bassbiscuits

Raise the strap a bit to lessen the angle on your fretting hand's wrist? I've gradually raised mine over the years (when i was 20 i didn't want to know, but now I'm 45 comfort is becoming an issue). It certainly makes fretting easier and seems to balance the instrument better too (more of it in constant contact with me). Worth a go innit?

I sometimes use the following set up for big gigs when I need everything I can muster! Markbass LM2 into a Schroeder 1210 (4ohm). Another Markbass LM3 into an Aguilar GS410 (also 4ohm). Using any pedal with two outputs to split the signal (i think it was a chorus pedal switched off at the time). Sounds massive and very satisfying!

Aye - hiscox lite flite are the industry standard for strong hard cases that are still light enough to carry easily. Otherwise, semi rigid gig bag crossovers such as Protec Contego and the Gator equivalent are both very good - decent protection (but less strong than a Hiscox) lots of pockets and straps to carry on your back. Ive had both but just have the Hiscox now. It's more protection than I need usually, but handy for the rare occasions I need to fly with a bass in the hold.

I started in 1986, mainly to annoy my older brother who had decided to learn guitar. I wanted drums, didn't have the space or money, and bass was the compromise. Plus I fancied the Kay bass my best mate's brother had left behind when he went to uni. My dad stumped up HP payments on stuff for me and my brother, from Picton Music in Swansea. My bass was a £60 short scale, white, plywood Satellite bass (identical to the pic below I found online) and a 5-watt Badger Piccolo practice amp also for £60. We paid my dad back from our paper rounds. I also bought a book by Jim Gregory and Harvey Vinson called 'Bass Guitar' which had a floppy 7" single in the back, with tuning notes and a few 12-bar songs to play along with. Did the job tho. Both bits of kit long long gone tho. The bass was bad even at the time let alone nowadays.

Does it count if i buy a bass for someone else? Got my lad a little Tanglewood bass last month, and collecting it from my dad in a couple of weeks. How do I stand? I must confess i bought a secondhand strap too, to replace one that was literally falling apart. I'm on shaky ground - its only finances that's keeping me in check at the mo!

I had two of these in the late 80s and they were decent basses - really well built and solid sounding bits of kit. I've got a soft spot for getting one for old time's sake.

Tom Petty's death shocked me. Loads of his songs have soundtracked various bits of my life and it was genuinely out of the blue when my missus told me he'd died. Also Michael Hutchence. I was well into INXS at the time and he seemed to have it all with looks, fame, money, great band and celeb girlfriends etc. I know there was a lot of other stuff being reported at the time but i never saw it coming. Goes without saying that Freddie was an incredible loss but for some reason it wasn't shocking at the time - maybe I was too young.

Interesting thread. I bought a brand new old shape passive California TT4 a few years ago and initially loved it. By far the best neck and best off the peg intonation/set up etc I've ever bought. Didn't need to touch it at all. Light as a feather too and lovely authentic light relicing. But.... I couldn't get on with the sound onstage. Just felt too lightweight and scooped sounding - lovely by itself but a bit lost in a band. The whole thing was a bit polite and new sounding for me. I wish I'd persisted a bit longer, maybe swapped the pickups etc. As it was I got impatient and traded it in for something else after about a year. Hmm.

Nothing wrong with acoustic gigs at all Blue. I love the challenge of reinterpreting songs into really good acoustic numbers, and selecting (or even writing) material to do with an ear for it being performed acoustically. As I'm getting older I'm finding singing in an acoustic setting is a lot easier than trying to howl over a loud band. And there's some surprising mileage in easing off the gas a bit on some loud songs and discovering a whole new quiet, sparse acoustic version in there too. Enjoy it!

Ah the age old conundrum of playing stuff you actually like, vs playing something you think is rubbish just cos punters like it. Me? I make sure there's plenty of songs in my set that people know and like, but nothing I actually dislike. Life's too short to play songs you don't like. Plenty of good ones out there. EDIT: This doesn't apply to depping obvs - there you just have to decide whether you like the band/material enough to do it.

Those songs aren't really that shameful. You want to try looking interested while playing Wonderwall for the zillionth time...

I've had brilliant mileage out of a set of NYXLs I've had on a bass for about two years. They've done about half a dozen gigs and lots of rehearsals and still sound decent. Not as bright as new but I'm not ready to change them yet. I find the regular D'Addario EXL165 nickels great too. Weirdly the first set I had went dead really quickly after a sweaty gig, but every other set of them had been fantastic. Makes me wonder if something happened at that gig which I wasn't told about...

Nice one man. Sounds great.