cytania

I'm right handed and I prefer to stand on the right of the drummer. The reason is that naturally I'll be glancing at the neck of the bass which is to my left and having the drummer in my peripheral vision. Even when not attending to particular drum parts it's good to have them in my field of awareness, I rarely lose contact with the beat that way. When I stood on the left of the drums it felt like I was having to remember to look over at the drums. Maybe my head has a leftward bias

Think you put your finger on it Dingus, Sputnik may have had a superficial thrill but ultimately they didn't have much to say. I was reminded of the Manic Street Preachers first TOTP appearance by Mastermind last week (I didn't get one question, some fan me); Mister Bradfield wore a balaclava and staid viewers' knees jerked, 'Terrorist' they cried. Of course the Manics music has guts and message, so the pose worked. Sputnik on the other hand...

Slade are a joke band. First they tried the 'bovver boys' gag and nobody got the joke. Then they tried whiskers, mirror hats, hemi-fringes and glitter robes and BINGO. Same music but a different joke (and I love Slade).

Never been moved by the Gorillaz' music, but I have to acknowledge that Damon came up with the carton band thing at exactly the right time. Tapped the zeitgeist funny bone. Phenomenally successful.

There are plenty of joke bands Dingus, the sccessful ones are where the public gets the joke. A cartoon band? Terrible idea, but somehow the Gorillaz came along at the right time for people to 'get it'.

Sputnik tried hard but people had had enough of rock'n'roll swindles at that point in the 80s.

Big Red X will tell you how they don't really work for MIDI at any decent speed. Can still be played as unremarkable sounding basses according to Dave Swift who collects the weird and wonderful (oh and plays in a little combo with a pianist called Jools Holland).

[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]Sigue Sigue Sputnik actually used the guitar version (which did work reasonably well) to trigger MIDI bass sounds, hence their distinctive sound.[/color][/font]

Interested too.

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

My band have written off 3 of the pole and tripod type speaker stands so far . It's always the plastic moulded collar that slides up the pole and holds the top of the tripod that breaks.

Anyone know of a brand or vendor that has genuinely heavy duty stands with the collar in cast metal ?

Surely the real spirit of disco would be something clean and shiny. The guitar version of Travolta's white suit.

AT you are right the Spear S2 design has mutated very slightly over the years. The one you show is the current spec, the top horn is more rounded and the top strap button points down more , the body looks less chamfered with less of a carve on top (but that may be the photo). More importantly the new ones are 9v not 18v which I assume means a different preamp (may be wrong but there's scant info around). Headstock looks more swept back too. Still better than the ones with the sleazy lady inlays.

Aesthetically I never thought I'd pickup a single cut, I remember calling it a Caveman Bass in the shop but the top horn just fits perfectly against my ribs and the body thrums with resonant life, subtle yet forceful.

Could learn to like the Ibanez although their necks can be super thin. To me their mistake is trying to make the lower horn sleek, better to punctate it with a 'jigsaw piece' like the S2 or the Grooveline and deny any reference to double horns at all.

I've got one for sale here.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/227464-spector-legend-4-natural/

Will swap for another Spear S2 4 string (like the two in my avatar!).

Gibson wedge heavy.

I'm getting 40mm at the nut, maybe 39.5mm. I wouldn't say this has the typical Warwick depth, so it's pretty slim, but not Ibanez thin.

The reason for going to a shop is check out how you relate to the bass physically, since we're all different shapes and sizes. Ibanez's tend to have very slim necks, Fender P basses big chunky ones. Which is best for you? Well that's down to your hands and fingers. Hold them, fret strings and see what's comfortable. While you're there does the body suit you or does it dig in? Are there sharp edges on the bridge or pickups?

A lot of people here have bought basses purely on the basis of colour. For some it's white, other's have to have sparkly red, for some it's none so black. It's worth thinking about, it's down to personal taste. Me I like my basses earthy and woody but that's just me.

The good thing about the bass world is there aren't as many gear snobs as the guitar world so don't worry about having a 'beginner bass'. Look around at real basses and see which ones speak to you. Much better than endlessly scouring the net for obscure brands that might say they are cool but can't be got hold of.

Bought last year from Bass Direct when my main player broke just a week before a gig.

This is a 4 string Korean made bass with 3 piece hard maple neck and maple body in a glossy natural finish with a beautiful rippling maple quilt top.

The neck is one of the most perfect I have ever played, superb frets and playing action but it's just a tad too big for my fussy 'Goldilocks' hands.

The preamp is the TonePumpJnr with two volumes, bass and treble. 'SSD Inc' pickups. With both tones flat you have an excellent vanilla sound and pointing them at your feet brings in a ballsy zing and thump.

Online retail price is £579 - £649 (or £849 if you're Gear4Music!) but I have it close to the Bass Direct price I got due to a ding in the lower bout top about the size of a fingerprint. No indentation just faint cracks in the poly. Look closely in my photos for it. [b]MY PRICE £385[/b]

You are welcome to PM me and come round for a try-out. I am in South Nottinghamshire so can drive over to you if you are Nottingham, Leicester, Derby or Mansfield based. Would prefer not to use couriers and paypal.

