NickD

If I'm buying something 'serviced', to me that means that it works properly. After years of using a bigger rig I recently dug out my old Trace combo to find that years of neglect had left it crackly and horrible, with volume jumping and dropping at random. After taking it to a tech it now works exactly as it did the day I bought it 25 years ago, and if I were to sell it I would probably use the word serviced in that context.

My favourite kind of gig as a youngster. Accidents can happen, so leave your Sunday best at home and set up your gear wisely. We used to play a tiny place in Scarborough called the Jolly Roger IIRC, couldn't have held more than 50 people shoulder to shoulder once the gear was in, but they were blinding nights. If you were in there you were watching the band, no room to chat or sit down. Sure beer got spilled, sure people fell over, sure band space was breached, but it wasn't out of malice or lack of respect, just hi-jinks and the logistics of the whole deal. As hairy as it could be, it was engaging and exciting for everyone in the room. I'd rather take the limited risks of that kind of gig that try and win over a spacious room of folk playing fruit machines and chatting loudly about Aunt Gladys's hysterectomy.

I believe the Fender types are 18mm at the bridge. For what they cost the Squier Vintage Modified (VM) series are reputed to be excellent instruments. Cheap enough to experiment with.

How long has it been?

Liam Gallagher moonlighting on bass for Georgia there!

I would also rather watch Bubinga5's cat having a 5hit. It is however pretty much guaranteed I'll be subjected to it, so if it's unavoidable I'm going to use it as an exercise in establishing the key and progression for each tune. A couple of high quality beers will help dull the pain too.

The best Elvis tribute I ever saw was a Sikh... Patelvis! Vegas era sequinned turban, the lot.

My Elwood L5 has Haussels. Humbucker at the bridge and single at the bridge. I think they sound great, loads of poke, to the extent that more would probably be too much for me. I don't have much to compare with, but they sound much less modern than my Bass Collection or Lakland, and warmer than my Warwick... if that means anything.

This smells like a trap to me. Enfields, great selection of quality pre-loved basses, affable and knowledgeable proprietor... could be trouble!

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1463147631' post='3049057'] That's fully deserved in anybody's book [/quote] Should have slapped whoever suggested 'Rising Sun'.

You need to go and play some basses, as if you need an excuse. Ibanez make some great kit, but the 16.5mm spacing at the bridge is a little on the tight side for me. I have a Warwick Corvette 5 that I love the sound of, but it has the same spacing as the Ibanez, so it doesn't get much work. My go to basses (I only own 5 strings) all have 4 string type string spacing at 19mm. I don't have massive hands, and favour slim necks front to back, but wider string spacing works best for me. Can't comment on the Jackson, but I assume they're good for metal. Totally depends on how and what you play at the end of the day... time to go browsing!

Those lollipops though!

As software goes, Audacity will do it, and I think that's free. I could plug my Zoom B3 into my laptop and do it that way, but I like the simplicity of the Tascam. It lives in my bass case and goes wherever I go.

I have a Tascam GB10, that I use for playalongs and I think it's great. It's small, batteries last for ages (an adapter is available separately), and it's simple. Plug the bass in, plug the headphones in, and go. You just connect it to the PC to upload or remove MP3 files. Probably the most useful feature is the ability to change the pitch of songs at the touch of a button without changing the speed, it's great not having to retune for different songs. Conversely, you can slow a song down without changing the pitch, and you can loop sections of songs too. If I'm being picky, the sound quality isn't brilliant, but it's decent. It also has a few effects (which I've never used so can't rate), a metronome, a tuner and It'll do simple overdubs. It's a great little tool IMO, I've had my money's worth out of it.

I don't remember reading the rules on having an instrument of quality commensurate with playing ability. I'm lousy, but there's no way I'm buying a Fender!

Simple! Q1 - Are my Wife & kids going to be disadvantaged in any way by the cost? If Q1 = no... go for it, life is short!

I'm surprised it's not come up yet... ... Sh*gging the singer. In my defence, we were both very young and all the rest of the band were much older and married with kids. We kept it under wraps for ages, and made sure it never affected any decisions, work was work and home was home, which was pretty mature on our part given our ages. It worked, no-one noticed a change in behaviour, because nothing changed. When we eventually went public, the guitarist/band leader was inexplicably heartbroken and we were dumped overnight, most acrimoniously. Didn't bother us, as it turns out it's easier to pull a band together around a cracking singer than it is to replace one. We swam... they sunk.

That whole album is great!... apart from the cover of Come Together on the bonus disc, not sure what they were thinking there?

That's awful! Upon arrival you should send it to me immediately... for... erm... disposal, yeah... erm... disposal!

I've always taken arrow straight to mean laterally... which is a funny turn of phrase when there's usually a radius.

Never say never, as my reason for selling is usually to fund something else, but of my current basses I couldn't imagine wanting to be without my Elwood L5a. It weighs nothing, plays really easily, sounds great and is really versatile.

It could be a stepping stone. From there you could move on to being Adam Clayton in a U2 tribute.

Cool. I've not really used it for that, but I'll have a play between now and then and pick out the one I think comes closest to a proper DI, if that suit's you... No worries if you decide it's not really appropriate, as I'll be bringing it anyway.

Not sure if it would be valid in the context of the test, but my Zoom B3 has DI out, and a few DI box sims in it, Sansamp, etc?

I've been following Mike Harding's coverage of that... looks like a great gig from a punter's point of view, must be a blast to play!