Linus27

I've not really bought that much this year that jumps out as a wow, this is amazing. I've certainly played some things which have made me go wow which was the Fender Vintera II Telecaster bass, an Orange Crush 100w Combo and a Fender Rumble 500 Combo but I've not purchased any of them.

What I did purchase was the following,

1. Squier 40th Anniversary Vintage Precision. Wonderful bass and plays and sounds brilliant. I bought it for a project which never happened and as I only really play fretless, I'm going to put it up for sale.

2. MarkBass Little Mark IV 500w Head. Lovely clean, transparent and uncoloured head that just works out of the box but doesn't really have much of a wow factor like I've had with other heads.

3. TC Electronic BC208 Bass Cab. This cab is the best thing I've bought this year. It's been matched with my Warwick Gnome 280w head and sounds phenomenal. It's so punchy and makes a brilliant lightweight portable rig. Plus it look awesome with the little Gnome on top.

I fitted rounds to one of my fretless basses the other week and it lost a lot of that mwah compared to the LaBella Low Tension flats and LaBella Black Nylon Tapes my other basses have. It doesn't sing or have as much mwah at the the flats. I was going to put the LaBella Black Nylon Tapes back on but its nice to have one of my fretless basses with rounds on for a bit of a change so I'll keep them on. I used to run rounds on this bass for about 10 years but the flats just sing and mwah way more.

For £200 I'd get the following,

Ampeg Opto Compressor Pedal

TC Electronic Spark Booster Pedal

Set of LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound Strings

23 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Mexican Fenders are really upping their game aren’t they.

I think they did from about 15 years ago. I bought one of the Mexican Fender Classic 70's Jazz basses around 2010 I think and it was incredible. Beautifully made, sounded fabulous and one of the nicest necks I'd played. It was so much nicer than my two AVII 75 Jazz basses. Then along came the Flea and Mike Dirnt signature basses and both of these are superb. Then the Nate Mendal which is also superb. In a lot of cases these signature basses are better than the US models. Then in 2018 they released the 70's reissue 70's Precision and it is a piece of art. I played mine in Guitar Guitar and 30 minutes later I was walking out of the shop with it. US hardware, Custom Shop 62 pickups, Ash body and maple neck. It's an incredible bass. So yep, I think they upped there game some time ago and having been a huge Fender Japan fan, I think the Mexican basses now surpass them.

No Sting, John Giblin and John Taylor. Mine would probably be,

James Jamerson

Pino Palladino

John Giblin

However, Pino was only one of the bassists influencing me when I started along with Adam Clayton, John Taylor and Sting.

12 hours ago, Ed_S said:

 

I know the question wasn't directed at me, but I've used the Nano 300 as my main gigging amp since late 2017 and more recently got a Nano Mark II as well. They both deliver the Markbass sound that I'm after (LM3 with the VLE/VPF controls turned to 'off') in a convenient package, they're loud and punchy, and I'm very happy with them.

@Ed_S Thanks brilliant, thank you very much  

I have a MS60B and its brilliant.

5 hours ago, obbm said:

I'll throw in a couple of amps that I use with my BF One10(s).

 

Markbass Nano 300

 

Genzler Magellan 350

 

Not quite as small or light as the Elf but worth a look.

@obbm I'm actually thinking of getting a Markbass Nano 300 as I like the clean Markbass tone. How do you find the Nano 300? Is it clean like most Markbass heads and is it fairly loud and punchy? Are you happy with it?

I have a Barefaced Two10 and run a Little Mark IV through it or a Warwick Gnome I Pro 280. Both are super loud, especially the Warwick with the Little Mark being cleaner and uncoloured and the Warwick being warmer, deeper out of the box. The Warwick is tiny in comparison.

1 hour ago, NickA said:

Side to side or up and down vibrato? Worth learning up and down on a fretless ( if you're not already .... which you likely are!)

 

My main fretless is 37 years old.  It's always had rounds on.  It got scored enough to buzz a few years ago so I had the board planed flat; it's quite thin now ( may have been done once before I got it in 1998).... but it will see me out!  Treated well and no side to side vibe, an ebony board can last 50 years of rounds.  Then you get a new board!

 

I put eb cobalt flats on my other fretless ...  the other flats i tried sounded dull and thuddy.  They're ok. Feel nice, still a bit of tone in them.

I do both but I'm more side to side like a violin/cello as it's more natural for me. Snap on the fretless, mine is 37 years old and has an ebony board and only has a few mark's on it. Every now and then I use 000 grade steel wool and orange beeswax wood polish and conditioner and it comes up like glass.

Welcome aboard @badger from another Surrey bassist.

On 02/12/2023 at 00:11, Linus27 said:

I have LaBella Low Tension flats on one fretless, Rotosound flats on another fretless, LaBella Deep Talkin Flats on another fretless and LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound on two other fretless basses. I think my favourite is the Low Tension Flats to play and tonally the Rotosound's are my favourite.

Just to quote my own post, I have now fitted a set of Rotosound rounds to my fretless Jazz and they sound really nice and definitely sing and give a very different expression over the flats that are on my two fretless Precision's. However, due to being tougher under the finger than the flats, you can't do as much vibrato or certainly not as easily. Not a huge issue so they will be staying on but its noticeable as I do a lot of vibrato in my playing.

I have LaBella Low Tension flats on one fretless, Rotosound flats on another fretless, LaBella Deep Talkin Flats on another fretless and LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound on two other fretless basses. I think my favourite is the Low Tension Flats to play and tonally the Rotosound's are my favourite.

