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I think it's more likely that the interpersonal dynamics of being in a band will change before new genres appear. For example, one wouldn't sit around the rehearsal studio swigging beers and skinning up enormous chalices if there were women in the room. More likely we'd be handed pinnies and a feather duster and told to clean the place up. Then we could talk about kittens and knitting and feelings. So, most likely, men wouldn't do bands anymore and Fender would have an entirely different problem, serve 'em right I say.

Anything that drives interest in making music is fine by me. But while I welcome more guitarists per the linked article I'd prefer to see an upsurge in drummers - that's where the real shortage is. Funnily enough, one of the best drummers I ever auditioned was a woman. Even had a 'Bonham rune' tattoo on her arm. Absolutely stunning player. After she'd left the room we had a chat about her. I was all for hiring her on the spot but the other two were dead against it, claiming it would 'unbalance' our image. Utterly specious bollocks of course; they were just intimidated by her, which I found a bit odd, them being peppy little twenty-something millennial snowflakes and me being then in my mid-50's.

Better latte than never

You asked the questions, what should I do, what would you do. No need to get arsy when you get a realistic response.

NAD - More Trace Elliot Content... I bought a Trace Elliot 7215 Series 6 GP7 300W Combo way back in January, and enjoyed it very much. However... I did some rehearsals and gigs with it - and to be quite honest, it did seem a little heavy to transport efficiently, especially for a man who is used to Barefaced cabs and Rumble Combos. So I moved it on. But over time I had to admit to myself that I was missing something from what I laughingly refer to as 'my tone'. Long story short, there was a hole in my sound that was Trace-shaped. So When I spotted this 1997 Trace 715 GP7 SMC 150W Combo on eBay, I put a bid in for it. There wasn't a lot of competition for it (possibly because it was 'only' 150W RMS?) and I snagged it for £80. Given the quality of build, components and facilities available (not to mention the 'tone') I can tell you that this is a ridiculous bargain - especially given the condition, which is good, as you can see from the pics. This example has stood in a recording studio for twenty years, has had very little use and has been recently serviced. The black cable-tie you can see was a temporary addition to hold some wiring in place while I re-attached a sticky pad - it's now gone. And it's a real lightweight, too - my previous combo weighed in at just over 35kg - this one's only 32kg! OK, so it's still relatively heavy. Relatively. I have one of those £20 Maplins folding sack trucks which makes it easy to get to the car, whereupon I still have enough strength in what remains of my body to lift it into my hatchback. It's honestly not a big deal. OK, if I had to physically carry it for more than a couple of hundred yards I'd be seriously worried about my hernia repair, but that's also true of a 16kg amp, or even a 12kg amp. The bottom line is that it does of course have the Trace slam and yes... 'heft' that I crave. I'm certainly no electronics expert, but I genuinely believe it's something to do with the FET arrangement (which apparantly emulates valves to a certain extent - happy to be further educated about this) and also something to do with the power stage and that big round iron thing. Trace amps just seem to have a bottomless tin of beans available on tap regardless of their output numbers. It's really bloody loud considering it's rated at 150W and when playing with my band (drums, guitar, mandolin-violin-bazouki-banjo, 3X vocals) I have the master somewhere between 8 and 9 o'clock, and even then I'm too loud. Apparently... I'll record an audio clip through the amp with my Zoom H1 later. Thanks for looking.

Not if more than one woman can't be in the band!

Didn't think you were. All experiences welcome. As are off-colour jokes, rambling diversions and blatant derailment. I'd say buy a decent, complete and unmolested Trace amp or combo for peanuts and give it a go. If you don't like it, use it as furniture for 10 years or so. I'm convinced that once the penny finally drops, Trace gear will become highly sought-after and prices will go through the roof, as they have done with just about any old manky valve amp.

