molan

Ummm, interesting thread! I think my gear in some sort of vague order would go: Laney G300 with a big old Fender silver face 1x15 & a dinky Laney 2x10 extension cab - surprisingly "OK" combination although the Laney 2x10 wasn't up to much! Trace Elliot Twin Valve 1x15 combo - fell for the valve sound for a while but a bit of a beast to lug around Gallien Kreuger MB150 combo - my antidote to the weight of the Trace but only used for rehearsals & it even struggled at those (and blew a power section without too much provocation!) Trace V-Type pre-amp with a Trace 2x150 power amp and a Trace 4x12 cab - none more rock but a bit limited in sound (the V-Type was a trade for the Laney 2x10 so that was a most excellent deal). Didn't get on with the 4x12 so tried a standard Trace 1x15 with a matching 2x10, much nicer and more usable rig with the V-Type, which I still have but never use it. Trace GP12SMX 1x15 combo which I generally used with the 2x10 extension cab - at last, the "true" Trace sound! Succumbed to GAS and sold the lot for an SWR SM500 & a Triad cab, definitely one of my faves. Then did my back in and went for a much smaller Euphonic i-Amp 350 combo with a CXL 1x12 extension cab Best looking rig was probably the SWR with the Triad - always looked so classy compared to the green carpet of my Trace gear Best live sound is definitely the Euphonic - almost every time I use it someone appears and asks me what it is and how it's both so loud and punchy from such a small setup. Played with a couple of dep drummers who took one look at the size of the combo and openly laughed - they both came over at the break of each gig and said what a great sounding set-up it was (both times partnered with Modulus basses) Worst sounding/most difficult rig I've had to work with was at a recent gig with an Ashdown Evo 500 head paired with Ashdown 1x15 & 4x8 cabs. Absolutely horrible boomy sound with little individual note definition. Really struggled to get a decent sound out of it!

Doesn't sound very positive! I see they have a mahogany bodied version so maybe that has a fuller sound? It's quite a bit heavier than the original version though which seems to be getting away from some of the "Fly" concept. NB - My baby Zon only weighs 7.5 lbs and has a very full sound if required so the simple weight argument can't really be why the Fly doesn't sound that great (obviously mass is pretty important here!).

Just wondered if anyone out there had played a Fly bass at all? I tried one of their guitars when they first came out and thought they made even my rudimentary guitar skills sounds surprisingly OK! If anyone's played one I'd be fascinated to know what they thought about the feel, handling, playability etc. as well as the sound.

Midnight at the Oasis - been trying to get the BNH version sorted but settled for the original Maria Mulduar!

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='180965' date='Apr 20 2008, 12:14 PM']My favourite is definitely 'If this bass could only talk', it seems to be the most consistent album, some of his albums are a bit of a mixed bag, some funk, a bit of jazz played on upright, a solo upright song, even some poetry on one of his albums, so you might only like a couple of tracks, obviously depending on your musical tastes. I'd 'If this bass' is one of my top 10 bass albums.[/quote] Ooh, I forgot that one, that's my other fave Stan album. Isn't he over playing the Jazz Cafe soon?

Not quite the same but my old band once played a very posh wedding at one of the Inns of Court in London. The whole wedding took place in a very cool venue with antiques all over the place. However the problem with the venue and arrangements meant that everything ran really late. We played a short first set of around 30 minutes to fit around some announcements and stuff and went down really well. The the Father of the Bride (who was a very high ranking judge) came over and very discretely explained that the bride's brother was a fledgeling DJ and had been booked to play after us. Because things were running so behind schedule he asked us if we could "fake" some sort of electrical problem and not come back for the second set so the brother would have enough time to DJ. He offered to pay us for the full evening (which was about £2K) as much as we could drink at the bar and a £500K bonus to explain the "electrical problem" and slide off quietly. There was even a convenient side door to escape so we had a few beers, pocketed the cash & got home at a decent hour for a change!

