Roger2611

We supported Midge Ure last year and he went onstage with an "out of the box" Vintage V100, a Vox valvetronix amp and a Marshall blues breaker pedal oh yeah and a shed load of talent (and sadly a shed load of ego) He reckoned it was every bit as good as any of the genuine Les Paul's he owned. Personally I have a Tokai ALS48 which it better than our guitarists genuine Les Paul but I did swap the pickups out for better ones as the originals lacked sparkle

Seymour Duncan used to offer a pick up booster pedal which, from memory, had a switch that made a single coil sound like a humbucker or a humbucker sound like a single coil, I think you can pick them up for about £30.00 that way it would save you having to alter the guitar and may just give you what you want.

I have a Lindy Fralin 62? pick up in one P bass which sounds great for the Foxton sound, I have recently put a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder in the other precision which seems to offer a very different sound, it is a far more aggressive sounding pickup, it is very bright and lacks a bit of bottom end...it's as close as I have come to getting a Rickenbacker sound out of a Precision bass...which is weird as from memory the reason Foxton left the Rick basses was because they lacked the depth of a Precision. Of the 2 basses I prefer the Lindy Fralin pickup sound but the Quarter Pounder also sounds excellent and is totally useable especially for the more modern Greenday, Blink 182 type sounds

I use the Tech 21 Bass VT stomp box, I have to say I think it is about the most useful pedal I have ever owned, it gives me lots of growl and bite if I want it and tonally everything I ask it to do (within reason of course) sounds really nice, I have never been a fan of anything in the signal path but this one's a keeper

Who shrank my writing....and why?

[sub]I have never broken a bass string but that is only because I take a spare bass to every gig[/sub]

Why haven't people tired of the air guitar rubbish, yes it was mildly amusing....10 years ago

I read it and thought my brain was on the blink, Stanley Unwin - esque at its finest

I am totally happy, I know I am creating the best stuff I have ever done, so far. Recently a band I very much respect came to see us and commented on how good my bass playing was... unsolicited compliments from people you respect...I think that is as good as it gets

What's wrong with the tongue method, it's worked for me for decades...I quite look forward to the battery test times now....it's like Russian Roulette for the risk averse 21st Century

Hi, I have been offered a rather nice Hiwatt 100watt valve Hi Gain guitar amp head, obviously I would have to keep the gain under control but other than that is there any reason this wouldn't make for a cracking valve bass amp? Cheers Rog

I have found the Boss TU tuners can be really bad for this, if you are a full semitone sharp all you get is a . next to the note you think you have tuned to i.e. G = intune G. = semitone sharp, it can be very easy to miss in a gig situation, both myself and our guitarist have suffered the same problem on occasions

Bear in mind we are a bunch of 40 / 50 year old blokes playing the likes of The Jam, The Undertones, Blink 182 and The Cult, halfway through the last gig a muppet comes over and asks if we do any Rhianna, I didn't dignify his request with a response! We did learn One Way Or Another off the back of a request at a gig which is still in the set

Stick it all up for sale bar the two basses you have said are staying, see what goes, if you are getting down to a couple of amps left take a view at that point as to which one you would prefer to keep and withdraw that from sale

Cliff Richard

Quality....cheers for that

[quote name='chriswareham' timestamp='1385063113' post='2284097'] I think a major reason RIC wont produce a budget bass is that they don't have much they differentiate it on from the current, full price range. The last real Rick 4003 I played, in Barnets' Soundgarden earlier this year, looked cheap and had a neck that felt almost unplayable. I don't think it was the proportions of the neck and unfamiliarity that made it uncomfortable either, since I alternate between a Stingray with its widish neck and a medium scale Eko with a very narrow neck, I just think the Rick was badly made. This repeated my previous experiences with new Ricks, and I plumped for a copy instead since I still love the look but can't justify more than a couple of hundred quid on a bass bought for aesthetic reasons alone. [/quote] I guess like Fender there are good ones and bad ones, the bass I brought from you is a cracking bass and everything I expected it to be but, I have played and still own a good few copies and I really didn't expect the genuine Ric to be so much better than the copy, especially as the copy is so good, PMT have sold the one I played but now have a Black one, I played it earlier this week and it was just as good as the last one they had....given Mr Hall's attitude I really didn't / don't want to like the damn things but when you just don't want to put the bass down it must be a good one

[s]That's a lot of bass for the money[/s].......sorry I think I got that the wrong way round great bass though but I would definitely sell mine if offered that kind of dosh!

