Ed_S

Last night was our first round heat in the M2TM competition to play at Bloodstock this year, which always tends to be a fun evening of small gear stores, tight stage turnaround times, punchy set lengths and unceremonious disco load-outs. We're serial semi-finalists so we know the format, but this heat was in a slightly more spacious venue than usual which made everything a bit easier logistically. The only problem was that for a 'heat' it was like a walk-in fridge and my fingers didn't warm up all night, so I made a good few minor mistakes.. but also made a conscious decision to just think sod it and move on, which I'm getting much better at doing. I have one of those Zippo power bank / hand warmer thingies but a] I left it in my other gigging bag, and b] it's not that great at the best of times, so I need to have a look round and see what else is available that isn't gloves. Quite a mixed show within the genre anyway (we're operatic power metal, and the other bands were metalcore, alt-rock and technical death metal) so the voting was probably all over the place, but maybe we were everyone's second choice vote after the band they'd gone to see, because we got through to the semis again and kept the dream alive that maybe this year will be our time. Decided to go back to where it all started and play the same bass I used on our very first gig back in 2009 (sadly not the actual bass, but the same model I re-bought a year or so ago for reasons of nostalgia) along with my newly put-together pedalboard, and it all behaved very well together which is always welcome. So, for the gear-afflicted: Warwick RB Vampyre 5 -> [G30 wireless -> TU3 tuner -> Thumpinator -> Boss BC-1X compressor -> Tech 21 VT Bass v2 -> SansAmp BDDI v2] -> Markbass Nano 2 -> Blackstar Unity Elite house cab (115C?) Tuner once again operated using a pair of Skechers Industrial Workshire boots, and jeans held up (just..) by a Skopes belt that really needs taking in a notch now we're post-xmas.

Oh aye, I'll never forget the first time I tried to drag the provided 2x15 BW with 400 series head on it across our rehearsal room.. it wasn't going anywhere without a fight, so I can only imagine what the 3620 must have been like to shift!

They look absolutely excellent. The cab wouldn't be practical for me, but I'd have the amp head right now.

Pretty sure it was Def Leppard - Animal. It's also the first and only song that I've ever 'learned' using tab instead of just figuring out my own line by ear. The only reason it was that song is that the title starts with 'A', so it was the first one in the list that I knew and there was a bass tab available for. It's not a particular favourite or even a song that I've ever played live in the years since, but it got me started.

I only sell or trade to shops because I work on the basis that dealing with somebody who is absolutely upfront about their sole intent being to profit from my loss, and will even tell me the minimum margin that they're willing to make, is actually a lot less annoying than any of the possible negative private sale experiences that people report on here. That's just what works best for me, and I know that many will think differently - it's absolutely fine. Anyway, my list says I've moved on about 80 items (basses, amps, pedals, parts etc.) that way since I started to clear house in 2022, and I work on a reasonable offer from a shop being two-thirds of the average eBay or Reverb price for the same thing in the same condition. I'm usually able to get that, though recently I've noticed one or two shops that I could previously rely on for reasonable (sometimes even good) offers have started to offer much less - about half of the lowest price they can find, irrespective of condition. I'm fairly lucky that Rich Tone is my local and still makes reasonable offers for most things, taking the condition into account. If I were a betting man, I reckon they'd go to the Reverb price guide, take the £1900 recommendation and offer you £1250... so that local £1600 cash offer might be quite generous, and the PMT offer maybe isn't that scandalous.

Completely agree with that - I've got/had a fair selection, both rack and pedal, and the BDDI v2 is the one I'd currently recommend to anyone.

I've got both and, as far as I can tell, If you take the VTDI, put the blend on full and engage the 'bite' (and engage the 'speaker sim' if you're aiming for the original VT Bass where you couldn't turn it off) then the rest of the knobs are essentially the VT Bass. Personally I prefer the sound of the BDDI v2 set quite clean for an always-on tone, so use the VT Bass v2 in front of that for just a bit more drive when appropriate. I can't make the VT work as my basic tone, so I think the VTDI will probably end up leaving.

That's really the aim. And to be able to deliver that sound to the desk, direct from the board, so that I can do whatever I need to with the rig on stage. The last few gigs in decent size venues, I've found that the sound tech has asked me to play, got the level, given it the "that's alright, actually" face and moved on to the next victim. Other bassists on the same multi-band nights have been stood there plonking away for a while to get something useable, so I think I'm about where I want to be.

