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You need time for your ears to adjust. It's like drinking tea without sugar for the first tiime. At first, it's like.. 'WTF? I need sugar' After a while, it's... 'mmm... tea is lovely. Sugar just spoiled the taste.'

So long story short. My band (State of Ember) entered a competition last year as an easy way to gain more fans. The prize was top 10 bands end up on Wreckfest by THQNORDIC. We only went and finished 2nd and now we're being featured on their official trailer! Oh and they are giving us 1000 Dollars. Madness Facebook link below should work! https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=617813701889412&id=369063106512335

My old local music shop (sadly missed now) used to have a little sign up in their guitar room, which read: "GUITARISTS: PLEASE DO NOT PLAY ANY NIRVANA ANY OASIS STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN" One day, while trying out a bass, I did furtively play the riff from Come As You Are to see if any of the staff would turn on me, but I think I got away with it...

This state of the art factory on the Thames Estuary is in tip-top condition thanks to our lucrative deregulated service economy. And the steel mill at top elite property hotspot, the Isle of Sheppey - a.k.a Kent's own Monte Carlo - is running at full steam, bringing jobs and money to the community thanks to our lucrative trade deals with China. Here is a picture of Sheppey's high-rolling and glamorous community, reaping the benefits of our lucrative trade deals, and celebrating their booming local economy. (This photo is an accurate representation of all of England about 2 years from now).

It will be all right when we do a trade deal with the USA. Don't worry.

For the first time ever I went to the dentist with a skip and a jump this morning (so to speak). I discovered an independent music shop about 100 yards from the dentist, so after I'd had me teeth riddled by the hygienist I went there for a look and bought a Squier Jaguar SS bass. Had my eyes on these for a while... I love CAR with a black scratchplate and "rosewood-type" fingerboard. I wanted a short scale as I only plan to play at home now (as much as you can ever be sure about these things. I was also glad to get my hands on one at a proper shop... no sharp fret ends, no buzzes and farts. In fact, I was quite impressed by the overall playability and quality... crazy for £186. I will probably put a more chunky bridge on (gotoh) if it drops in without surgery, but that's just me having a thing about chunky bridges. Thought I might change the pups and loom, but frankly don't see the point... I'd happily gig this as is TBH. Now, I was planning on selling my US Jazz after buying this... but I might just keep it as a spare (heh! heh!) Now I'm off to play my spanky new bass.

Well, it's got the nod over the R-400 for this weekend...

Realised that when I had my 55-94 refinished by Jaydee that I haven't posted a photo yet. So here it is now.

Be EXTREMELY careful buying anything proclaiming to be a JV. Counterfeit parts/logos/plates etc are easily available. You MUST (imo) see the bass stripped down.

I was there too and the world was immensely changed and immensely changing but you don’t need to have been there to understand that. It’s quite possible to grasp the enormity of the changes and something of The Beatles role if it’s approached with an open mind - it has very little to do with what one personally likes. There are people who were there who didn’t or don’t get it; being there is neither necessary nor sufficent. They did many things but The Beatles didn’t invent the electric bass guitar.

I recall getting asked..well the singer... getting asked if we did Call me Al by Paul Simon.The same woman asked after every song for a bout 6 songs in a row. Every time she asked I played the bass line and she never once noticed what I was playing. I was very tickled indeed! So in conclusion, and my final contribution to this thread... Sometimes the punter doesn't even recognise the SONG they have just requested let alone our tone! We've had people request a song, then play it only to have them come back and ask for it! Drunks eh! Now to start a new thread Do punters even know what music is?

Are you still with that band? Sounds to me like they weren't paying any attention to what you were doing. Tools.

As the OP I kinda feel I should contribute again! Took it to a guitar jam day where I was bassing - range of rehearsal rooms, and a range of guitars/amps and all with drums. As expected it performed flawlessly.. loads of headroom and plenty of lower frequencies. Fitted in beautifully with some high end boutique guitar amps and some big monsters too

Well surely it's an improvement on you waking around with a 'Pocket Rockit'

For a while it was a rare gig the vocalist didn't get naked and run around the venue.

Hi Paul, as long as the voltage (12V) is the same, and the output is the same i.e. AC current or DC current, and the current rating of the replacement PSU is the same or greater than 300mA, you should be fine. The other thing to check would be the connector - obviously that it is the same type/size as your unit, but also that the polarity is the same, - for example - positive goes to tip, negative to ring (I haven't looked up your unit, this is just an example).

