peteb

Personally, I'm completely the opposite. I find it much easier to play a 4 string and I'm much more fluent playing one. I am using a 4 string bass for all of my current gigs. However, I was once up for a gig that involved playing songs that had obviously been recorded on a 5 and the guy (understandably) wanted me to play pretty much what was on the album. It was a real struggle to try and play them on a 4. I went out and bought a decent 5 string straight away. I prefer to play 4 sting basses, but as ever, it depends on the gig...

Yes, you are quite right about the price of BM's LP (I missed a zero off). I'm guessing that once he put it up for sale, even at an inflated price, he was letting serious collectors know that he was open for offers. Of course, the price of Bernie's LLP reflected not only that it was the guitar that he was most associated with, but also that it had also been owned by Clapton, Paul Kossof and Andy Fraser at some point. Didn't Jeff Beck record with it as well, or have I just imagined that? All I am saying is that people who have spent their life making a precarious living as a pro muso, maybe a little less sentimental about instruments than many of us might be. I've never owned a proper vintage instrument, so I'm not going to argue about it, but that's just an impression that I get...

The thing is that Bernie did actually put his famous LP up for sale for £100k not long before he died, along with many other high value guitars from his collection. However, he withdrew it from sale following a lot of feedback from his fanbase who urged him to keep it. On the back of this, he said that he was going keep it for a bit longer. Then he got ill and unfortunately, passed away a matter of weeks later. It's worth noting that he made it quite clear that he may sell at some point and that he would have considered a particularly good offer, at pretty much any time since he first got it!

I must admit that I wondered if the WB-100 would be loud enough / have enough headroom for bigger gigs. I've been using the R-400 as it is in the same ballpark as the mpulse in terms of sound, but a bit easier to carry round (no rack needed) and sits neatly on a 212 cab. It's just easier to unload in the early hours of the morning after a long drive home, so the mpulse and the Berg 410 stay at home! As far as the TT800 goes, I did have a Subway D-800 amp (the little one) for a while. However, even though it sounded great in a room on its own, it didn't really cut it for me on a stage with a band. This is something that I've always found with Class D amps, so an amp with a proper A/B power section in a smaller casing was (to me) a suitable alternative to carrying a 4u rack around. The R-400 sounds great, is loud enough and an easy one handed carry.

I can see that, but it seems that pros are a bit less sentimental about their assets tied up in vintage guitars...!

I was basing that statment on something that Bernie Marsden said a few months before he died when he put a load of his vintage guitars up for sale, including his 59 Gibson Les Paul Standard Burst (The Beast) that he is most associated with: "I have been astonished by the reaction to the potential sale of The Beast!” Marsden says in a new Instagram post. “As you all know, I’ve had the guitar since 1974 and technically it’s been for sale ever since… That’s what happens when you own a vintage Les Paul!” I also know that that Gary Moore sold a load of vintage guitars (including 'Greeny') when he lost some money on a cancelled tour, keeping just one old LP. Even guys like Mick Ralphs, who certainly never needed the money, seemed to be constantly buying and selling his vintage Gibsons & Fenders. For those of us who haven't got that sort of money, perhaps owning a vintage bass might be great for a while, but not something that you can justify financially in the long term. But it's nice to have owned and played them for a while! Not something that I've ever done, but I have known people who have and I can see the attraction...!

I must admit, I'm a little curious about what amps you are using currently? I thought that I saw that you have got a SVT7 (?) recently, in addition to the WB-100. If I remember correctly you also has a Mesa mpulse? I'm just wondering what amps you're gigging and what ones you've kept / going to keep? Personally, I seem to own / have owned similar amps to you. These include the R-400 that I use for virtually all gigs these days, an mpulse that I love and have no intention of selling, but can't be bothered to lug a 4u roadcase around for road gigs that I generally seem to be doing these days. and a MB LM3 that I tend to use for rehearsals. I also used to have a SVT5 that I used for a bit but moved on several years ago.

