okusman

Thank you 🙏 It’s a great versatile axe.

Two weekends in a row…air conditioning on stage. The gig seems unimportant if you’ve got sweat rolling down your butt crack. Rock’n’Roll

Thirsty Pine in Gloucester. Nice big PA. Great audience, Great gig

First festival of the year. The rain stayed away, and good fun was had by all.

Black Bear Tewkesbury. Large venue, absolutely rammed. Previous sound complaint issues have meant an in-house FBT PA which you ‘plug in to’. Fine in concept, but it’s underpowered for the job it’s trying to do. Result = all the tricks in the book to get sufficient vocal volume over the top of the acoustic drums and the hundreds on people. Just about…phew. IEMs all round took away the feedback problem the support band had wrestled with. The real problem was the arse at 11:15. Pissed, arrogant and obviously thick. We are playing, and you are gesturing that you want to speak to the singer and then me. Mouthing back that we can’t hear you, (IEMs) and that you should just gently bugger off. And what did he want of a band who’d been playing classic rock all night? Wonderwall. I must confess, I told the door staff that he’d been aggressive- he was ejected. Please forgive me. 😘

Does anyone else think this thread has run its course. Trial by social media is hardly fair, whomever you are. Email ‘em and let them sort out your grievance…or not. Sometimes I perceive that I am dealt with well, sometimes not. It’s hardly scientific. Ultimately the judge and jury is whether enough people spend their money in the shop.

I went back today and did just that. Took a “second opinion” to check….but the Squier was head and shoulders a better finished and playing instrument.

Headed to Guitar Guitar Birmingham today. First thing to say is they had a really good stock/selection and I was totally looked after/put up with. It’s the same chap each time I go in, and he’s a gent. A/B’d Squier CV/New Standard/New Player II and US Pro Precision basses. The Indonesian made Standard bore the spaghetti Fender logo, and played fine but….they were NOT ‘better’ than the Squier. The neck was anaemic and the ceramic p/us were rather lacking in character. I played a 3TSB and the Poplar was rather ugly under the laquer. At £549, it’s the logo you crave at a price you can afford, but the Squier (possibly made in the same factory) was a much nicer looking and playing instrument. Same Poplar/Laurel combo and more pleasing Alnico p/u. £369. The New Mexican made Player Ii at £749 was an improvement on the previous iteration. They had a glorious Alder-bodied Aquatone blue example I played and it was a much more appealing neck with rolled edges to the fretboard. It just played and felt £200 better! Model I played had a maple board, so not an exact. A/B…but the quality jump was obvious. The USA pro was £1000 more. It had the best wood under the laquer, fretwork was 10/10 and the neck just sat right. The tuners, the bridge, the neck joint…it’s a better quality of parts. It’s sound was impressively round and full…yes there is a difference from the Squier CV 😘. There were Ultras and US Performer PJ version available, but I stuck with the single pickup instruments for sake of reference. My conclusions.. The Standard is a marketing ploy…I wasn’t disappointed, just felt it was a triumph of brand over substance. The Squier CV remains a very gig-worthy bass The Player II was impressive; it felt and looked like it was worth playing and equally paying £749. The Pro is what it should be. Anyway, my two pennies worth. PS I don’t, or ever have owned, a Precision bass. I want to add one to my arsenal. Today made realise I really should dip my hand in my (bass) pocket.

I am also IEMs

Regular gigging player: Using Genz Benz 9.0 as ‘power amp’ through Vanderkley MNT210 and EXT112. Always goes through decent PA as well. Nowhere near running out of guts. Want to just take one cab to all gigs. Have already done most usual venues with just the 210 without a problem. I realise the added 112 will/does make a difference, but is just turning up the 210 on bigger stages gonna be as near as damn it good enough? There will be a physics answer, but it’s the real world answer I probably would need. Yes I could sell both and get a single mega cab…. But

Adding the 5th string gives you 5 lower semi-tones, but that shouldn’t be your only thought when you play a 5 string. You then end up playing like you’ve a 4 string with a rather bulky and often underused B string. I suggest you look at your technique and how and where you construct your lines. its a chance to be far more economical with your left hand movement, a chance to be 20% slicker and working ‘across’ the board and less up and down the board. I think it a good opportunity improve your fretboard knowledge. The B string can be the most tricky to manage/mute, but equally it can bring real benefits to your playing. As suggested, it’s not always helpful to jump between 4 and 5 string basses; worth concentrating on the 5 and seeing it as a different tool not necessarily a better tool. Oh, and in the alternative tuning debate, I wouldn’t even consider it, especially if this is all new. Master the new normal first. Enjoy.