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I found a couple of photos recently which I thought I’d share, I don’t know if they might be of interest to any of you. It’s my dad, Martyn Gibson, who played bass in the early sixties, before marriage and fatherhood took over. Dad played in a band in Stafford from 1963 to 1965, initially they were called The Countdowns, later The Sneakers, and they played originals and covers, a bit of RnB (Ray Charles etc). They played all around the Midlands. They supported Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, and often played with a band from Leicester who went one to become some of Showaddywaddy. My dad’s first bass was (possibly) a Hagstrom PB-24-G; from my research they were also branded Kent and Selmer but he can’t remember and the headstock isn’t visible in order to identify it properly, but as The Beatles became popular he splashed out on a Hofner 500/1. The shop in Stafford (H.E.Parkes & Sons of St Marys Gate, Stafford) ordered it direct from Hofner in Germany with a hard case for forty pounds (or guineas, he can’t remember). How I wish he’d kept it! He had a Vox amp (didn’t everyone then?) but he can’t remember exactly which model.

He always struck me as a colossal bell end.

VOCALIST REQUIRED FOR TERRIBLE BAND Unreliable egotistical diva required to sing badly before their voice fails half way through the second song of each two hour set. The ability to come up with various poor excuses and not turn up for gigs and practices less than half an hour before they need to be there is a must. Must also be able to argue equally with ALL other band members and have tantrums on and off stage whilst maintaining a drunken and/or stoned condition. The ideal applicant won't even turn up to their own audition and preference will be given to applicants who have extremely poor personal hygiene. If you think you can live up to these high expectations you probably won't be arsed to respond to this advert, if not please feel free to message me here.

An empty guitar case will often get you into a gig for free.

Another useful little idea. I’m going away to London for the weekend. Packed a bag and noticed that the zip has come off. Don’t worry though, a pedaltrain nano+ bag can hold a shaving bag and all your weekend essentials.

I guess if your musical palette is as one dimensional as Gene Simmonds he has a point. However, to make such a sweeping statements shows an enormous amount of ignorance of music genres and fellow musicians. Alternatively, he's being a bellend. In fact, either way he's a bellend.

As above. I've never picked up a guitar. Never played one. Never been interested. Went from a percussionist (the classical variety) to a bass player and never regretted it. The only significant downside is that guitarist show me chord shapes and the answer is, "you're wasting your time there mate". I was wondering how many other people here are bassists without the seemingly obligatory intermediate step of playing guitar? And how do you feel about it?

Tone bends for the win: (You don't have to watch the whole video, just a wee bit of noodling at the start!)

Such as the following: *******, *****, ******** and of course *******.

I put my vote on the Shift Line Olympic Tube Preamp. It’s a great unit and sounds really awesome. It does the pushed tube amp unbelievably good but it doesn’t do overdriven sounds. It’s the best “clean” preamp I’ve ever tried, and I own a bunch. Le Bass, Tonehammer, SCR-DI, Vintage Ultra & A/O, Hartke Bass Attack I &II, MXR M-80, 3Leaf the Enabler, Verellen Meatsmoke, Noble, Rusty box and probably a couple more. It takes dirt really good and the cab sim, especially the 8x10, is fantastic. And the headphones is dead silent, perfect for silent practice. And the whole unit breathes quality. I wouldn’t hesitate buying another if something happened to this.

Simplified things a little but very happy with this.

I think you've saved yourself a lot of pain. I first picked up a guitar nearly half a century ago and I'm still no better at it. I discovered I was much better playing one note at a time and picked up bass after a decades-long sojourn on sax. Some things just suit you more than others. In my last band I used to catch the rhythm guitarist squinting at the notes I was playing... he squinted a lot as I usually played fretless.

I read the brand name initially as "Firewood" - probably wasn't far off the mark

!!!!! Look what arrived

Even a gorilla couldn't bend the gauge of strings I use.

My name is Walbassist and I am a string bender.

I am sure the Gene Simmons supporters would approve - better clarity and definition to your cake eating that way.

