Leaderboard

It's not strictly a new bass day but I recently received two basses in quite quick succession and I think they're both very worthy of a new bass day post. I've chatted with a few people on here about them (most because they were wondering what was enough to part me from Cog pedals) and I said I would put this post up when I'd spent time with both basses. I've been lucky enough to play some of the basses I've dreamed about over the last few years but one that's been firmly etched on the list of dream basses and one which I never thought I would actually own is a Ritter Roya 5-string. Owing to some fortunate timing and very optimistic book-keeping I was recently able to welcome this beautiful bass, named by Jens Ritter as The Red Line. It has an alder body, poplar burl top, black flamed maple fingerboard and Ritter's parametric preamp and triplebucker pick-ups. The neck is maple, it's built to a 35-inch scale and it's been given an arresting paint job that gives the bass its name (more photos below). The preamp and pick-up combination is extremely flexible so it's hard to say precisely what the signature tone is (it reminds me of a Pope preamp in terms of flexibility) but I've been having a lot of fun seeing what sounds I can dial in. I've tried to write the details in a matter-of-fact way but the result is absolutely mesmerising. The bass was exhibited at Guitar Summit in Mannheim a couple of months ago and it's one of the most beautiful basses I've seen in person (although I expect I'm horribly biased here). I should say too that Jens Ritter was very patient in answering all of my questions too, particularly as I was mithering him just before Guitar Summit. Here are a few more photos of it: Knowing the Ritter was coming was incredibly exciting but I was just as excited a few weeks later when my lovely wife went above and beyond (and beyond again) and surprised me with the most amazing gift for one my my milestone birthdays: a Dingwall AB II that I had been enamoured with since I first saw it (and which may look familiar to some on here). It's an incredibly generous gift and, frankly, I'm going to have to try much harder for birthdays and have my work cut out at Christmas. It has a chambered walnut body, wenge fretboard and, unusually for a Dingwall, an ovangkol neck. It has three FDV pick-ups and a Glockenklang preamp. It was originally built for NAMM but was instead tweaked and sent to George Baldwin (Hilltide). Here he is using it far better than I could ever hope to: I love the rustic colouring and styling of the bass on the modern-ish body and it sounds magical: it's got a deep growl but is very articulate. It's a wonderful bass all round and it's a nice thought that this will forever be the birthday bass. A few more photos:

Major finger breakthrough today; suddenly a load of feeling seems to have come back (it's very itchy!). I'm playing my bass and can feel the pressure in the tip again for the first time when fretting. I think the itching is just the unused nerves firing up again. I can feel the winds of my strings with it, which I couldn't before.

These look fun! 30" scale, two humbuckers, matching headstocks, roasted maple neck, laurel fingerboard, poplar body. The website claims a weight of around 3.6kg and £449. Controls are apparenlty Volume, Tone, Master Tone. Seems like a possible mistake on the website - unless they've done the Keanu wiring? https://www.shergoldguitars.com/the-basses/telstar-bass.html

Moving this to build diaries.

Jazz Bass 1971 i think I purchased it 1994(?) have played hundreds of gigs with this instrument It’s slightly older than I am and in equally rough condition

I dropped in a Tbird style humbucker. Much closer.

Here's my 2 entries 1964 Hofner and 1973 P bass

I think you may be (1) taking me too seriously and (2) have a very narrow view of what opportunities there are for developing bass playing skills. Sight reading has only one purpose- to be able to play something you have no prior knowledge as was intended. This is a great skill and one I regret I will never have as I appear to have a type of dysmusia that prevents me interpreting pitch visually. But for 90% of bass players this is not a significant barrier to their musical development, and the effort and application required can get in the way of developing other skills. For most performance it doesn't matter if you learn pieces by ear, tab or notation. If you want to drop into a jam and join in, being able to improvise a bassline in an appropriate style is probably the most valuable skill. Theory helps a lot with that. The sad emoji was how I felt when once again someone suggested to a beginner that they tackle something that has killed the joy in music for do many people. I can't count the number of times I beat my head against notation when trying to learn various instruments. Thank goodness I discovered you could take the theory from tutorials without having to read the notation (largely by visualising a piano keyboard which makes sense to me in a way a stave never will). Maybe I am biased as I am used to learning things by determination and effort, and musical notation is the one thing I have battered against as much as anything else without success. No doubt you have more expertise than me, most people on Basschat probably do. But I do have fifty or more year's experience of learning music, including lessons of all sorts.

Fan tas tic !!

