el borracho

A lot of great advice there. Give me a day or two to do some research based on it & I'll update with what I eventually get. Budget unfortunately won't go up - I had to push to get him that far.

At least doing this means I'm not looking at basses I don't need although I have seen one or two acoustics I'm tempted by!!😁

Cheers

Cheers guys, Some good advice & a couple of different names to look out for.

I do remember the Yamahas being very consistent  - I've still got an old APX myself. Good thinking about the tuner as well. He can have my old one.

A friend has asked me for help buying a cheap (sub £100) steel string acoustic (6 string) to learn on, an area in which I have no recent knowledge - I'm 30 years out of date! I was initially looking at 2nd hand but knowing the quality you can get on basses at the low end of the market nowadays I have started looking at new ones. It also avoids having to visit anyone's house which I shouldn't be doing anyway.

There's the likes of J&D, Stagg & Vintage  - gak have Ibanez & Fender - all under the £100 mark. I imagine most of them are perfectly playable with a little tweaking but does anyone have any recommendations?

I also know there's a Harley Benton for £51 but seems to be issues with ordering from Thomann (or any EU based) at the minute

Another shout for Hey Bulldog - this time by Boxer, one of my favourite bands. A bit more rocky than the previously posted version & an Ollie Halsall solo.

I get this - it's pretty close - but don't hold me to it! The live versions vary a little bit but don't stray far from it. 

Trying hard to find, find the answer to your call
Got to lose my mind, but I'm no wiser from the fall

Ain't got nothing to choose, Got those 20th Century blues

Don't want day to come, don't want to face reality
Trying to find someone and maybe keep my sanity

Ain't got nothing to choose, Got those 20th Century blues

I'm not made of stone so don't be stepping in my way
Cut me to the bone cos you don't hear a word I say

Ain't got nothing to choose, Got those 20th Century blues
 

12 hours ago, bazzbass said:

the answer is obvious, buy a Stingray,a P and a Jazz

That's what I have. I play mainly Ps but every so often I'm tempted by hearing someone play a J or a Stingray (like listening to AC/DC's new album earlier today). I just get them out of the case for a short time, maybe a rehearsal or a couple of gigs then go back to the P!

The only thing that spoils the simplicity of my 3 bass system is that they make Ps in different colours 😄

I'm terrible. I even started out in my first band as the singer & I used to often repeat verses or make them up as I just couldn't remember them. Nobody noticed until we got a second singer & she couldn't follow what I was singing!

Although I don't sing these days I still regularly have problems associating song titles with how the song goes. 

19 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

I always wanted to be a train driver when I was a child, on a NS ICM train (until recently commonly known as the "Koploper") specifically.

 

I remember a time when I wanted to be a train driver but I wanted to drive a Deltic. Got to admit your Koploper looks nicer.

And yes they always looked as dirty as this!

Then I moved onto wanting to be a rock star - I never achieved either 😆

I made a couple a few years back. I used nothing but hand tools - coping saw, files, rasps, hand drill, sandpaper etc,

It took ages but I quite enjoyed it.

I have no idea about the science behind this but it brought to mind the Dean Markley Blue Steel strings. Their advertising blurb says they are "Cryogenically frozen with a blast of liquid nitrogen". Not sure what, if any, difference it makes.

I used them for a while in the early 90s then sort of forgot about them.

Straighten Your Mind With...Jarvis Humby.

Recorded in 2006 but only recently released.

Jethro Tull's first three albums all featured songs referring to their bass player to be, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond.

Song For Jeffrey (on This Was)

Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square (on Stand Up)

Inside (on Benefit)

One of the fans in my old GK Fusion head needs replacing. It has been noisy since getting jammed when a broken cable tie from within the amp stuck in it.

After not using the amp for a year the fan speed is now variable & is audible through the speaker so I thought i'll just order a replacement. Not that easy though. I can't find one the same. Either the spec, the type of  bearing or size are different.

It's a Jamicon kf0420b1hs-r  40x40x20 Dual Ball Bearing 12V 1.6W

Any recommendations where I can find one or a suitable equivalent?

I was in a few bands with my brother (guitarist) in the 80s. His involvement was always fairly short lived. He usually fell out with other guitarists and walked as he felt they were never up to his level. It was a shame because he was good - don't think he has played in about 30 years now.

2 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Sometimes I listen to an original recording of a song I've been playing for years and realise the band has strayed massively from elements of the original. 

I've found that a number of times. Songs I learnt note perfect that I still thought I was playing correctly & then you realise it has evolved over the years.

54 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Boring answer: it depends. 

I've been in some bands that never rehearsed so it was important to all work from the same original. If I started varying the bass part and someone else was taking a cue from it, it could destabilise a part of the song. Good musicians would overcome this but we needed to sound tight so we all learned the original parts. 

Other bands I'm in I pick and choose, either write my own part, or if it's a great bassline I learn the original 

I agree - it depends.

Last band I was in I had depped with occasionally so had a working knowledge of the songs - enough to get by without rehearsal.  When I joined them I found it very hard to relearn songs I had played on & off for 3/4 years.

Last Good Time In Town Eagles

On 11/10/2020 at 18:38, Japhet said:

Years ago it would have been my Peavey MkVI. Absolutely bomb proof. 

That's the exact words I had in mind for mine while reading through the thread. I did hundred's of gigs with it. It got bounced around in the back of a van for years & never put a foot wrong.

14 hours ago, skychaserhigh said:

Orange 4 Stroke 500 , built like a tank and has a remarkable amount of power and tone.

I would like to say this but I can't.....yet!

I bought one at the beginning of March (good timing eh??) & I have never had the chance to use it 😒

Bonham's are auctioning Alan Lancaster's Fender Mustang in a couple of weeks if anyone's got £15-£20k burning a hole in their pocket.

It's the one he used through the 70s & then again for the Frantic Four tours.

His Travis Bean & Kramer are up for grabs as well.

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25996/lot/117/

A few years ago I was talking in the pub to someone about maybe getting a 5 string sometime. Got home, looked on ebay & there was 3 finishing within half an hour. What could go wrong??

I was outbid on the Stingray & the Roscoe Beck but won the G&L. I've still got it.

On another occasion I bought a Tokai Hard Puncher but we don't talk about that 😁

I came across this yesterday, a 1960s Parker Body-Guard. I've played for 35+ years & I didn't even know they were a thing.

I can't say I've ever seen them before - anyone else or have I been living under a stone?

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Been googling...this confuses the subject

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ibanez_RS-940_fretless_bass_(1981)_headstock.jpg

This bass has it's own thread from 8 years ago

Women- Man

I knew it looked familiar - just couldn't place it!

New one from Adult Cinema