I've decided to find this whole thread offensive, even though my pampered first-world life is pretty sweet. Anyway, I'm going to get on the internet and moan about it endlessly, just see if I don't! Or maybe tomorrow - Bargain Hunt is on soon and I must prepare tea and biscuits...

My personal opinion about this Grade A douche aside, I also 100% disagree with what he's saying. I've never seen any funk players live using a plectrum. If he said that to Larry Graham or Bootsy they'd laff in his faces (both the monster one and his stage make-up)

Anybody else think he looked less creepy WITH the makeup?

If that's what clean living does to you I'm off to find my next vat of toxins.

The bass is a Cold War-era East German Musima copy - the irony is that the original hardware on these was decent - the original tuners would have been torque-adjustable Gotohs. Wonder if the seller binned the old bits just because they were old, & "upgraded" it?

He Always Struck Me As A Colossal Bell End - The second of today's entries on my list of potential autobiography titles.

Wow, just come across this thread....what a total blast that must have been It's very unlikely I'll ever get to do anything that massive so thanks for sharing - I'll be thinking of this when playing at The Dog and Duck squashed up against the PA!

Local music shops where I live are more like this. Me: Hi. Him: Arr. What be ‘ee looking forr? We ‘as a nice range of galoubets, serpents and lutes. Or a dulcimer if ‘ee want summat new-fangled? Me: Errm, actually I’m more interested in bass guitars..? Him: Guitars? Arr right, well we’ve got a very nice baroque guitar over ‘ere… Me: No no, a bass guitar. Him: {confused} Well it don’t come with no base, but… Me: No, a bass. An electric b… Him: {recoils in horror} Elastictrickery?? Why, 'tiz the work of beelzebub! Are you in league with the dark one? {yells out to the back of the shop} Perpetua! Assemble the townsfolk and loight the bonfire! We ‘as one of satan’s imps in ‘ere! {exit Rich, pursued by pitchfork-waving mob of very closely related locals}

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-1969-Precision-Bass/173257356999?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D51004%26meid%3D6d577973468b461fb486bbf424df2c44%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D13%26sd%3D173257356999%26itm%3D173257356999&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A0db6cbd0-3f5a-11e8-a32e-74dbd1809c8c|parentrq%3Ac0b759f21620ab6b34bec899fff9aee5|iid%3A1 Yes, the "Buy it now" price is about 2k north of what really good, original 1969 Precisions go for, but what really annoys me about this listing is this line: "If you are truly interested in vintage Fender bass guitars then you will know the specification. If not the internet will inform you." What specification is he talking about, exactly? Are we, through a genuine interest, expected to know the precise weight of any given P Bass? If he were "truly interested in vintage Fender bass guitars" then surely he would also know that not all necks from one particular year have the same exact dimensions? I can't for the life of me understand the inclination to be rude, arrogant or passive-aggressive when selling any instrument, let alone one that is copiously overpriced. "Any Questions please don’t hesitate to ask." Well, how could I not hesitate? Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I've seen so many ads worded in a similar manner, and I've developed something of an aversion to them. Most of all, I find myself asking: What's the bloody point?

My mother always told me "If you pick it, it will not get better". Always listen to your mum.

Chinese copy of the real thing. Usually have fake serial numbers too but this one doesn't.

Stingray Pete. Are you bringing your FRFR cab? Stop muttering HJ!

It’s now had some lacquer (pic below) and I am very very pleased with it. I want to point out that this has been thrown on purely to get an impression of colour. The surface was not prepared in any way, it was a rough piece cut from the original blank. I am a great fan of grain on wood. I appreciate this may sound weird and then begs the question of how much lacquer to use, but I love the feel of a nice grain so I won’t be doing the grain filling parts of Andys technique. The work above is truly gorgeous and it’s work like that which has inspired me to have a go, if it finishes off a tenth as nice I will be happy. I really want to see the colour of a sunny day before I make the final decision but am 99% sure it will be the one.