For me, playing with others is still the best way to improve as you don’t always understand what isn’t working, timing etc. by playing along to recordings so ideally join a band, or at least jam with others. Hopefully the musicians who are supportive in your efforts to improve. As to how to learn, try to find what works for you. I know of brilliant musicians who can sight read anything, but can’t play happy birthday without music, and equally talented musicians who can’t read a note. There is no right way. Some people need a teacher, others not. everyone is different and as a result, what works brilliantly for them may be hopelessly flawed for you. finally, a personal beef, unless you are playing in a covers band, why do we beat ourselves up trying to play the exact notes on a recording? So it’s either right, or wrong and so making the player a failure if it’s not as good as the original. Do your own version. Far better to play simpler in the groove than harder out of it. Success to me is getting people tapping their feet or hands along, even better spontaneously dancing. Mostly happens when locked in with the drummer, much easier with a simple line than a harder one. Rant over….

Join a band. Nothing moves your playing forward as much as interacting with other musicians.

Well, this arrived via FedEx today. Sorry there's only one fairly mediocre pic, I'll update with more and more detailed views later. All I've done so far is tune her up, but first impressions are really good, which is just as well, because I had to bite the bullet of £200 to get it shipped to the UK. Everything from the neck joint to the fret ends seems great - quality control must have been on their game; and the satin finish neck aches to be played fast (that won't happen!). I've yet to weigh her, but I'm guessing under 8lb - again, more exact info later. The hardest thing has been explaining to my other half why I need yet another bass 🤣 So far, I'm well chuffed.

I think I really do need to redress the balance here a bit. Yes I read as do many others, but yes I also play by ear .. a lot and Im sorry my input has caused so much offence to so many. To the OP. There are many ways to learn bass guitar, and what ever suits you will be the best way for you...

A small update, I currently have a loan of this lovely Boosey Hawkes Excelsior 50/2 care of our own @Blartfactor10. Based on my initial fumblings I believe she may well be staying with me in exchange for a very reasonable sum of beer vouchers 😎

I have a Meteora as my main bass. Excellent tone and the best sustain I've felt in a while. Totally suits me and my style (love offset waists). I've gone for the snazzy 'Tequila Sunrise' Not touched it from factory set up apart from new strings, and all still feels great. When I tried it in a shop the pick ups ran 'hot' and overdriven on full. But, I've never had that on my own rig. No neck dive, although I have a grippy strap made from a firemans hose! I absolutely adore mine!

As promised, some more pix, including one which shows the bass is heavier than it felt, at 3.9Kg (8lb 9oz). There's absolutely no neck dive on a strap though - everything feels very stable. Tme to get playing - so far, I can say it's very resonant acoustically, but I have yet to explore the (lack of) tonal options. If I'm feeling daring, I might even upload a sound sample when I get a moment.

Agreed. By the same token if you don't like the sound of what you have don't try to improve on it by adding another cab. Start off with something you do like.

Those look like OEM versions of the 12PR300, so it's highly unlikely they were at fault. The PR320 isn't much better, if at all. You'd have to go FH520 for that. I'd have the old ones re-coned.

Try to Incorporate interpretive dance into your practice routine. You never know when it might come in handy.

OK, no worries. If you're content to continue the use of your, what can be construed as 'abrasive', manner, carry on. Peace.

Hurtsfall played at a private party in Wolverhampton which was more like a mini goth festival. It was the 50th birthday of a well-know person on the "scene" and she had asked us and 5 other great bands if we would play. We were on first and tasked with getting the event started, which I think we managed although the room didn't really fill up until a couple of hours later. Didn't play as well as we did on Tuesday (but I think that was an exceptional performance) but no-one in the audience seemed to notice and that included several people who are now very familiar with our music. Sold a ton of merch and then were able to relax and enjoy the other bands. Because we were staying until the end, we'd booked a hotel which turned out to be less than salubrious. I don't know what else was happening in Wolverhampton but even 6 months before the gig it was impossible to get anywhere decent and close to the city centre for what I would call typical "Premier Inn" hotel rates. Everywhere with rooms was either miles away, crap or stupidly expensive. However that was the only downer of the weekend. Obligatory live pics (there may be more later): Next gigs are in two week's time in Sheffield on 23rd November as part of the In The Bl4ck Mid-Winter Festival and then on the Sunday in Nottingham playing a Rock Against Racism weekender.

Another weekend, another new venue. Played at the Railway Club in Keith last night with Nine Lives. Have you ever rocked up to a venue, only to wonder if it's even open? We feared the worst when the drummer and I arrived first and parked up outside. Tiny door which looks like it should be a side door or something turns out is the main door - pub is actually upstairs. Ugh, stairs, where are the roadies when you need them? So we recce the place and it's empty - save for a guy at the bar with an acoustic guitar playing it, who turned out to be someone we auditioned to be our singer but rejected. I did wonder if this would be awkward. Thankfully, it was not - he was bang up for a good night and came up and said hi afterwards, no hard feelings, good vibes only. Anyhoo, we get set up and just before we start, some people thankfully came in and it grew from there. Turns out there was some sort of fireworks display that night which explains the absence of folk at the start of the evening. It quickly filled up, ended up with a good crowd - it's not a big place by any means but the beauty of that meant that the 40-ish folk who were there seemed like way more. We had a fantastic sound, place was tiny so I didn't even bother with the PA, just used my bass rig to provide the boom on its own. We played really well, no major bloopers. Got lots of good feedback after and the landlord was impressed so hopefully we'll be back. It's a bit of a trek, but I'll travel far to play to an enthusiastic and appreciative audience. Gear: Sire D5 then Squier Jag H (or the ATJ as someone suggested on LowEndLobster's discord server), into the Markbass terrible twosome.

