Lozz196

I found Warwick Red Labels to be of similar roughness to Rotosounds, but with the added bonuses of being nearly half the price and lasting at least twice as long.

Precision Lyte, and at present there’s a Japanese Precision at Bassdirect that’s less than 8lbs.

Yep, local church halls were where I practised with various bands as a teenager, with whatever guitars/amps/speakers/drums/cymbals we managed to get our hands on. Similar experiences with Woolies as well, every Saturday morning would go in there and look at the guitars and amps, even though we had a proper music shop (Mr Music) just around the corner. The guitars in Woolies at £40 - £50 in the early 80s were within dreamable reach for a teenager, the £400 ones in Mr Music were def not.

A few years back it would have been slim neck profile, now I can’t get enough of those boot-lace Jazz necks. Funny old game.

It’s funny, a few years back we got chatting to some guys who’d just watched us and they said we were great but were terrified of looking at me, seeing I was staring the audience out, and didn’t want to risk annoying me and possibly provoking a row. I was looking at the audience to see if they were enjoying the performance, so duly made note to self to remember to smile more when playing 😁

Well of your choices the Fender Rumble 500 gets a lot of love on here, plenty loud enough for gigging and is apparently quite lightweight too - but not in sound I should add, they have a great meaty sound and pair really well with a Precision. Might be worth checking out Ashdown though, their RM combos are similar to the Rumbles in power/size/weight but you get the Ashdown sound (which I prefer) and the bonus of great UK based customer service should any faults develop.

The Black Bull perhaps?

As well as a clever science theory which is probably more accurate, I think it could be that the majority of bassists/bass lines that we seem to like, in isolation are clanky, buzzy, driven and not very well defined. So if that’s what many like, advise to set the amp accordingly.

The majority of the places we played that were dedicated music venues were separate rooms attached to pubs so I wonder how this will work. Strictly speaking they’re part of the pub, even though unless you had paid for a ticket you couldn’t go into the venue part. Confusing methinks, can’t see said band in this room of the building for free but can in that room if bought a ticket?

No fretboard markers Gold hardware Pointy or upside down headstocks Only the first has any actual reasoning to it, I need all the help I can get when playing so markers are essential.

I used to use the 100Hz slider on my ABM600 for the low end so that I was adjusting the same frequencies as on my RM500.

It sounds great, full of the Ashdown tone & warmth, a job well done there @Merton

I’m sorted bass-wise, so it would be an Ashdown ABM 1200 EVO-IV with matching 810, a Volkswagen Transporter Van to cart it around, and the salary of the two roadies required to get it into the venues for me.

They could do fogging, you spray a fine liquid into the area and it provides a micro-thin layer that destroys many pathogens including COVID-19. It lasts for 30 days, and the areas are safe to enter/use 15 minutes after it’s done.

Sansamp Para Driver is worth checking out, more versatile than the Bass Driver as it has sweepable adjustable mids.

Well we did it on Weds, I ad-libbed a lot of the fills but it was passable given I only started learning it last Sat (and didn’t know the song at all until then). I’ll get it, an just glad the guys suggested it, it’s a great song and really good to play, although there are a lot of fills to me they’re supportive and really add to the feel.

Ply her with fine wines and Belgian chocolates, as per Swiss Toni of The Fast Show.

That was pretty much what I did, I’d bought some pretty decent hi end gear and was completely satisfied with it. And then I played through a years old Ashdown ABM stack at a festival and it hit me like the proverbial, old, cheaper heavyweight gear was better for the sound I wanted.

In 2 x Fender US Professional Jazz basses and 1 x Fender Deluxe Active Precision Out Musicman Stingray, Fender US Standard Precision, Fender Player Precision, Squier VM77 Jazz, Squier Telecaster Deluxe, Ashdown ABM600, ABM210, ABM410. I think I’m ahead on outs.

When I’ve done string-thru on my basses I’ve thought that the tone was less twangy.

Nice

“Nothing grabs him” well as the singer he should realise that although songs need great riffs, it’s in general the vocal melodies that are put over them that sell the songs. Which is his job, you’ve done your bit, it’s now over to him to get his creativity in gear. Maybe that’s the problem?

Good news Ash, enjoy the bass (I have one of these and they really are very good indeed).