leonshelley01

Welcome from someone just round the corner in Dunstable!

Most of what I do has already been mentioned, apart from the first step.

Use the edge of a credit type card to scrape the board first to remove most of the debris (especially near the frets), then use the naptha to clean and lemon or bore oil to freshen the wood after.

2 basses, 2 guitars and an acoustic at the moment. I have managed to control my GAS for a few months, but the money was burning a hole in my pocket so I have started to accumulate pedals now!

Music related:
Practice properly and in a structured way, not just go over the existing setlist and noodle.
Record some of our own material, even if just for posterity.
Stop thinking "what can I add to my rig next" and use what I already own properly.
Life related:
Spend more time with my children.
Give up smoking and lose weight (get some exercise!).

I started on bass first about twenty years ago, but about 7 years ago took up guitar to assist with the songwriting. Currently play bass in one band, and guitar and bass (half the set each) in the other. I'm competent at rhythm guitar (nothing special) and can solo a bit, but I always feel harried and under pressure playing guitar, whereas I feel relaxed and playing bass even though some of the bass lines are probably far more challenging than the "power chord" rhythms I tend to play on guitar. More importantly, I have FUN playing bass which I don't get playing guitar.

I also used them before and they have been very good. As mentioned by someone else, they are currently a little more expensive than they used to be, so it may be worth shopping around.

I've modded my old Dunlop standard guitar wah to use as a bass wah and it sounds great. There are some good websites out there showing how to make it true bypass as well as modding the frequencys. It worked out a damn site cheaper than buying a new bass specific one!

Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath. Really easy until that bloody middle section!

I had an Ibanez SR300 for all of two weeks before I chopped it in! I thought it sounded great, was very versatile and had a nice sleek neck but I could not get on with those "rounded" pickups that are supposed to aid fingerstyle playing but I found I had nowhere to anchor my thumb without raising the pickups significantly (too far). I believe the same pickups are used on the five string version as well. If you use a pick or slap exclusively, shouldn't be a problem, but if you use your fingers, try before you buy, I wish I had!

P.S. Happy ending, swapped it in for a Squier 60's Cool Vibes P Bass and bits n' bobs!

I use one of these and I love it! It has a great rock tone, and using the blend function effectively gives you a 3 channel amp. It is more than loud enough for rehearsal and pub gigs, but if you are concerned, you can always get the MBC115 extension cab (1x15" speaker plus a treble horn) which boosts it from 300 to 450w. I'm getting the cab, not for volume, but for £150 it's a steal and looks great with your amp on top!

I've had my MB4210 for a few months now, and it is perfect for my needs. It gives me a real '70's rock tone with plenty of grind, whilst also capable of delivery a really clear funk tone on the second channel. I find I quite often use the blend feature as well to give me a third tone without the need for other pedals. It is more than loud enough without the extension cab (the only amp I've ever owned that the drummer has asked me to turn down!), but I may get the 1x15 just to make it look like a stack.

I had tried the Ashdown, Fender, Peavey and Laney amps in the same price range, and simply put, the Marshall has the best bang to buck out there. As others have said, the Ampegs, Trace and Mark Bass amps are brilliant, but as they cost more than twice as much are well out of my range.

It does make me laugh in forums (not just this one!) when someone asks about an item and people don't take into account the price range, for example "I'm looking at a Squier Jazz Bass, what should I get?" and the responses come "get a MIA Fender, they're much better". If something costs more than 3 times as much, I would certainly hope so!

Good news that you are okay. I shall be investing in an RCD today!

For £1500 I would want it to be perfect right of the bat! Wait until you find your perfect model, don't let the cash burn a hole in your pocket so you end up buying a bass you end up selling in 12 months.

Try 'em both, it's the only way to find out what suits you personally. I went in to buy an MIA Jazz but came home with a MIM. It just felt nicer to play, and as I already knew I was going to change the bridge and pickups, knew I would get the tone I wanted. And as someone else has mentioned, both the Vintage Modified and Classic Vibe Squier Jazz basses have a really good reputation too (I have the CV 60's Precision which is great). But you need to try them yourself.

I hope it sorts itself out for you, but when you are up and running, think of all the fun (and frustration) you'll have putting some tunes together.

I use a Line 6 GX Toneport as a USB device, which is then run through Line 6 Gearbox (free with the Toneport) for bass, guitar and vocals and finally into Cubase 4 Essential, and I've had some very good results. For the drums, I use GuitarPro (with RSE packs) to program and then record the drums as a wav file and then import it into Cubase. For noodles, demos and even semi-pro sounding stuff, it does the job more than adequately and all for less than £150.

Oddly, I miss my old Ibanez GSR200. Cheap as chips but had something about it.

Good:

Timekeeping
Fingerstyle/plectrum playing
Learn new tunes quickly
Happy to play other peoples choice of song
Play guitar as well

Bad:

Get bored easily
Don't know enough theory (pentatonic/major/minor scales only, don't understand modes)
Poor practise routines (keep on doing the same old stuff/songs at home)
Quick to loose patience with less experienced musicians (even though I know we were all beginners once)
Spend to much time gassing about what to buy next rather than practising with what I've got

After doing these lists, it's a wonder anyone wants me in their band!

I noted a real improvement in tone and sustain on my MIM Jazz after replacing the original bridge with a 201. And it's not ugly like a Badass!

PM'ed

Very happy with my current gear and the available tones. Now I just need to play better.....

As someone else has mentioned, try to lock in with the bass drum pattern. If the guitars stay "chugging" on a single chord for a whole bar, I often put bass "fill-ins" at that point. It's also quite nice to change root notes under a riff, for example it the guitar riff is based in E pentatonic repeated 4 times, try playing E first time round, B the second, C and D in the third and back to the E for the final run through.

Also try listen to lots of source material with good metal bass players, such as Steve Harris, Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler etc. for ideas.

The pick or fingers thing is a matter of choice. I play fingerstyle, but many good metal players use picks, so whatever feels right to you.

The Day That Never Comes - Metallica

I couldn't believe someone had already tabbed it!

I have the 60's Classic Vibe P Bass and the pickups are actually pretty good, so I won't be changing them. It would be better to wait and try it through your rig before deciding on the expense of changing them.