All a bit muddy really, some Gibson fans say their nitro isn 't really nitro, there was a pic with al the finish stripped off a Les Paul, quite alot of paint but it looks like I was wrong about the poly base coat. Gibson now make quite a thing of their nitro finish on the website.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-967799.html

Aren't alot of modern Gibsons a nitrocellulose finish on a polyester main coat also?

I've learnt Been Caught Cheating by the Stereophonics for my band. A simple blues plod... But every note has power if played right. The plodding should suggest the bass wants to break free and run. This frustrated energy gives a song alot of emotional power. You need to feel it.

This bass was actually delivered Tuesday but I've been so busy oiling the truss rod, setting up the action etc that I haven't been able to take photos until now.

It's by a Korean manufacturer called Spear and the single-cut shape is an S2. I bought one of these in 2008 and it's my main player. So when I came across this one on the website of Bandwagon in Perth Scotland I ordered it. Recent Spear S2's have a reduced spec but this was clearly an early one with a lovely stripe to the maple half.

Peter Caban at Bandwagon was a total gent, not only discounting this from £349 by £50 but knocking a further £20 off due to a tiny blemish on the neck. You can hardly spot the dink, my mind was more on playability. First I changed the strings. Spear guitars make a big thing of coming with D'Addario strings but they are so lively they buzzed. Switched to the dead set of Ernie Balls from my other Spear and I was getting somewhere. Still a bit buzzy and it was off with the bell cover and oiling the truss rod. Not much luck the first few tiny turns but eventually I oiled and tweaked each evening and voila, the same great action as my main player. Then it's a several rounds or playing, tuning, intonation and height adjustment. Had it playable just in time for rehearsals where it got on really well with the gig rig :-)

Preamp appears the same but the active/passive switch is the reverse of my main bass (no mute either). Tone controls are slightly differently pitched, slightly less bass but that could be the different woods. Good news is it has the same great sound; subtle, humming, a touch of the P-bass singing snarl but not the klank. I am very happy with it.

Ready for the anti-singlecut brigade

In the studio Robbie favours a Schechter bass, have been unable to work out which model though...

Isn't this a bit like asking are you a drummer ot a percusionist? Bassist implies a proficiency on all bass instruments. So I guess I'm a string player whose spent three years exclusively on electric bass. Having lively band mates keen to cover a variety of styles helps alot. Plus I think it matches my obstinate character :-)

The square guitars remind me of furniture and Vox Phantoms but Vox had so much more style.

Wouldn't it be a bit cold to the touch... and the bout edges might cut in a bit… don't I sound all wussy :-)

Artfully done video, you are skilled Johan, excellent funky playing.

[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]1. 2013 Gibson RD, Krist Novoselic - Very likeable, rounded, balanced but with a tiny bit of grit.[/font][/color]
[font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#000000"]2. 2013 Fender Jazz Bass, American Deluxe - Not very defined for a jazz, less clang more rounded woolliness.[/color][/font]
[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]3. 2013 Rickenbacker 4003 - Trashy but commanding, reminds me of my Nuggets 60s garage punk CDs, cheap sounding but utterly gets the listener's attention. Even the mute was interesting and funky.[/font][/color]
[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]4. 2013 Fender Jaguar - Retiring, it doesn't want to be anywhere but at the back of the mix.[/font][/color]
[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]5. 2013 Fender Starcaster - Muffled, goes into the distant background of the mix :-([/font][/color]
[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]6. 2013 Gretsch Electromatic - Lacks personality, soft with a tiny bit of edge.[/font][/color]
[font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#000000"]7. 2010 Gibson Thunderbird - Big, gruff, like a high tension steel cable on a suspension bridge being plucked. Commanding. Stadium metal and Bootsy funk attack.[/color][/font]
[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]8. 1970s Stagg EB-3 - Another muffled tone, better than the Starcaster though.[/font][/color]
[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]9. 1990s Cort Precision, P-Bass - Funky, touch of nasal fuzz breakup. Good.[/font][/color]
[font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#000000"]10. 1965 Gibson EB-2 - Muffled but manic, 80s synth-computer edge to the tone. Carpety.[/color][/font]
[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]11. 1973 Fender Precision, P-Bass - Ah, at last articulation is back. B[/font][/color][font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#000000"]arky.[/color][/font]

[color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Surprise favourite was the Rickenbacker, maybe it was just a good contrast for the funky tune but I was impressed with how it talked.[/font][/color]

Yes Peter Gabriel 3 came out in 1980 with Phil Collins, Padham and Steve Lillywhite creating the 'gated' drum sound. Dominant drums force the bass up in the mix and 80s bass is more percussive/melodic as a result. Poor old guitars get shunted right back or even replaced by synths.