drTStingray

I've been to hundreds probably thousands of gigs - with all the famous bass players you can think of and no one has sung the bass parts - even to Jaco or Mark King. It just shows how important the bass can be!!

And so it should be 👍

Sounds brilliant guys - wish I'd been there. Isnt it excellent to have a band as accomplished as this playing music that really makes you smile - and with an excellent bass player. Can't beat it.

It all depends on the band and music but I think you'll find more people care about the bass than you'd realise. There's another thread on here about Vulfpeck and there's a video where you can clearly hear a large part of the audience singing along to the bass part of a song - which goes to prove that in that case many comments about the role and importance of bass on Bass forums are completely wrong. If you go to a gig where the music is groove bassed and you can't hear the bass properly you might as well go home. Which is why it's doubly irritating when the sound people mix the drums higher than anything else. As for image well that has a place dependent on the band - appropriate instruments - well that's a pile of crap - Fender basses were the best you could get in the 60s but ceased to be afterwards. It's all in the fingers of course 😏👍

I think it depends what make of bass you buy. Certainly with Musicman basses, my experience of ordering new ones (which I've done several times) is they always arrive set to 'factory specifications'. That their QC is amongst the best in the business (and all instruments are hand finished and set up) and probably dictates this. I can't speak for other makers but if there are some around selling instruments over £1500 that don't do this then I'd be very surprised - if there are then their customers should complain. if you buy a new bass that's been sat on the shop floor for ages, or worse still, has been 'tweaked' in the shop, then you may need to reset it completely. As almost everyone has stated in this thread, factory settings are a good starting point from which to tweak for individual styles and wishes in terms of playing - I do this with mine - some are set lower, some higher and some at factory setting dependent musically on what I use them for. Its an interesting discussion point because I, and a lot of other people, have never experienced , for instance the infamous Stingray weak sounding higher strings. That there are people that equally are sure their basses have suffered from this is interesting, despite all equivalent basses having the same components - the lack of knowledge of factory settings (which have been published on Musicman's website for at least 20 years) is also interesting - there's been a long held suspicion that the issue may well be down to after-market set up issues (including particularly pick up height).

A thought - there are now so many sub genres in popular music these days, and baffling ways of counting the sales of downloads, that I suspect rock (or even and roll) simply hasn't existed in reality since hmmmm - at least the 70s. That all us middle aged or even older folk are discussing this suggests the definition we're focussing on is actually somewhere way in that distant past - I'm sure many of today's teens view it as Grandparents music and apart from passing interest, it has absolutely no relevance to them whatsoever!!

It's been a whole 29 days since I picked up my new Stingray 4HHs - so technically I haven't BUT I suspect I fail as I have a 5HHs on order as well (not arriving until January!!).

As are their instruments!! No old vintage jobs in modern metal!!

I'm surprised anyone views factory set ups as arbitrary guides. All I can say is I'm glad you're not mechanics (technicians) servicing and fixing my car. Whilst there's scope for minor variation to suit style I think anyone varying too far is likely to be creating their own issues. I always ask anyone doing any repair work to set basses to factory settings - I'm quite happy to tweak beyond that within reason.

I think you're right and everyone has a different playing style. The factory spec setting in my view is a good start point to tweak from to suit individual preference.

I guess the compilations were designed to appeal to a very broad range - and Edwards/Rogers generally followed the Motown tradition - start the song with the chorus... no 45 second wait for them. I do see where these guys are coming from but I think the premis is possibly wrong. I quite like the music served up on my local commercial station but the fact the song and artist is shown on my car's 'infotainment' system has alerted me to the fact that every song seemingly contains three diverse artists - presumably to sell to three lots of fans and boost or to make enough money to justify the outlay. At least Calvin Harris has very audible bass on his stuff!! (the Sam Smith one sounds like Bernard Edwards at the height of Chic).

I've come across a couple of people who've commented negatively on his playing with the Who. However for me he's actually improved the role of the bass in that setting because for once you can hear it properly!! Pino is a great rock player - just listen to the John Mayer clip - in fact he's a great all round musician/bass player. The fact is Entwhistle was a national treasure (along with Keith Moon) and it is difficult for anyone to stand/sit in the place of national treasures - especially for some fans of the band. I think Pino does a great job of it to be honest - I've heard him play some great renditions of the classic solo in My Generation.

It happens every so often from what I've experienced - if we are talking music which contains crunchy guitar rock, for instance The Darkness and Muse. I'm not sure if the guys in the video would recognise those bands in the same way. I also don't see why rock music should be rooted in the blues - surely it progresses and has different influences. That there are a limited number of producers dominating is surely reflected throughout the last fifty years - I well recall loathing Mickey Most and the Chinneychap production line of the early 70s, but actually love some of those old songs now (but only a few of the very many) - same with Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Back in the 60s I remember watching a tv documentary where various jazz musicians and officianados denigrated the Beatles work as worthless. How wrong they were. I think it's just people out of touch really (and basically saying they don't make em like they used to). When bands like Hendrix and Deep Purple appeared on chart tv shows I really don't think they were there because they appealed to the teeny boppers and 'crossed over' - they were there because a different audience bought sufficient copies to put them there.