I quite like East River Drive - probably in a bit of a minority here but I find some of the earlier stuff sounding a bit dated. Mind you ERD must be 15 years old already!

[quote name='SMART' post='180836' date='Apr 20 2008, 02:05 AM']Randy wanted an even bigger sound when he hit the USA with Jeff Beck to compete with Steve Alexander on drums, Jennifer Batten on guitar as well as Jeff doing his bit... So, we got Modulus to provide the extra pickup and Martin Peterson of The Gallery fitted them for Randy. The fantastic inlay is utterly superb in detail and finish, Randy faxed me this cartoon he drew of himself and we just faxed it onto Modulus who incorporated it into the fingerboard. He went through an 'everything must be passive' moment and that's when I believe he put it up for sale. Ciao Ian[/quote] Hey Ian, you know more about this bass than me - don't suppose you know what the switchable active circuit is by any chance?

Ok - so Randy "may" be up for sale. Just re-strung with some GHS Flea signature strings and will decide whether to sell or not in the next day or so

I saw Billy S live just over a year ago in LA playing with Steve Vai - great gig & Sheehan was awesome. "Support" acts on the bill were Satriani, Gilbert, Dweezil Zappa, Lukather, Hiland, Henderson, etc. etc.. Personally I thought Sheehan blew the rest of them away but Gilbert was great as well. Vai was pretty impressive but "Satch" leaves me cold.

I have one of these- couldn't live without it!

So many 70's / 80's disco songs defined by the bass - how about Boogie Oogie Oogie by Taste of Honey - try you tubing and see if you can find a live version with the girl lead singer also playing the bass line. Of course many of Jamerson's lines were the real hooks to all of those great Motown classics. Difficult to pick just one, maybe Ain't No Mountain High Enough, original version (the later version is actually my fave but the bass is maybe more dominant in the earlier one)?

I tend to stick Jools on the series record button and then watch it over the weekend with the easy option of zipping past anything I don't like (which can often be a fair chunk of the show). Against my initial impression I really quite liked Yeasayer - especially the Sunrise. Got a bit fed up with the singer's David Byrne impressions but liked the song and thought the bass player was kinda cool, in a slightly odd way, nice "unconventional" choice of bass too

[quote name='odub' post='174371' date='Apr 11 2008, 09:47 AM']My G&L was owned (and made for) jerry donahue of the hellecasters[/quote] I owned Jerry's custom shop Strat for several years. Bought it off him at a trade show. UK importers (Arbiter?) cocked up and sold me the only Signature Strat in the country and it was due to go to Guitarist the next day. Whislt I was waiting to collect it Jerry turned up and apologised and said he couldn't let me have the shop item but would I take the original prototype in exchange. It was hand built in the proper custom shop, with lots of stuff that never made it to the production models - real abalone inserts, higher grade custom wound pickups etc. It was also serial number 0001 - big surprise I said I'd have it if he would sign the back of the headstock as well Eventually flogged it to a mate who's a "proper" guitarist. it's still his #1 guitar & we have a deal that if he ever sells it for more than he paid me we'll split the profit! I currently have Randy Hope-Taylor's Flea bass built for him to take on tour with Jeff Beck a few years ago. I also have an old Ricky that has a set of Rotosounds on it that once had the packaging signed by Bruce Foxton - that does that count

I just sold this little baby - didn't throw in a bass with it though! Should be getting the money at the weekend and may well use some of it to fund a bass purchase. . . .

Wow, thanks guys, so many useful tips here! My ideal speakers would be some that are very "listenable" - the room is small and I may be sitting quite close to them but I'm not specifically looking for something that will reveal every nuance as in a proper recording environment. Most of my listening will be for "pleasure" and using for playing my bass along to and picking out bass lines.

[quote name='budget bassist' post='171648' date='Apr 7 2008, 06:02 PM']Or even better than that, one of [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/10536"]these[/url], safe as houses those things.[/quote] That's the one I saw that was more expensive - might get one of these for live use. Currently have a Quick-Lock which gives basic support at the base of the guitar only.