Maude

I've got five or six days to work on that one :0) Without meaning to sound rude, you're the person that put doubt in my head about not getting the Rockabillys and going for the Honeys, at least I think it was you that loved them, I spent most of last night crawling the Innovation section. Once I've used this bass for a while I'll put my name down for a trial of the Honeys.

We do 'No one knows' by QOTSA (goes down a storm btw) which is in drop D and then all strings down a tone, sorry don't know what that's called, but I play by just dropping the E to C, we make sure the song before it ends on just guitars so I can quickly drop to C before we kick into QOTSA, it's quicker and visually slicker than swapping guitars. We always finish the first set with it so I can tune back up in the break. I always take and set up two basses anyway in case of any issue.

Well after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing I've made the decision and ordered a Gedo hybrid bass with adjustable bridge and strung with Innovation Rockabillys, I went fir an adjustable bridge as I'm not sure what height is 'my height' yet dependant on what tension strings I settle on. I ordered it with Rockabillys but I think I might like the Honeys, I'll get my name on the Innovation string thread after the new bass arrives. The worst bit now, the wait!

I've toyed with getting the Vox one and may well get one if they're pretty good, do they have an aux in like the flanger one in the OP? Another fan of the BDI21 here, got two of them, one for 'my sound' and another as an overdrive, I also have the acoustic version for my EUB.

I'd love to own a really top end bass but can't justify the outlay to myself when some inexpensive basses are so good. I also like to tinker so enjoy making a cheaper bass better and then it's a little more personal too. I bought an Aria STB Series P bass copy for £40, I'd heard the necks were good and they are, I fancied a 'classic' P bass (in my eyes), it was a nice sunburst so I put a tort scratchplate and a bridge cover on it, 1\4 pounder PU's in, a set of Chrome flats and made a foam mute for under the bridge cover. A really good clean, set up and sorting any bits I wasn't happy with later, and there weren't many at all really, and that bass is awesome. A mate has a Fender P, not sure what exactly but it's around the seventies somewhere and he reckons my Aria is nicer to play. It's one those never sell basses as it's not worth anything but it cost less than £150 all in. It's like it plays itself, can anyone tell I love that bass :0)

This seem a bit strange but if you're into experimenting, how about using two Precision bass pickups, so four separate PU's in total if you see what I mean, mount them vertically rather than in the convention manner so you'd have four pole pieces per string, you could then control the tone and volume of pairs of strings or if you wanted to rewire the separate PU's then a tone and volume for each string or just the conventional single tone and volume. Or maybe I just need help :0)

Thanks for all the replies, some noteworthy points made but only reinforcing what, deep down, I think I already knew, I was sort of hoping there might be a 'don't worry, get a full ply and it'll be fine' reply. A ply probably would be ok but there'd always be that 'what if' in my mind. I'm going to get a ply with a carved top. I could stretch to a full carved but only the cheapest available, which coupled with the fragility of a full carved in comparison to s ply worries me, this will be a gigging bas.To address some replies, I've allowed £100ish for new strings and if bought from Gedo it will have a proper set before shipping including fitting whichever strings I want. The EUB pre amp bypass, the one in the Harley Benson, which is a Palatino even came in a Palatino box, is IMO rubbish, hissy and tinny sounding, the only way I could make it sound good was by using an outboard pre so I tried bypassing it and improved the bottom end by miles, plus no hiss or batteries, after getting the sound U liked from an outboard pre I found that I could get the same sound just using the eq on my amp, I still use a pre if I'm going into the PA. My next dilemma is there is half carved from Gedo on sale which is Romanian built rather than Chinese in my price range but it's a very white blonde which I'm not sure I like but would probably be the best sounding. I know it shouldn't be looks over sound but I've got to live with it, oh the choices :-)

I have a BBE Acoustimax, Behringer ADi 21 and Line 6 X3 live which has a few preamps in it so hopefully I can get something decent sounding out of it. I've bypassed the pre in my Harley Benton EUB and run the piezo straight into my ashdown minirig and it sounds really good. So many choices :-)

Evening all, Now I realise that there's no substitute for actually trying the bass you want to buy and that a really good quality fully laminate would probably sound better than a really cheap partially carved bass, but. I think I'm going to be getting a new Gedo bass due to a number of factors, my dilema is which one, I'm on a very limited budget and even if I had more money to spend I couldn't justify it with a young family and an old cottage to renovate. My question is I would need to amplify it in the acoustic band I'm in (I'm currently using a Harley Benton EUB and the band are happy with the sound of that so I sure on of the cheaper Gedos will sound fine) ,would I be better getting a full laminate and use the money saved (£200ish) on a really good pickup, or get a laminate with carved top and a cheap (J tone) pickup. I suppose I'm asking will a carved top make much difference if l'm going to use a pickup. I won't be able to buy the carved top bass and an expensive pickup. I realise all basses will sound different but is there a rule of thumb kind of thing? Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

