mcnach

I recently got a Ray35 bass. Two things surprised me a bit: 1) String spacing of 17.5mm does not bother me. 2) The G string does not feel like it's falling off the edge. The spacing was a surprise because I used to not get along with 5-string basses unless they were at least 18mm. Even the 17.5mm of a Stingray5 felt odd. But that was when I was not playing 5-strings much. For the past year and a half I've been playing 5-strings regularly and with that came the realisation that I don't care about the spacing as much as I used to. The 17.5mm spacing actually feels quite good and I might even prefer it to 19mm now, which is not where I was a few years ago. But the thing about teh G string... I remember trying Stingray5 basses a couple of times and feeling the G string was way too close to the edge of the fingerboard. I don't have any issues with the Ray35 (in that respect, it had *other* issues ). It doesn't *look* to me different from what I see on Stingray5 photographs, but it's not a good way to compare them. It's entirely possible that the neck profile/dimensions are not close to what EBMM uses for their Stingray5, of course... Does anybody know how the EBMM Stingray5 and the Ray35 compare with regards to the neck dimensions, and in particular the width of the fingerboard? Here's the Ray35, because why not

I have my preference with regards to string spacing on 4 string basses, but I'm generally happy enough with whatever. However, when it comes to 5 strings, I have/had a very strong preference for wider spacing. At least 18mm but ideally 19mm. Indeed, one of the things putting me off 5-string Stingrays was their narrower spacing (17.5mm). It doesn't sound like much but whenever I tried one I just didn't like it. However, I noticed this is changing and I realised that this is probably because for about 18 months now I've been playing 5 string basses regularly, while before I was just playing once in a while. The reason I started playing 5 strings is that I found one bass that just felt right, for some reason. I've owned all kinds: Squier, G&L, Lakland, Peavey, and a few others, but no, it was a cheap Harley Benton MB5 SBK ('stealth black' Stingray style) that did it. Not sure what it was, certainly not the spacing (16mm), but it sounded nice and it was comfortable... That led to me playing it more and more and I think today I'm equally comfortable on 4 or 5 strings although my muting can still improve a bit on 5 strings. Earlier this year I got a couple more Harley Benton 5 string basses because as I play 5-strings more and more I was starting to miss having a Jazz and Precision sounds available. So I got a JJ-55OP and a JP-55OP, which turned out to be fantastic. They have 18mm spacing, which is great. Then I thought... surely 17.5mm can't be all that different, but I remember not getting along with that, hmmm. I got a Ray35 last week, with the same 17.5mm spacing... and it feels just fine. In fact, I think I even prefer it to wider (19mm) and narrower (16mm), it feels like a 'goldilocks' spacing: wide enough that it doesn't feel too odd when switching from a 4-string, but without feeling cramped. So, it turns out that it wasn't so much that I had a strong preference for wider spacing on 5-string basses... it was just that I was not very comfortable with 5-string basses at all, so the less the geometry changed from what I was used to, the better. That old thread on TalkBass about Sterling Ball 'experiment' offering a 19mm spacing Stingray seems like a lot of nothing, really, from today's perspective. Anyone else found the same?

I don't play many 'solos', but once when I was asked I just stood there smiling, looking at the audience from side to side... then I struck one big fat note (whatever was the root at the time) and let it ring, trying to look very pleased with myself. People laughed (with me, I hope, not at me!) and we moved on.

Come on, only 18 more to go! scratch that, 17

Not sure which PJ are you are referring to, but if you mean the JP-55OP, those have a wider string spacing, yes. I'm the same as you with regards to the MB-5 SBK, it's narrower than I'd prefer. I got used to it (used it live at the weekend for the first time at last, no issues at all) but I feel more at home with a wider spacing. The neck is wide enough so I considered replacing the bridge with something a bit wider but I never did. It's a possibility, if spacing is uncomfortable.

That's the one! Tickled Trout not 'ticking'

No, it's the Ticking Trout now.

Hmmm... Try again

Exactly. It makes me a little sad when I see the comments "but is he in a band?", "technically brilliant but is he a musician?"... Yup, I'm sure he'd be completely lost playing Sex On Fire at the Red Lion on Saturday night... Come on guys...

love it!

I know what you mean, I've been there... and I still have to learn! BUt what helped me was simply... listening to a LOT of reggae, both in quantity but also in diversity. While, for instance, funk came very easy to me, I think it was because I had listened to a lot of it over many years, but by contrast I only heard about Bob Marley and a handful others when I first wanted to play reggae. So I started listening to a lot of it, Spotify was quite useful for that but there's tons on YouTube too. Eventually it gets into your brain and you start to 'get' it: the notes, and the phrasing which is the most important I think.

Honestly, I've shimmed a few basses in my time and I never noticed any problems. I think while the concern makes sense mechanically, in practice it must be negligible. I used thin card, like the one business cards are made from, sometimes even thinner. You really don't need much, just a 1cm wide strip placed at the bottom of the neck pocket will have a small but noticeable effect.

