DTB

So if you were seeking a bassist would you have one that played competently and was easy going but walked very slowly with a stick and needed help with gear?

I was going to start a new thread, but thought I would post on this one instead. I was back at the docs yesterday with yet more arthritis woes, turns out I have a rare inflammatory/autoimmune disorder that can lead to all sorts of problems including deafness, blindness and breathing problems in its worse extreme cases, I am hoping my doc will manage it so I don’t get that bad. I am now fairly desperate to get back in a band and enjoy playing with other musicians again while I still can, but I would need help to load in and out my gear, unless it was a straight to PA preamp setup, as well as 100% need to sit down to play on a tall stool. At least if there was a band van we could use my park anywhere blue badge lol. I would probably struggle with travelling due to pain levels associated with travelling, but for now I think it would be worth it just to get back on stage again. so would you have a disabled bassist in your band that needed help with his gear? not wanting to hijack this thread but seemed better than starting a new one as it’s fairly similar topic. to the op very interested to hear which strap works out the best. I know Walter Trout has a double shoulder strap thing going on due to a destroyed shoulder, perhaps google that maybe. Seems to work for him. Also I am sure I saw Michael Rhodes sitting down playing towards the end of his life with Bonamassa, and his gigs get quite lively, although not as much as some funk bands.

No buzz today so it must have been just the strings not settled onto the saddles properly. now to get some playing done. thanks for all the likes on the photo 😁

yes i thought it was exactly that, but I don’t think it is. If i press down on top of the string where it passes over the saddle it doesn’t do it. I resettled the string into the saddle with a bit of pressure and a wiggle of the string and it sorted it for a while. Almost as if there isn’t enough break angle from the anchor point to the saddle for the B and E strings. The action is set incredibly low and the neck has the tiniest bit of relief. It is obviously set up for a player with a very light touch. I always give myself a few hours playing a new instrument before jumping in with lots of radical set up changes in case I like it the way it is or sounds worse when I alter it. The set up reminds me of my Geddy Lee bass I had when I was working. I will try a new set of strings over the next few days. I really hope this doesn't turn out to be a problem bass.

I noticed a strange vibration from the E and B saddles yesterday. I was really tired and in a lot of pain so I put the bass away. I tried a fresh E string today and it was the same. Very annoying on a bass of the price. I noticed the saddle was very slightly higher one side than the other so I levelled them both and it seems to have fixed it most of the time. Anyone else had this issue with this bass or bass fitted with this bridge please? If so what is the fix? thanks.

They are stacked humbuckers like Fender noiseless strat pickups, which I actually don’t like much I prefer a traditional strat single coil and have swapped mine out, but as far as these go they are perfect, but that is only my opinion. I like noiseless on a bass, not too bothered on a strat, but then my bass playing is better than my guitaring lol.

Quicl pic as I am now doing dinner for my family. I haven’t even played it apart from 5 minutes in shop.

Really? 😳for a new one??? Hope that is a second hand price or I over paid a lot.

Only just got in from the drive home. Will post asap.

Finally bought myself a Yamaha BBNE2. The new stock is coming in at over £5k so I managed to find one from last year at a lot less. very happy.

Cab arrived today, will post quick review later. Have to make up Speakon cable first.

Not too easy for me. I am disabled and travelling by car causes me a lot of pain, sometimes this puts me out of action for 24- 48 hours. Thoman don’t even charge return shipping on items you try and don’t want to keep. Makes it very easy for me to check stuff on youtube and then make an informed decision with absolutely no pressure.

i have a couple of options with this. My fav amp is only 0.5 watt, it is designed for guitar to run at around 80-90 db for home use and recording so the valves are really working hard. I run it through a Marshall 1974 X cab when I am playing guitar and I have yet to find a better sounding amp for guitar, instant SRV /Hendrix, but it also has a preamp out which to run a bass cab I simply reamp with a 50 watt solid state power amp, which is way too much for home use normally. Or I have another old Bassman head which sounds okay and is a lot more powerful, so couple of options, I let you know what works, if anything. It’s just a stab in the dark really, I can always return it, I have 14 days I think for their money back guarantee thing.

I have ordered a PJB C2 cab to pair with my little valve amp. Will try that as I always prefer the backing track and guitar or bass, whatever I am playing to not go through the same system. If the C2 doesn’t give me the headphone type sound I will return it and stick with headphones. Anyone here had experience of that cab please?

