bassbiscuits

Not a fan of super fancy wood tops - I appreciate they are a work of art but I don’t like the look at all. 
 

I wish I liked Thunderbirds - cool on the eye but awfully uncomfortable for me to play.

And anything with more than five strings just isn’t for me. 
 

22 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Last night Kiss played their last ever show.  That said, I will draw your attention to the final paragraph of my post from 18 months ago. 

 

If only I was a betting man.

I found this all felt very strange over the weekend, but maybe that's just me.

Having grown up listening to Kiss, and seeing them on their final UK dates in the summer, I found myself thinking a lot about their final ever gig, and feeling fairly sad and reflective about it, but also understanding that all things have to end etc.

But then literally finding out at the same moment that they were going to continue as avatars kind of threw me - sort of took away the moment of saying goodbye, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm glad I got to see the real band. I doubt I'd pay big bucks to see a virtual version. 

Solo acoustic gig at the Organ Grinder in Loughborough. Surprised to find it was really busy despite the weather. People came and went throughout the evening but all up for a sing along.
 

Then just towards the end of my second set an influx of about 50 students in antlers and Christmas jumpers piled in so I did the decent thing and launched into non-stop singalong cheesy tunes and the place erupted. It was brilliant, and slightly deafening. 
 

Had a great night of it. Voice is a bit of a mess this morning and fingertips are killing but it’s all for a good cause. 
 

PRICE DROP - now £275.

Summer 2018 - Aguilar GS410, Markbass Little Mark III and a P bass with roundwounds and a pick, turned up very loud at an outdoor gig in Bedfordshire.

Perfect mix for me of grunt and thump plus clarity. Proper trouser-flapping stuff. Nice.

I’m guessing they’d say “he’s a good fretless player…”

I had the same problem with a Markbass cab - took it to the local repair guy who couldn't find anything wrong with the cab or the connectors themselves.

The cable in question was decent quality too, worked with my other cabs, and indeed even in the other connector on the same cab, but it didn't like something.

I've since swapped the cable for a Rockwire OBBM one and all seems ok again, so never really got to the bottom of that one.

Hello,

I’m selling my 2013 Made in Japan Fender Mustang bass. I’ve owned it since 2018 during which time it’s been periodically gigged, mainly as a back up to my P bass, but always well cared for.
 

Cream white, with a lovely dark rosewood fretboard. I swapped the brown tort scratchplate for a white one but will include both in the sale. 
 

It was set up with medium/low action by renowned Leicester luthier Howard Smith soon after I bought it and I haven’t had to tweak anything since. 
 

Frets are in really nice condition.
 

There are a couple of minor dings on the body from gigging - nothing serious or unsightly and I’ve tried to show them in the pics. Other than that it’s a really nice, clean, resonant and loud bass!
 

It’s currently strung with Daddario medium scale 105-50 nickel roundwounds with a decent bit of life left in them. 

It’s been a great bass which has done some good gigs in big venues with me (Butlins Minehead 70s weekenders, Bournemouth Pavilion etc) over the last couple of years but I just find I’m not using it anymore except around the house. 

Weighs in at a very comfortable 3.6kg.

Comes with a well-padded Original Gigbag Company gig bag. Bag is a little bit tatty on the inside but clean and perfectly usable.

Looking for £750 which seems pretty fair. 
 

Would prefer collection or meeting up, but will post within the UK at cost. No trades as I’m cutting back on kit.

I am based in South Leicestershire but travel to Derby every Wednesday if that helps. 
 

Cheers. 

Really cool gig as part of the Andy Wales Blues Band at the Donkey in Leicester, playing a mix of originals and well-chosen covers. 
 

We’ve only done about half a dozen gigs so far and most have been support slots etc. This was I think our second or third full-length gig, but it was nicely busy in there. 
 

We went down a storm! We’ve been making a point of rehearsing every week which combined with our familiarity of each others playing styles means we are really on it in terms of being tight and interacting with each other. It also means we bring at least one or two new songs to each gig to keep it fresh. 
 

I’ve previously gone straight for Precision Bass with flatwounds for this sort of gig, but last night opted for Yamaha BB604 with lots of active growl and punch which worked a treat and added a new dimension to it. 

Some very nice things said to us afterwards from the audience, so really buzzing. Feels great!

My older brother had some friends who played in a local teenage band, which inspired him to also start learning guitar. I wanted to be a drummer but had neither the space or the money, so settled instead on bass, (partly to annoy my older brother too). 
 

It was the mid-1980s - the era of the double live LP gatefold sleeve, and pictures of Steve Harris, Gene Simmons et al in full flight onstage just made me instantly realise “Wow. I want to do that!”

NOW SOLD - cheers.
 

Bought this just last month from fellow Basschatter Geoff90Guitar with a view to running it with my other Markbass Traveller 121H cab as a portable 2x12 rig. 
 

It sounds great but alas I prefer my existing combination of 1x12 and 2x10 as seen in the background here. 
 

It’s an Italian-made cab, clean and in really great condition. These 1x12s seem to come up less often than the more common 2x10, 4x10 or 1x15 cabs. 
 

I find 12” speakers to be right in the sweet spot of adding some warmth to a pair of 10” speakers, while being smaller and more portable than a 15”.  
 