Is it the sound or the feel? Obviously a PB has a different neck profile and width to a jazz. I had to force myself to adjust because I wanted the sound.

If you're happy with the basses you like to play, why force yourself to play a Precision? Play what feels and sounds right to you. For me, that's a Precision, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it if I preferred something else. The music you play is what matters, the instrument is simply a tool to enable you to produce that.

This is another one my little band plays - I see a trend - simple basslines that I can't f#ck up....

I'm not too sure about the ethics of this. I mean dragons are quite rare aren't they?

Yes you may moan that EU imports may become unaffordable soon, but looking on the bright side, the lucrative trade deal with India is almost in the bag. Who needs Nordstrands when you can take your pick of the best indian sweatshop-produced pickups made by 9 year old slaves instead? Tone for days.

Vox Amplug - not nearly as bad as folk are implying! As mine is just about to be sold on eBay, I thought I'd best put it through its paces to make sure it is 100% before moving it on. Interesting - having just given it a proper workout, I'd say that some of the negative comments above have been overdone. So for the sake of providing some balance, here's what I found: 1) Good power output and clear bass coming through my (albeit very good) headphones; 2) The hiss that everyone's being moaning about - well the bass tone coming through is much more sensitive to the tone control on the bass than it is to the tone control on this little headphone amp; so a pretty simple solution for eliminating 90% of the hiss - just turn the tone dial on the Amplug right down and you still get a very adjustable tone control via the bass itself without noticeable hiss when you're playing; 3) It's very compact / and allows you the freedom to move about without having to be either tied down to a large pedal with headphone out (e.g. my B3n) or having to lug around a headphone amp (even the size of the B1on is much less convenient for portability); 4) It has an aux in; 5) It's a little pricey but not outlandish; 6) You won't have a problem selling it on eBay

Hi everyone, Bass lover from UK here. I recently bought a Washburn bass as a beginner model however it arrived with one of the pickups damaged and now (after regular use) has a faulty jack socket. Spoke to shop and they quoted repairs around £30. However, just sent it back under warrantee and Amazon is sending me a whole new one! Few questions I s’pose: 1) is this a common problem? 2) just been steadily working through some scale books (got to major 6ths and double octaves). Could you recommend a practice routine? Trying to split 2 hrs into 1/2 hr slots. 3) My teacher has put me in roughly at grade 3/4 rock school standard. Is there any bass literature or YouTube channels which I need to follow or check out? I’m super into odd time signatures, jazz n funk grooves. Michael Pipoquinha and Michael League are cool. Tschüss

Thought I'd share a project I've been working on as part of the winter build off challenge over at that other bass forum. The challenge was to use mainly walnut. I looked at the pile I had handy and decided to build something inspired by the wingbass concept (basically a headless 34'' bass cut off at the 12th fret). So here we go. First of, wood pile and design More puzzle pics

I’m in a glam rock covers band based a wee bit south of you in the Yorkshire, East Midlands area. You can get ex. Fancy dress outfits fairly reasonably or go down the bespoke route and get stuff made (not cheap though). For myself, I’m always on the lookout for tasteless, glittery stuff and 70s clothing on eBay and the like. Be aware that a lot of suitable stuff is ‘womens’ so you’ll have to get over that .

Nothing wrong with Mark Bass stuff, light and loud, tone wise they are transparent and you change tone with your preamp. Good stuff in my opinion.

Do what @mcnach did and order a custom Precision with 2 J pickups instead of the P

When they have the guitar version of this can I get invited please??

I’m just having one of those silly ‘nothing else matters’ moments. Flux had, at various times, mates of mine playing for them so they get a pass. I never really heard Butthole Surfers but I was once sitting in a van backstage at the Reading Festival waiting to load out when my fellow tech jumped out having spied Ice-T, “I’m gonna shake that dudes hand” he said excitedly. Ice-T gave him a look and said “Not now man, I gotta see Butthole Surfers”. I blame the wearing of a white biker jacket with tassels, never a good move in any circles.

"pop group" surely?

It does raise some interesting questions tho...

Funnily enough my lad (I say lad, he's 27) often asks me if I'm on that fish forum again. He doesn't get out much (neither do I come to that).

The above is spot on advice - also abcproducts are nice for replacement PSUs. They are offer the inline transformers (so like a laptop power supply as opposed to the clunky adapters that plug directly into a socket). I use them in my racks (don't know if you are racking or not)

^^This. I don't like MMs and I hardly ever use a bridge pup. But each to their own. I have this, but I could lose the Humbucker and save weight. I hardly use it.