I can't make up my mind on whether that's good news (i.e. Yay! More women play an instrument!) or bad news (Woman goes into guitar shop, is steered towards a Fender, buys it because she isn't geeky enough to know there are lots of better choices). (I quickly lost count of the number of times I went into a shop while first-bass-hunting, my only requirement being 'suitable to petite player with small hands', and was offered a frigging Fender Jazz! 😮 Luckily I did know better.)

Two slightly distorted guitars.

I do feel like Paice gets massively underrated as a drummer. I suppose, just as Zeppelin overshadowed Purple as a whole in terms of popularity, so Bonham overshadowed Paice - which seems as a shame, as Bonham's playing doesn't really do it for me, but Paice's playing always seemed to be on the money.

I have a fretless sunburst '79 pre EB Stingray I bought off Pino and it enables me to play just like him. Not all listeners agree.

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Possibly best to ask permission before posting my profile picture in a new thread, no? @Dandelion

Maybe, but remember that we're looking at this through the eyes of bassists, our live (and often studio) world is all about 'DI'. All of Line6 stuff is squarely aimed at guitarists, we're an afterthought. As such, guitarists are simply interested in Send/Returns and instrument outs, simple because in a live environment their cab is usually mic'd. Yes there are other use cases, some guitarists like to DI with in-ears etc etc, but they really are fringe use cases. So from a guitarist point of view, XLR is wasted real-estate and eating a few pence per unit into their revenue. Si

@AndyTravis yeah, kinda want it too, but just bought a Steinberger Spirit, literally today... hot rod yellow XT2 incoming tomorrow...

That problem is solved. Introducing the Quorn Tuna ...

I had the opportunity to take some more photos today, the sun is shining which obviously helps... I took it to see Westbury White Horse Then we found a red telephone box (which is now a book exchange) When pulling out on to the main road after taking the photo above one of the intake pipes on my car literally exploded! I pulled over in a layby by another local attraction and whilst waiting for the recovery to arrive I took this... Sadly, that was the end of our excursion. Who's next?!

I had the same weight issues when I had a TE combo, loved the tone but not the weight, I've solved it by getting a TE GP12 head (well 2 actually) both weigh around 14KG easy one handed lift and light weight cabs

How's this for an iconic intro?

Spent a bit of the summer recording this and it's dropped onto digital streaming platforms today. A few of the tracks have also had radio play. It's punky, garagey, dubby, noisy stuff. Give it a spin.

Yes, had an 'armchair' bassist address me on stage the other night with 'why are you playing a girls bass?' (referring to my MIJ comp stripe 'stang). I proceeded to play the crap out of it, making the growliest sound come out of a small package.......he left before the end of the first spot.

This is such a subjective topic and essentially comes down to what we feel and notice as players, how much money we have and where we place value. The Fender CS Pino is by all accounts an incredible instrument, well made, incredible feel, quarter sawn maple neck (you don't get that in the lower end instruments), Nitro finish, basically as close to a 62 Fender Precision you can get without buying the real thing and in many peoples views, the best Precision Fender have made. A lot of people covet the early 60s Fenders for feel and playability and general 'mojo'. I don't believe that all of them were superb instruments by any stretch of the imagination, there were probably just as many horrendous ones as Fender currently chuck out. Yes Fender are charging a premium for the Pino and I am in no doubt that the Pino signature alone is adding to the cost. Some people see very little difference between a £300 precision vs a £3000 bass and to an extent, I don't believe they would sound much different and I don't personally believe anyone would hear the difference, at least not live. However, most of the Fender basses I have owned have been shoddy and I disagree that a MIM precision would play just as well or feel as nice, but that is where things get incredibly personal and subjective. Every Fender CS Relic instrument I have played (guitars and basses) have had the most sublime fit and finish, and the necks and fretting have been out of this world. Beautifully rolled fingerboards and no sharps frets etc. just great instruments that have made me want to just keep playing and playing and really inspire me to play. I have felt that with much cheaper instruments, but very rarely. Almost every new instrument I have played over the years has felt sterile and lifeless apart from very expensive hand made custom basses costing around the same as the Pino. Just to fill you in, I am not some devout Fender CS fan boy, I own a £150 Squier and a second-hand 17 year old Music Man Stingray. The Stingray is worn in and has a great feel but I really dislike the new ones, the years of playing have made that bass feel the way it does and IMHO Fender do an incredibly job of replicating that broken in feel. I cant afford a Fender Custom Shop but I want one so badly, partly because I lusted after them for years in my teens and I have an irrational and romantic view of them. Is it worth the extra money to you, probably not, but to someone else it will be, but that's like almost any other product on the market. My cheap as chips VW Up does the same job as my friends Audi A5 sport in my eyes, and I don't see the point in buying anything more, but to him there is no comparison. Some people buy own brand beans in the supermarket and say there is no difference, some people buy Heinz because they can taste the difference. In terms of guitars I don't believe an expensive bass will make you better, they are just different flavours of the same thing and be grateful you like the cheaper ones. However, if you are lucky enough to find that one instrument that really inspires you, buy it if you can, whether it be a £100 Harley Benton or a £9000 Fodera.