As much as the big boards on here are great fun to look at, I don't really need 'proper' effects and the only pedal I want to be operating mid-gig is a tuner. My main board (top one) has been doing very well for the last couple of years, so I just put the bottom one together this morning out of some languishing bits. It's intended to be a backup/spare/alternative, and is just another variation on the theme I know works for me, but has a bit more drive available. I'll have to wait a couple of weeks until I can get it all dialled-in at a rehearsal, but it should be very similar to the main one, and I think I can safely get rid of the few other remaining pedals that are still lying around now.

I've always half-joked that the best way to get me to sell a bass is to put flats on it; I'll enjoy it for a couple of days but then the novelty will wear off and I'll stop playing it for long enough to justify pushing it out of the door. I do still try some every now and then, and I think the Ernie Ball 2816 cobalt 'slinky' and 2810 stainless 'group' 5 string sets have been the most successful so far. I've currently got the steels on a cheap but pimped P-bass (that'll be safe as it's just not worth selling!) and they're doing better than average - especially as the combination of instrument and strings is quite loud and pleasingly bassy when noodling unplugged - but I couldn't see myself playing a heavy rock gig on them... that's still definitely rounds territory for me.

I can't give the perfect answer as I haven't owned the Barefaced Four10, but I've got a Two10 and two One10s, and used to have both a Markbass 104HR and an Ashdown ABM410T. The ABM410 was a solid cab and sounded fine but was heavier than I wanted to keep carting round so it got relegated to the rehearsal room. The 104HR was much lighter and sounded marginally better, but I even got fed up of the bulk of that eventually so it replaced the ABM in the rehearsal room. The pair of One10s now lives in a flightcase in the gear store at the rehearsal room and adequately covers everything that the 4x10 cabs did as long as you give them enough juice. If I wanted a cab to sit in a rehearsal space that I'd never need to move, I'd buy an ABM and keep my money for other things... like maybe a Two10 to keep at home and take to gigs. If I wanted one cab for everything that just happened to spend most of its time at the rehearsal room, I'd buy a Two10 as it's more than enough for rehearsals, plenty for most gigs and not a pain to shift. If I absolutely had to choose one of the two cabs you're considering, I'd buy the Markbass as it's cheaper, still a great cab, and just as heavy and bulky as the Barefaced.

One of our guitarists who most would see as the de facto band leader got so annoyed with the other guitarist constantly having to change strings on stage, he decreed that "if you don't bring a backup, you don't play". So yeah, they both bring two. We have since played a gig where he managed to break strings on both, but only once.

I'm still fine with my gen 2 Barefaced Super Twelve and Midget cabs, and haven't been tempted to replace them with any of their newer 12" designs. I think just about everything else that I've owned for any length of time has been considered for its recyclable monetary value at some point along the way, but honourable mentions go to the TU-2 tuner that could only be replaced by a TU-3, the SansAmp BDDI v1 preamp that could only be replaced by a BDDI v2 and the Line 6 G30 wireless that I wouldn't mind replacing with something that works at 5GHz but can't find anything comparable yet.

Last night was my second dep with a really good local band that has a guitarist in common with my main band - both power/operatic metal originals, ours a bit heavier with two guitars - theirs a bit lighter with guitar and keyboard. The first dep was an acoustic-ish birthday party set as they were missing drummer and bassist, so got me in to play a 50/50 mix of covers and their lighter originals. This one was another private party, but a full electric gig with only their bassist absent. It all looked like it might not happen as the planned venue had an unforeseeable problem so had to pull out at the last minute, but another nearby venue stepped in to host and it all went ahead just a short walk down the road. Then one of the bands pulled out of the gig as they were travelling in and didn't fancy the idea of getting stuck on the way back due to the weather - again, perfectly reasonable. So we ended up all taking longer sets, which is fine if you know the full back catalogue of the band due to being... well.. in the band, but I'd only learned one spare original so we ended up adding a cover that they recorded and released their version of during lockdown, and which I'd done acoustically at the previous gig so had no problem rocking back up. 45 minutes passed very quickly and I don't actually think I messed anything up. There were a couple of bits where somebody else came in early, and a missed cue for a guitar solo that resulted in another loop through the chords before commencing, both of which I spotted and adjusted accordingly. I wouldn't normally congratulate myself for such basic musicianship but they're original songs that move at a fair pace, so I was quite pleased not to get tripped up. I did forget to put in my earplugs for the first song, which was interesting as it showed me just how much top end detail the Doc's ProPlugs take away, and how I might like to have some of it back to a safe level. I shall have to try some different ones and see if there's something a bit better for me out there. The other bands on the bill were great and I was able to have a few drinks and enjoy them as we were opening the night and I was getting a lift. Got home just in time to see the snow start settling, so I reckon the band that decided it was a bad idea to travel 100 miles each way made the right call. Signal chain for the evening... Ibanez SR1105B -> [G30 wireless -> TU3 tuner -> Thumpinator -> MXR M87 compressor -> SansAmp BDDI v2] -> GK MB500 -> Blackstar house cab - might have been a Unity Elite 115C Tuner operated using a pair of Skechers Industrial Workshire boots - to say they're safety boots they make even moderately damp surfaces feel like well greased glass, but they're black and comfy.

