Dan Dare

Is it April 1st yet?

I think the same makes and models that are prized now will remain so. I doubt whether any mass produced instruments will become really desirable (apart from those - vintage Fenders, Ric's, etc - that already are). Scarcity has a lot to do with demand/desirability. The handmade, custom makes mentioned above will always be sought after. When I started out, 50+ years ago, there was little choice - you either got a cheap piece of junk or saved for a Fender (which wouldn't necessarily be all that great - some were dogs) or possibly a Ric', unless you could afford custom. There was no real middle ground. With the advent of CNC machining, vast improvements in materials technology and mass production techniques, instruments of amazing quality are available at virtually all price points. I recently bought a Mexican PJ, which is better put together than my vintage Jazz. It isn't as characterful and I don't love it like I do the old beast, but as a versatile working instrument, it's excellent and it was very affordable. I could have picked from an enormous range of well built, reasonably priced alternatives.

Nice.

Another vote for La Bella Deep Talkin' Bass (as used by Jamerson). I like the 760FL set, which is quite light (43-104), but combines the requisite thump with some nice stringy tones and comfortable tension under the fingers. I find D'Addario Chromes suit my Jazz better than my P Bass. They're quite bright for a flatwound string. Tried fender Flats (which look very like re-branded Chromes and sound similar), but found them too bright/clanky for that classic P Bass tone. The beauty of La Bellas is they last so well.

Picked up a used but very clean Bugera Veyron (non tube) yesterday. Very pleasantly surprised at how well something so modestly priced sounds with my Epi and PJB cabs. Clean and powerful and plenty of grunt, simple but effective eq. Intended it to be a backup, but will use it on a few gigs and see how it fares.

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1489599318' post='3258302'] If you decide that you occasionally could benefit from more power then pick up a used Behringer power amp or something for under £200. You're still way under the TH500 budget! I think you'd be surprised how far 350W will go though. :-) [/quote] This. Sensible advice.

Never got all this "Ex famous name, £145 squillion" nonsense. It's just a mass produced and ordinary amp, guitar or whatever. The fact that Spiggy Tope has dribbled over it makes no bloody difference whatsoever. Rant over.

I have a couple of Phil Jones C4s, which are quite remarkable for their size. Won't blow the windows out, but very clean and even and each is a cube just over a foot high, wide and deep.

I'd be surprised if any cab of even remotely portable size could reproduce the fundamental of a low B string at any significant volume. 31 hz is seriously low. Happy to defer to Bill and Phill on this if I'm wrong, but aren't most cabs producing mainly harmonics at those frequencies?

If forced to choose one, would have to be James Jamerson.

Bob Babbitt's bass part on Tears of a Clown.

Look 0n the bright side. He could have used galvanised clout nails...

Seems to me you need to be clear in your mind about what you want. You obviously enjoy the band but, more important, do you feel it has a future, or are you just playing in it to keep your hand in/until something better comes along? Given that you and the drummer obviously don't gel, seems you might not be finding it too rewarding. That isn't likely to change, if my experience is anything to go by. You say your point of view is ignored - another bad sign. It appears that you have been talked into reconsidering by the "manager". Do you think you "overreacted"? If you said what you honestly felt, that isn't overreaction. It's just the truth and no point in denying it to yourself. You obviously don't want to trek 350km to play to nobody (nor would a lot of us). Why not tell them you won't do that job, but that you are still interested in playing with them provided some things change (like your views being heard and proper discussion and action about the future) and see what the response is. You've nothing to lose if they say no.

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1488006020' post='3244916'] As you know i have the same battle. Sometimes i think i should have kept my tony butler but it was never getting played. I now have a vintage modified precision but still use the jazz at every gig because i prefer the feel and the tone. Just bought an SPB3 to try on my precision to hopefully convince me to use it more. [/quote] I find the SPB1 is more Precisiony. Have one in my bitsa.

I don't think it's the Ampeg per se, but the 8x10 configuration that works so well. The rehearsal room I use has a Peavey 8x10 with the larger world tour head and that has that effortless oomph, too.

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1488255505' post='3247242'] DJs are the real talent. the way they press "Play" on their laptop is amazing, what talent ! [/quote] Dead right. The way they understand "beats" leaves me slack jawed with amazement, too. How can anyone just know how to find the first beat in a bar without consulting a music textbook? Much respeck, bro, etc.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1487969862' post='3244767'] What about white enamel then? Like ye olde style kitchen bowls, enamel (which is glass) on metal. [/quote] I like that. For the real vintage look, how about ye even older blue and white enamel?

People love labels. They find them comforting. Much of the music genres thang appears to be down to music journos desperately trying to find something new to say, imho.

Agree. You just can't escape from the P bass. The sound is ingrained in the psyche, probably because it's everywhere and on so many classic recordings. Best to keep one handy. If you want something else, add it to, rather than replace, your P. You know you'll have to buy another otherwise.

I originally played the fiddle, which was not cool 50 odd years ago. I wanted to play in a band with my pals, who played guitars, so bass was the obvious choice. I did find that I tended to gravitate to the bass parts on a lot of the records I listened to. The first one to really knock me out was Bob Babbitt's mighty playing on Smokey Robinson's 'Tears of a Clown' (although I didn't know it was Bob, or who he was at the time).

Provided your budget will stand it, I agree with others who suggest a small head and separate cab. The advantage of that over a combo is that it will be scalable. You can add extra cabs (and even a power amp) if you do need a gigging rig. An all in one small combo is not flexible in that way. You'd most likely have to sell it if you needed something larger. I'd steer clear of the small Phil Jones combo for that reason (it's also an expensive option). I had a PJ Flightcase, which I used to scale up with a power amp and a couple of extra PJ cabs. Sounded fine, but a bit of a faff. In the end, I sold the Flightcase and bought a separate mini head, keeping the PJ cabs. I still have a small, light rig - I just use one cab and the head.

[quote name='Yank' timestamp='1486464563' post='3231966'] O.K. The guitarist wrote the music and the singer wrote the lyrics. They should stick to that.It's arrogant of them to tell the bass player what to play. If they don't like his style, fine, find someone else. This is pop or rock, not an orchestra or Broadway pit band. Bunch of w***ers. [/quote] You said it - "The guitarist wrote the music". It doesn't have to be an "orchestra or pit band" for there to be arrangements and it isn't "arrogant" for a writer of a piece of music to visualise the entire piece, rather than just a simple melody/top line and to want parts played in a certain way. Why, because it's "pop or rock", does that mean it has to be a free for all? Afraid you're being naïve.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1486392169' post='3231354'] You sitting down with the bass player and "discussing the situation" is the worst advice ever! It's not your place to discuss band personnel or politics. Keep well away from that. It's down to the band what they want to do and they won't thank you for poking your nose in!! And as I say, the guy is gone anyway, so why should you want to give the gig away to someone else when you could be doing it? [/quote] This. I gather the bass player is not a friend of yours and also that you are not looking at this as a long term thing (and therefore won't lose any sleep if the bands finds someone permanent after you've helped them out for a while). If the guy isn't up to it, he isn't up to it and will be gone one way or the other. If you fancy the job and the band is happy to be open about the possibly temporary nature of the appointment, what is there to lose? You wouldn't fret if a band approached you out of the blue and asked you to play bass and yet they could have gone through this same process before you knew of them. From their point of view, they want someone who can hit the ground running, hence the request to learn the stuff before you start. That's sensible of them. If they have an album to promote, they can't afford to wait around whilst a new bass player learns the material. There's no moral issue, despite what others think. We all get most jobs, whether in music or elsewhere, because someone has moved on - they may have been sacked or left of their own accord. That's just life.