ossyrocks

4 minutes ago, philfromstoke said:

Appreciate the kind comments . . . .  thanks all.

I'm a strong believer that we bass players are borne to be bass players and so I'm sure that John will be looking down on us pleased to have left a little legacy behind to be enjoyed by us!

 

Just as an aside I was lucky enough to catch Jeff Beck play in Sheffield on Sunday night.

Joined by the amazing talent of Rhonda Smith on bass, Anika Niles on the kit . . . . wow  . . . mind blowing 

 and a mad guest appearance on guitar and Vox by Johnny Depp ! Just when I thought I'd seen it all !

 

 

 

It's been about 10 years since I saw Jeff Beck. I took along my wife, who didn't really know what to expect, and she sat there with her mouth open for most of the gig. She said it was the best gig she'd ever been to.

I'm going to check out the rhythm section above right now, cheers.

Rob

I’m curious about the Markbass Nano Mark in addition to the above.

Congratulations! I have the same bass, also ‘73, so I do know how you feel.

I love mine.

Rob

I love that. Congrats.

1 hour ago, shoulderpet said:

If you order from Andertons or Gear4music there returns policies are really good, that being said I hate ordering online as you never know if you will get a good bass or a lemon 

The only guitars I’ve bought online (2), have been Custom Shops. Both were great, but as you say, I did have the option of return because of online selling legislation which was reassuring. I actually think with basses, as opposed to guitars, it’s more important to actually play it first though, but I can’t put my finger on exactly why.

Lovely 

@BassAdder27 I’m not qualified to answer your original question as I don’t have much experience yet, but all the MIM instruments I’ve played have been good, with some very good. I assume your Player Series is MIM.

I do have a question though about differences between MIA and MIM instruments. What are the differences regarding electronics and pickups? The reason I ask, and I know it’s comparing apples and oranges, is that my ‘73 Precision has a lot more authority, depth, tone and volume than my 2017 MIM Roadworn series Jazz. I’ve tried adjusting the pickup heights and got them fairly close, but I’m wondering if this is an area where cost savings are made in the manufacturing. 
 

Rob

17 minutes ago, Gwilym said:

Do you need a compressor? In a word, no. Will you like what it does to your sound? possibly yes.

I got sucked into the ovnilab review site a few years ago, and made a few purchases to scratch the itch of trying some for myself.

Just playing at home at the moment, they all "lift" the sound in a pleasant way, and depending on the pedal, will impart a more effected tonal character or not. So, consider if you want that, or a cleaner/clinical action.

If you want clean with good metering and control over pretty much everything, I would recommend the Empress (non-bass specific) compressor.

If you want similar but getting a "warmer" slightly more effected tone, the FEA Optifet sounds great, but the metering is not so good.

The Origin Cali76 TX sounds broadly like the FEA, but more vintage tone (especially running at 18v, which is when the transformer starts operating and the tonal magic starts).

Lastly, the Diamond bass comp and Durham Electronics Sex Drive. Both fewer controls, both sound great and easy to dial in a great tone. The Sex Drive can get a bit hairy, in a very pleasant way, and sounds great. The Diamond similarly good, but would maybe work better if you're more of a slapper, or just wanted a cleaner tone.

Lastly, it's i think it's difficult, and futile to an extent, to try and describe this kind of thing. You have your own ears, so take the above with a pinch of salt, and try some for yourself 😁

That’s the first time someone ever wondered if I “was a slapper”🤣. 
 

I’m not in any way interested in slapping, I’m much more into old school fingerstyle blues, soul and funk.

Some of your suggestions I have never heard of, I’ll do some research, thanks for the info.

Rob

Just for interest.

ATB Guitars just posted on Facebook about a collection of guitars that’s just come in, including a ‘62 refin Precision and what looks like a very clean 1974 Natural/Maple Jazz. They’re not on the website yet. I bought my Precision from them and they were great to deal with, and the price was very good.

Rob

Straying slightly off topic. I had thought that used Little Marks were kind of the cheaper bargain end of the amp world having bought mine secondhand off Facebook marketplace only 10 minutes drive from me. So, I’ve been looking out for another head as a backup. But what I’m thinking now is that my setup was an anomaly, since I can’t find anything close to what I paid.

Full disclosure, I bought my 2012 LM3 (Class AB), with a Traveller 102P cab with fitted cover, speakon cable and mains lead for £420. I’m now seeing that people are asking upwards of £350 just for the LM3s.

Was mine a complete bargain, or are other people asking too much?

Rob

I went into this with a vintage '74 Strat recently. The guitar was as straight as they come and near mint in the original case. Everything on the body dated it to '74 including pots etc, but the neck date decoded as a '71, which I thought was unlikely, but possible. So anomalies are out there. 

A '79 PB neck would be obvious because of the serial number in the headstock though.

Rob

14 hours ago, Sparky Mark said:

If you can see the two aluminium heatsinks through both sets of side vent slots then you have class AB (below). If you only see one aluminium heatsink then you have class D. 

Ah ha! Cheers. I have two heatsinks, so class AB. Mine also says Power 600W on the back, as opposed to 550W on the latest LMIII

Can anyone discern a difference between the two?

