Gottastopbuyinggear

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1424614853' post='2698275'] JMB is a waste of time. I've been through every singer and or guitarist in my area and found one good 'un. That's it. One of my bands actually folded a few months ago because we couldn't find anyone decent to front the band. The idiots we got at auditions... [/quote] I disagree. The band I've just joined advertised for a bass player on JMB and the one they've found is brilliant! Seriously, there's everyone from beginners to pro's on this forum, and likewise you'll probably get a fair spread of people/bands on JMB. I've only been playing bass for a year, but without JMB its very unlikely I'd have found one band to play with in the last year, let alone the three that I have. I should add that I've only played bass for a year, but I've played guitar for about 35, so I do have some idea of what's what.

Much like the OP, and probably about the same time as well, I started playing bass in the school band because the music teacher (also my guitar teacher) needed someone to play bass and knew I could read music. Unlike the OP I then stuck with guitar on and off for the next 30 years, acquired a load of guitars and other gear, but being average at best never even tried getting into a band. A few years ago I fancied making a few backing tracks to play along to, bought a MIM Jazz Bass for the purpose, and surprised myself by finding I sounded a lot better on bass than guitar! Cue mild mid-life crisis early last year and a burning need to play in a band again before it was too late, bought an amp, and all of a sudden I'm playing in two different bands and having a great time. The problem now is, I really like my Jazz, but I fancy a Precision as well. And the Ampeg portaflex stuff I bought is great, but I get a dodgy back sometimes so I could probably do with a really lightweight cab too. And I quite fancy having a go at a five string, and ...

Are you positive it's the lid? I bought one of these last year and was worried for a while by a buzzing/rattling sound which seemed to be associated with the grille cloth - if i gave the grill cloth a gentle push in the middle it would go away. It only really happened on a low A, worse when played on the E string at the 5th fret (a bit of a problem for a man of my modest ability - "Blues in A, anyone?"). However, when playing at a decent volume (keeping up with a fairly loud drummer) it wasn't noticeable, and it seemed to sort itself out after a while and doesn't happen any more. Having said all that, I agree that when you buy stuff it should be fit for it's purpose, and even if it's B-Stock that should, presumably, only be down to cosmetic issues.

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1419628616' post='2641490'] I'd like to be in a band that doesn't implode after one gig [/quote] I'd like to be in a band that doesn't implode after one practice!

Hate to be a misery but I had one of these on order a couple of weeks ago, and the feedback I got for well over a week was "no ETA from supplier". I cancelled the order in the end, and to their credit SoundsLive emailed me and apologised for not being able to fulfil the order. However, they told me that GKs prices were going up by about 30% across the board. Not sure what effect this will have on prices to us, but we may be in for a shock. GAK also had these for around that price a few weeks ago, which was one of the things that got me interested in them in the first place, but the next time I looked they were £370 odd. I asked them for a price match against SoundsLive recently and they told me the cost to them was £294, so no dice...

Thanks for the replies. I said I wanted to keep up with a loud drummer, and Mudpup mentioned the [color="#000000"]Hartke LH500. At the other end of the scale, am I going to be able to get a 500W head quiet enough for practice at home or if I'm playing with a less strident bunch of people - for example with a drummer with an electronic kit? I guess into an 8 ohm load I'll only be getting about 350W anyway. Again, my reference here is a 30W tube guitar amp, which went from nothing to "turn that damn thing down!" before you got to 1 out of 10. I assume with solid state, where [/color][color=#000000]there's no issues about needing to get valves cooking before you get any tone, [/color][color=#000000]it should sound pretty much the same at any volume (not taking into account the impact of volume on the speaker)?[/color]

[color=#141414][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]Hi all, first post here (also posted on Talk Bass, so sorry if you've already read this), and it's a "what rig should I buy", though I've been lurking on this and similar sites for long enough to know that I'll get lots of "you've got to try for yourself and see what you like" responses, which I totally understand. However... practicalities mean that I'm not going to be able to find anywhere where I can compare the stuff in which I'm interested, so here goes. I'm a recent starter on bass, although I played bass in some bands at school about 30 odd years ago, and I've played guitar ever since. I'm expecting to mostly play blues, blues rock, classic rock, etc., but I'm open to plenty of different stuff. I doubt I'll ever play slap, but will stick to fingerstyle with a bit of pick occasionally. So I think I'm looking for something relatively mellow, certainly not too bright, with a reasonable low end. I'm not likely to be gigging (not for a while, anyway) but I've been playing with a fairly hard hitting drummer and quite loud guitarist, in a fairly small rehearsal space. Let's just say that after the first practice I bought some earplugs pretty swiftly... I'm not getting any younger so light weight is important. My head says Ampeg PF350 with PF115HE cab, and cost wise I'm not looking to go much more expensive. However the Mark Bass Traveler 151P, or even better the 102P are very attractive from a weight point of view. Similarly the GK NEO 115 or 112. I'd be worried about the 102P and the NEO 112 not having enough low end, though they certainly tick the right size and weight boxes. Also attractive is the GK MB200 head, from a price and form factor perspective, and because it seems to be universally loved on all the forums. My concerns about the MB200 are whether it would be too "modern" sounding, and also whether it would be loud enough (into a single 8 ohm cab) to keep up with a loud drummer - I know what I can get from a guitar through a 15W or 30W valve amp, but the only reference I have for solid state bass amps is the 165W (I think) Laney provided by the rehearsal rooms. Apart from that, any comments or experiences with any combination of those amps and cabs would be well received![/size][/font][/color]