If it's worth doing, then it's worth overdoing.

Supreme cowbelling here and the drumming ain't half bad too boot. Actually when I was much younger Ian Paice was the main reason I used to listen to DP.

My Squier VM P5 has been fitted with original the pickup from Dave Swift's white Sadowsky P5. My Aguilar DB112 cabs were previously owned by Paul Turner. I now sound like some bloke called Dave Turner (who Google tells me is a science fiction, fantasy and comedy author and not a bass player at all). It's all very confusing 🤪

Ha..! You're in good company; this is Basschat..!

I know, but i not much of a musician. I'll give it a try right away thx

My Babies 82 JV Squire Jazz (with Fender decal) with a Hipshot Kickass bridge,Nordstrand NJ4's,East J retro Deluxe and Gotoh Lollipop Tuners strung with DR High Beams Fender Nate Mendel with a Hipshot Vintage Bridge,Aguilar P60 and a mint rebel relic pickguard. Strung with TI flats Used to have loads of basses, but now just have these two! They do everything i need 😁

Not ready to gig after that many rehearsals? Ask them what's wrong with them.

At the next rehearsal, tell them that you want to start gigging. If your guitarist thinks you're not ready to gig, then ask him what he thinks you need to do to get to that stage. Either his answer will be something solid that you can work on, which is great, or something handwavy, in which case you walk. What's the background for the drummer and guitarist? Have they been in gigging bands before? Are you sure that they're actually interested in gigging at all? It may be that really they're happy with things the way they are, but feel that they need to be elusive with you otherwise you'll leave. S.P.

Ok you wonderful people, could I trouble you for your thoughts, please? As you may know I am a guitarist, primarily, but I enjoy bass enormously and am hungry to learn. I’ve been teaching many years and playing for longer, consequently I have a fairly extensive knowledge of repertoire across a good few styles. I can also remember most of the struggles I had when learning which helps both myself and the students, hopefully, when they face similar problems. However, I don’t have this experience as a bassist even though I can happily play my way through most of the grade syllabus (apart from the slap pieces which I’m working on) and some arrangements of classical pieces. All good fun but not much use to an eleven year old struggling with basic technique! Can you remember your early bass experiences? What issues did you face and how did you resolve them? Are there any good books available? There are a few “must have” guitar books, but only a few....Ralph Denyer’s Guitar Handbook; Solo Classical Guitar volumes 1 and 2 by Frederick Noad; The Acoustic Guitar Bible by Eric Roche; Creative Guitar by Guthrie Govan. They cover technique from zero upwards. They also cover theory, scales, chord construction and pretty much everything you need for each style of guitar, and they are well written. I’m looking for advice and thoughts on early experiences, however, all thoughts etc are always welcome. Many thanks for your time. It’s Friday and Rich is kindly loaning me a fretless! What better way to end the week? 😁🍺