Haven’t even had a chance to gig it yet, but shortage of money, car repairs needed and the fact I’ve already got a few other Markbass cabs means I’m moving this one on. 

PRICE DROP to £250.

Prefer to meet up somewhere suitable or collection if you want to try it out first (you're more than welcome obviously). I’m in south Leicestershire but travel to Derby fairly regularly if that's any help.  
 

Nice one. 

Most of the rock and metal I grew up listening to 30 years ago doesn’t really float my boat any more to be honest. I’d very rarely choose to listen to any of it. 
 

On the other hand I’ve been getting back into EDM/house/techno on my weekly motorway commute (aka a traffic jam) which I was well into back in the day.
 

But I’m realising that most of the new stuff I’m buying isn’t grabbing my attention either - seems I’ve already experienced the heyday of good dance music in the early/mid 1990s. Hmm. 
 

One bass is cool. I only started looking for a second bass when my P needed a refret and I was doing pub gigs so bought a back up, which I kept when the P was repaired.

If you’re not gigging and/or needing a back up for a temperamental vintage instrument then one bass is fine. 

There’s two issues aren’t there. The fact it’s badly paid / unpaid and the fact the venue isn’t any good anyway.

Ive happily done gigs for free / pocket money with original bands to get that practice and get us gigging - but they’ll be worthwhile things like local festivals, support slots etc. 

Empty pubs, rubbish venues etc. Barely worth the effort even for paid gigs let alone unpaid ones. 
 

Yeah cheers folks. I bit the bullet and bought the second 1x12 cab that was up for sale to make a 2x12 rig. And so far so good. 
 

I’ve got a blues trio gig on the weekend at which Im intended to give the rig its first outing - some of it is straight P bass with flats territory, but some is flailing on a Mustang with distortion etc, so I’m interested to see how this sounds. 
 

At moderate levels in my back room it sounds slightly smoother, warmer and a tad quieter than my usual 4x10 or 1x12 + 2x10 arrangement, just in terms of how much air it’s pushing. 
 

But I’m confident it will sound good. 

You'll be mighty glad of it come the depths of winter. That's if you've got enough money left over to switch it on...

I just try to relax and enjoy it for what it is - entertainment and fun.

I get a lot of nervous energy before a gig but I try to channel it into giving it some welly once we go back onstage.

Being prepared in terms of knowing the material as band helps; it’s not fun to be distracted or worrying about someone making a mistake or not playing a bit the way you want it - so ironing those things out in the rehearsal room mean you can enjoy the moment more onstage. 
 

Physically trying to relax a bit can be hard - I can feel the tension in my shoulders and forearms and hands sometimes which then just impacts on my playing, so really focusing on unclenching those is good. I used to do a lot of jiu jitsu and still use many of the warm up stretches before a gig to loosen my neck, shoulders, wrists and hands.
 

And if things go wrong, don’t stress too much. It’s live music at the end of the day - every gig will have some wrong bits in it, whether it’s the sound onstage, the crowd, fluffed lines etc, not all of which you can control. But if you do your homework and be tight and confident as a band, those other variables will have less chance of derailing you.
 

You’re a frontman with a T-bird - that’s a pretty cool

situation yeah?  

16 minutes ago, Rayman said:

I have to admit, that live, I really struggle to stay calm and focused with my bass playing. Yes, I’m the singer/frontman, but, in rehearsals I’m calm and enjoy my playing a lot more than during a gig, where the adrenaline kicks in and frankly my technique goes to s***. 

How do the rest of you control your live playing?

 

 

Looks like it’s going pretty well in that pic

Just back from playing a birthday party in Nuneaton. Personally was looking forward to it as a chance to test drive my recently-acquired Yamaha BB604 number 2. Fun crowd who were right up for it, and a tasty spread of food. 
Oh and the Yamaha sounded great too. 

Began playing in 1986 and did first gig for a Xmas party in school in 1988. 

I'm a bit of a Markbass fan I must say, having reached the age where weight/size/portability are a consideration.

I've been pairing a couple of their little Traveller cabs into a compact rig - a TRV102P and a TRV121 - which sounds good.

Been thinking now of trying a pair of TRV121 cabs for a modular 2x12 set up.

A quick Google gave precisely no results for that set up - so just wondering if anyone has used a pair and how they found it.

I play loud and am a bit of a heavy-handed baboon of a player, but so far the MB stuff has stood up well to my less-than-refined approach.

In answer to my own question, I emailed Markbass with the serial numbers and got a reply back which is cool. 
 

Turns out my cabs are all from 2006-2009. 
 

Can’t understand how the serial numbers say that, so in some senses it’s all still a mystery 🤷🏼‍♂️

I won’t lose sleep over it. 

I wanted a T bird for many years - the coolest looking bass ever. 
Imagine my horror when I tried one and found it was the most uncomfortable playing position ever for me. Im just completely the wrong shape for it. 
Absolutely gutted. 

Still think they look cool tho. 

Nothing this year on NYE itself. Doing a gig a couple of days before on December 29, but NYE will be with family this time around.

Two of the bands I’m in are regular dep jobs, so I play whatever the band has decided upon. 
 

The other band I play in does a mix of covers and originals, so we all chip in with ideas for both, with the understanding that if it isn’t working for the greater good then we leave it out generally. 
 

We’ve got an agreement to be open with each other about it and not take it badly if something doesn’t work. 
 

So far so good