Last night I couldn’t sleep due to my stupid arthritic spine pain, so i was in the bunker from 3am practicing bass. I normally don’t bother with headphones coz it pretty much sound proof but last night for the first time since I last recorded (a long time) I played through headphones, and it sounded amazing. Beginning to think I wasted my money on monitors and sub now and should have just bought a pro pair of ‘phones. The sound stage was brilliant and the bass tone through my valve preamp was exactly the growl I love from the bridge pup and buttery smooth from the neck. Didn’t wanna put the bass down and go back to bed once the pills had kicked in.

Right it’s been a few days now and i need some more advice please. as you guys know I am unable to gig due to ill health and I only play to backing tracks at home now. (I take the bass out of original tracks so I am playing along with the original artist which is good). I have done this with guitar as well and I have always preferred the guitar through a proper valve amp at gig volume. My music bunker is pretty much sound proofed. The sub is doing what I want by allowing me to hear the kick drum, and I would like to put the bass through a combo with a very small amount of grit, rather than the sub and monitors. I’m looking at the small Ampeg RB 108. Am I daft? Should I just stick with the Digbeth pedal and going to mixer and monitors etc. would like to know your opinions pls.

I don’t understand how anyone can have no interest in musical instruments. The idea seems absolutely absurd to me. But then I can’t stand football so each to their own I guess.

It would be an additional venture along side a safe income I think possibly maybe the only way to do it. However, I really think that you are spot on with that idea. I have shelves of stuff that are unused and absolutely nothing wrongs with that every so often I unload on to the local 2nd hand shop at a fraction of their true value just because I can’t stand dealing with the - “Do you wanna swap it for a speed boat mate?’ brigade on ebay.

I don’t know how I would describe my tone. I guess it’s clean until I dig in and then I get a bit of grit. I strived to get the tone from ‘When Love Comes To Town’ by Herbie Hancock Jonny Lang and Joss Stone. I use a Digbeth pre pedal straight into my mixer and monitors. I have the FET drive on max and the Tube drive on just over half way mixed together. I also have a .5 watt Kowalski guitar amp which is all valve. It doesn’t need a speaker load, and has a preamp out. It sounds similar to the above and I sometimes use that. I don’t gig anymore due to ill health. Took me a while to realise that playing at home for my own pleasure was infinitely better than not playing at all. I really really miss gigging though.

I’m lucky to have Peach as my local guitar shop. I have been a customer since I was a teenager in the 80s when they were a small but excellent shop selling music gear and toys including metal detectors. Virtually any music shop will look second best when compared to Peach. My last visit to PMT was in 2020 at Southend to pick up a Clapton strat. Staff were excellent and rather surprised at my brief visit and wanted me to stay and try out the guitar before leaving but for me it was just a click and correct. The store even back then I remember was a little sorry for itself, but the staff were excellent. I remember saying to my wife who was with me that the store looked like it might be on the way to closing. I don’t know if it did??? 🤷‍♀️ In the old days though in wasn’t unusual for a guitar shop to be dusty, overcrowded with old stock, have grumpy hungover/stoned staff etc etc. it was the norm, and fools/newbies were not tolerated. Different times though.

Well I have never had a sub woofer system before. I have always just had the best 2 channel system I could afford at the time. This is by far the best set up I have ever had. Set up was easy. Got an 85 hz signal on utube to set the phase with the 8010s which I suspected as it is all the same brand would be zero which it is. Then simply turned down the sensitivity to balance with the main monitors. The suggested bass roll off is -2 db which I have also set and I have no reason to doubt their recommendation as like I say it sounds awesome. kick drum is nice and clear which was my main aim. If anything I could turn the sub up slightly which I may do depending on my tinnitus, but early observation would tend to suggest the overall volume is now lower, at the point where I can hear the detail in the music as I like. sweet spot for listening is still just as narrow as before. Over all very pleased. Would buy this setup again in a heart beat if I needed a second system somewhere.

Thanks, that’s excellent advice, especially as I ordered the 7040 this morning and it should be with me tomorrow morning. The point you made about wanting excellent frequency response and not high volume is exactly what I am after. I simply want the kick drum to be in the mix as intended, and good as the little Genelecs are, it just isn’t there at the moment. Nice to know it got a good review. Will post my findings once it’s all up and running.

My little studio is acoustically treated in a big way. Mix of foam and home made corner traps and 10 cm thick foam on walls and ceiling, and still there is a very narrow sweet spot to sit in. It’s more for me to play live than mix tracks although i have done some recording and needed to mix it all. I’d just be happy to hear the kick drum a little better when I am playing. I use Lalal.ai to remove the bass from the tracks i want to play along to. I don’t gig anymore due to ill health.

Thanks. Great reply. Very constructive. I have more or less convinced myself that I should have the sub.

Yes Itu, you helped me before and I downloaded an app after your help which analyses the frequencies very well.