Ed_S

For years I was in the bass-->tuner-->(sans)amp way of thinking, but still made a small board to keep my wireless receiver, tuner and sansamp together alongside a cheap PSU brick from Maplins. Can't find any pictures of that, but it was an MDF special. That was fine for ages, but I was forced to re-design when we moved from changing instruments for different tunings to just using Drop pedals. I theorised that the Drop might track better on bass with a high-pass in front of it, and the addition of a grit pedal and some compression sounded like fun, so the prototype was put together: That worked well and gave rise to the finished MDF sandwich where all the power cables were hidden and some handles and feet were added: A successful board, but I eventually fancied having a proper power supply again instead of using a 1-spot, and we had a change of lead vocalist so there were sections of some newer songs that I thought might benefit from a bit of chorus or octave. I tried a few pedals out and found the ones I liked, nipped to B&Q for a shelf and some new hardware, and came back past a bike shop for a chain and breaker to make the mounts: No attempt to hide the cables this time, but I think it's still fairly neat and actually much easier to check and troubleshoot. Then I decided it wasn't quite heavy enough, so had a flight-case made for it! As much as I could perform most of the same functions with a flyrig or probably many (if not most) of the multi-fx units out there, there's something pleasing about having an old-school DIY board with individual units on it that are well spaced out so I can find them with my size 12s and literally do what they say on the tin.

That’s exactly what I did with regards the feet - works well to keep things looking tidier for longer. Yup, agreed - I had the NY121 for a while and it really did make a solid rig, but for me personally the benefit of the extra cab wasn’t enough compared to the utility of the single small combo. I’ve never felt that I lacked volume on stage and always have PA support out front. Of course, if you’re going to get the NY121 maybe consider whether to put feet on the cab instead of the combo since the corners lock together to keep things stable.

I've got both for different reasons. In the case of the Markbass, it was the most capable small combo I could find for playing metal, and the basic sound of a Markbass Little Mark with the EQ all set to 12 noon and both filters off fits very well with my main band. I used to have a Line 6 Studio 110 for acoustic gigs, so the CMD121p wasn't a lot bigger and covered that duty perfectly as well. In the case of the Fender, a lot of people on here were getting very excited about them and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about, and a cheap*, non-carpeted, loud combo that I didn't care too much about sounded like a useful thing for playing naff venues and gigs where you're expected to share backline. *it was cheap when I got mine - they seem to have gone up! My verdict... Markbass + it's very small and light + it sounds great at moderate volumes (like, loud.. but not LOUD) + if you like the Markbass sound, it's got that alright + if the amp section dies you can just screw another one in! - it can get a bit 'shouty' at higher volumes and the tweeter is hissy - the handles on the older ones are a bit naff (the new leather handles are nice) - it's covered in carpet and doesn't have feet so it's going to end up looking a state if you're not careful - messing around in the space under the back of the amp to plug things in is just infuriating Fender + it's light for its size + it's capable of going very loud + it sounds generally really good (the overdrive isn't for me personally...) + it has normal tolex and feet so it clears puddles of beer and wipes clean! - the cloth front isn't as sturdy as a metal one - the matching cab has side handles - why not the combo?! - the knobs and switches feel a bit cheap - at a venue with known poor electrics where the Markbass is always fine, the Fender hummed and buzzed all night So on balance if you're not going to get stunningly loud, you aren't going to be rushed to set up, you aren't playing in venues where you wipe your feet on the way out but you are pushed for space and you want the more refined option then I'd say get the Markbass. Otherwise, the Fender ticks a lot of boxes!

My current main project is an originals band so we don't get massively scrutinised on the accuracy of any covers we throw into the set. Of course we try to maintain the feel of the original since that's probably why we want to cover it in the first place (we aren't politically driven and playing something just for its lyrical sentiment, for example) but it's more important that if you don't recognise the cover, you should just think it's another original that sits with the rest of the set. That generally means playing covers 'as us'. That said, I've played a few one-off covers sets before and I also spend a vast amount of time with my cans on just playing along to stuff on Spotify for fun, so I know that my primary method of learning covers is to not actually learn them at all - I just become familiar with a song by listening to it and then play what I hear. If I try to learn a part, the one guarantee is that I'll forget it in time. If I just know a song then I'll generally remember it for years (especially if I remember the lyrics) and if I've only ever played it by ear then that's all I have to do again at any point in the future. A quick listen through an agreed version as a reference for structure and then play the instrument, not the part. Of course I realise that what works for me doesn't work for everybody. In fact it all falls down gloriously even for me if I don't like the song in question, or if it's a style that I don't normally play and thus results in me drawing a blank for anything that really fits (other than maybe my bass back in its bag) but at that point if I really need to play the song in the short term then I'll just learn the part knowing full well that I'll forget it later.

