Drax

It’s not an either / or, we can still support independent music shops buying from them online. Matchetts is an online retailer, physical store in Belfast plus full fat e-commerce site. See also BassDirect, The Gallery.. There aren’t any bricks and mortar music stores that don’t also heavily rely on online sales.

Slight aside - noticed you've got 2 x GWB35..great bass, had one for a while. Have you had one fretted ?!

Yes! Completely agree on the above, and we'd normally be 2 x 45mins with a healthy break. However drummer (a car less drummer no less, unbelievable) was late, so half time was about 3 minutes.. enough time for me to move my cab..then straight back into it. Alright for the horn players who can share the load between them, but obviously on bass we're playing pretty much the entire time. We finished with Chameleon, can't bring myself to watch the video back.. 😂

Thanks for all the BC advice 🙏 Ended up to side and behind of cab, no feedback and could hear enough to intonate. Awful boomy rumble from the stage as billed, shoved flight case under cab, will get an isolation pad next.. Strange room acoustics with a steel lined roof but once it filled up was fine. We'd not played there before but gig went well, great crowd and we've been rebooked , couldn't really ask for more. Next up is just stamina. Underestimated how physically tough it would be doing a 90 min set. Even with half the notes I'd play on electric, was just about hanging on by the end 🤪

So.. Venue is in converted railway arches. Raised wooden stage. 6 piece jazz group.. Bass drums guitar keys sax trumpet ..

After years playing electric in groups I should be probably be on upright, made the big move a few months ago. Got my starter bass, loving it so far. First gig .. tomorrow (!) and worried on managing feedback, plus trying to get an acceptable tone. Bass has Realist , then Aguilar TH500 into TKS112.. Also got K&K pre which may / may not get used. Gig probably doable with backline, but have option to DI / or mic amp into PA. Rehearsed last night with endless tweaking, got good volume with bass rolled off on the pre, but super nasal. Never properly grasped Aguilar's Drive either, but believe it might help here. Reasonably lost with this. All advice warmly welcomed.. ! Dan

Similar here. Bought a Stagg, then a Gear4Music own brand - both shipped damaged, both badly made and nasty to play, lumpy fingerboard and buzzing everywhere. Tendonitis is a bastad - light strings do makes a massive difference, as does set up and proper technique - which isn’t always the easiest to achieve on EUB. Try a lesson with a jazz oriented upright player. As well as grounding you on technique, you’d get a chance to play their well set up DB with most likely lighter strings - and get an idea of how different / easier this would be to play than what you’ve experienced so far.

Genuine question - at £320 is this the world’s most expensive bass bridge?

Interesting how nuts the pricing has gone for secondhand vinyl - discogs especially. Albums you can stream for free, or buy £5 CD, going for £100. Not rare Beatles or Zep, run of the mill 90's electronic stuff. It's the sweet spot for those with disposable income. A 12inch my mate put out in 2003 had sold a few times on discogs, a few quid each time. As an experiment I 'bought' a copy from him for £60, .. and he 'bought' it back for the same. Just on these sales, pricing and demand shot up, people started advertising it for more money, and suddenly people wanted to buy it, copies were going for up to £100. It's settled down now, 12 people currently selling, cheapest £36. But this is record that no one wanted to buy before, and no one thought was expensive or rare until discogs told them it was. Kind of like 70's P Basses were once. Fascinating herd mentality at play.

Side point but lest we forget Fender to Fodera, like any guitar manufacturer, are NOT aimed at pro musicians. Pros play them, but the lifeblood is amateur hobbyists - more disposable income, and own more instruments. If you asked Vinnie Fodera if you were good enough - he too would say, if you can afford it and it makes you happy ..

Fights?! With guns?