Personally I'm not 100% convinced that hanging a bass by the neck is very good for it.

Dragons sh#t everywhere. On a serious note these strings could be a good idea for anyone with allergy issues. (u nless you're allergic to dragons.)

Ah but it's only the evil dragons that are used for this, not fluffy friendly ones.

Heat rises. So I'd are on the side of caution and change the lamp to an LED version and save energy at the same time.

Alan Lancaster

I suspect that you're mischaracterising what's happening here. I've played with loads of guitarists who would find THE guitar only to trade it in a few months later for the new THE guitar. And they were ALL, every single one of the, THE guitar. On the other hand I've played with people who have found one or two or three guitars over their playing lifetime and that's it. In both of the above cases the cost of the guitar was irrelevant. For the guitar flippers, it was the belief that each new guitar would bring guitar nirvana, the post purchase realisation that they all had flaws (real or merely perceived) and a belief that the grass would really be greener the other side of the music shop. The internet and forums like this only makes this worse through ease and availability - and group think. The OP seems to single out the boutique basses for this phenomenon. I've not done a statistical study of this but I'd bet that there are as many Sires and Squiers being flipped as Foderas and F Basses - although maybe not. However, more on the grounds that having a couple of £200 resale value basses kicking around unloved "in case" isn't as economically painful. And to fund the new Ken Smith the Alembic has to go, which replaced the Dingwall that was funded by selling the Fodera which... It would also be interesting to compare a list of those who flip the most expensive basses with those who flip the most mid/lower range basses. I wonder how many names would be common to both and how the number of basses flipped per year would compare... Maybe it's more about being addicted to the new bass buzz? Rather than finding the bass that really suits you and sticking with it - how many "Oh why did I ever sell that XXXXXXXXX. I now realise that my new YYYYYYY isn't have the bass it was..." threads do we see? And how often are they followed by "I've seen these ZZZZZZZZZ basses online, what do you all think?" threads... Anyway, there are a minority of us who provide the Ying to that Yang - me included. I've got a number of relatively expensive, hand built guitars and basses, at least three, possibly four or five, of which count as "boutique" - only a few of which were bought full price, mind you, or back when you could get a good night out, a fish supper and change from a three bob note. My Aria SB700 was my first ever bass back in 1982 - still play it. My Mk 1 Wal was bought in 1992 and it's still my No 1 bass. My Tony Revell custom acoustic bass was bought in 1992. My Brook acoustic was bought in 1999 and still gets played regularly. My Pro Series Wal was bought in 2002 and is more than my No 2 bass, more like my No 1.5. I won my Fylde Gordon Giltrap Signature acoustic (I know, what a lucky so and so) in 2005 and I still love it. I've only ever sold three instruments in 35 years playing (a Squier Jazzerstein project bass, a Yamaha starter electric, and a mid range Washburn acoustic to fund my Brook). I can confidently say that the boutique instruments I've got now aren't going anywhere!!!

Yes, I saw that... but if you go to the online shop, go to bass strings, medium scale (which actually are just fine for Fender 4-inline 34" scale bases), single ball end... you'll find the black nylons. I placed an order and it arrived...

An old cabinetmakers trick to see what wood looks like when you laquer it is to lick it. Or if you don't fancy that, use a very slightly damped sponge. If it was mine, there's no way I'd paint it. Seen their website, it looks interesting. If you don't mind sharing, what was the complete cost of buying, shipping and taxes etc?

To be fair to PMT their Birmingham branch has a couple of guys who are very knowledgeable on bass and fall over backwards to be helpful. The range of basses is limited to what I would like to see, but then reading on here it seems most people want twenty different fenders. One of the guys spent over an hour with me when I messed about with three overdrive pedals, he knew it was an £80 sale at best but was still as helpful as he could have been. My only major issue with PMT was an online purchase which turned into a nightmare and the muppet on the end of the emails obviously had no idea of why I was even asking him what I was asking him.

No mention yet for John McVie and his simple but effective two note bass line on this track.

The name "Epiphone" is a combination of proprietor Epaminondas Stathopoulos' (Επαμεινώνδας Σταθόπουλος) nickname "Epi" and "phone" (from Greek phon- (φωνή), "voice").[4]

Sounds like my ex drummer.