TrevorR

As others have said, for ensemble playing an amp (even a wee practice amp) is essential but they can sound good and different to an electric. I must confess, having the acoustic at home is great. I probably play that at home more than any of my other basses. As an example of how they work live, this is us playing an acoustic Springsteen song at our regular jam and my Faith acoustic bass holds up perfectly well…

But a couple of tips… as others have said, ditch the phosphor bronze strings for some black tapes and get a Feedback Buster soundhole plug.

On 16/04/2025 at 00:13, Bassassin said:

and when I heard Hooks In You, the first release with h, I thought they'd been railroaded down a commercial pop-rock route & didn't bother listening to them for a very, very long time!

I can understand why it was released as the lead single at the time but it’s the worst (or at least, the most ordinary) song on Season’s End by a country mile. Still love “Easter”.

Imelda May - Sneaky Freak

Unexpectedly I’m off to see Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox at the end of the month. A chum’s Mrs can no longer go, so he’s offered me the ticket. Yay!  Should be a blast. I love their YouTube videos! 

2 hours ago, prowla said:

If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice...

…see what you did there!

25 minutes ago, Bagman said:

NZ is basically volcanic 

 

check out the history of Lake Taupo 

As a Kiwi Johnny Cash tribute act might sing… 🎵 “…made my home on a burnin’ ‘Ring of Fire’…”

On 13/04/2025 at 18:09, Marc S said:

 

I quite liked Guy Pratt, and he went up in my estimations after reading his book - very well written, and so entertaining. Also, I really enjoyed his lockdown videos & bass lessons

He was a properly good bloke and really down to earth when he came to the last SE Bass Bash - and absolutely hilarious. How many players of his stature would leave his original Betsy and the Spector he used to record Like a Prayer sitting on stage after his talk and say, “I’ll just leave those there if anyone wants to have a go on them…”?

Barry Moorhouse brought a range of his Bass Collection basses to try out and I can confirm that the Betsy copies are really, really nice. Properly tempted.

Enjoy it! I’m not the slightest bit jealous, honest!

3 hours ago, Killerfridge said:

 

I keep meaning to come down to this, hopefully I'll drop in in the next month or so

Do, do! It’s a great vibe and a nice bunch of folks! Zero egos too, which it nice!

Country theme night at our Weekly Monday Night Jam last night was an absolute hoot! A great mix of great tunes, cheesy songs and lots of folks not taking themselves too seriously. Did 3 tunes in the end - here’s one of them: Gunpowder & Lead by Miranda Lambert.

The house band opened with a slice of Albert Lee - played even faster than Albert plays it! The guy in the hat is Nick Meier, who is the regular host. Not so shabby on the skinny strings… but then he did spend 5 years or so playing in Jeff Beck’s band in the 2010s… yes THAT Jeff Beck! Lovely guy and quite a player!

On 14/04/2025 at 12:09, Killerfridge said:

They did a video recently (ish) talking about Warwick, and despite calling the section "Warwick Thumb", they only showcased Streamers, which felt like a bit of a disservice

Research is not a strong point in their gear videos… lots of mistakes that a quick pre-record check would have avoided.

This Monday we’re doing a country themed night. I’ve been nabbed by some folks to bass on The Devil Went Down To Georgia, I Like It, I Love It by Tim McGraw and Gunpowder & Lead by Miranda Lambert. Should be a bit of a hoot, even if it’s not the type of stuff I normally play.

Last one, I played Still Got The Blues For You which went really nicely despite the lead player’s OD pedal not working. Talking about working up Parisienne Walkways in a couple of weeks! Result!

Killerfridge is correct. Shouldn’t be an issue (other than EMGs which are a different animal).

If you’re looking to change pickups can suggest you check out Catswhisker Pickups… hand wound in Birmingham and really nice. Plus he’s happy to tweak them to your tastes. Have some of theirs in my Frankenjazz and they’re fabulous. And really good vfm compared to the big brands like SD, Aguilar etc. if you’re interested I had a humbucking jazz set then swapped the neck pickup for a soapbar… just because why not. All fabulous pickups!

https://www.catswhiskerpickups.co.uk/bass.htm
 

Another vote for Sandberg. My Wals haven’t been out of their cases since I got this in January!

Ballad of the Alamo - Marty Robbins

Absolutely beautiful!

What a great idea and a fitting tribute! ❤️  RIP Nick.

There’s a professional photographer who comes along to our jam night occasionally. Rather like this shot he took a few weeks ago of my Sandberg…

I fought the law - Nanci Griffith with Sonny Curtis & The Crickets

…yes, really!!!

On 18/03/2025 at 10:16, Hellzero said:

It's definitely his Roland G33 fitted with a mirror pickguard.

 

Check this:

 

I saw them live twice. Second time was on the Thunder & Lightning farewell tour and he was using the Roland bass. The previous time was summer 81 with Snowy White in the band. He was playing the Ibanez then.

29 minutes ago, casapete said:

I saw Thin Lizzy at Bridlington Spa in the late 70’s, and they were really good but just not my kind

of thing. Got tickets from their record company when I worked in record retail, so around that time

I went to loads of gigs I maybe wouldn’t have paid to see and that was one of them. 
Possibly one of the loudest gigs I’ve been to probably didn’t help either, my ears were ringing

for days afterwards. 

Lizzy was the first band I saw back in 81 (St Austell Colosseum). I asked for 2 gig tickets for my birthday. One week later I was back to see Elkie Brooks in the same venue. Ironically my ears rang longer and louder after Elkie - which was a shock to 3/4 of the audience who clearly only knew “Pearl’s A Singer” and “Lilac Wine” etc. She spent 30 mins at the start getting all the MOR pop hits out of the way then said “Well, that’s enough of that, let’s rock…” the following hour was full on Vinegar Joe, swampy blues and full tilt rock’n’roll. I may be wrong but I think Geoff Whithorn was her guitarist/MD…

15 hours ago, casapete said:

I prefer Seger’s version, more dynamics / groove and ‘soul’ to it.

The TL version sounds a bit like a pub band to me….
( runs for cover………)

37 minutes ago, bremen said:

Lol, I didn't realise you were allowed to think TL weren't all that. I can come out of hiding now  😍

34 minutes ago, bremen said:

And while I'm still getting dirty looks for that blasphemy, can I just add that I prefer Madonna's version of American Pie to the original...

As the film critic, Mark Kermode, has been known to to say, “Everybody is entitled to have their own opinion…     …it’s just that yours is completely wrong!” 😉🤣🤣🤣

On 20/01/2022 at 16:09, neepheid said:

Or: it's a collusion between bass manufacturers and opticians/glasses manufacturers to drive up the sale of spectacles.

First time I saw a multi scale instrument in the wild was when Gordon Giltrap played his brand new multi scale Fylde at a gig.  I remarked to him afterwards about the guitar that I knew he had a reputation for nimble fingers, but I’d never seen someone with playing so hot it actually melted their instrument mid song. That tickled him.

I'm in the middle between the two options- I completely get the engineering philosophy behind them but as a long term 4 string player with no desire to play a 5, it’s all moot for me.

Ebeneezer Goode - The Shamen

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

And if we're talking about great covers done by Thin Lizzy, we can't not mention Whiskey in the Jar can we?!

…and if we’re talking about Whiskey in the Jar and great covers let’s absolutely NOT talk about Metallica!!!! 😉🤣🤣🤣🤮

Bob Seger’s original version of Rosalie is incredibly pedestrian. Thin Lizzy’s version is the definitive one for me.