For £300 new I’d go with the Markbass Nano 300. I mean, I actually did - it became my main amp for gigs in 2018/19. I worked out that it sounded great and was really all I needed (and more) power-wise, so I won’t be looking for anything different to get back gigging again either. We play loud power/melodic metal and I usually end up plugging into whatever cab is on loan or belongs to the venue, so rarely have the advantage of my efficient cabs (but do sometimes end up with a massive old-school air shifting beast) and it still copes just fine with a beaten-up and generic old 4x10. I’m as GAS afflicted as the next guy so I’ve got/had other much more powerful amps and don’t feel like I’m missing out by not taking them to the majority of gigs.

When I used to own a PA system I'd have some spare cables but also another power amp in the outboard rack. Needed it once as well - the main amp for the wedges popped during soundcheck at a friend's wedding. Speakers and stands had to take their chances, but one of the other guys in the band would bring a spare desk if asked. As I no longer have a PA (I hated shifting it so I sold it to force the issue!) that's now somebody else's problem, but we mostly play venues with house PA anyway. For bass, aside from the little amp that I mentioned further up, I try to have either spares or a workable plan to cover as much as I reasonably can. Things like an extra of each type of cable, a 1-spot and another wireless pack don't take up much room in my equipment bag along with the usual strings and batteries. It's just a biggish laptop bag with the amps in the padded section, so it's not an awkward carry. Then I have my spare bass in a gig-bag which is kitted out so that if it was all I had left for some mad reason, I could still go into the house PA - so that's bass, strap, cable, DI box, tuner, picks and even some disposable earplugs. It'd be an uncomfortable gig and we'd have to choose a setlist that didn't need the Drop pedal on my board, but for the sake of about £300 including the bag and all contents, I wouldn't be the reason we couldn't go on. And that's kind of the thing for me - it's much more about how I feel than what anybody else thinks. Sure, it'd be nice if a promoter thought I was acting professionally and duly appreciated it, but I'm all about feeling prepared and not being the one who lets the band down if at all possible. Yup, guilty as charged! And the other guys vary. Lead is generally prepared, but has used my spare speaker lead much more often than I ever have. Rhythm is generally unprepared and has had various on-stage issues but hasn't yet stopped a show. Drums is very particular about the upkeep of his kit and has a big roll of tape!

I take a spare small amp head.. and the last pedal on my board is a Sansamp.. and I give the sound engineer their feed from a DI box sat on top of my amp rather than the DI-out on the amp itself. If my amp goes down then ideally I'd like nobody to really notice, and whether I swap it out or not should depend on how good the foldback happens to be. If my board goes down then I want to be able to just grab the end of my floor cable, jam it in the bass and be straight into my DI and amp; if the amp is down as well at that point because my power feed is out then I'm still straight into the DI. If the DI box implodes then I'll swap the cables into the amp and use that DI instead. If I turn up and find that a cab I've been promised hasn't materialised then at worst I'll soundcheck with the Sansamp straight into the desk and grumble profusely about the whole situation later! I'm certain it will sound like complete overkill to some, but every time I've witnessed an equipment failure it's caused more of a mess than I would personally like to be in the middle of whilst trying to stay in the right frame of mind to play a half decent gig. I feel much more relaxed knowing that I have some contingency plans and that if something still goes wrong then it's not for the want of trying to preempt and mitigate.

Cozy Powell. Preferably on a dep gig for Rainbow somewhere in Germany in the 70s ..had I even been alive then! 🙂

That's epic! I was just really pleased to be able to go and see as close to the original Diamond Head as I'd ever get, back in 2002 at the Boardwalk in Sheffield when Sean and Brian briefly got back together. Was an absolutely great show but I was seriously scratching round for anybody who'd heard of them and might be interested in going along. Saw them again supporting Megadeth in 2005 and didn't enjoy that line-up at all - they just reminded me of a pub band covering Metallica covering DH.

