Huge Hands

My first was some guitar body with a short scale bass neck project that my brother or dad had sourced from somewhere. No electrics worked and the strings were touching the neck in places. I turned up for my first ever bass lesson and got laughed at. I went to Grott Guitars in Newcastle and ended up with a short scale Fenix which had a white plastic coating feeling body on it. It was brand new but again, not the best idea. My bass teacher must have felt sorry for me and put me in touch with Howard (BassDoc) who had a Squier JV Jazz for sale for about £150. Although I don't use it as a gigging bass anymore (I prefer 5s) - it still has pride of place in my collection and I will never sell it. Today, around 23 years later, the neck is still as straight as the day I bought it from Howard when it was already about 10 years old - and I've never adjusted it. I did tell Howard about this about 2 years ago via PM on here and his typically humorous reply was along the lines of "I'm glad you liked it - if you'd now like to settle the balance on the initial downpayment...." Classic! P.S. I was able to return the Fenix to Grotts under a "if you don't like it return it" policy they said they had, but then conveniently forgot about when I tried to return it. After some arguing, I left with some of my original cash which went towards the Squier.

My then soon to be (but now ex) wife and I had a very similar mail about 9 years ago when she tried to sell a spare wedding dress (she bought two for some reason). When we sent a polite reply saying we didn't think it sounded genuine and we would be withdrawing it from sale, we go no reply but started getting tons of spam (every few mins) to the point we had to close her email account. I did have fun ripping up and binning the dress years later though.....Probably could have bought a new bass if I'd sold it, but was worth it to release some anger.....

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1460502404' post='3026399'] ... i can't say he doesn't remind me of Prince and got his influence from him. [/quote] I seem to remember seeing an interview where he openly spoke about being a major fan of Prince. I'm a big fan of his ex-missus Angie Stone too.

I got a B1Xon mainly to use the pedal as a volume control for dynamics expression, but I find it a bit too "off and on" for me, not really that much range to use effectively. I set up a "straight through" patch so it would just be the volume control on the signal from the bass, but it also felt that the unit was adding compression to the signal where I hadn't added a compression module. I probably need to play with it a bit more before I totally write it off as a bad idea though.

Hi Discreet - I'd be interested to know a ball park figure in what you're paying for this - I showed the link to one of my bands who are a 50's soul and blues outfit and they loved it. However, the first comment was "I bet it is dead expensive" Doesn't have to be exact, just a rough idea!

Believeable. I play "string bass" in a concert band (mainly woodwind and brass) and the levels can get painfully high - especially when the trombones get excited....

Gladys Knight and Mavis Staples for me.

I can remember "Grandma's Hands" by Bill Withers shuffling on in the car a few days after I lost my Grandmother. It always gets me on the end lines: "...but I don't have Grandma anymore If I get to Heaven I'll look for Grandma's hands"

I have a Harley Benton 5 string which I bought as an "deko only" from Thomann. Cost around 50 notes with the shipping. I did have to do a little truss rod action. It came with really clanky bright strings, which I swapped for a set of black nylon Rototsound 88's (cost almost the same as the bass). I had to bore the bridge a bit to get the B string to fit, but it sorted the bass for me. I have done a couple of house jams with it un-amplified and it is fine. When I have tried the electrics (I don't really gig it) they seem fine. I mainly use it for playing along to the telly when something good comes on or working out riffs for new setlist songs. Good luck finding a standard gig bag for one though - they are quite deep.

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1457093830' post='2995256'] Well, oscilloscopes, multimeters etc, and the ability to use them. (I repair my own amps etc) [/quote] Interesting. I'm no expert as I did a PAT testing training course about 14 years ago and then never carried out a single test again - don't you have to use the correct gear that can print out a report, or can you do it manually like that and it still be official? As I said, I'm not trying to fight with you or anything, I'm genuinely interested. I thought (back when I did it all those years ago) the PAT machine was part of the thing to stop anyone and anybody doing it - and why they were so expensive (at the time).

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1457080720' post='2995038'] [color=#101010]I have a degree in electronics....[/color] [/quote] And, I'm guessing, access to a PAT testing machine!

[quote name='colgraff' timestamp='1456995935' post='2994246'] No you don't. You only need to if a venue at which you are playing asks for your PAT certificate. I've only need to produce a certificate twice in 20+ years. [/quote] This^^ It is usually more prevalent at larger corporate facilities that have Engineering departments. Where I work (not a venue but we do use AV equipment) - the assumption is that any equipment being brought on site will be PAT tested, and that the supplier can produce a certificate on demand if required. Other institutions insist on seeing the certificates up front. If you are regularly going to be doing function gigs at various corporate venues, then it might be worth getting it done. I doubt your local rehearsal studio would ask.

Every time I've seen someone with a clip on (admittedly mainly guitarists) - they've usually got a Snark. I've borrowed them and they seemed fine for bass, including low B. However, when I looked them up on line, there are so many models! Not sure which ones I borrowed.....