I have been a bad man, I have a really early 50's classic Precision in Black, it has a much nicer neck profile than the later ones but is still a bit chunky for my liking, I also own a 1979 Olympic White Precision which weighs in at a stupid 11 1/2lbs but has a really wonderful neck, so I have cannibalised both basses I have put the 79 neck on the 50's classic body which now weighs in at a quite manageable 9lbs and makes for a really nice bass. The thing is I love the Olympic White / black scratch plate / maple neck look so I want to find a nice light Oly white body preferably a little aged to match the rest of the bass so I can return the 50's classic to stock and rebuild the 79 as original as possible just at a useable weight instead (I can just sling the old body under the bed in case stupidly heavy basses ever come back into fashion) Can anyone recommend a supplier or builder of a high quality preferably aged Oly white body? Cheers Rog

Ok I am preparing to be shot down in flames here but cheaper range basses have always tended to disappoint me with the possible exception of the Japanese Fenders, The Rockbass range is a very pale imitation of the real thing, the Rockbass $$ I owned briefly was probably the worst bass I ever owned, the Warwick $$ I currently own is probably the best bass I have owned. Mexican Fenders just lack something the real deal has, I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, maybe it's just a bit better all round. The lower end Musicman stuff again lacks something the proper ones have. Don't get me started on what Overwater have done going into partnership with Tanglewood, I have played a few of them and quite frankly couldn't wait to put them back down. I have really changed my opinion on Rickenbacker basses since I picked up a copy and played it alongside the real deal, I couldn't believe just how much better the real thing was and I guess that is what Rickenbacker are trying to protect, whether Mr Hall goes about it in the best way, I can't comment, but I probably wouldn't sanction building a pale imitation just to make a few more bucks Ok backs away....dons protective gear and waits to be shot down in flames....and now my smiley faces are broken :-(

Thanks for the recommendations people, I am gonna try an Ashdown Little Bastard head that PMT are getting in for me, I think the all valve route is the way to go, I tried an Orange tiny terror head against an AD200 head and there was no comparison the proper valve head just sounded so much sweeter, I think I will snap up another Trace Twin Valve if one comes up for sale, if not I may go for a Mesa Boogie head again if the right thing comes up for sale

Hi people, Much as I like my Mark Bass set up I am still not convinced by the digital power amps, I think they lack the warmth of a nice valve amp so what do you recommend? I owned a Trace Elliot Twin Valve some years back which was lovely....unreliable and heavy but lovely non the less. I don't want an Ampeg as they don't seem to have a very good reputation for reliability and I have heard they way as much as a fully loaded Nissan Micra. I want to use the Mark Bass cabs because they are light and sound pretty good to me so it will need to run down to 4ohms. I only play pretty small gigs but we don't put backline through the PA so it needs to be of gigable with loud drummer quality. So hit me with your best shot....please Cheers Rog

[i]I tried it, played rhythm guitar in our band for four years, it helped my guitar playing no end but eventually I started to find that I was concentrating more on playing the guitar than on enjoying playing (if you know what I mean) I noticed every time our bassist cocked up (which was alarmingly regular) so when the band decided his services were no longer required I stepped back into the bass player role...now I enjoy concentrating on playing the bass but also I now enjoy the gigs as well. If you give it a go your guitar playing will certainly improve rapidly and you will take some really interesting rhythms to the guitar and in reverse will take some interesting ideas back to the bass....BUT be prepared to resent the new bass player and wish you were back on familiar ground! [/i]