Not quite the same, but they could be family , similar 'socks' too She's my girlfriend's cat, but since we moved together she prefers to come to me for playtime. When we first met, the cat wanted nothing to do with me. She peed in my shoe once during the first month. After that I'd call her "little rusty bullethole" with a very smiley face everytime I saw her... she started to react to that name happily, expecting to play. In her defence, it appears that they had a plumber in that day and he closed the bathroom door where her litter tray is (which was normally kept open when not in use) so I guess she was looking for an alternative and chose "the foreign object"

are you new here?

+1 This, for any bass.

Years ago I got an LMT800 when my main amp was an LMIII. I thought the additional 300W would mean I'd notice it being able to get noticeably louder. It really didn't. It was probably louder, as the different rating would suggest, but I didn't think it was significant enough to warrant switching to an 800W amp just for that. I ended up selling the LMT800 because I liked the sound of the LMIII better. I used the same speaker cabs with the amplifiers: 1 or 2 Barefaced Big Baby 2.

This is my MB-5 SBK. Stock except for the pickguard (can you tell I despise tort? ). I love this bass. It's passive but I don't feel the urge to mess with that, it sounds great as it is. I was recently going over a bunch of little demos I did last year and there was one in particular that I thought "ah, I love that Stingray, it sounds so good" then I heard a low D... "hmm, I do have a Hipshot D-tuner thingy on my Stingray but I don't recall having used it in ages"... and then a low B... ah! It was the Harley Benton 5 string!!! Nut needed some attention as it was cut slightly too tall, and the fret ends were a little sharp. Both issues were sorted easily in about 30 minutes. I wish the string spacing were a bit wider, as the fingerboard has room for it, but it's a really nice bass to play regardless. This is the bass that finally made me appreciate 5-string basses and now I'm comfortable playing 4/5-ers equally.

My first gigging bass amp was a Behringer BX4500H. It did a very good job. Recently I played at a venue in Glasgow where they provided backline and it was... a BX4500H. It still sounded good to these ears!

Ritchie Blackmore was probably the reason I wanted a cream Stratocaster. I ended up with... a Richie Sambora Stratocaster No, it wasn't a matter of getting the wrong Ri(t)chie, but the Sambora one had a humbucker at the bridge and a Floyd Rose, both of which I really like. So yeah, my first Stratocaster was a Richie Sambora signature (that I still have, 26 years later), purely because it was the right colour and it had the right pickup/bridge combination. I still tried to play more like Ritchie than Richie and managed to get close to neither

I've got 3, and my girlfriend 1... This is her PB-20 SBK. I had to replace the tuners because when I changed the strings (it's her bass, but I'm her 'tech' ) one of the tuners' gears just got all chewed up. This particular alloy of iron and cheese was not very good. Also changed the original tort pickguard to a single ply black, and put DR Red Neon string on it. The strings are much brighter in person but they're so hard to photograph! The cat hates the sound of the bass, but she's intrigued by it at the same time... Great neck, very low action, and I like the sound of that pickup... it just sounds like a Precision should, with a really nice low mid growl to it.

If you're all agreeing to prepare something and someone (guitarist now) doesn't prepare, I find that disrespectful at least: that person is essentially saying "yeah, my time is worth more than yours". Not sure you'll be able to change somebody's attitude. It sounds like you've tried and it is not working. Continuing to press the matter will only annoy you and them. I'd move on. If there's one thing I'd like to tell my younger self when I started out playing in bands, it would be "don't waste your time with people who aren't on the same page". I know it seems hard, you've invested time and quitting to start again seems like such a drag... but if you don't you won't be in a better band. Once I lost my 'fear' to quit, it was amazing. Audition all you can, talk to others... even if you don't join a band after an audition it'll expose you to other people, and networking is really important. I found my main band (12 years with them) like that. I was already in a covers band, and we had a guitarist audition. After a couple of practices he quit, but we stayed in touch and I knew about his other band. Then a while later they needed a bass player and the rest is history. You never know. The one thing you know, for sure, is that if you stay with a band that doesn't really do it for you and you don't do anything to get out of there, you won't be happy. Having said this... it's not always necessary to quit quit. If you have the time and the inclination, nothing is stopping you from finding another band and keep both going. If one day it becomes too much, you may need to make a decision, but until then... You could keep this band as it is, and see it as a way to play with a different set of people and learn different things. If you then take it as a low commitment band, perhaps it becomes more fun too. Meanwhile, keep looking for something better. Playing with a range of different people with different idiosyncrasies, tastes, skill level, is a very good way to grow as a bass player.

About that burnt bass, from Tony himself: https://papabear.com/miscpages/fire.htm

Richie Blackmoor???

I could use any of the 5, to be honest, although #1 and #3 sounded more the way I like it, and #4 and #5 not as much (especially #5). Nice example of the variation of 'Precision' style sounds while still sounded clearly Precisionesque.

I doubt it has much/anything to do with the temperature. A lot of people use these amps in locatons where this is just normal summer temperatures, and not that hot. However... playing outside tends to mean you need to pump out the bass harder than usual (as others mentioned, you usually lose wall reinforcement among other things) so I suspect you were trying to get more from those cabs than they're ok to give. Especially if you used a single Two10. I use a couple generally, with a Mesa D800... it's great, it's loud... but outdoors without reinforcement they can only do so much. A single cab I would not consider other than for use as monitors.