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When you take into account how many sets of roundwound strings you probably go through in 10 years, flats start to seem more of a bargain. My D’addario chromes was on my bass for 10 years. Replaced them last month just because I felt like a change of brand (went for Rotosound 77 flats). But there was nothing wrong with the chromes. So much so that the guitarist at last band jam said “your bass isn’t sounding as good, what’s changed”.

That’s the only song she’s ever recorded. She loves singing too, but won’t sing in front of anyone other than me. I need to break her out of that nonsense.

I’m a mix between both of you. Everyone and me hates my voice. 🤣 Though I do love the vocoder.

I’ve got a part that the Mrs likes. Hoping she’s gonna do this.

Mrs might help me with this one. 😎

Probably obvious, but have you looked into string brands & what ones have the most bite (or whatever it is you need)?

Try a good 2x10. (Says the man with a 1x15 powered cab 😂)

Pickups are one of the main things on how an electric instrument sounds. It’s the equivalent of an acoustic instrument’s tonewood. How a pickup is wound affects what it’ll sound like, as does what size/shape it is. Most manufacturers have different methods & materials. Then you have positioning. Both where they are between neck & bridge as well as distance from the strings. Swapping out my IBZ C4 PJ set for an Aguilar AW4 set changed the sound dramatically. Changing the preamp has a similar effect to changing your bass rig’s amp head.

I spent ages looking for a reasonably priced compact mixer with 10 mono channels or more & ended up with a Yamaha MG10xu. So far I’ve only used it at home, but it sounds pretty good & does what I need from it. I was trying to find one that does multi out over usb for recording, but couldn’t find anything in a small form.

Bought a Bassics BPA-1 from sk8. Great communication & easy to do the transaction. Shipped RM Tracked 48. Preamp is in great nick & sounds fantastic. I honestly don’t know why you sold this! But I’m glad you did. 😎 Id happily deal with sk8 again.

Yes, that makes sense. Though it depends on the quality of the vocal PA. If it’s decent, then it might even do a better job.

Go & watch the video I posted further up. The difference you hear between 2 basses with different woods is more likely to be due to the pickups not being the exact same height, wound slightly different or the string height being different than it is the type of wood. Most bass cab manufacturers constantly try to sell bass rigs as 4x10 with a 1x15 under it. It shows that they know what the consumer has been led to believe & can sell on it, even though it’s a poor combination. Why would bass builders be any different? It’s a business.

I’d play about & see what gives the sounds you’re after. 1/2 the fun is organising what order to put things. 😎

That’s a nice bass. My go to bass is an Ibby SR1000. Had it for 33 years & over that time, numerous basses have came & went. It’s just such a comfortable bass to play & since changing the pickups & pre, it sounds even better.

This might be of interest to you. I spent months doing research & going through different videos. This one is a great example of how much the body & neck matters to the tone. That’s not to say a good body & neck isn’t important, as you want a neck that has good intonation & is comfortable in your hand, and a body that feels comfortable & makes you happy (yes, women have been looking for that for eons 🤣).

There’s been P basses made out of just about every material possible, from cardboard to metal & one thing that they all have in common is they sound just like a P bass. What different woods or other materials give the player, is vibration feedback through the body. This will vary depending on how dense /resonant it is. The other thing that it does is give a feel & look that the player may/may not like.

I don’t get what you mean? If you mean the main FoH PA, then it really depends, just like it would if you only used backline. But if it’s a decent main PA, then I would certainly hope so.

IEMs aren’t for everyone. Just like 5 string basses, valve amps & dirt pedals. They’re just a tool. Most professional players use them, even if it’s just for a click & audio cues. I don’t mind using them, but I prefer fold back or backline to hear the mix.

I played ampless at church when I was a Christian too. DI box at the end of the pedal chain & straight to the desk. Used IEMs. With my band (jazz, trip hop, soul, kinda thing), I do pretty much the same, but I have an active PA cab for my backline rather than IEMs & waiting on a Bassics preamp arriving to replace my DI.

Got some time tonight to put something together... Everything is played on the Roland Jupiter X & includes me singing (thankfully through a vocoder). Story: Alone & broken hearted, he sees the demon in the sky that took his love away. The song is about the dark side of a beautiful day.

I’ve got an idea, just struggling for recording time.

The Aguilar pickups & preamp sound fantastic, don’t they. Got the PJ set & OBP2 in my SR.

Update: I ended up going for the RCF 915a & picked it up on Thursday. Only used it in the house, but it sounds fantastic. Looking forward to getting it out & into the band, give it some volume.

None of those features you mentioned are a requirement, having or not having them has no affect on me, though the cab sim might be a handy thing. At home, I tend to go through the laptop/audio interface & into either studio monitors or headphones. Preference is to have XLR out, but not essential. I don’t play hard rock or metal, so a preamp that’s great for those genres only is what I want to avoid. If it has a drive section (which most do), I can make use of it though.

EBS are a good shout, but as the bass has an Aguilar preamp in it, the Aguilar is off my list.