I headed straight to the Shuker workshop after seeing it for the first time 🤣

Anything on this list that's missing on ours? Stevie Wonder - Superstition (00:00) Cameo - Word Up (04:30) The Commodores - Brick House (09:05) Rick James - Super Freak (12:32) George Clinton - Atomic Dog (15:53) James Brown - The Payback (20:07) War - Low Rider (27:37) Parliament - Flash Light (30:53) Staple Singers - I'll Take You There (36:40) The Temptations - Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (41:19) Kool And The Gang - Jungle Boogie (53:06) The Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (56:14) Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music White Boy (1:01:07) Brick - Dazz (1:05:21) Average White Band - Pick Up The Pieces (1:10:58) Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (1:14:57) Prince - Little Red Corvette (1:19:20) Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft (1:22:28) Prince - When Doves Cry (1:27:08) Kool & The Gang - Hollywood Swinging (1:30:51) Sly and the Family Stone - Family Affair (1:35:30) James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) (1:38:30) James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (1:41:25) Parliament - Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker) (1:44:08) Hot Chocolate - Sexy Thing (1:49:51) The Meters - Cissy Strut (1:53:55) Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (1:57:02) Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground (2:00:57) Edwin Starr - War (2:04:40) Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (2:08:15) The Winstons - Amen Brother (2:15:40) Prince - Kiss (2:18:17) Earth Wind and Fire - Shining Star (2:22:07)

Well - over the sandwich I decided yes - it could do with a 5mm slimdown. Actually, it will balance the look of the top and the back better. So out came the home-made router rig again: Weight-wise it's broadly where I wanted it to be. Including the heavier bridge, the body is now 3/4lb lighter than the original. That will feel quite different So next job is gluing the top on

Met Josh yesterday to purchase a toy. He went out of his way to meet me half way - very much appreciated. Lovely guy. Thanks Josh!

Nice! Bet it sounds as awesome as it looks! I still find myself hankering over the Trace tone I had (and loved) in the 90's. I should by an old TE amp or combo like this just to satisfy the urge - although it's difficult to justify when I don't really need another amp!

From Barrister to Barrista?

True. 🤣

Bummer, I feel your pain. I remember one of my gigs from years ago, so embarrassing! I was playing a double neck (pretentious, moi?). It was all tuned up ready to go. I didn’t have a stand for it so I laid it flat on an innocent looking black box......which turned out to be the lights. It was so far out of tune when I picked it up to play that I couldn’t rectify the situation as there were 18 strings all out and no reference point! The shame! Still, learnt a valuable lesson and didn’t use the double live again, and checked where all the heat sources were at each venue (my favourite being the real log fire just behind the drummer). i still have gigs that don’t go well but I just swear a bit, play my bass or guitar at home to remind myself why I play, then go do it again (maybe having learnt what went “wrong” and taken steps to avoid it, also accept mistakes happen and are no big deal). Get together with your music partner and play those tunes again, then drink beer and play some more. Then drink more and play some beer; tune some beer and drink s9me play, repeat......

My kinda bass!! I usually struggle to like 'coffee table' styles so this is a breath of fresh air!!!

It's become less essential with each passing year for me, guess that's just age and their apparent continual refusal to accept there's been a healthy modern prog scene in the UK for years. Always used to be the odd programme with nothing that interested me, then it was 2 or 3 in a series. Now it's got to virtually an entire series (last one) with nothing much of interest for me. I haven't even felt enthused enough to check out the ones so far aired in the current series so there could have been a major shift in approach that I've missed but I doubt it. If it stopped I wouldnt miss it at all, so much stuff out there on youtube etc.

Body and neck, however, are more than serviceable - and lightweight too! Out came the Virtuoso cleaner and polish.. it's miracle stuff. Cleaner then Polish and it's quite good Before: After:

Bore oil, fingerboard oil, lemon oil, linseed oil, walnut oil all do the same job, pretty much. I don't need advice about what to clean my fingerboard with. I was just wondering if I could get some more of what I already have. Seems like the answer is either "no" or "here's the answer to a question you didn't ask". Internet...