I generally have mine set to factory spec or thereabouts. I've taken the view that as they design the things, they should know how they perform best. I also use the same string guage as you on my SR5 and find them excellent. I play blues/jazz/jazz funk/soul on mine and whilst having a slightly lower action than the factory spec helps when playing very fast and complex lines, I find too low an action doesn't help when playing straightforward grooves - the factory spec also allows a little more scope for dynamics in the weight of plucking the strings - too low an action and you easily get to Stanley Clark style string popping when that wasn't the intention (as the strings clatter against the fretboard). Maybe this is why I tend not to encounter the string balance issue some people mention on some basses. I've often wondered how much that is down to compromised set up. All bass designs are different and those thinking that setting say pick up height as per a Precision on every other bass design (I've come across a lot of people who think this) are likely to get peculiar results (such as individual strings sounding comparatively quiet). I guess the factory specs are there for a reason. It's certainly a very good starting point in my view.

Which is probably the reason rock and roll is dying for some people - unfortunately it is that they are so out of step with the youth of today they overlook the fact that 'rock' music is well and truly alive and kicking in the metal and various other genres. Dear old Eric Clapton has one of those little Martin guitars I believe! At the height of rock music (as I guess some people view it through whichever brand of rose tinted spectacles or era one chooses) the pop charts were always carrying artists like Clive Dunn, St Winifred's Choir and the Singing Nun (some of them even sporting now revered sessions musicians on bass and guitar etc)..... I think some of us older folk are just too old to see the wood for the trees. Surely the golden age of rock and roll is the first RATM album - on a par with the first Black Sabbath etc etc - take your pick there are some in every era and decade! It certainly isn't dead in my view!! It may not be mainstream pop chart just now but there again, it only has been off and on for selected songs over the last 60 odd years - dependant on what you count as rock and roll.

Very sad - apart from Heads Hands and Feet I first came across Chas's bass playing on Jerry Lee Lewis's London Sessions album - which I bought because one of my favourite guitar players appeared. Chas's bass playing is excellent on it. Taught me a lot about playing bass on rock and roll and country music. He was playing bass a lot earlier than that, with Ritchie Blackmore and others, with Joe Meek in the early 60s.

I thought they were both lyrics from rap songs .... or maybe I misheard against the adjacent bleeps over naughty words.

I think we're suffering from a resurgence of the '70s Rock drummer syndrome'. Messrs Bonham and Moon may be ok in a stadium but people trying to play like them in a small pub is plain daft unless the band is exactly that genre perhaps. I have come across these sort of drummers, playing fills over entire bars (music bars...), using double bass drum pedals so always playing a roll where one bass drum beat should be, (including on reggae - and on beats one and three instead of just three). These guys seem to take pleasure in the physical work out and rather than using the wrists to play are actually using the entire body to create the power.... Of course, back in the early 80s many drummers got replaced with drum machines for financial reasons - or was it the ability for the band, duo or whatever to control the volume 😏

There's no problem with mine.

Congratulations - great basses 👍

These were my two basses for this afternoon's gig - the Fretless being 25 yrs older than the 4HH Special.

Regarding rounds, I'm not sure he uses them any more - he was using Cobalt Flats at one point recently. However more to the point I have read that he has had the board re-shot or replaced multiple times. It makes sense really because rounds wear grooves eventually (think fret wear of a fretted) - if you have grooves and deep swirls it can affect playability and presumably tuning. I also read somewhere that Pino's wife said that the bass had been signed by Rocco Prestia, presumably one of his heros.

He may be better off getting a refund on that one and putting a deposit down on the one he wants to buy. To be honest that is the only one I've seen with that issue - not sure why it has it - the pocket gap is a little bigger than some would desire - although not unusual for other manufacturers. I doubt the one pictured by Hiram K actually came from the factory like that. Generally, stock items tend to be the ones which are more likely to sell - same with Guitar Centre - the spread put on by Andertons was most unusual (and included my customer order...) !! As I said before if you want something unusual placing an order is the best way to get it.

What an interesting reply...... they've obviously overlooked the fact that the neck is actually unadjustable as the adjustment facility they provided has broken. Id be interested to know what climatic tolerances their neck design is intended to deal with - a house in the UK hardly seems to pose extreme conditions - suggesting their design or manufacture is at fault. Best of luck!

Yes it is I think. The two pick ups together as Hs is a great sound also but the single H version is also a very versatile bass - particularly responsive to moving your plucking position around plus the new EQ has the same characteristics.