Linus27

I popped into Andertons today with my son as he was buying a new digital piano. Whilst there, I had a play of the Vintera ii Telecaster bass and I absolutely loved it. The sound was super clean and punchy and it wasn't deep or muddy as I was expecting from the humbucker pickup. It didn't sound like a Precision but just a really nice balanced punchy tone. As I was playing, my son asked me to play some Jazz so I dialled the tone off and it was nice and warm and deep but still a bit clanky, so I cut the treble on the amp as well. So its not muddy, bassy or boomy at all. The neck is mega chunky though but easy to play but some of that also came from the 105 gauge strings so a lighter set would help with feeling even more comfortable for me. As for the colour, I initially really liked the green but under certain lights it looks blue. My son says it's more turquoise so I think I'd buy it in the vintage blonde but it was still nice, but not green enough for my eyes. I also played it through an Orange Combo which had a 15" speaker and it sounded amazing. If the combo wasn't so damn heavy I'd buy one as it sounded unbelievable and the tonal options was brilliant. Super impressive and very much considering trying more Orange gear in the future, especially a Little Bass Thing. Anyway, loved the bass and the Orange combo and together they sounded brilliant. I want both 😂 A quick photo before plugging in and playing through the combo.

I also run my Gnome iPro 280 through a Bardfaced Two10 and it is indeed very loud. I don't need to run the gain very high so I've also not noticed any compression kicking in.

I took my son to Andertons yesterday as he wanted to buy a new digital piano. Whilst there, we were looking at the basses and he was asking where are all the fretless basses, surely they must have some fretless basses, maybe they are somewhere else in the shop, why are all these basses fretted he asked. I had to let him know they we are a special rare breed as not many people play or are interested in fretless bass 😂

It's more the case of an easy carry in as well as footprint. As for the line up its acoustic guitar/singer, fretless bass (me) and drummer using brushes on a tiny kit (small bass drum, snare, hi-hat) or egg shakers. As for venue, it can be showcase/open mic type nights in music pubs where you play for 20-30 mins with 2 or 3 other artists, usually acoustic. Usually very intimate and we strip it back somewhat. So a 10 minute change over and quick line check. For the bigger type gigs I use my Two10 and Little Mark IV so this is just purely for an easy load in and change over for these types of gigs/nights. I really like the idea of the Micromark 801 and the 802 if I could ever find one.

It would look great next to Jamerson's P-Bass that you have on your wall as well 🤣

Let us know how you get on.

I did look at them but I've not heard very positive reviews of them and that they can sound quite boxy and farty. So I wanted to avoid really.

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. My number one choice would be a Barefaced One10 as I have a Two10 as my main rig and its fantastic. I'd also take a Super Compact but the problem is just finding either second hand which seems to be a bit thin on the ground obviously. I'd also love to try an LFSys cab but again, I can't justify buying new for the use I have and second hand is impossible to find.

Very occasionally I do some very small, intimate gigs with my acoustic group where I will go through a PA and my cab is my monitor. I'm thinking of getting a 1x12 cab to use with my Warwick Gnome I Pro 280 which is my backup amp. I'd like it to be small, lightweight and perhaps a minimum of 200 watts so I can carry it with one hand, bass in the other and bag over my shoulder. Now I know I could tick the MarkBass NY112 cab or even a Barefaced One10 (I know, its 10" speaker) but the other condition is price, I don't really want to spend £450 on an occasional cab if I can help it although it could be my practise rig at home as well. Ones on my list so far that seem light and are all priced at about £350 are, Orange OBC112 Ashdown RM 112 Evo Ampeg PF112 Anyone any experience of any of these cabs? Open to other suggestions and happy with second hand if anything suitable turns up.

The V7 is definitely on my shopping list.

I also found with Spotify that it either only plays a few seconds or it actually plays a different track to the one you suggested. YouTube is also another good platform for full albums.

I'll try and join in as well

Really good video by Scott on 17 greatest fretless bassists. Shame a few really key bassists were missed like John Giblin, Paul Webb and Sting but still really good and that Ibanez sounded so sweet.

Mine is music (primarily bass) and cars. My wife says my basses are my wives and cars are my mistresses as I constantly flick between them.

I thought he said Sade

I changed the pickguard on my red Precision expecting it to be a bit of a mess under there but it was actually really good. There was no insulation in the cavity which was making the bass hum, so I filled the cavity and the back of the new pickguard with copper tape and it's all silent again.

Will do, will post my thoughts in here 👍

Thank you very much sir, PM sent 👍

@Soledad I'd love to give them a try if you don't mind. Might give me my answers to what they are like.

I thinking about trying a new set of flats on one of my basses and see that quite a few people speak highly of Adagio Pro flats. Those who have tried and compared them, would you be able to share how they compare to the following. I have Rotosound 77 Flats which I love tonally as they are quite punchy and can be bright but are very high tension. I also have LaBella Low Tension Flats which as they say are low tension and much lower tension to the Rotosound 77 Flats but give a warmer, smoother rounder tone. How do the Adagio Pro flats compare to the Rotosound 77 flats in terms of tension, are they higher or lower tension and if lower, as low as the LaBella Low Tension Flats? Also tonally, are they deep, warm and thumpy or quite balanced and bright? Any advice really appreciated.

I'm really really surprised it didn't come with a mute button, I would have thought it would have been standard on any new amp these days.

This sounds just like me.

Just as a side note, I wonder if its normal for musicians or even people to just totally lose interest in listening to music? I generally for most of the time have music on in the house and in the car all the time and I do flick from listening to lots of Jazz, to then something heavier like Rage, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains to then 80's music and then some of my favourite artists. I then get periods when I want to listen to absolutely nothing, either because I just want the silence or I am just not in the mood for listening to any music at all.

I look at playing bass and being in a band like its a job. That's not in a bad way and its a chore but I didn't get a proper job until I was 30 as I was doing music from the age 17 and played in a band that was signed or a band that was semi pro. After I got a proper job in my 30's, I still played in bands and was doing over 100 gigs a year including touring and releasing albums. So all in all, I've probably spent more time playing bass and playing music and making a living from it than I have done doing a proper job. So if I ever stop then I don't look at it as giving up a hobby, I just look at it as retiring from a job which is not always a bad thing. If I do stop then it will be because I'm done, or other things like family are more important or something else has taken my fancy. At the moment, I've spent the last 2 years playing in a small acoustic group with friends playing around 40 - 50 gigs a year. It is a hobby and at times I do feel like stopping, especially as playing gigs is not what it used to be when I was in my youth with these days there being less venues, less public interest and less of a music scene. Now I'm in my 50's, I'm thinking, do I want to keep doing this after 37 years. Plus my daughters karting is also taking up a lot of time and we are travelling pretty much most weekends with her racing. Then on the other hand, I adore playing fretless bass and consider myself to be a decent bass player and at times I fancy starting up a club band again as it was amazing fun and half decent money. So I've decided to to get to 55 which is in a year and a half time and see how I feel musically and go from there. I may still have the energy and passion for it and new and exciting things may have landed on my doorstep which would be fantastic. Plus, my daughter would be at the point where she may be moving over to racing cars so that may take up all my time and energy supporting her. So we will see, I may just be done with it, retire and take up domino's 🤣

I'm really liking the idea of a V7 and the 112 cab