After a fair bit of trial and error I've worked out that there are some build specs for scale length, board radius, nut width, string spacing and overall weight that give a really strong prediction as to what I'll find comfortable. Of course it's a given that some people will favour different numbers, some people probably just won't notice or care, and sometimes you'll pick up a bass that 'should' suit and it just doesn't - or vice versa. That said, I've found it a reliable enough indication that my advice would be to visit a shop where you can try a few different instruments without worrying too much about what they look like or cost, and just see if something stands out as being instantly comfortable. If it does, then look up the numbers and see what's similarly constructed and in-budget. My own recommendation would be to see if you could hunt down a deal on an Ibanez SR605e as it's what I personally call comfy, and I think the 'big break' pickups sound great.. even if the name has me humming the theme to the 90s TV show.

Anything other than 'normal' intervals between all the strings is just an out of tune bass to me, so I'd have no option but to drop the lot half a step and re-work the lines. Well, I guess technically I wouldn't have been able to play the out of tune 4 string to learn the existing lines in the first place, but you get what I mean. 🙂 I've had 5ers in nonstandard-standard tuning half and full steps both down and up over the years to suit different singers, so yeah, I'd do that.

Now you're talking! I had one of those, and I still miss just how very pink it was.

No probs at all! If it's any further use to you (or anyone else) I just found the spoils bag that's got all the removed stuff in it - tuners, string tree, bridge, neck plate, knobs, strap buttons, all related screws and bushings, as well as the wiring loom and pickup. Everything that's not the wood or the pickguard comes to 950g, so you can maybe get a feel for how much weight you might be able to shave off if you were fitting your own bits and pieces. Only other thing of note; I found the pickup to be... the thing that most reflects the price point, let's say, and I couldn't find anything commercially available that was the same size to avoid replacing the guard as well.

I ended up with two being sent to me in error, and there was a full half kilo difference between them - one was 3.8kg, the other 4.3kg. Having removed all the factory hardware and replaced it with bits I prefer, the lighter one which I kept now weighs 3.6kg (or pretty much 8lb exactly) which I find very comfortable indeed.

I must be, too. I've heard plenty of other bassists say that even before they played, they listened out for the basslines in songs they heard during their formative years... I never did (and still don't) so it makes it hard to cite influences. If I twist the task slightly to be "pick 5-ish albums that made you want to play music in general, then look up who the bassist was", I get to... Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - Craig Gruber Bat Out of Hell - Kasim Sulton (also Dead Ringer - Steve Buslowe) Brothers in Arms / Making Movies - John Illsley 12 Gold Bars - Alan Lancaster Out of the Blue - Kelly Groucutt

The only recent 'problem' I've had with Bax was them sending me too much stuff - I got two of the same bass instead of just the one I paid for, which wasn't really a 'problem' as one was much lighter than the other and I got the choice. I rang them and asked for a label to post one back, and the RMA slip you print off and put in the box explained that it was "sent in error - do not refund". So of course then the refund arrived anyway, meaning I'd essentially no longer paid for the one I kept. I rang them again and asked for a payment link to return their money, and now we're all square. Both of the calls I made were answered quickly and the people I spoke to were friendly, so I'd still use and recommend them as there are some UK based shops where every time I've had occasion to contact them they've been abrasive at best. Regarding delivery, most things I've had from Bax have arrived on time or at most one day later than estimated. Those times have usually corresponded with bad weather, Black Friday, the run-up to Christmas etc.