Nice little stripped down acoustic gig up in the wilds of Northumberland at the fantastic Star Inn Harbottle. Despite my Satnav taking me on a magical mystery tour it was a great night, and booked back for two gigs next year - job done 😎

We played the Apple and Parrott in Torquay last night. They have their own PA, lights and sound guy which is great. I also park at work which is a 1 minute walk away. It started off a bit quieter than usual but really kicked off in the second set with the audience getting right into it. It was mostly the guys going for it, and a couple of them had some nice words to say afterwards. The sound out front is great, but the stage sound is aways odd. They were a monitor down and it was difficult hear the guitar. Even he was struggling to hear himself. I could hear myself ok but not so much through my rig, but the PA itself, which was pretty epic. At the end of the night I took some of the audience. Another fun night.

They’ve been “going bust” for years - I worked for a chain until 2014, we nearly went bust a few times while I worked there. We had a a turnover of about £4m in my shop for 7/8 years which started to drop off rapidly. They took on some managing director to turn around the fortunes of the company - an “expert in retailing” not a musician who knew business…that was a HUGE error. Things proceeded downward. They set up a side company to combat the online scalpers, the punters knew what the craic was and would (rightfully) get us to match our own prices off the discount site…absolutely mental. They invested heavily in own brand budget stuff, some was excellent for the money, some was absolute garbage - the failure rate on the digital pianos for example was 40% - meaning after all the effort, they would’ve been better off investing that cash in bulk kawai/Casio/Yamaha deals where we would’ve had recourse with warranty support…instead, it all went to the skip. After I left, the company went into the hands of an asset management company who sold the headquarters building and a warehouse they owned. Big accounts were left unpaid, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Roland… they then closed 4 out of 12 shops, bit by bit each shop closed, think they had 4 by 2019. Then at the last bell, a local musician/shop owner bought what was left - the “Iceberg” had already hit and there was no way to turn it around. Online orders unfulfilled, stock was old, arriving damaged with no way to replace as accounts with companies were locked/closed/on hold. The profit margins were shocking, Fender/Roland was 10-15% Gibson was 35% if sold at “street price” but you had to spend/order £50k a month to get that mark up - they would take that £50k a month from the company even if we didn’t order - they would send whatever they had if we didn’t specify. And if we didn’t sell, we had a massive back stock of stuff we had to put in “sale” at 10-15% margin thus rendering the big spend pointless…the 120th anniversary models did not sell well at all (they put a banner at the 12th fret on all models which nobody seemed to want) we sold every piece at a loss…eventually. I’m not surprised music retailers (big ones) are dying off. I went to look at a job in PMT and I think the starting wage was £14.5k plus commission, so you’re never going to retain good staff. I’d been on £15k plus commission ten years previously at the other shop, I’d finished on considerably more. i think specialised retail will survive in pockets, but it’s a risk I’d not be willing to take - I think the target audience is dwindling as guitar-based music is not at the forefront. A good while ago, I was offered the GBBL business - I’m in no position to become a business of any sort (big mortgage, young family)…the romance was definitely there, but realistically the prospect instantly scared me half to death. “How do you make a small fortune in the MI retail industry?” ”start with a huge fortune” Apologies for the essay…

It was my recommendation that leading music helped me. I also found the whole process fun and rewarding. It was great to be able to learn what’s effectively a new language all on my own. It unlocked lots of interesting things. I could play a Bach cello suite, for example. In the end, there’s no real need for me to learn to read music but I did it because I wanted to and enjoyed it. In the end, if it’s not fun, then why bother? Very few of us do this for a living, but we do it because we love it. I like process but others don’t. All good.

It's 4 pickups in fact... 😉

"...and surprised me with the most amazing gift for one my milestone birthdays..." Where to find such a gem? And I don't mean that glorious Ritter, but your astonishing wife. Happy 25th birthday!

I've just done it by downloading the images in each post, then editing the post to use the version I've just downloaded, which tend to be about 1/10th the size

I think it must be a mistake with the controls based on this YT video. Must be VBT or VVT.

My 64 & 65 Jazzes. My 78 Ray still has 3.2 years to go!

This is great advice for somebody who might not have the confidence to join a band or play with other musicians yet. I remember spending between 30 mins and a hour a day, playing along to Radio 1 in the early 80's. It didn't matter what the song was, or even if you liked it. It was about reacting to music and finding the key and the structure purely by ear. A musician with " a good ear" is a valuable commodity indeed.