casapete

Reverb stores are currently advertising C-audio Pulse 4x300 watt power amps in their clearance section for £199, which is a crazy price! Failing that, I would recommend s/h buys from QSC, Yamaha and Peavey. You will maybe have to forgo newer lightweight models but personally would go for a s/h good brand old style amp rather than a new unheard of amp that may prove to be problematic/unfixable.

Only tried it without plugging it in. Felt very..er....small! Have been looking for a short scale bass for a while that I can get on with, but this may be the answer. The bridge is positioned right at the end of the body which helps with the compact design. Neck felt quite 'full' and round - my preference over smaller profiles. Didn't get to try it on a strap to check for balance/neck dive etc, so hope thats okay-the small headstock and extended upper horn presumably help with that. Must admit I'm not crazy over the aesthetics of the bass, but as a practical gigging instrument that's light/compact and yet full scale with a decent pickup it's got me wondering. The guys on the stand were very friendly and helpful , and recommended calling at their workshop to try the bass out without being drowned out by 10 guita*rists at the show! I quite fancy having a bass built to order-seem to be lots of wood/colour options available. Their website is www.rees-electric-guitars.com

Went to the Manchester Guitar show last Sunday, and got talking to a nice bloke on the Rees Electric Guitars stand. They are a small Cambridge based company, who build guitars and basses. The bass that attracted my attention was this. Full 34" scale, yet very light and compact. Body made of Korina,maple neck,Duncan pickup. £595. Anyone got one/tried one - comments welcome. Cheers.

A tech friend of mine has always maintained that Peavey amps don't work well into 2 ohms despite their claims to the contrary, (and he is a big Peavey fan too!) They get distorted and run very hot, which probably leads to thermal cut out etc. Very few power amps (especially at the entry level in the market) will run happily into a 2 ohm load, its asking a lot. Mate of mine had a 2x10 Peavey combo which sounded great into its own 4 ohm internal speakers, yet when he added an additional 1x15 Black Widow 4 ohm Peavey cabinet (bringing the total load down to 2 ohms) he had problems similar to those above. The handbook actually recommended this pairing too, IIRC. Maybe you should look at running just one 4 ohm cabinet - Peavey do a 4x10 4 ohm job which often go for little money. Or if you really want to shift some air maybe an 8x10? !!! Hope this helps, cheers.

The Dare Strap mentioned is available from Strings Direct - online price £17.95. Looks like it may be worth a try?

My band allows 90 mins for setting up wherever we play. 7 piece outfit - guitar,keys,bass,drums,trumpet,sax and vocals - with a large 5k PA and lights. So much better to set up leisurely without rushing and get it right. Lots of venues we play require an element of compromise as to where and how we set up, and this alone can take a while to sort before we've got anything in. If we get it done in an hour,then 30 mins to chill/get a drink/eat etc etc. If we don't get done on time, then soundcheck gets aborted and we 'wing it' for first few songs-never had any catastrophies yet!

In these hard times maybe around £275?

I have both an 800RB and a 700RBII and find they are not massively different soundwise. Although I prefer the 800 for it's tone,simplicity and portability, the extra headroom with the 700 makes it my 'everyday' gigging amp. Both amps have been 100% reliable (contrary to some apparent issues with GK stuff), and apart from my old Ampeg SVT rig have been my favourite amps in 30 years of gigging. The 800 was often the alternative choice for backline by touring US bands after the SVT, and for an all transistor design still managed to sound quite old school 'valvey' IMO. Think it is still possible to get the 800 new in US voltage spec, not sure if Euro versions are still available. Electro Music at Doncaster had the 800 listed in stock for a while (around £580 IIRC),but have n't seen any advertised lately.

Vauxhall Astra 1.7 turbo diesel estate. Tons of room even with the back seats up - will take a 4x10 plus amp head,leads,stands etc along with 4 passengers. What I like about it is the flat load area, which some estates don't have i.e. they have a lip which prevents heavy stuff beeing pulled out without lifting too. With the backs seats down, there is a large completely flat van like load area (even takes an Ampeg 8x10),so you get the best of both worlds. I've always had estates - can't understand why not really. Have seen bandmates ruin cars by trying to jam gear in through rear doors of hatchbacks. Worth mentioning that insurance companies may choose not to pay out if you have an accident in an over/dangerously loaded car, or if you have n't declared that you intend to use it as a gigging musician. Also small cars with too much kit in are dangerous in case of sudden braking etc, and tend to attract unwanted attention from Plod too.

Love it - kinda like a bass version of Albert Lee's Musicman signature guitar? Great looking tonal options too...

[quote name='Paul S' post='472009' date='Apr 25 2009, 08:18 AM']A few days back I was the only bidder on a whole pre-Gibson Trace Elliot rig - AH300-12, 1153 and 2103H cabs - and got it for a steal at £650. It is in near immaculate condition despite being 10 yrs old. I couldn't believe it. That's the good news. The bad news is that I have to try and shift my Ashdown kit which, even though only 4 months old, I suspect I will have to take a massive loss on it. When balanced out I guess what I didn't have to pay out for the Trace Elliot gear tips the balance on what I will lose on the Ashdown but it is never nice. Buyer's market on pretty much anything at the moment.[/quote] Its that same old thing like you get with the car market - the price of your part exchange and the price of the new one are somewhat irrelevant - its always the price to change that is important. Like with motors, everyone will probably be hanging on to their gear until the current financial situation alters. Best deals to be had will be if you've nothing to sell/part-ex that may only go for less than it should.

