Roland Rock

Welcome to BC. As Bert says, you'll get lots of advice on how to get the best out of the Marlin, until you succumb to GAS and buy an Alembic :-)

Welcome to BC :-)

Wow, just goes to show different people's definitions. I deliberately chose this after GnR to redress the balance as, to me, that song is the very essence of funk! Less so 'groove'. Perhaps there should be a 'Funk and/or Groove' thread :-)

Never thought I'd see GnR in this thread! Allow me to redress the balance... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY9rhaYkud0[/media] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcZ5NNuPq-c

Marlin Sidewinder was my first bass. Mine was great, doing me for dozens of gigs and some recording! Saying that, I then got a Stingray and the Marlin never again saw the light of day!

Good funk is all about the syncopation, the interplay between the instruments that makes one's arse clench. The better the funk, the tighter the clench. I call truly great funk tunes "carrot choppers", although I have not put this accolade to the test >:-0

Bump for a great thread

That's nice. And it proves that they're not made out of toilet seats after all. Strangely, I like that one, yet vastly prefer the Big al in solid colours, especially the crazy green one.

Love them both. I'm in a reggae band now, and the last originals band I was in was a jazz/funk one. My two favourite genres.

This has now GONE

I was recently very impressed by the following Jaco style bass in the for sale forum. Check out the video. And the price. Of course, being a great player helps ¦:¬) http://basschat.co.uk/topic/185997-fs-vintage-vj96mr-icon-series-fretless-bass-guitar-distressed-l160/page__p__1794707__hl__vintage%20wal__fromsearch__1#entry1794707

OK - as requested, some pics: As you can see, it's an inverted body. The new owner may wish to undergo some inversion reversal work ;¬) Routs are rough and ready. There's a slight saw overcut near the neck The joins seem structurally sound, but not seamless aesthetically The neck pocket is 15mm deep!

Gone. Chairleg managed to get in there before I had a chance to have a shave :-)

I'll take some and post them up on Monday

It does for me. Being quite broad-shouldered, I find the Protec straps more comfortable despite the weight.

I concur. If I have to carry a bass any distance, I'll leave the M80 behind and use the Protec Contego. IMO the Protec is better designed in several ways.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1347629411' post='1803287'] We all talk about the music rather than the gear so the gear becomes a peripheral issue. [/quote] Nice. Sometimes I find myself getting sucked into instrument details rather than concentrating on the music. Glad to say I spend more time playing now than I do on BC! Marlowe and Shakespeare didn't spend all their time on Quillchat. :-)

Sounds odd indeed. I've had a set on for about a month now (approx. 30 hours playing) and if anything, they have "settled in" really nicely and sound even better than when I put them on. It's possible that we have different definitions of 'dead' but I would describe the sound of my strings now as full, clear, bright (but not 'metallic') and a tad mid-heavy. Send 'em back :-)

A sealed 8x10 filled with helium ;-)

No one? I suppose I'll keep it to use as a dong rest for when I'm shaving

Brubacker have a penchant for those burst type scratch plates, but I don't recognise the model

I don't play upright, but found it very helpful anyway. Thanks for posting :-)

[quote name='Ashwood1985' timestamp='1347356104' post='1799633'] Or simply that 'hey, if I play a 6 then why no practise all the time on that so when I'm on my 4 I know I've covered all options in hand positions!' [/quote] I play a 5 quite differently to a 4, taking advantage of those convenient extra notes without having to move my fretting hand. When moving on to the 4, I find I have to think a bit more, and move my fretting hand more. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Regarding choosing which one to play on the gig, you need to consider tone and aesthetic. The 5 fits right in with my reggae band, but I have depped with a Bowie tribute on occasion, concentrating mainly on the Ziggy era, (sorry Bilbo) and the 70s P just sounds and looks right.

I've bought a 5 recently, having only played 4s since I started. I've taken to it like a duck to water, love it! Playing the 4 now, it seems a bit restrictive, but I can still swap between them no problems. It may be a honeymoon period thing, but at the moment, the only instance which I envisage wanting to play the 4 live is when the 5 doesn't fit in with he image of the band/genre.

I understand your reluctance, but if you're going to prime and paint the body without any sanding, I would be concerned that it would not be smooth enough to then get a professional lacquer finish without a whole load of extra prep work. Therefore, I'd recommend you have someone do the lot, or else overcome your fears and you do the lot! Mr Fingers has good advice above.