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

I've been pondering this a lot. The "is it time to leave" question is in my head on most days and I think that says it all.

While the new guy I mentioned is really excellent, I've been there for 10 years and I am just not feeling it anymore.

Even if I had total control over the set list it wouldn't make any difference.

 

I just need a good break.

 

Playing bass is my escape from work / people etc and I will not let it become a millstone that I end up hating as much as the crap stuff.

 

So, I'll do the next 2 rehearsals and then the Christmas concert and then call it a day.

 

Maybe I'll look for another, different band next year or the year after.

 

This makes perfect sense and its worth remembering that, stopping now and having a break does not mean its the end. I certainly go through cycles and always come back after a break and love what I come back to. Its always worth remembering that playing music is a creative process so you do give a lot of energy, emotion, expression, time etc. which can be draining so its natural to step away, have a break and recharge. Even when I was in a band that was signed, with a singles and an album that was selling well, songs being played on the radio and in the press, when we stopped it was a huge relief and weight off our shoulders and day after, I thought, thank f**k for that. So a break to find yourself and recharge is never a bad thing, you will either come back with more energy than before or you will know it was the time to stop and have no regrets.

This was mine. First my mini rig which is a Warwick Gnome I Pro 280 and TC Electronic 208 cab.

Next is my larger rig which is a Mark Bass Little Mark IV and a Barefaced Two10.

I've just bought a TC 208 cab which I really really like. It has a really tight punchy sound. I'm super tempted to try a BH550 with it or maybe just the BH250. Ideally I'd love a RH750 or RH450 as I loved the one I tried but they do seem to be hard to find and getting on a bit now.

1 hour ago, crward77 said:

Great to see another F1 fan on here. I used to have a Dana Alvarez offset bass (black) and it had a huge cutout of Damon Hill in his Williams that I sellotaped onto the back. Sadly I haven't still got the bass (I should have kept it with Damon on the back)

That sounds awesome but yeah, a huge shame you've not got it still. I started watching F1 when I was about 10 in 1980 thanks to my mum and dad and I can say that I have never missed a race. I've even been on tour once and got the tour manager to stop somewhere in Liverpool at a pub so I could watch the race 😂 I used to also collect races on VHS and then DVD so I have entire seasons dating back to the 80's as well as a lot of races from the 70's. It's in my blood to ever give it up.

1 minute ago, stevie said:

I like Suzuka. That's work. Let's see.....

Hopefully a bit of inspiration for you from our spare room 😁

I'm playing tomorrow night in Guildford with The Tim Shez Band at The Britannia Pub for the GT Live Showcase sessions. We are on at 8pm and playing for about 25 minutes along with 3 other acts. These sessions are fantastic, super popular, very intimate in a great venue. Plus I'm playing fretless as always through my new mini rig consisting of a Warwick Gnome I Pro 280 and a TC Electronic BS208. So can't wait 😁

2 hours ago, bassbiscuits said:

My P bass has worn both Rotosound 77 flatwounds, and currently has La Bella 760FLs on it.

 

The La Bellas feel considerably lower tension than the Rotos - ie i can stringbend normally on the La Bellas but not on the Rotos.

 

I had a Epi Jack Casady bass with TI Flats on once, and they were lovely - very musical sounding flats, and comfortable to play, but probably as light gauge as I'd ever want to go.

I also have Rotosound 77 flats on one Precision and LaBella 760FL's on another and yes definitely the Rotosound flats are high tension. I also think they sound better so I tend to just use them for recording.

8 hours ago, Merton said:

Apart from my playing it sounded incredible, a really lovely pairing. If I were in the market for new cabs I’d be seriously working out how to get one of these LFSys 12” cabs.

 

@stevie and I did an A/B with my Two10s but of course it’s not comparing apples and apples, as the Two10 is designed to have high end roll off, a bit more distortion from the cone (I.e. it’s not trying to be ultra clean and accurate…) and the LFSys is of course designed to be accurate. I love my Two10s but the clarity and power that the LFSys was able to generate was incredible. I could see how it would work brilliantly in the mix onstage. It’s a really very very good cab.

The way you have described the Two10 is exactly how mine sounds and how you describe the LFSys is how I wish my Two10 sounds for the music I'm playing at the moment. So I really do need to try out a LFSys cab at some point. Plus, being an F1 nut and proposing to my wife who is also an F1 nut on Michael Schumacher's grid slot after the Monza F1 race and then honeymooning the year after at the Monaco F1 race, the naming of these cabs is pretty much perfect for me. We just need a Spa and Suzuka cab in the line up at some point @stevie 😁

Great stuff everyone and please keep the photos coming.

I thinking generally, I don't have any heavy regrets as overall, I've had a fantastic career in music, more than most people get to achieve and many fantastic memories, experiences and opportunities. If I dropped down dead tomorrow, then I wouldn't have any regrets and made the best of it generally.

However, there has to be some right so I think if I could, I wish I still had my 1973 Fender Telecaster bass. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it was a bit of a pig of a bass but it would be worth a tidy penny now. Also, possibly my fretless Warwick Streamer Jazzman. I think also, looking back, I wish I was more disciplined and opened my eyes to other opportunities rather than thinking I'm in this band and this is where it's at.

If there's one thing I would change, that I wished I knew back then that I realise now, then it would have been to learn to read. This would have opened up a lot more opportunities to me but again, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Would love to but I'm not Yorkshire or Midlands based. Great gig though and super fun to play.

My Fender Japan 62RI Fretless Precision