Bass strings bend? Hang on...... no they don't, you're all crazy

The 'regular' series wiring for a Jazz (with the two pickups configured as a very wide aperture series humbucker and single volume control) gives a thick and chunky sound which is very usable but a bit one dimensional. It's quite a bit louder and somewhat darker in tone with less sparkly highs than a standard Jazz sound. The phase cancellation in series mode is actually much less apparent than with both pickups on full using standard Jazz wiring (which is effectively a wide aperture parallel humbucker). I have a medium scale Jazz with a series switch. It's a useful alternative tone to have on tap but in practice I don't use it that often. A Jazz just sounds better when it sounds like a Jazz to my ears!

Doesn't matter, at least one person will still moan about it! Some wanted it to be routed through the main output so much that it seemed to be a deal breaker, others (as above) would have preferred the aux in to be headphones only.

Great pictures. I regret not keeping more of my own.

Download this and go to page 319, you have all explanations in German, but the schematics are speaking by themselves : http://www.ak-line.com/medium/Bassschaltungen.pdf

Radial Bigshot I/O GigRigThree2One Palmer AB-I The Gigrig is the only one with two level controls (well three actually), but in reality you probably only need to attenuate the louder bass down to the level of the other one or vice versa so one level control may suffice! Is the smallest and supports 3 instruments, but is also the most expensive. The Palmer only has multi stage pad switches rather than a volume knob so isn't as adjustable, but it is the cheapest.

I think you're going to have to forget the "inexpensive" bit...

It's a general guide for any passive pickup.

Had a similar problem years ago and it turned out to be a dry solder joint in my trace elliot. As the amp warmed up the joint would expand (or something). Ended up taking it into a tech to get fixed.

That’s my current thinking. I also don’t like deep menu diving in order to create sounds; I like having every control to hand and as much visibility of settings as possible.

I think you'll find that a great many people in this country refer to them as picks. I also think there are more useful ideas in this thread than a pedantic insistence on the use of an archaic term (and yes, i am usually this bloody minded when I've been drinking!).

In terms of construction, not a great deal. It's the frequency response that matters. For hearing aids, they tend to be hyped around 2k and not very linear in terms of their response. They also tend to not go very low. Things have moved on though - there's dsp in hearing aids that can assist with compensating for an individual's frequency loss and also flattening out the frequency response of the balanced armature itself. For IEMs though, the devices are all passive, so like speaker manufacturer, the deficiencies have to be scienced out of the equation. It was Jerry H that realised that you could get the extended lows out of an IEM by using a pace maker balanced armature in conjunction with a traditional BA. By putting the drivers in phase (to some extent) by changing the bore and length of the connecting tubes and by dampening the air flow to reduce the peaks, you could get a pleasant sounding IEM, albeit far from flat. That is why for some time that his inears could do what everybody else's couldn't - getting the extended lows. Of course, by then specifying your own balanced armatures, you can have drivers that are designed for sub, low, mids and highs which work in conjunction with your own specific crossover design. Each of these BAs will each have their own peaks and that's where the tuning and crossover design comes in again. The more drivers you have, the higher the complexity and task of actually getting a nice sounding ear without the inherent peaks that you get from a balanced armature. Some manufacturers are better at this than others (remember that the final product is the sum of lots and lots of variables) and of course will result in a specific sound signature. That is why when people A/B brands, they'll tend to favour a particular brand because their sound signature is more to their liking. Additionally, by specifying the impedance, you have more control in controlling what the super highs are doing - which is why balanced armatures can reach super high frequencies - that give the feeling of "air" to the sound. Thats the high level version anyway :-p

One simple question: Why are we talking about this? Answer: Because Gene Simmons has uttered something controversial. That utterance has achieved what he wanted, people talking about Gene Simmons. NEXT...

Not really sure that I would pay too much attention to the opinion of Gene Simmons on musicianship

Doesn't get any choppier than the EHX Super Pulsar. I love mine.

Jim Stinnett’s Real Bass Lessons are worth a look

The rest of the black hardware finally turned up I’ve just swapped over the tuners, strap buttons and string tree So now the bass is finished apart from a setup Sorry for some reason the picture has gone a bit grainy I’m happy with the finished look it’s no frills and simple!! (Bit like me!!) 1 down only 3 to go!!.........