martin8708

I seem to recall Macaris had a " bass cellar " where all the bass guitars where downstairs in some dark dank part of the shop . When I lived in London in the 80's I visited Denmark street very regularly , all shop staff treated you with contempt unless you had the signature long hair / tattoos / denim / record company interest . It's a shame that another retailer is gone , but with poor customer service and poor value for money , is it really a surprise?

I picked up. JV Strat quite a few years ago and it will never leave , Custom Shop strats have come and gone , but the JV is still the guitar I pick up. Another future collectable? , how about the Yamaha BB 1200/2000 range . I have had 3 1200's , I stupidly sold them in pursuit of the ideal Fender P bass , but as Joni Mitchell sang , " you don't know what you've got , till its gone "

Emerson / Lake / Palmer . Have to agree with the Police and Rush . Mr Big are pretty tight too .

Just received a Gator amp bag , well packed and promptly sent. Many thanks for the smooth deal . Martin.

A Squier Classic Vibe Mustang bass in March lockdown , I was furloughed for 12 weeks , so I thought it would be a good sofa bass. An Ashdown 30watt Stubby from Ashdown when they were selling them off at half price in May , still haven't really given it a bit of welly yet as all gigs were cancelled. Secondhand ground wound strings for Mustang bass.

For me , the Amy Winehouse /Ronson version of Valerie . Good bass stuff in Lemonheads Mrs Robinson ( Simon + Garfunkel ) Previously mentioned , Clash - I fought the law .

I have played with a few guitarists who were capable bass players . On occasion when we do an instrument swap for a bit of fun , they always play with picks , plays lots of fancy fills and runs , and are always very pleased to hand the bass back after a song or two . ( which is kind of reassuring for me )

My parents bought my two sisters fairly basic classical guitars , I used to "borrow" one of the guitars and their instructional books to try and teach myself basic chords and strumming techniques , my sisters weren't really interested in playing them , so I had unlimited access to a guitar . My parents weren't really supportive about any of my activities , I used to race kayaks to a high level , they were suprised when I came home with a medal . But on the other hand ,they never curtailed me , I was given freedom to follow my interests . My dad said he would have bought me a complete set of golf clubs if I showed interest in golf , but no help for anything musical at all.

I bought a White / tort guard CV Mustang at the beginning of the lockdown , a sort of comfort purchase to mainly use for the hours I would be on the sofa. As previously said , the overall finish is very good , the tuners turn very easily , despite tightening the screws at the back , so any knocks detune the bass. The neck is narrow and slim , not much meat on it ,bit of a change if you are used to a Precision .The sound is different to a P Bass, thinner , bit more treblely , doesn't quite have the authority of a good P bass sound , but I'm sure a playaround with your amp EQ will get some good tones . As I bought the bass during the lockdown , I haven't had the chance to gig it ,or give it a good blast through a bass rig . My main worry was how good / or poor the fretwork would be on a cheap bass, I'm happy to report fretwork is very tidy , no sharp edges and the neck feels smooth when going up and down the neck . The laurel fretboard is quite pleasing to the eye , nice bit of grain on mine .I'm not sure if I will adjust to the 30 inch scale , it feels positively strange , I keep going back to a regular bass , it just may take some time to come round to it . For about £300 , you get a well finished , very playable instrument ( stick some flats on it ) , if you cannot get on with it , I'm sure it will sell pretty quickly with the current trend of short scale mania going on at the moment . Hope this helps .

I like a bit of Nylon . Apologies for the low grade picture .

I have a Tube 800 MB amp which is used to power a Vanderkley 212 cab , my Markbass cabs seemed to struggle in a two guitar rock band. Use a AE whizzy 12 with a Momark 250 for smaller gigs , nice compact and full sounding rig .

Bands - Queen , unless by some miracle you have found another Freddie . Song - Hotel California .

Welcome to my current band . So far so good , but I do charge extra for taxi service's and relationship councilling .

Things haven't improved since , Neil Young was the Sunday Headliner for the Isle of Wight festival a few years back , reports were everybody starting leaving early and the fireworks that normally close the festival at 11 pm went off at 10:30 ..

I am slowly becoming a convert to using shops to sell any high-end gear on commission sale . Takes all the hassle of low-ballers , tyre kickers and people who go " radio silent " once they've agreed to buy your gear .Quite often the better price the shop gets offsets the commission they charge . I do think the market place is a lot tougher than it used to be , too many guitars and not enough guitarists ???

Many thanks to your replies , especially to BigRedX for his encyclopaedic knowledge the bass vi . It sounds like it's neither bass nor guitar ,but a different instrument in its own right . The squier seems to be the best way to enter into the world of bass vi without breaking the bank , Many thanks Martin

Sorry , my mistake , heading corrected . cheers Martin.

Any one play one ? I am in a standard 3 piece band ( bass/ guitar / drums ) and just looking at bringing a fuller sound to the band , are they a viable alternative to a regular bass , or are they more of a guitar type instrument ? I play some guitar as well , so looking to throw in some basic chords as well. I have watched a few YouTube clips , most seem to play them through guitar amps with distortion pedals as they would a regular guitar . Would a Squier bass vi be a good introduction to the instrument ? All comments welcome .

It helps if you play another instrument . When I'm not in a band , I pick up my Acoustic guitar and work out new songs , my only audience is the cat and my deaf 94 yr old neighbour .I find it helps to keep my brain musically engaged .

I would love some Mesa stuff , but looking at the specs of the cabs , they weight about the same as my car , Interested in the 1x15 , but 35kg is a bit of a heft ?