arrangement of pickups.... So I decided to order my very own Fiesta Red P/J from Mark, having reached a milestone in work This bass is absolutely amazing in every way. I've not played a pre-cbs Fender, but I imagine this is how they would feel and sound Very very pleased with my present to myself. Pics courtesy of Mark at Limelight EDIT: PS. Hutton... they are worth the wait

This one ... Isle of Wight Festival, Saturday 31st August - Sunday 1st September 1968 Apple - Jefferson Airplane - Smile - Harsh Reality - The Move - Orange Bicycle - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Halcyon Order - Fairport Convention - Pretty Things - Hunter - Muskett - Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation - Plastic Penny - Tyrannosaurus Rex - John Peel Marc Bolan 1968 Sitting cross-legged on a flat bed truck, Marc warbles Tolkein-like fairy tales of elves, magicians and romany soup as half of Tyrannosaurus Rex. The setting is a cold stubble field, near Godshill (where the ley lines meet) to a hippie throng gathered for a now legendary one day event. The first great UK rock festival. Site Manager, Ron Smith, remembers setting up the event: Jefferson Airplane "The IOW pop festivals came about as a result of the Isle of Wight Swimming Pool Association, of which I was a member, wanting to raise funds. It was suggested we employ a fund-raiser. I said I knew someone; that person was Ronnie Foulk. We then proposed, after some discussion with Ray, that we have a pop festival. The committee allocated £750 and we set about putting a festival together." It was Hells Field, a one hundred acre field of stubble corn, and we paced out with some broken bars that had been left on the site what we thought the arena should be, and then Ronnie and Rikki Farr (the compere) suddenly said, "We're off to London now, see you. Don't forget it goes on in three weeks time, Ron." "I wondered what I should do, when three brothers aged about thirty came on the scene in a van and said they'd heard we were talking about a pop festival on the Island and could they help. They had called at my house and the missus had sent them out. They wanted desperately to be involved, and had experience in scaffolding, laying bricks, anything." "So I went off in my van to get some scaffolding poles and we set to build the stadium. We covered it in black plastic. The stage was several low loaders which I had through the good offices of British Road Services, and we got a generator down from Winchester. Water for the site was obtained in new dustbins by my wife, who went round garages in the area, filling them up." The big day dawns Tyrannosaurus Rex - Mark Bolan Publicised as one of the biggest pop festivals ever staged in this country, events got under way early on Saturday evening. An audience of 10,000 congregated on forty acres of barley stubble known as Hayles Field - translated by the press into 'Hell Field' - on Ford Farm, near Godshill but nearer Niton, just off the main road from Newport to Ventnor. The event began at 8pm on Saturday, 31 August and ended at 8.30 the following morning - it was supposed to run from 6pm to 10am, so it started late and finished early! Tickets were the grand sum of 25 shillings each, £1.25 in post-decimal times. After weeks of planning the supposedly highly organised, precision-planned gig turned out to be 'sixteen hours of make-do, make-shift and hasty improvisation'. Technical difficulties meant as often as much as a half-hour break between each group. Organisers and sponsors associated with it had already disclaimed responsibility for anything that happened 'on the night', and the Island's magistrates hit out at them for advertising bar facilities before they had applied for a licence. Pre-publicity promised 'licensed bars, marquee, refreshments and snack bar'. Geoff Wall recalls the sheer excitement of the times: "The boundary fence consisted of black plastic sheeting - a far cry from the high wooden fences and security guards that accompanied futures IOW events. The loos were a simple trench, again surrounded by some plastic bags. The stage itself was just two flatbed trailers placed together, with plastic sheeting covering a make-shift scaffolding structure. To the right of the stage was a huge screen." The whole affair was a miniature precursor of Afton, beauty and danger coalescing in a rural setting, with the pop fans like the 'poor bloody infantry' of the Great War, setting out for the trenches. As the Islander reported: 'Hells' Field was a beautiful setting for the Festival, surrounded by rolling green hills and bright, bright sunshine. There was, however, something ominous about the enclosure; it looked very much like a prison camp, a detention compound. An area all round the billowing black PVC walls was marked off with wire, and patrolled by a Security man holding an alsation on a tight lead. The queue at the entrance was very orderly and seemed unnaturally quiet, almost apprehensive.' Quite who did appear and in exactly in what order, is still a subject of lounge-bar arguments. As someone once said, if you can remember the sixties, you weren't really there! The poster promised Jimmy Saville - who no-one can remember being there - and a 'lite-show' by a student of the RCA. The only thing that compere and Radio 1 DJ 'Laughing' John Peel, who made a brief appearance to start the proceedings, could remember twenty six years later, was .. "...one fragile bobitette who was crying because her bare feet were so cold and, overcome with lust, I gave her my socks. She skippety skipped away and that was that. I want my socks back. And I want them washed first, too." The above extracts are taken from Brian Hinton's "Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1968 - 1969 - 1970". Copyright: Brian Hinton, 1995. - See Brian's Books on Amazon You had to be there.

Fotheringay at Newcastle City Hall around 1970-ish. Wonderful Sandy Denny with Jerry Donahue on guitar, Pat Donaldson on bass and the incredible Gerry Conway on drums. It was a magical night and their self titled album is still on of my favourites.