Had this with my Ibanez SR655 - there were two ‘identical’ basses with serials not too far apart at the shop, just arrived with the tape unbroken. Unless they were both terrible, one was going on the wall and one was going home with me and the guys were happy to get both out and let me compare. One was lighter, had nicer grain patterns, better fretwork, tighter fit and finish and just sounded lively played unplugged. The other was fine - a QC pass and perfectly playable - just not feeling special after handling the other. I bought the nicer one for full whack, and then a week or two later they had a sale and took an absolute wedge off the one they still had. Ordinarily I’d have been annoyed, but in that particular case I can genuinely say I still felt like I’d got the better deal.

Fun thread. I saw the Jackson C5p in the OP and got all nostalgic for my C5a, so had to play. Just doing the ones that I no longer own, I got to 32 moved on since 1999. Not too terrible and none of them are properly expensive. I've never smoked, never done a drug that wasn't from Boots, can take or leave booze and don't like going on holiday, so.. why not! Squier P Bass Special (black) - My 'first' bass. Rattled and buzzed, and was quickly returned. Yamaha BBN4ii (yellow natural satin) - My first 'proper' bass. Brilliant thing to start on. Taught me the term 'buckle rash'' - I was livid! Jackson C5a (tr. red) - I have very fond memories of it, but it was as heavy as an anchor and only moderate quality. Westfield acoustic (natural) - Fun in its own way, but never much use to me if I'm honest. Had a case with a smell all of its own! Ibanez BTB405qm (tr. black) - 'My bass' for a long time. Cheap hardware and a finnicky EQ that let it down, but I still liked it. Ibanez BTB406qm (tr. blue) - Looked great but sounded dull and lifeless. Could never reconcile that it was the 'same' as the 405. Yamaha RBX270 (mist green) - Bought because I picked it up and it just sounded great. Sold when I switched to 5s. Shame. Yamaha BB405 (yellow natural satin) - Bought to replace the BBN4ii and was a great bass. Fitted EMGs which made.. no difference at all! Warwick RB Vampyre 5 (black) - Bought for the image but was actually a really nice bass. Bit too heavy in the long run, and the image changed. BC Rich Warlock NJ5 (black) - Sounded AMAZING with ProSteels, but just so uncomfortable. Half wish I'd kept it for recording. And photos. Fender MIM Standard P (white) (black) - The beginning of the change back to a mix of 4s and 5s. Had two and miss them both immensely! Fender MIA Standard P (candy cola) - Solid workhorse of a bass, but I picked the colour from pictures online and never liked it in person. Fender MIA Standard P 5 (black) - Had a badly cut nut which I got replaced, but the luthier damaged the board so that was the end of that. Fender MIA Elite P (tr. red) - Disappointing. Expected fireworks but got the DFA preamp and uninspiring wood grain. Fender MIM Mike Dirnt P (black) - Sounded lovely and had a very nice neck profile, but weighed an absolute tonne. Fender MIM Standard J (purple) - 2nd hand pre-WhenTheyBecameGood model. Modded it ex[t|p]ensively. Sold it at a crushing loss. Fender MIM Blacktop J (black) - Very nice bass. Wish I'd kept it. It just wasn't exciting. ESP LTD Surveyor 415 (natural) - Cool in its own way. Far too heavy to be of any long term interest. Fender MIM Standard J 5 (black) - Cool bass but had fit and finish issues that annoyed me. I'll maybe get a MIA one at some point. Fender MIJ FSR 60s P (white) - Another 2nd hand purchase. Smelled of the previous owner's aftershave. Gone. Fender MIJ FSR 70s P (white) - Nice when it was set up properly, but a passing cloud could affect the neck curvature. Fender Aerodyne J (white) - Another good one, but the neck was too twiggy for me. Shame as it was a nice bass. Fender Kingman acoustic (natural) - Bought to do an acoustic project that never happened. I know now that I'd just use a P. Fender MIM Roger Waters P (black) - Sounded really nice but had a neck like a cricket bat! Squier CV 60s P (tomato soup) - One of the ones that everybody raves about. It was perfectly fine, but it wasn't up to the hype. Squier CV 70s P (black) - Fret sprout central. If I still had it, I'd expect the neck to have the dimensions of a pencil by now. Ibanez SR505 (iffy brown) - Nice, but the truss rod didn't turn so I returned it. The guy in the shop tried a hammer drill. No dice. Ibanez SR750 (nicer brown) - I do like the SRs but the neck on the 4 string models is just too skinny for me. Stick to 5s and 6s. Steinberger Spirit XT-2 (black) - Supposed to be a space-saving backup bass. Never got any use and eventually went. Musicman Sterling Ray35 (black) - Seriously nice bass. If the 35 is this good, a 'proper' Ray 5 must be amazing, I thought... Musicman Stingray 5 (natural) - So disappointing. Why on earth didn't I keep the Ray35 - that was twice the bass for half the cash. Yamaha TRB1005j (black) - Great fun to play but really big and heavy at a point where my back hurts and I'm not up for it!

