Japhet

I wish I could tell you in detail how totally (dare I say spookily) spot on your assertion is.

The funny thing was that he also gave the guitarist a lecture on how to EQ his amp. The guitarist then went and fiddled about with the EQ knobs on his amp until the Sir Richard Head III bloke gave him a big thumbs up. The guitarist hadn't actually altered anything at all on the amp but Mr Sir Richard Head III told him after the gig that his sound was immeasurably better in the 2nd set. This was a few years back but I think he's now been banned from the pub for pi55ing too many people off.

Sounds like a 6 stringer masquerading as a bass player to me. I had one experience with some bloke in the audience who I'd been warned about. During the break between sets he told me that what I was playing sounded OK, but my technique needed a lot of work. He offered to give me lessons (which I had been told he frequently did even though he couldn't play a note), so I feigned eagerness and asked for his phone number. When he gave it to me I dropped it straight on the floor and walked off.

One of my favorites is Lee Sklar. One minute he's playing one note per bar behind James Taylor and the next he's laying down the groove on Billy Cobham's Stratus. No wonder he's stayed busy all these years.

I've never needed to use mine but we did have our PA Mixer pack up on a gig once and we put the vocals through my back up (Streamliner 600), and it sounded surprisingly good.

Robin Trower. Was buried in Procul Harem but what a solo guitarist.

My GAS has been cured by some a**ewipe going bust on me. Owed me 7k but apparently went under owing in excess of 200k. Will probably start up again next week with his dog as head of the company.

To flip the question on its' head, I loved a lot of Nils Lofgren's stuff and saw some great live shows by him before he became one of Bruce Springsteen's sidekicks.

Roland Cube has a whole load of effects on board and headphones socket. Pretty much all you need for a no fuss practice rig.

I'd say it's more than 'a bit sneaky'. TC would be well aware that many people shopping for an amp would be swayed by the manufacturer's jargon. Buyers would be well aware that a 100 watt amp (or whatever) wouldn't meet their needs and would most likely have a wattage figure in mind as an indicator of how loud the amp would be. Before Basschat, I would most likely have been one of those people, but I've now been educated by people who aren't trying to flog something to me. It would be like buying a car and only finding out when you put a caravan on the back of it that it couldn't pull the thing up a hill and subsequently being told that the manufacturer's horsepower figures were 50% of what they said. I've never used a TC head so I wouldn't know how they stack up, but there are as many people disappointed as happy with the volume they produce, but I'd hazard a guess that the disappointed contingent push their amps a lot harder (maybe through inefficient cabs). Either way, advertised wattage is a big selling point.

Thought this was something to do with a commercial vehicle hire company. P.S. Vocals ruin it for me.

While we're on the subject, what the hell does 'Programme' mean in this context?

Used to do this in a band with a female singer (which is kind of essential). Just love this bass line.

TE Elf would be my choice for a micro rig.

It's really advisible to give bare metal a light coat of etch primer before top coating. The acid in the etch primer bites into the metal and the top coat then has something secure to fix to. Without etch primer you may well find that the heat and cooling of the amp casing in particular makes the top coat flake off easier. Most paint sticks to bare metal for a while and Hammerite is OK, but there's no substitute for a proper job. If the Hammerite doesn't work, don't try to paint over it or it will be a proper mess. It will need to come right off and start again.

I can get through the gigs OK but I get a trapped nerve when I start moving about again. I get it with a pretty light 4 string as well but the 5 is worse. I've got a few exercises now which are helping. There's nothing I need a 5 string for in our set so I've stopped using it.

I haven't gigged with my 5 string for a long time due to back issues. I found it easier to swap from 4 to 5 than the other way round since you can swap your point of reference on the fretboard a bit easier. I'm now of the opinion that the extra weight involved for 5 extra notes doesn't make sense (for me) although I do miss the added versatility of the 5 with regard to playing higher up the fretboard.

When I played in a functions band with 2 guitars, keys, saxophone, drums, harmonica, vocals and occasionally trumpet and trombone I never used effects. Now that I play in a rock band with guitar, bass, drums and vocals I use a few effects to fill up the sound when the guitarist is soloing, or when specific songs call for it. Horses for courses.

I picked up a Valeton FP10 preamp pedal off Ebay for peanuts and it would be a lovely boost pedal. Problem is that it's such a lush sounding preamp that I want it ON all the time.

Trigger's broom.

First live gig I ever went to in 197?.

Looks lovely. I'd probably need a smoking jacket, slippers and a pipe to go with it though.

Not come across anything with a dedicated blend option but generally speaking a low to mid drive pedal maintains more of your clean signal the less drive you add. Anything that does a decent job maintaining the low end should work well enough. I'd recommend the Joyo American Sound, the Caline Orange Burst and the TC Mojomojo for starters.

I've never tried to copy or create a particular sound from a bass, amp, cab, pedalboard or whatever. There are a myriad of sounds that I like and dislike in equal measure and a whole load of stuff in the middle that is my playground. I've played a load of different styles of music in different bands from funk to swing to rock to soul and I hope I've managed to come up with a sound that fits each particular bill, but if I didn't, nobody ever complained. I like my Stingray, my Precision (Tokai) and Lakland in equal measure and the same goes for the 4 completely different amps that I own. I'm also fully aware that lots of people adore sounds that I would never choose to listen to, and if those people watch me play they undoubtedly think my sound is awful. I'm happy in my 'playground' where I can noodle about and try stuff out at my leisure, safe in the knowledge that the vast majority of punters don't know or care what the bass does as long as the music sounds good.