[quote name='Brother Jones' post='471213' date='Apr 24 2009, 12:56 AM']'ABC' and 'I want you back' by the Jackson 5. Very similar lines, geat fun to play. Also 'I wish' by Stevie W. PS Never, ever try 'Sir Duke' live because [i]everyone[/i] will fluff the break....[/quote] Easy? Blimey....

Hi - is this still available?

I'm always amazed by the price of PA mixer amps compared to bass amps. PA amps -6 ,maybe 8 channels with full tone controls,maybe 2 graphic eq's,digital effects,2x300 watts output etc etc,yet costing same or even less than bass amp head- 1 maybe 2 channels,1 graphic eq,no fx,1x300 watt output - you get the idea. Is this just economy of scale or what? A while ago I had to use an old Peavey XR600 PA amp into my bass cab, and it sounded bloomin marvellous! Loud as hell, great tone too! Think I remember a well known jazz/blues guitar player using similar set up too - clean and loud, thats whats needed. So if you see a bargain PA head anywhere, bag it for a spare bass amp,and you may be impressed.

You could try this - www.youtube.com/watch?v=N51LoewE175 The bassist plays the solo, then it is shown at how its done at a number of slower tempos. I know because its on my list of stuff to learn too!! Good luck.

[quote name='thebeat' post='464973' date='Apr 17 2009, 01:20 PM']While i love listening to music and playing it, i have to say that i would never dream of having a band practice in my house and am amazed at some of the comments coming from people about how the neighbour should have approached you before going to the council and how they're some sort of anti-noise extremists with no lives because they want some peace and quiet when they're in their home...why should the complainer have to approach the noise maker? It should be bloody obvious to the poster that someone was gonna get pissed off eventually...i mean a whole band in an unsoundproofed living room? c'mon! no wonder they didn't bother approaching you, did you bother approaching any of them before you decided to have practice sessions in your house? Everyone should be entitled to live in peace and quiet in their own home without some selfish person making their life hell...[/quote] +1 to the above. I live in a Victorian terraced house, and the lad next door used to rehearse with a full acoustic drum kit every night just when my girlfriend just got in from work/early evening. I think his parents thought I would be tolerant knowing I was a pro musician, but as I tried to explain to them it was like coming in from a noisy factory and still hearing it in your home! We could hear every part of his playing, was just like being in the room with him, no kidding! Despite many friendly attempts in person to compromise with them over this, I eventually rang my local council who were very helpful - gave me a basis on which to attempt to get it stopped. After writing a polite letter to the neighbours stating the next step was to involve the council, the drumming ceased. Unfortunately the whole family have since blanked us, which is really sad but thats the outcome. Think the parents bought the lad an electric kit with headphones - pity they had n't shown this consideration sooner really. I try to adopt a 'live and let live' policy regarding noise. Occasional birthday party celebrations/house warmings etc are all part of our lives. Do think though that regularly making neighbours lives a misery however you do it is pretty selfish behaviour, and does cause a lot of trouble. Like the previous post, I also believe we should all be entitled to a peaceful home environment. ( God-hope this does n't sound like the Daily Mail/Express readers posting on here!!!!)

PM sent

[quote name='Jobiebass' post='462336' date='Apr 14 2009, 05:55 PM']My gear MASSIVLY outweighs how good I am. But I have a lot of spare cash and I like nice things so why not spend it on things you love? Check my sig.. you would have thought id have been in a band at some point gigging.... oh no, 100% bedroom use. (Edit: and down the practice room.) closest ive got to a gig is the other night I asked a bassplayer after their set what bass it was cause I play... she threw it on me and made me play infront of everyone. bit unnerving to say the least as it was a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Bass and ive never stood infront of 150 people and played before. ive got a pic of the bass on my phone if anyones interested. But yeah, im a sh*te bass player compaired to my gear... to prove a point, I just paid £875 for a 2nd hand Roland electric drumkit even though I cant play drums. But how I see it is like this... you buy 2nd hand, play it for however long you want then generally you can sell it for the same price you bought it. Much better then money in the bank. edit: Cheeper Gear seams to loose value much more then mid/high end 2nd hand stuff.[/quote] Think someone's having you on with the 1955 Les Paul bass bit - Gibson did n't make 'em till 1969.

After years of hiding the fact that the love had gone, the last child moved out of the house and Mum&Dad announced they were getting a divorce. The kids were distraught and as a last resort hired a marriage counsellor in an attempt to keep their parents together. The counsellor worked for hours, trying all of his methods, but the couple still would n't even talk to each other. Finally, the counsellor went to a cupboard and brought out a beautiful double bass, and began to play. After just a few moments, the couple started talking. They discovered that they were n't actually that far apart and decided to give their marriage another try. The kids were amazed and asked the counsellor how he managed to do it. He replied - "I've never seen anyone who would n't talk during a bass solo".