ossyrocks

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

Oooof that’s lovely.

Lovely.

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.

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?

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

Well, my rig hasn’t ended up being the 1x12 combo I originally envisaged, and today I picked up a Traveller 1x15 to match the rig I ended up starting with. I now have the rig of doom, which some of my bass playing pals have informed me would easily cover a gig at the Albert Hall without going through the PA. Anyway, behold the wonder of the rig of doom in a tiny bungalow! I think they could hear me all over Morecambe this afternoon. Rob

@Deedee and @jimmyb625, I can solve this problem for one of you at least. You buy a nice 1965 Precision (my YOB), and I’ll trade you straight for my lovely ‘73. Simples. 😎

I think that's important too. I know from personal experience how things can go wrong. I once had a police officer knock on my door looking for a bass three years after I bought it. In this case I could direct them to where I bought it, and who currently owned it, and the original owner was finally reunited with his stolen bass. The full story is longer and more interesting, but it did involve a bass custom built by Manson for John Deacon of Queen!

After this “sold” for a lot of money, it has miraculously been relisted. I don’t know why people play games like this with ebay, it is now obvious it reached that price through shill bidding, so why would anyone bid on it again? Rob

Well, as bass noob, I’ve just read this thread from the top and subscribed to numerous channels. I think I’ve enough to keep me busy for a couple of years! Some I’d heard of before, but not subscribed, some are very new to me. Thanks chaps, I do love Basschat. Rob

Ah ha, Alegree sell them, £5 pair inc postage. Sorted. https://www.alegree.co.uk/products/precision-bass-height-foam?_pos=1&_sid=ccd92b312&_ss=r Cheers, Rob

Hmm, £4.61 for the parts, £12.96 for the postage. Is there something equivalent available in the UK?

@PaulThePlugcheers for that. I'll check them out when their website is back up. It says that they're "tuning up the store" at the moment. Rob

I’ve had my ‘73 P Bass for two months now, how time flies! I play it every single day. In that time, I’ve adjusted the truss rod, adjusted the bridge, lubricated the tuners, and strung it up with flats. It plays very very well. The last thing I need to do is replace the foam under the pickups. They just don’t stay “up” where they should be. So, to save me wasting time and money, what’s the best stuff to get to put it right first time? Cheers, Rob

In the early 80’s, still a teenager, I used to roadie for a band called Buffalo (NWOBHM). The bass player had one of these, it was heavier than the moon. Two of us once had to carry it up three floors of a fire escape on the outside of a building to access the venue. I’m glad they don’t make them like they used to!

I had a set of ACS for years, then left them in a taxi. For the second set, I’ve gone with READ Audio. The plugs themselves are much harder and have a rough texture, and I’m not sure about them. Lots of people love them though, but my ACS were more comfortable.

The Mark Bass does it for me.

Thanks. It is a lovely thing. I'm usually wary of critiquing prices on forums, but I do admit I said the word "whopping", I'll hold my hand up there. But also said "that someone has confidence in the direction of travel on prices for vintage basses". In this respect I agree, I see these things going only in one direction at the moment, and my own vintage guitars are out-performing any money I have in the bank by a country mile that's for sure.

It does make me think that mine was a good price now. I bought mine from ATB Guitars about a month ago, he's not renowned for offering bargain guitars, and some would say his prices are fairly high end. Mine is in very good all original condition including a vintage case, and yes it's a '73, not a '70, but it was over a grand and a half cheaper.