I once had a guy come up to me slightly 'tired and emotional' at about 1am in a rock club and tell me that I was pretty much his hero - nothing to do with my playing, but rather because I'd (in his words) made our lead guitarist let me come and stand at the front of the stage and play, whereas he had to stand right at the back when their band was on stage. Said lead guitarist had just nipped to the bar and came back to join in the conversation, mercifully ending it pretty much immediately! You'd think the fact that I'm the big guy wielding the big guitar and stood at the front would make me slightly memorable, but the only other time I remember being recognised was by a guy who came up after a gig and introduced himself as the driver of the bus I didn't catch to work, but which went past the stop I was always stood at in the morning 5 minutes before the bus which I did catch. He then proceeded to tell me how good our lead guitarist is 🙂 ..I guess he had to come clattering back to normality somehow! I'm ok with not being recognised.

Yeah, that was where my research got me with regards the XL vs XS thing, too - cosmetic differences only. The other compressors I use are DBX 160A (for vocal tracking), Markbass Compressore (for bass tracking away from my home setup), EBS MultiComp (on my main pedalboard) and Boss BC-1X (on my 'other' pedalboard), and the 166 doesn't disappoint up against any of them. Your friend speaketh the truth 🙂

I've very definitely always been a bassist who happens to dabble on guitar, but wasn't always fully happy to admit it. A few years ago I gave myself a bit of a reality check and sold all the big amps and cabs that it was clear I'd never put to any serious use, and all but my two favourite guitars. I also kept my little 1W valve head and a handful of pedals, but they don't eat anything or take up a lot of room. During lockdown I found myself browsing guitars again, telling myself that I'd spend the extra time at home really giving it a go and that a new guitar would provide the push I needed. Thankfully I called myself out on my own bull in time and instead just bought a HX Stomp since it would give me some new sounds to play with on bass as well, and a different pickup to put in one of my existing guitars. Totally predictably the guitar kick lasted about a fortnight and, although I enjoyed it a lot while it lasted, we're back to an occasional noodle just like before. Some things won't change no matter what you throw at them. My not being a guitarist is, sadly, one of those things and I think I'm finally OK with that - I'm just an occasional noodler! That said, in my more distant past I gave up being a grade 8 standard orchestral violinist when I stopped enjoying that, and I gave it up fully keeping nothing and never looking back, so that does happen as well, even after many years and having attained a level that a lot of people would be very happy with. Whichever way you go, move on with impunity and do what you enjoy!

Both for me. Stunning generalisations being that I use a pick for heavy rock / metal and fingers for lighter styles, a pick for 4 string and fingers for 5 / 6 string, and fingers until I feel like I'm risking a blister, then switch to a pick irrespective of style - just use the thicker back edge and play softer. There are a few tunes where I'll palm the pick for a while and play softer sections with fingers then go back to the pick when required, so I like a fairly big pick that isn't going to slip through my fingers and hit the deck. I use 1.26mm acetal picks most of the time, but will occasionally use a 1mm red big stubby if I want a really clear attack when recording something fast.

That green is nice but a bit pimp for my tastes! 🙂 It's a shame they trimmed the EII line back so much - the two models that are left really don't appeal to me at all, but some of the ones they scrapped really did. Much like the 'surveyor', I still wonder how much of the problem is the 'EII' brand name - when I got my EII ST-2 skinny guitar I paid less than half the RRP because the shop just couldn't shift it - it was the price of an ESP but didn't say ESP on the headstock, so they had to keep reducing it. They tried a couple and moved the 'reindeer blue' one for a profit fairly quickly because it was pretty, but the trans-black just sat there gathering dust until it was so cheap I couldn't resist nabbing it - they said pretty much at cost. Never saw another EII in there - just available for special order. Anyway, I digress...!

Aye, I had a Surveyor 415 a few years ago, and as much as it was a well made and good sounding bass, it weighed an absolutely ridiculous amount and that was why I eventually moved it on. The 'surveyor' name doesn't bother me too much... ...but that surfaced a few bad memories! 😉 ..psyche Seriously, though, nope - never seen one out and about, but I agree the white one does look nice in the pictures! If they did the AP-5 in white with black hardware, then I'd probably be in danger of buying one of those.

