fretmeister

The interview is excellent.

Shaved. Wait, what was the question?

For me it's the trombones. Noisy barstewards, the lot of them!

Only 12 months until my Lionel gets here.... Not that I'm counting down the days or anything!

I like light strings. Either Ti Flats or D'Addario Pro Steels 40-100. Sometimes I'll use 35-95 Prosteels too but I never go heavier than 40-100 on a usual 34 scale bass.

I've got a Hotone Thunder Bass head (5W!!!) into a One10. That tiny Hotone sounds just like a proper SVT. It's quite remarkable. I see no reason why the Ampeg wouldn't be a good choice.

That Vox looks interesting!

My big band doesn't have a PA!! 2 dozen brass and reeds is still smegging loud though.

How chunky is the neck on the JMJ model?

Does it do anything more than a trusty LS-2?

Basic interface, Smartphone, AmpliTube free. Amplitube imports songs from iTunes for easy practice

I put a set of US ultralights on a £140 Jim Deacon precision!

plumbers tape is the answer. I’ve done that several times.

I've not bought it for ages. I used to have a sub but it all got a bit samey.

I loved the band thing from about the age of 16 to 35. Then it started to become a drag. I was working more and more hours and getting more tired and the last thing I wanted to do was load up the car with heavy bass gear and go anywhere. All I wanted was a beer and something non-taxing to watch on the telly. So I had a break of about 5 years from playing with anyone, with 1 exception - a mate's 50th birthday. He wanted the old originals band (about 1991-2000) to do some songs at his party. He was my best man at my wedding so of course I agreed. Rehearsal was great, we all remembered the songs well and we broke in the stand-in-drummer. I even remembered the lyrics. I played guitar in that band. The gig went very well and of course it generated thoughts and discussions about carrying on, albeit with a 90% cover set to make it easier to get gigs. But I quickly realised I just didn't want that anymore. The people were great but of course had changed quite a lot over the 18 years we had not seen each other - jobs / families etc. I'm not one for doing anything half-arsed. So 2 rehearsals a week, getting home at after midnight, then being up at 6am for work, then weekend gigs. Didn't want that anymore. I get little enough time with the family as it is. But about 9 years ago my eldest started to attend a local music trust saturday group. 9am to 12.30 with 4 different time slots and maybe 20 different ensembles. I got pressed-ganged to taking my bass and to start with I just played in the parents ensemble and whenever a kid on bass didn't turn up. Then one of the teachers left and I had a week to learn the set for the big band jazz ensemble - proper dots! None of the keys were original. I loved it. Saturday mornings in term time. Nothing in school holiday times. 3-5 gigs a year. Pre-covid there was about 30-35 players so if someone didn't turn up on an instrument that was duplicated it wasn't a biggie. And I didn't have to do anything other than just pitch up and play. My kids have now left and at the moment I still go to volunteer and so I get to play a bit, but post Covid there has been a chance of personnel and the ensemble leader has changed. Lovely person but has entirely different taste and the old repertoire has been put to the side (Stevie Wonder / Bruno Mars / Blues Brothers / Aretha / RHCP etc etc) and replaced with very old standards like Basin Street Blues or On Broadway. I don't mind a mix at all and I do happen to like those tunes and a good show has variety, but that's all we are doing. The jazz ensemble was the elite non-classical ensemble of the place and had players from 8yrs old to 25 (and some parents) and the new arrangements (often taken from an "Easy Jazz" book) are so simple that the boredom in the room is actually a physical chewy thing. One of the reasons why the ensemble was successful was the big band arrangements of modern tunes that the kids had actually heard of and they were having fun with it. The old Triangle of Benefit has to come into play. People / Music / Money. I volunteer so there's no money. The people are lovely The music is now dull to the point of narcolepsy So that's only 1 out of 3. I suspect this will be my last term. I did think about quitting now, but there's a couple of gigs this term including quite a large local fete and at the moment the only bass students the place has are very young and inexperienced. So I'll do my duty What I do after that, no idea at all. Probably back to playing in front of the telly.

I've been wondering about the SS ray. Sounds great in every demo I've heard. I must try one.

I've done tuner swaps on many basses. Assuming a start from a large plate design to a Hipshot Ultralight Y key (must be the Y as the lollipops and the clovers weigh more) on a 5 string I've saved half a pound and on a 4 string a smidge under a third. Might not sound a lot, but when it's at the end of the bif lever that is the neck, it is a lot. It sound be noted that if you really want Clover keys then the Sandberg clover superlight tuners are actually lighter than the hipshot ultralights. But Sandberg don't make a Y key version so the Hipshot wins overall as long as you don't mind swapping to a Y key.

I owned 2 and still have one, I like it very much and I’m convinced it is completely unnecessary. Unlike a piano the differences in string length isn’t enough and it solves nothing that can’t be solved by getting the construction right in the first place and picking the right strings. I think they’ll stay around but I can’t see them replacing parallel fret instruments or becoming the more popular option.

Update….

I recently bought a cheap shortscale Precision type to see if I was happy with the scale length, and I'm playing that more than anything else in the house. And I'm well familiar with the Sandberg neck shape. It's my favourite I've found so far. My existing Sandberg is a Superlight TT4. So it's a bit on trust, but reasonably well informed!

Ordered a Lionel short scale VS4 passive, but going with the Superlight woods for hopefully the smallest lightest solid bass on the planet. Now the 12 month wait begins for delivery. But, surprise upon surprise... that would just about match up with my 50th birthday and the missus offered that it be my present! I was not expecting that! Going with black, rosewood board with abalone dots. Chrome hardware. Something like this: I'm already impatient!!

Definitely. That's the best thing about any of the modelling units - any model can be used for any instrument. I have a Helix Rack and I mix amps and speakers all the time. Whatever sounds good is good.

I think he's great. I love his tone on the Live at MSG, his obvious enjoyment of playing, and that his style is a development of Rocco's staccato thing. He's ace.