A fully laminate Gedo has just gone on ebay for £360, I would've had it but it was a nearly 600 mile round trip away, add on £100 of fuel and I've only saved £30 but lost a warranty as you can buy them for £490 delivered, it did have a set of D'addario hybrid lights on it though. I've been looking for the cheapest useable bass and decided a Gedo laminate plus a decent set of strings is the best deal I can get and it be playable, still £600 though. Thomann do one for the same price but free postage so you save £80 but the Gedos look like a nicer finish and there seems to be a lot of praise for them, quite possibly the same basses and the photos make the difference, I don't know :-)

Our drummer was Adam Ant, no hang on that's not right, our drummer was adamant that people would think we were a folk band so I suppose he was almost right if it makes you think blues, the band is rock covers band but we do try to put our own spin on things. It's so difficult getting five people to agree on one name. I saw a band advertised in a local pub whose name I think most male musicians can relate to, 'The Wives Aren't Happy'

I love OMD, should be a great night. The guitarist/mandolinist in our band did this pretty much off the cuff when he visited his brother, I like it so much I really want to do it in the acoustic band but he doesn't really like it. It's a little rough round the edges but I think it could be great, what do you think? http://m.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&client=mv-google&gl=GB&v=kpOdy5BTs2w Couldn't seem to upload it, sorry. Have a great night :0)

We've just had to rename due to having to kick the founder member out and he wanted to keep the original name. We were almost settled on 'Hoodoo Boomstick' until we found a band in the same county using boomstick in their name, what's the chances. We settled about a month ago on 'Cloud City Rebels', which is also a coincidence given the theme of this thread. While I'm posting, what genre of music does 'Hoodoo Boomstick' make you think of? It was a bit of a debate at the time within the band. Got to agree with the OP though, I 've lost count of the amount of suggestions that came up that turned out to be taken, at least we have the internet to check now.

Oh no! :-( Hearing Slayer always takes me back to a baking hot August bank holiday at Donington, thanks for the memories Jeff.

I have a Harley Benton EUB and use Slaphappy weed whackers and get a very useable tone. I guess it depends on what sound you're after, I wanted that basic, old sounding thud without much sustain so thought I'd try them as they're only around twenty quid a set. They're better than I expected and I'm really pleased with the sound, even been complemented on my sound at gigs, it's definately not a refined classical sound but that's not what I wanted, if you want to play rockabilly, country, bluegrass type of stuff then i'd definately give them a go, at worst you've lost twenty quid, at best you've got a sound you like which is easy on the fingers and pocket. Oh and a sound you like despite most folks telling you you won't get a good sound out of them.

Thanks for the replies folks, a purchase is looming. I just need to work out how much I can get away with spending against how little I have to tell the boss it cost.

How are you getting on with he bass now you've had it a while Pete, still loving it or are there any issues? I'm about ready to order one and thought I'd see how you felt about yours now you've lived with it for a while. I'll be moving on from an EUB as well and was going to get a Thomann bass after the excellent service I got from them when I ordered my EUB but I'm leaning towards a Gedo now after reading this thread, and seeing your pictures Look forward to hearing from you, or any other Gedo owners.

I picked up an Aria STB Series P bass clone a while back, stock it sound good and played lovely after a quick set up to my taste. I put a Quarter Pounder pick up in and a set of Chromes on and it is absolutely fantastic now, it became my main bass for a while and is only relegated to back up because I got a Variax which I'm liking atm. I need to sell a few basses because they're just not getting the use they deserve but the Aria will never go, only paid £40 for it.

There's one on ebay at the moment, one day left to go and only on £26, in Langford which I think is in Bedfordshire. Might be useful. [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-4-Double-Bass-Hard-Flight-Case-/300805988861?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Access_RL&hash=item46096f21fd&_uhb=1"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-4-Double-Bass-Hard-Flight-Case-/300805988861?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Access_RL&hash=item46096f21fd&_uhb=1[/url]

[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1348524897' post='1814906'] OK, I'll be the one to ask the obvious question. What's a ghost note? [/quote] Don't ask ............... they're scary man!

so if I give 'em a tap and the sound comes out the speakers then that one is knackered? I'll check next week at rehearsal, hopefully it's just that, I bought it second hand and I've had it a good ten years so they are getting on a bit.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1348152347' post='1810083'] Ding the valves with a plastic chopstick, especially the pre ones, one has probably gone microphonic, and you'll hear the sound coming out the speakers. [/quote] Not wanting to derail this thread, but I use a Peavey Max pre-amp, in the last few weeks I have been getting a high pitched noise all the time from it (if I turn it off with the power amp still on the noise stops and comes back when the pre is turned on), it started as a faint chirruping sort of sound but has steadily got worse and is now pretty much constant. AFAIK it uses 12ax7 valves, is this likely to be the same problem, I hope it's not fubared as it's an awesome pre amp.

I love my Ashdown Perfect Ten mini rig, sounds lovely, enough power for small gigs and looks amazing, all my own opinion of course. 65w head with two 10" cabs. Should be able to find one for around £100, or the Ashdown Five Fifteen mini rig (100w head with a 210 cab) for £150 [IMG]http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj510/Maude200/16052012290.jpg[/IMG]

I decided on a P before I even read the options ................ so it'll be a P for me please Bob.

Alright me 'andsomes . Liskeard eh Gub? We rehearse in the basement of Parade House, I'm just up the road in Pensilva.