I think that a lot of people like the idea of owning one for a bit, if only for a while. A lot of big time pros seem to look at them as something they get to use for a while then move on when the market is right. Like you, I might be tempted at the right price, but in reality I'm quite happy with my 78 P bass.

The Blues Bar is great, but it is a drive away and there is also the Skipton Sound Bar bang in the centre of town. I've never played there (or even been), but I'm told that it's really good by those who have.

Generally I think that you are right, although there are exceptions.

I'm guessing your idea of a good night out is hanging out with some friends around a brazier with economy bottles of cheap cider, cans of Tennants Purple Tin and Thnderbird wine for the ladies? Still, that's a better night out than going to Wetherspoons...

Double post!

Same here! Does anyone have any suggestions?

I don't know if this is true, but I know several (very good and very experienced) singers who will use one IEM when gigging. I don't use IEMs, but I often use a moulded ear protector in one ear on a loud stage, which seems to work well enough.

Not bad, but I would have thought that it might be a bit more than that

Mick Taylor was in a couple as well... But Daryl isn't actually a member like Bill - he and Steve Jordan are (presumably, very well paid) hired hands...

No, you've got that wrong - hundreds of years of snakeoil salesmen conning deluded musicians about how an instrument sounds! Seriously, you can't argue with these people. I once had a builder tell me that the laws of physics worked differently in the UK compared to how they do in Germany (when challenged as to why British homes are built to a much lower standard than those built in Germany).

I've just seen that Mo Foster's main fretless bass is for sale in the Bass Gallery. It's a Fender Jazz that he got a symphony-bass repairman to replace the fingerboard with a 100-year old piece of ebony removed from an old upright bass, as well as replacing the original bridge with a Badass. He said that this instrument became his 'voice'. Of course, he was completely mistaken as we know from this thread that the choice of wood and using a hi-mass bridge make absolutely no difference to the tone of a bass...

I've just played a festival where the guy playing in the band before me had an old TE amp with an Eden 410 cab. He sounded pretty good and the rig more than did the job. He said to me the he's looking for a cab with a bit more headroom, but his current rig works well enough and sounded great. The trouble with mixing a 410 with a 115 is that you do lose a bit of efficiency with different speaker sizes. I once replaced a 115 cab with a second 410 and it made quite a noticeable difference. I wouldn't worry too much about needing a 15 speaker for the bottom end if I were you - in my experience, a decent 410 will handle the lows perfectly well.

Dunn about that - there's plenty of units being touted as a 'one cab solution', pretty much any 4ohm cab.

I doubt that I will be buying it, but good on 'em...! They're musicians and if they still want to releasing new material and touring, then that's pretty inspiring actually. It's not as if they need the money - I'm sure that even Jagger isn't bothered about that at this point. I've just played a blues festival over the weekend and run into an old mate that I played a couple of gigs with several years go (he was playing the same venue after the band I was playing with). He was saying that he was glad to see that I was still doing the circuit, bearing in mind that I assume that he's a fair bit older than me (I'm in my early 60s). I've no intention of stopping and neither has he. He said that he will keep going until he keels over onstage and leaves his last gig feet first! No reason that the Stones shouldn't do exactly the same...

I've always got a Radial StageBug SB-2 in my gigbag for the odd occasion when I need it. It's small, lightweight, seems to work pretty well and costs £85 from Bass Direct.

I clicked on the link only to decide after ten seconds that it wasn't for me. I didn't feel the need to post anything nasty about it or to proclaim her as the second coming because... she's a girl... When I first saw the link I couldn't make out whether the OP was saying 'wow' because he thought that she was good, or because she was bad! Isn't a 'simp' something a guy who can't get laid calls another man who appears to over-compensate for their lack of confidence by being in awe of women for no particular reason? Sort of name calling among inadequate blokes? Excuse me, I'm not really up on all this incel nonsense...

What is the point of this thread?

Led Zep tribute in Manchester on Friday (Dazed & Confused): https://www.facebook.com/ledintozeppelin/videos/277166045036149