uk_lefty

Bill, I always value your advice whether it's on a thread of mine or someone else. Thank you, you've saved me from buying a 4x10. I never knew why I didn't care for them much but was seriously thinking to give it a go!

I run my Helix Stomp straight into the amp input. The only effect it doesn't like is a Trace Elliot IR so I made that block turn-off-able via footswitch. Easy.

What would work best for on stage sound.... A single 15inch cab on an angled stand? Two fifteens stacked A 4x10 I have a single fifteen already. I've had two fifteens in the past and loved the sound. I know I can't just sit the single fifteen on the floor and get clarity of high end on stage or in rehearsal. Looking for the best solution and advice, please.

It's all down to personal taste, but I'd say make sure you can see and feel one before committing. Some can look good online but up close are pretty poor. Best relic job I had was buying a 90s MIM Fender and just never ever putting it in a case and not being careful when dragging strings out the bridge.

I like it!!

I loved this film when I first saw it, then went out and bought tons of Leonard Cohen.

Warwick are one of the few brands who look after lefties quite well, though. I'm sure you could find a decent, used or new Warwick Thumb quite easily. A few months ago one went on eBay for £700, Bass Gallery had a nice one that recently sold and I think Bass Direct has one at the moment unless it's sold in the last week. If you search Reverb, keep viewing eBay and wait a bit you'll probably find one within a year or so. If it's a dream bass getting one within a year would be a good result, surely?

Totally this!!! I'm the same with films, I watched Blues Brothers for the first time about a year or two ago and all the cameo appearances and jokes must have been amazing beyond mind blowing when the film was fresh and new, but they set a bar for others to try to reach and or exceed.

I think there's loads of variance, from the big production brands like Fender who run a custom shop to the bespoke builders who only make to order. Not all Fender custom shop instruments are made to order, I've heard some retailers have to buy and stock X amount of "custom shop" instruments.... The only Fender custom shop bass I've ever held in my hands and played was ordered by an ex band mate who spent £2000ish and waited a year or two for it. They now cost around double that for those available in shops and the wait is probably longer if you want one built to your spec. It looked great it played.......... Ok. It wasn't for me, aside from the false ageing which looked good I couldn't really see where the money had gone.

No. I've only ever had lefty basses. Had I started out on a right handed bass I'd probably have stuck with them. Not ever flipping at right handed bass over, or wanting to, has probably saved me thousands over the years!

Red Hot Chillis at Knebworth 2012. No vocals coming through. Bought an official MP3 recording of the gig and the vocals were loud and clear on that.

One tactic I had, not so much a leave behind marketing piece, but something to help keep the gigs coming in, was to find out which other pubs the venue is networked to. So if you get a good lead on a place that has covers bands every Saturday and pays say £250 which brewery chain are they in, where are their other pubs.... That way you can go to their "sister" pub and say Glynnis at the Dirty Swan in the town centre has us for March, do you have an opening for April? A bit like the old home improvements door to door tactic of "you may have noticed our vans down the road nearby"

I see these every now and then on eBay. So either try to find another or see if Ashdown can do a front grille/ cover or badge so you could match up a different Ashdown cab but keep the look consistent. No guarantee they will do it but if you don't ask you don't know.

I know!!! I want so many.... But since buying a US made Stingray most others are just nice shapes and colours and don't have a comparable complexity of tone from the pickup or feel to the neck. I even tried a new US Jazz a few months back and just thought it was not up to much. I think I need GAS therapy!

I left behind a plectrum with the band name and logo on it and a Facebook page link. Two problems there. First up you can't "click" that link, and second it was written so small you could barely see it. A QR code leading to a site with content about the band would be far, far better!

I haven't regretted selling basses. There are some I sold for amounts that look crazy low now, but at the time it was right. In the last few months I've sold two: my MIJ Jazz and my 1984 Aria. The MIJ Jazz was the most beautiful jazz bass I've ever seen but something about it just didn't click with me so I sold it to a BC'er. The Aria was a restoration project that again just didn't quite click and I replaced it quite quickly before selling it to a BC'er for less than the amount I sank in to the restoration. I regret neither. I've got some cash in my pocket that I am yet to spend. But what this has done is made me play my MM Stingray a LOT more. And that is no bad thing. I'm quite happily shedding gear at the moment. I'm thinking less is more for me at the moment. It's nice to collect stuff but it's also fairly pointless.

Classy headstock, I like the 3+2 arrangement and the black hardware.

Ashdown Rootmaster. You can bypass the EQ with a switch on the front. I used to before my Helix days just because my Sire sounded so incredibly good with its onboard EQ. Now with my Helix I don't bother with the effects loop I just go straight to the input and sometimes use the amp EQ, sometimes don't depending on what I want to achieve. Also, they're going crazy cheap at the moment despite being excellent amps.

People on here with the model T love it. Like most brands I've noticed their prices have really shot up in the last few years. It's a shame because they do a good left handed range but they're just too expensive for me to take a punt on, considering they'd need to be specially ordered by most retailers (in left handed at least). The Stiletto Studio range does look nice but am pretty sure the price has doubled over five years.

I bought a Stingray in 2018 and though I don't sound like Pino on it... It's fretted... But it makes me very happy. It's a fine bass. Buy a Stingray.

Fair enough. I just can't listen to songs I've played over and over for five years that I used to really like. Now I either associate it with the memory of a bad gig or realise I've played it very, very wrong for too long!

You definitely want only a smaller proportion of those songs. But try to find something in them you like, it might not even be your part but if the drummer does something you like just wait for that bit and let that give you energy to smile through it. Or put your own twist to the song if the circumstances allow. But being in a cover band that plays songs you like... Well, you won't like them after a year or so of playing them!

Doesn't matter how you got there 😊👍

Tell us the advice please 😄

I think that's what we have to accept as bassists. We will not get the exact sounds. We can try to get close but it gets to a point where "that'll have to do". I wrestled with synth tones for an 80s covers band, what I made at home sounded pants with the band, and now I've done a few sessions with a pop-rock band and I've gone for stock Helix fuzz sounds and just fed them into my wah pedal with no clever signal routing or processing and it's done the job more than adequately. Also playing with a live band the energy to play with and your dynamics are worth far more than getting the exact tone off the record, time is spent far more effectively on learning the song than on chasing tones that we know are from other instruments.