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1456413876' post='2988792'] Oh totally - wouldn't it be boring if we were all the same! Weight isn't a massive concern at the minute. But it would be weird to have an amp that weighs more than your cabs. As in weighs more than 2 retro 2x10s - only weight I can find for the ABM900 online is 28kg... the retros weigh 13kg! Horses for courses and all that! [/quote] Ha ha, I'm genuinely not a salesman for Carvin - but..... One more point I thought of is that I regularly gig with one cab on its side with the Carvin on top, if the room is boomy or I need it a bit closer to my ears. It is a nice fit - but I image a ABM900 or similar would look silly (and possibly dangerous) in that config. Ok - that's it now - I'll stop banging on about it now

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1456411313' post='2988744'] I remember our Barefaced chats! I would doubt I'd go for the Carvin I'm afraid. It may be on a level with anything else out there, but it's a case of better the devil you know. If I could get an Orange TB500/1000 or Ashdown ABM900 for the same (or less) money previous experience tells me I'd be happy with them, so the Carvin wouldn't get a look in! [/quote] Each to their own - the only thing I would say in defence of the Carvin is that I've tried to lift a ABM900 and the Carvin is a feather in comparison. I imagine the Orange stuff is heavy too. I was going for compact and light (due to back problems) which is what sent me down that route. There doesn't seem to be many on BC that use Carvin amps (a very generalised sweeping comment based on my limited reading here), but I'm very happy with mine! EDIT: Good luck in your search - I'd be interested to hear what you do go for in the end.

[quote name='Merton' timestamp='1456403889' post='2988595'] [url="http://www.carvinaudio.com/products/b1000"]http://www.carvinaud.../products/b1000[/url] HugeHands from these shores runs this amp with two Retro Two10s and it sounds delightful. I think Bass Gear have them or at least can get them and they are right around your budget Edit - HH also went from an Ashdown Little Giant 1000 to this if that has any bearing [/quote] Hi Bigwan, I remember we had chats about delivery times when we got our cabs! I used to run mine one per channel on my Ashdown LG1000. As they were obsolete, I was looking for another one second hand as a backup but couldn't find one. Merton and Eude of this parish pointed me to the Carvin and I couldn't be happier. I think it was a bit closer to £600 with delivery EDIT: I've just checked and it was £500 with delivery! It has a little switch on the back for selecting 2 or 4 ohm modes if you're like me and sometimes only use one cab. It is worth noting that Molan from Bass Gear told me they were giving up Carvin distribution when I bought mine, so not sure who is doing it in the UK now.

I bought my V7 5 string in black, second hand from BC after seeing my old friend chardbass raving about his. I am really happy with mine. It's funny how everyone goes on about the tuners - they do seem a bit cheap, but I've noticed mine can spend a week in a gig bag and barely need a tune - so there must be something fairly sturdy about them! I stuck a set of flats on mine and have never been happier. The knobs took a little while to commit to memory, but all good now! To answer Woodinblack's question - I think the string spacing is slightly narrower than some, so the neck does not feel like a cricket bat like my old Squier P5s. I thought this would be a problem for me as I like the wide spacing for my fat fingers, but I have to say I haven't really noticed too much of a difference.

Usually, NTSC discs don't work on Region 2 only players. However, some players are all regions (usually laptop drives are in my experience) or some have the ability to be "unlocked" to all regions if you search for what the secret button press is on the remote. So I've heard, I'm not sure you're really supposed to do it of course ;-)

Hi Martin, Nice to see your new rig! We'll have to have another "mini bash" soon and try out some more gear - hopefully with no horses running around on the M23 this time!

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1450165111' post='2930085'] I wish they'd do a passive only version - I don't use the preamp, and have no plans to! [/quote] The passive/active is switchable, and I was having to play mine with dead batteries in it halfway through a rehearsal the other week, so it should run in passive only mode without batteries? The volume, tone and pickup blend still work in passive mode. I'm very happy with mine (V7 5 string).

Our band played Troy bar last year. We do blues/soul and were a little bit off their norm, but it is a great little venue and we went down well with the crowd that was there. Eddie who runs the place is a real nice guy too.

I love Raphael's stuff, including his bass playing. As an alternative, if you search "Rapahel Saadiq live" on Youtube, there is a gig from the North Sea Jazz festival in 2011. The track on the OP's link is at around 9mins 30, but RS is not playing bass on that, only singing. I prefer that version - and the keyboard player gets to go mad on that one too!

Some very helpful Basschatters on here pointed me in the direction of my Carvin B1000 when I needed the same to run my two 4 ohm Barefaced Retro 210s. EDIT: And it's light too.... I am very happy with it.

Weird, I have met Mr Baxter through a mutual friend of ours - he depped on a gig for me about 5 years ago, although I didn't meet him then. I was later introduced to him at a christening and he seemed like a nice chap. I was told he bought and sold a few basses, but I didn't realise he was into it this much! I might have to wiggle my eyelids at him to see if he will let a pauper and timewaster into his hallowed den, even if just to stand in the corner and breathe in the air.....

I also went for the Bassbone V2 after I found I needed gain control between the two inputs which my Bright Onion (see earlier post in this thread) didn't have. I've only used it a couple of times so far and it seems to be everything I will ever need. The 15A PSU was a pain though - had to add a 13A socket to my pedalboard.