Doddy

I haven't played the Solid Gold, but I do have the Seamoon. It's different to every other filter I've got because it only does a downward sweep, so it doesn't do that Bootsy type of Mutron sound. If you listen to The Brecker Brothers album 'Heavy Metal Bebop', you can get a vibe of what it's like, because the original is all over that album. You can also set it to be a monstrous sub pedal if you want. I love the Seamoon, but I tend to use it alongside my Emma Discumbobulator for two distinct filter sounds.

The Boss Bass EQ is a decent little pedal. I prefer the old brown one, but the newer one does the job fine.

I don't think it's a pickup thing, I like the EMGs that are in it, and it sounds great. It's more like the whole instrument doesn't seem to have as much character as my other basses. I find my other basses more inspiring.

I've had a really nice Shuker Singlecut that I've had for a while now. It looks great, plays great, and sounds great both live and on recordings.....yet out of all my high end basses, it's the one I reach for the least. It just doesn't seem to have quite as much character as some of my other basses. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic quality instrument but I'm constantly wondering if I should swap it for something different just because I don't use it enough anymore.

Being 'merely adequate' has nothing to do with not having regular rehearsals. Like I said in an earlier post, the bands that I play with who are the busiest have never had a rehearsal for as long as I've been with them. It's not like they are playing pubs either- it's nearly all decent venues or theatres. It also becomes difficult to rehearse a band when it's members are spread around the country, so a quick run through of any new stuff at soundcheck and it's ready to go. If you have good players in the band, it doesn't take much to get things right.

Mine would be based on my main '95 MiJ Fender Jazz. Alder body Rosewood 'board Badass II bridge DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups Series/Parallel switch Bone nut Hipshot X-Tender key Dunlop Straplocks Lightly reliced, Crimson Red Metallic. I'd slim down the body slightly and add either an F Bass or Sadowsky preamp, and offer an Ash/Maple 5 string option to mirror my F Bass.

I've found that all the bands that I've been in that insist on weekly rehearsals seem to be as much (or more) about the hang, as they are about being out and playing shows. The bands that have been consistently working have had very few, if any, rehearsals. In fact, I haven't done one rehearsal with the couple of shows who I'm currently busiest with.

That seems like a massive ball ache for a pub gig?

I'll be honest, I bought my Fender Marcus Miller, and Sire V7 because I'm a massive Marcus fan , but I kept them because they are great basses. I bought my Ibanez Gary Willis bass because I thougjt it was the best 5 string fretless in it's price range, and I bought my Yamaha Attitude because it was cool and a great price. I don't have an issue with signature basses, although I have dismissed a couple of really nice instruments because of the player association (I'm looking at you, Ibanez K5, with your horrible inlay)

No 😛

Personally I think that if you're ordering a custom instrument, the best thing to do is find a builder who makes what you want and let them do their thing without being too picky. When I ordered my F Bass I knew that they made the instrument that I wanted, so all I had to do was spec my wood combination, string spacing, and finish. I could no doubt have gone in to more detail, but I just wanted them to do what they do. If I wanted something different, I would have gone to a different luthier.

Comfort Stapp are great, but I find that neoprene straps tend to leave white marks on your black shirt/jacket if you sweat. I prefer a quality wide (3") leather strap to be better, particularly the Levys or Gruv Gear ones. The Gruv Gear Duo Strap especially, is brilliant if you are playing a heavy bass for 3 or 4 sets every night.

I don't know if any music can really be classed as old. There are people discovering bands like The Beatles, or The Rolling Stones or whoever, for the first time, and to them it's all new and exciting. Sure, some sounds can seem a bit dated now but at the time they were pushing the boundaries, and there are still younger musicians who are being influenced by those old DX7 or Linn Drum sounds.

I generally like Big Muffs, but the EHX Bass version is far from the best one- If I was going to use an EHX one, I'd go for the Green Russian over the Bass version. I think that other companies make better Muff pedals, my personal favourites being the Greer 'Tarpit',and the Nine Volt 'Fishing is as fun as fuzz'.

I love fresh strings. I find I just get far more tone out of them when they're new. I prefer stainless steel for both sound and feel, although I don't mind nickel even though I don't find them quite as bright. I've said it in other threads, but I really don't like coated strings. The D'Addario EXP were ok, but Elixir were the worst string I've used and I had loads of issues with them.

I like having my preamp at the front of my chain so I can shape my tone before hitting any other pedals, even if I'musing it for some drive. I pretty much never use the DI on most preamps either because I want the DI at the end, so I always use a seperate box.

I look at it this way- guitar players and keyboard players are expected to use effects to shape their tones, so why shouldn't bass players be expected to do the same? I used a multi effects for a couple of years when I couldn't really fly with a bunch of pedals. I like the practicality of carrying one unit, but I find individual pedals easier to use and I generally prefer how they sound.

Well, there are drummers who are picky about as little as 0.01cm in stick thickness, so yeah I think nut width can be an important consideration.

I put a Bartolini preamp in my Streamer after the original MEC circuit burnt out, and it made it way more tonally flexible and powerful. It works really well with the stock MEC pickups.

The standard is the Simandl book, New Method for the Double Book. It's got some great exercises and etudes, and is one of the best books to help get your technique together, especially with the bow. I always recommend it as a strong starting point. The Evolving Bassist by Rufus Reid is a great book, and is more jazz focused. Ray Brown Bass Method is very good for scale exercises and running up and down the neck, although it might be a bit hard for an absolute beginner.

Totally agree. I'm doing a lot of gigs without in ears at the moment and I'm enjoying being able to crank up my amp a bit, old school style. Having said that, I still like having an amp behind me when I'm using in ears, for a bit more feel.

Coated like Elixir. I quite like nylon tapewounds. I've got them on my short scale Bullet, and they're ace.

I use the same strings on my fretless as I do on my fretted, usually steel roundwounds. I've used Elites a lot, but I've got D'addario on there at the moment. I think LaBellas will be going on next time though. Flats can sound great but I prefer the tone of rounds on a fretless, and coated strings can get in the bin.

It seems to work fine, but I never use compression.

I've used a Downtown Express quite a bit, and it's always been great. I quite like the overdrive in it, but I think the EQ is really good.