Al Krow

Oh dear, I had better hold on to and look after that KS after such high praise!! It kinda now feels like I am temporarily holding it on trust for you for after your wedding - good job, I've managed to resist a couple of unsolicited offers so far...😊 (It is, no question, a wonderful instrument and I am very fortunate to have got my hands on it).

So here's the thing. What defines for any of us, what a great bass is? And why were the Sads lacking in that regard?

@FDC484950 really good post, thanks. It's interesting that the personal tuition that you had in your teenage years were the most influential / productive lessons you received. I similarly had regular lessons on classical guitar from 12 through to 17 and I was equally passionate about that instrument as I now am about bass playing. Just wonder if there are some general themes here? - Formal one to one lessons seem to me to be particularly beneficial when starting out, in terms of getting technique and "good habits" embedded and knowledge of some basic music theory; once we have this baseline (excuse the pun!) tool-kit, we're much more able to progress under own steam and bit of structure / guidance is perhaps all that we need. As you say, the quality of online tuition is streets ahead of what we had in our formative years and for many of us who have progressed beyond 'beginner' that could well be more than sufficient to focus our practice time? - Some instruments / styles seem to lend themselves more to personal tuition e.g. pretty much all classical musicians will have had lessons throughout their 'grades'. I wonder how much personal tuition bass players and rhythm / lead guitarists, both amateur and professional, have had and how many of the successful touring musicians are actually self-taught?

Does the Sadowsky preamp pedal really get that close Chris? I really thought that the Sadowsky pups would make an equally big, if not bigger, difference just on general principles.

@krispn what was the actual course name you took? I've currently got a [ ] in my OP for that one!

I've just been thinking about getting myself a Wahl too - I guess that is obviously the brand that most of us bassist's will be naturally inclined to go for. It does feel like taking a bit of a haircut on a Wal though.

I get where you're coming from as you are someone who is giving lessons, but it's a question of value for money and the guarantee of consistent high quality from widely recognized and appreciated online tutors e.g. Mark's lessons work out at around £1 a lesson and I can take them in bite sized chunks depending on how quickly I master them and what else I have going on at the time, which is perfect for me. Consequently I've found every one of his lessons better than the (few) £30 / hr in person lessons I've had from a couple of capable tutors.

Actually that's the very one I've just signed up for (was meaning to take anyway!), which I look forward to getting onto once I've completed his excellent slap bass course which I am half way through.

Mark at Talking Bass is currently offering 30% off all his courses for one week.

Well she doesn't go by that name to me 😉

So the Big Baby T was the predecessor of the BB2 in my pic above. And yes I have a SC too ( @PJ-Bassist's old one as it happens!) so we essentially have identical cabs. Hmmm....😁

That is an impressive spot from a 15 month old post! I take it you're a bit of an 8 string and / or Greg Lake fan?

Oooh lovely bass! Slightly worrying the amount of taste we have in common on the home furnishing front: wooden floors, white doors and antique white basses with tort PGs. You sure our other halves aren't related? 😁

So here's the thing. This thread is supposed to be encouraging us to be making the most of the existing gear we have. Somewhat limited, I know, by our collective inability to use them with our bands, but nevertheless be great to hear what "extra" we're getting out of our existing gear. I'm happy to kick this off by saying that my pedals were a bit of a random and not much used collection this past 6 months. I've managed to organise them into two ready to use pedal boards with a multifx at the heart of each: Oh and by the way - newcomers are all very welcome to join this 'gear abstinence lite' challenge. The entry ticket is simply that you've have not bought any gear since the start date of March 25th (i.e. yesterday morning!)

In terms of design - all of the below, for me, have real elegance and it would literally boil down to personal preference. Other than the Yammy, each is verging on iconic i.e. you know "that's a Schecter" just from the outline of the headstock. If I had to chose one, it would be the Smith. It combines form (and that is before we look at the reverse of the headstock where the quality of the craftsmanship sets it apart) with function. Little touches such as having the 3 lighter guage strings on one side to balance the weight and tension of the two heavier bottom strings reflects the attention to detail that has gone into the design of the headstock as well as the rest of the bass.