Glad it's not just me with that. Weight of me, stones and pounds, but weight of basses very definitely kilograms. Then scale and board radius are in inches, but action and pickup height are in millimetres. And even though the rest of the neck measurements are in inches, the nut width is in millimetres. I measure all my basses in the same daft mixture of metric and imperial units irrespective of their value. (read: no idea 🙂)

Indeed! I don't know how I'd go on with being a drummer... aside from the minor strength, fitness and limb co-ordination issues, the idea of buying nice, shiny, expensive things intending to hit them repeatedly with a stick just doesn't sit right with me at all. GAS certainly has to be factored in. I keep having thoughts about a trip to Bass Direct so I can try an Alusonic, as they seem to be light and built to comfy neck measurements. I have to keep reminding myself that if I liked one so much that I left with it, that'd be unhelpful as it's well into 'expensive toy' territory... so it's better that I just don't bother.

The problem, for me, comes when I start to add it all together. My gear is decent but nothing rare or out of the ordinary, and still if I add up amps and cabs, pedals and power supplies, cables and straps, boards, cases and bags used for a standard gig, I'm at around £3500 before I even choose which two basses I want to take. Being primarily on the metal originals scene, the people I meet are some of the nicest and least likely to ever wilfully damage or steal anything, but my gigs are usually the £0 variety. Don't get me wrong, though, I fully support anyone enjoying using their rare and/or expensive basses and equipment exactly where, when and how they please.

Completely forgot I wrote all that back in '21, but to carry on the list where I left off with some basses that went soon after... Fender MIJ Classic Series 70s P (white) - Great bass; light and comfortable, and sounded just like a P should. Sold due to moving back to 5s - hope its new owner is enjoying it! Squier VM P (white) - Pretty decent for what it cost. Set up as a BEAD bass, but moving back to 5s meant it wasn't needed any more. Shuker double-P (white) - Too heavy, too many niggles, not what I hoped it would be, and a staggering loss on resale. An important experience, never to repeat. Fender-ish bitsa P (white) - MIM body, MightyMite neck, Wilkinson hardware and a quarter-pounder. Sturdy and sounded great - hope it found an appreciative home. Ibanez TMB30 Talman (black) - Bought by my mum as she used to play guitar and fancied a bass! Sadly arthritis meant it didn't work for her, so I used it for a while. Fun thing. Ibanez GSR180 (black) - A cheap gigging backup. Never needed to use it, but elected to do so a few times at rehearsals and it always sounded much better than its money. Ibanez GSR200b (walnut) - Bought on a whim because it was incredibly light and had great fretwork. Genuinely nice bass, and one I considered keeping but eventually moved on. Spector Rebop 5 dlx (tr. red) (tr. black) - Had a pair of these and liked the looks and sound, but they weren't the most comfortable basses and the Spector bridge is not my idea of fun. Maruszczyk Jake L4p+ (white) - Very light, very nicely made, sounded and felt great... maybe the perfect P-bass, but just not enough strings when it came to the crunch. Sandberg Cali 2 TT SL (black) - Very light, but very easy to damage. Fortunately I'd not added too many dings when the return to 5s meant it was time to move it on. Sandberg Cali 2 TM SL (red burst) - Similarly light and frangible. Never sounded as good as the TT, but wasn't around for long enough to work out which one of us was to blame. Ibanez SR506e (mahogany) - A fun return to owning a 6 for a while. Eventually it became apparent that I don't need a 6 so there wasn't much point it taking up space. Fender American Pro 1 Jazz 5 (black) - I made good on my earlier threat to get the MIA Jazz 5. It was alright, but the wrong nut width and board radius to be comfortable. Nice pickups. Ibanez SR305 (weathered black) - Intended to be the new gigging backup, but just never sounded that good and I didn't want to spend the money on trying to make it. Ibanez SR1305sb ('magic wave') - The bass that the 305 was meant to back up. Sounded great, but I learned that I don't like the feel of very open-grain wood on the back of a neck. Sandberg Cali 2 Central 5 (anthracite) - Having failed to learn my lesson about 35" scale basses, this was the one to hammer it home that I don't really find them that comfortable to play.