I had the Behringer 2200 and 2600 and they were perfectly alright for what little I paid, but one side of the 2200 just randomly stopped working and neither unit sounded wonderful. I binned the 2200 and replaced the 2600 with a DBX 166xs, which I really like. It looks much less like a seasonally decorated tree, is easier to dial in and sounds generally better to me. I recall reading that the cheaper 266 is a different circuit design and isn't as well suited to bass as the 166, but I've not got one so can't offer personal experience there.

Well I never - it does look very similar doesn't it. The through-body holes are slightly radiused on this original part, but it's so close, surely they must be related. Cheers very much for that lead - it gives me at least a bit of hope that I might be able to get hold of one! I'll send WD UK an email and see whether they can have one sent over without it costing an insane amount more than just swapping the USD price into GBP - they're usually helpful. Failing that, maybe WD USA would just send me one directly and leave me to play with the post office once it gets here. Interesting that the WD USA site is giving it the code GEB201 as if it's a Gotoh.. and I also like that they cheekily market it as a 'direct replacement for a BadAss II' 🙂

Hey all, I've got a cheapish 90s bass with what seems to be an odd bridge. It's got very fender-esque measurements for mounting hole and string spacing, but allows through-body stringing. I'd like to replace all the hardware with either black or shiny nickel/chrome instead of the satin stuff that's on there from stock, but having spent a bit of time browsing this afternoon, a bridge is proving hard to find. I'm not actually bothered about stringing through, so I could technically fit any 5-hole f-style replacement and just glue the ferrules in place so they don't get lost, but I'd quite like to keep it as-intended if possible so wondered whether anyone had any suggestions for one with the ability to string through? Doesn't have to be fancy, but does have to be smooth and well engineered. Price-wise, if a Babicz or Kickass were an option I'd be up for that, so around £150ish. Ta very much in advance, Ed

Heh, I could stretch to a board with all homemade patch cables.. Actually my main board started out as a B&Q shelf, some rubber feet, kitchen drawer handles and a bike chain, so maybe I can salvage some DIY points there! Sounds like a perfectly reasonable compromise - I would have liked to try a DHA rack preamp but sadly availability of cash and thingy never coincided.

Cool looking board - I do rather like either everything to be from one manufacturer or everything to be from totally different manufacturers, as both show a kind of commitment to.. something-or-other! I have the tube overdrive (TO800) for guitar and it's a great TubeScreamer substitute. Never bothered me that it's plastic when pressing the pedal, though I do feel like I'm about to break the little loops on the side every time I put a new battery in it.. it's just not actually happened yet and hopefully it won't! Admittedly it's not my favourite overdrive for guitar, but neither was the 'proper' TS808 which is why I sold that and kept the cheaper green box that did the same thing. I was less pleased with their Sansamp clone, as the switch felt generally iffy (although I'll give it its due - it did work) and the knobs didn't seem to do very much to the sound. Wasn't terrible by any stretch, but wasn't worth keeping as I could tell I'd literally never take it out of the box again. Come to think of it, there was another one I had years ago and gave to a bandmate on the off-chance that she could find a use for it that was eluding me. Think that was the blues overdrive (BO300) but it was nothing like a Blues Driver, which I assume is what it was going for. The one I'm surprised that you've got on your board and aren't having issues with is actually the tuner. I have one of those that I bought to keep in my backup bag, but it just doesn't pick up bass notes well - especially a low B. In fact it hardly gives any kind of reading at all if you have vibrations from external stuff like drums on stage. It's alright-ish for guitar, but even then it's jumpy. I'm glad yours works, though!

When I played more guitar than I do these days my old Marshall TSL60 had a foot-switchable parallel loop with a level control on the front, so all I used to do was keep a short patch cable between the send and return and use it as a solo boost. Worked really well because the amount of boost was easy to set and stayed relatively similar wherever you were on the master. Not sure whether there are any bass heads out there that could do the same.

Speaking of SRs, I think they’re great, but sadly I can only own ones with a top/veneer as I’d rather see a full-width Marshall head precariously overhanging my One10 than this... I know that it can’t be / isn’t meant to be parallel but I just can’t deal with it!

Looks very nice, too! 🙂 I just accepted that given all three were the same, that was how they were. If it makes any odds, they’re all SLs from the cedar-bodied era - maybe they’re different in some way?!