uk_lefty

My wife was there with me. She even told me to buy it!!! I'm waiting on some news any day now, and if that goes my way the Ray will be my own personal momento of the occasion! Bit sad the Warwick was so far behind it though. I think now, having owned one in the past also, that no matter how much I want to love a Warwick, I just can't.

Yesterday I tickled a USA musician stingray for the first time. Absolute bass-love. The punchiness in the sound is to die for, I can't get that from my P bass or others. The three band EQ was more intuitive than my Sire with its two mid controls that baffle me. The bass was perfectly shaped and perfect weight. It probably topped the Sandberg P+MM I tried out a few years back, the presence that a Stingray pickup brings is just the nuts. I tried a Sterling Ray34 in the past and didn't get this same level of satisfaction. I tried the stingray against a Warwick double buck and the Stingray was head and shoulders above it IMO, no matter how much I wanted to love the Warwick equally. However I didn't get to try this against a USA Fender Jazz. Very different basses I know, but I would like to have played the USA jazz. If I get a Stingray (or other) it's my Mexican Jazz that will go, I can't justify having more than four basses... Should I have tried it against the USA Jazz? Is this the start of a Stingray obsession???

Being left handed if I want to try a particular bass I pretty much make an appointment at the music shop so that I know it's in stock and I will get treated properly and not like an urchin blown indoors by the cold winds. Not been to BD yet but tried one of their basses at LBGS years back and had a very good dialogue with them by email, though I chickened out of the purchase.

How many basses are you up to now??!

Perfect for any TV show with the word "celebrity" in the title

Exactly! I cannot see myself ever using the synths and many, many others. It will be compressor, EQ, preamp... Probably finding a favourite and sticking to it, plus drive, chorus or touch wah as needed.

While all this was ongoing I picked up a Boss GT10B at a good price, too good to turn down. I appreciate all the comments and was looking at the Zoom B3n seriously. The Boss is far, far more complex than I need. I've had a play at home, in rehearsal and for a small gig last night. There's loads more o need to work out how to do, like assign a pedal to activate the tuner, and so on, and create my own patches in order, but I'm starting off slow. The presets are hit and miss, but there are lots of useable ones, probably because they focus on preamp and EQ rather than any crazy extreme sounds. There are plenty I just cannot fathom how or why they were made. So for now I'm experimenting. I think the sound of the effects is good enough for my uses live, it's just about understanding enough to use it in a simple way. Having nine compressors to access instead of just what's on my board is hardly helping me with simplicity!

Probably only reporters. If the music was stinky poo and the band leader is known for either pulling a stint or being a weirdo then I doubt many would part with their hard earned cash to see the two minute novelty.

Was there last month. Get up early to enjoy the beauty of the place without the crowds. It really is special. Walking over Charles bridge to the Castle side look left at the end of the bridge, there's a guitar shop down there! I didn't manage to go but it has a giant painted mural including a bass so I was sorely tempted. Be careful buying Trdno's, weird ice cream things in a pastry cone. The first one I had was amazing, every one thereafter was more rubbish than the last. Choose your Trdno vendor wisely!

It must be embarrassing for the venue's, they've now got an empty slot and it's national news that any idiot can book them saying they're a big touring band. Agree on the support acts, unless getting hold of tickets was stupid expensive or difficult on some way. The article says that the "artist" had a hired band, which is what brings me to think he's a fantasist that somehow got people to play along/ turn a blind eye and take his cash, rather than this being a clever-clever stunt about social media.

Never quite got it myself either. A woolly mush out front for everyone! And in my band the guitar amp/ pedal/ lead... We never know which, packs up every single time guaranteed. We keep telling him to get the lot serviced but it's falling on lead-guitarist ears.

Hmmm he is going for the hipster crowd who enjoy nothing but will attend "ironically"... Plus a few junior journalists getting the thin end of the wedge when assignments are handed out. He has cracked it! I think he could have only got more publicity by being a serial killer.

It can really help you as a bassist I find. I was in a drumless band and it was great for me and the guitarist to gel and play off each other. It made me play more percussively and play more notes to support the song and drive the rhythm, so now with a drummer I lock in a lot more and emphasise his playing which works well under two guitars. In short do it. One, because you have no choice, and two because it will make your playing as a unit so much better. Slotting in a new drummer should then be easier. And with a drummer you'll notice there's one more round coming in from the bar!

I think in this case it was a delusional fantasist that set up the tour. Goodness knows how he even managed to catch a flight. Glad the venue's pre warned others but it doesn't do the local reputation of the venue any good that basically any delusional idiot can book them for the night regardless of whether they're capable of carrying a tune in a bucket. And I'm sorry but a foreign act you e never heard of with loads of Facebook likes (irrelevant if all those likes are abroad/ not around your area) and you've not checked them out before letting them book the venue?? Bit of due diligence required I think!

I'm washing my hair.

Off topic, but very pleased for you, Matt. I was laid off ten years ago along with some close friends and i know first hand and from seeing how others struggled that your outlook and attitude on these things shapes so much more than just what next job you get. Glad you've got a happy story there, made me a little warm inside!

We have the odd discussion here about social media, whether to get payment on the door, dodgy venues etc. I thought you'd all enjoy this story: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife/rock-band-creates-fake-fan-2204472

I don't quite understand the question but I have a lefty hipshot D tuner on my Mexican jazz. The only issue was that the tech needed to grind away some of the side of it to make it fit next to the other tuners.

Forgot to add... A proper set up can change everything. First time I had a proper set up done I never looked back, I had never played with neck or saddle adjustments so didn't see what the fuss or expense was about. It's like having your car serviced and you hear a little less engine noise, brakes and accelerator are a little more responsive and you notice that immediate difference. It can increase the fluidity of your playing, make the neck and strings feel totally different, it's well worth it!

In the days before child arrived my basses sat out on stands. Some were beautiful flame maple tops, others a jazz with the ashtrays on, a cricket bat Hohner... It was part of my personality in the house. When I split with my ex and my flat became a bachelor pad the TV was moved aside for my basses and amp. Having nice basses was decorative, and part of how I wanted people to see me. I hadn't been in bands for a while. Now I'm in a busy gigging band, happily married and have a small child I've got four basses in cases under the spare bed. My latest acquisition was a Sire to test out a few config things for if I eventually get a custom build... That's a pipe dream though. I don't need an expensive custom build, I can't buy a vintage investment bass because I'd be scared to gig it, and when you see your MIJ precision face down in a pool of cider at a function you know a Sire or similar is what you should have taken instead. I reckon there's a weird relationship between whether I'm in a band that's doing something and whether I lust after aesthetically brilliant gear, or whether I just want something that I can accept will get bashed about but achieves what it needs to.

Agree wholeheartedly.

Looks like a reverse body to me.

Rootmaster 1x15 and Rootmaster 2x10. I had two 1x15s at one point and preferred that for me and my sound. I occasionally gig with just one cab too but prefer to take the full stack out

Is it too trebbly for home practice or in the band mix... Or both? I dont use that bass but I find I crank the treble a lot with the band to cut through a bit.