Rob

Really interesting thread. I’m new to bass, and bought an LM3 and a 102P Traveller cab off Facebook as they were cheap and I thought they’d get the job done. They are in fact lovely amps, and I’m a bit smitten with the Mark Bass sound. My LM3 is from 01 2012, so could be either class AB or class D according to the info above. 
 

I too worry a little about reliability, but I’m just going to pick up another head as backup when one crops up. They are so small and light that it’s no burden to carry two.

Rob

6 minutes ago, Vin Venal said:

I think compressors don't just do one thing, they do all different things depending on how you set them up, where you run them in your signal path, and how that interacts with your playing style.

 

More than any other type of pedal, I think there's technique involved in using compression, so getting one might not immediately solve your problem until you've figured out what works for you.

 

Are you a finger style player, or a pick player? Do you use a lot of overdrive, or play clean? What other effects are you using?

Finger style, but this audition may require a pick on some tunes, no overdrive, no other effects. 

49 minutes ago, SumOne said:

There's one for sale in the classifieds for £220 which seems about the going rate. If you don't like it you could probably sell it for a similar price. 

Hmm, they are £269 new inc. postage, so for an extra £40 I could have a new one.

Based on decades of buying gear, I’m not one to skimp on it, as it always ends up being a false economy. I’d rather buy a good one now and get to know how to use it properly. The Cali76 seems to be getting a few notable mentions, so maybe that’s what I’ll get.

I am playing a vintage ‘73 Precision through a Mark Bass rig, so I need to do them justice.

Thanks for all the input so far, it’s really useful.

Rob

Whilst new to bass, I'm still practicing every day for at least an hour, mostly with my little Rumble 15.

However, I broke out "the big rig" yesterday and found that I struggled to control the dynamics of the beast with my Precision. Maybe I was just too loud overall for the house, don't know, but I wondered if a compressor would help me to balance my tone/dynamics a bit. I have an audition/try out coming up for a pop/rock/soul covers band in the next week or two. This will be my very first time playing bass with other musicians, and after playing through the big rig yesterday, I wondered if a good compressor would help me, especially in a band context.

I understand guitar compressors pretty well, having had a few, but they never really made it to a permanent position on the board, but I think bass is a whole other kettle of fish.

Who uses one? What does it do for you? What might it do for me?

And.... what do you make of the ones in this round up? https://www.guitarworld.com/features/best-bass-compressor-pedals

Fire away, I can take it.

Cheers,

Rob

12 minutes ago, Marcray said:

I bought this with my first check from a paying band.  I was 19.  A 1962 Precision.  I’ve had other basses along the way that have come and gone, but this one stays.  It fits in my hands perfectly.  

Oooof that’s lovely.

33 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Nice 66 precision come up on Andy Baxter https://www.andybaxterbass.com/collections/bass-guitars/products/1966-fender-precision-bass-sunburst-4

Lovely. 

5 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

I built a single channel Ampeg B15-ish head last year.

 

That’s about 30 watts? With that cab, how loud is it? Would it stretch to small gigs?

I love the smell of dust burning.

17 minutes ago, JapanAxe said:

I’ve gigged an Ampeg PF-50T and it was plenty loud enough through a Barefaced cab. When pushed it just got ‘furry’, which was delightful.

 

I’m planning to build a head based on a 50W Bassman. I’ll start a build diary on here once I get things moving.

Ah, I would love to see a build. I’ve been rebuilding and reviving old Fenders and Marshalls on and off for decades. I have an early 70’s Pro Reverb in bits on the bench right now. If yours works out, I might be tempted at a scratch build.

Rob

Great thread! 

As a noob to bass (when should I stop saying that?), my daily practice routine includes pulling a blues CD out and playing along to the entire album. Even the bits I don’t get at first start to come together after a week or two.

What I’m finding is that lots of modern players like Joanne Shaw Taylor, Matt Schofield etc, veer away away from the traditional bass approach of root, third, fifth, sixth, flat seventh walking lines, and have a more pentatonic / rock flat third feel. All good though, but I just love practicing walking bass all over a BB King album. It’s been “Live at the Regal” recently.

Rob

Does anyone gig a Bassman 50, I’m genuinely interested?

On 09/04/2022 at 14:47, NT1991 said:

I've always wanted to do something a bit different with my telecaster bass, my other two (both Ibanez) have got more modern sounds sorted so I was looking for a more vintage sound. As such I've today strung it with some Picato stainless steel flatwounds. First impressions, having always played round wound strings, is that I love the feel! The only problem is now I really wish that I could get something brighter (for the other basses) but with the same feel without changing strings every day...

Anyway, I'm hoping that these combined with the homemade mute will give me a nice Motown sound for a cover I'm going to record next week. 
 

Anyone else trying out something new with their strings? always been curious about tapewounds myself!

I have those exact strings on my PB. I’m new to bass and just walked in my local shop and asked for some flats and those are what I got. Whilst I am keen to try some other brands at some point, I’m in no rush as the bass sounds exactly like I want it to and it plays really well. I’m mostly doing blues and soul stuff on it and it’s great.

Forgive my ignorance of the MarkBass line (even though I have a Mark Bass setup), but what makes the “Blackline” amps cheaper or apparently inferior to the rest of the line? 
 

Is there a “pecking order” of MarkBass offerings?

Rob