Quilly

2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

 They are to basses what Centre Point is to architecture i.e. supposedly modern and cutting edge but actually an eyesore

I actually think they’re ok , cool in a retro style 

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

I love the Beatles but am always amazed  when someone says McCartney is a great bassist. Can someone tell me what I am missing?

Fixing a hole has a lovely bass line , I really like the woody sound he got from his hofner bass especially when he plucked up on the high frets . He really uses his scales cleverly 

35 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

I have to say, I agree. Many of the indie albums were 2-3 ok songs & the rest was poor quality filler.

 

Paul Weller’s solo stuff is meh. 

Yes and the fact that the LPs and CDs at the time were £15-20ea (which is really expensive in 1990s prices) meant that you probably told yourself that these were great albums...because the "musos" in NME told you that they were. Many a mediocre band was made on the whims of fickle journalists and many great bands were too often overlooked.  

I'm approaching 50 and I still think that some of the indie bands from the 80s and 90s are overrated sacred cows and that there's great alternative music around now, if people just got off their butts to try and find it, and there's no excuse now with Spotify and what not.    

3 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I bring 2 of everything. Small and lightweight gear has made this a realistic option.

 

The last time I had any gear failed on a gig was in 2005 when a speaker lead stopped working. Before that was in 1999 when my valve amp cut out. Speakon leads and D class amps have upped my reliability figures to 100%.  I have to go back to the 80's for my last cab failure.

 

Sometimes I'll try both amps and both basses on a sound check and use the one that sounds best at the time. 

Valve amps , although gorgeous sounding give me the heebie jeebies, I’m always convinced a valve will die or the some other catastrophic failure will happen , ridiculous I know . As I’ve had 3 full valve heads that never went wrong .

I recently purchased a TE elf as a backup so it’s not exactly a huge lug around and a great amp in its own right. My main amp is an Ashdown Spyder and honestly I can’t imagine it ever going wrong , built like a tank 

You definitely need a second bass and amp imo

I played a wedding gig many moons ago where my amp just sputtered out after the second song , luckily the BL had a DI box and I was able to plug directly into the PA. I’m so paranoid that something will go wrong at a critical moment I’m bringing way too much to gigs that’s never used, it’s kinda ridiculous  Am I alone ? 

On 18/05/2022 at 06:31, bassbiscuits said:

I don’t get jazz. I’ve tried, but it leaves me cold. I can’t play any of it anyway.

I actually got drafted as replacement bassist for an old timey old New Orleans 10 piece by out guitarist (who plays banjo with them) at first I was like “what am I doing here” but now I really enjoy the music. It’s actually OK to play  on bass , well, that type of jazz.

If I was going to do a swap Id have a J body with a P neck !  

The chunkier the better 😅

3 hours ago, agedhorse said:

Then let them develop their own cosmetics and feature sets rather than copy somebody else’s.

 

When I was in school taking exams, I wasn’t allow to copy somebody else’s work. That was called cheating or plagiarism. 

They wouldn’t be able to sell stuff cheap then because they would have development overheads . Lidl sells “rice krunchies” and “nutty Ella” , everyone knows they’re knock offs but they’re cheap and usually OK. This is no different 

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Bugera may have been named after a car. But Markbass looks like it's been styled by Halfords. 😆

I really don’t like the ratfur on their gear, guaranteed to pickup dirt, wear out and generally look like 💩 within a couple of years . Give me good old fashioned tolex all day

7 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

Yes, it matters to those who worked hard, or paid for the considerable costs of developing such. It affects us for sure.

 

It should also matter to players, because advancements in design and technology come from reinvestment of earnings from preceding products. Not paying for the cost of R&D reduces costs and enables cheaper products but can impact future advances by other more innovative, creative products.

 

Are you suggesting that it’s ok to take the work of others as long as it’s cheaper, even if the work is not yours? 

I think its great that there are generic brands like Beringer, Bugera and Harley Benton around making 'acceptable' gear for beginners or folks that don't have a lot of disposable income. "There was none of that in my day" and the cheap gear on the 80s was pretty awful, the next step upwards was usually unaffordable. People will always strive to obtain higher end gear so I cant imagine a hand full of generic brands are going to hill innovation and R&D overnight. I cant imagine Pfizer going bankrupt because Tesco sell generic paracetamol.  

Bargain

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I'm with Stu in this one. There's no danger of me ever buying a Genz, so Bugera certainly aren't stealing my custom. What they are doing, is providing an absolutely stonking amp at a budget that I can afford.

 

Long live Bugera, Beringer, Harley Benton et all. 

I was never crazy about Beringer stuff, very cheap fit and finish, saying that all the Beringer gear we have in the band has never left us down (but usually knobs and sliders have broken off) , its like the "Dacia" of music gear . HB stuff is great, sometimes it might need a little finishing off but unbelievable value for money and genuinely decent gear.  As I said I've had bugera stuff and it always seemed decent to me anyhow. 

I has a bugera BVV3000 bass head for a short while, an SVT clone and it was a good amp as far as I could tell. I sold it on due to its weight more than anything but it sounded great and seemed well put together. I currently have a bugera 5W guitar head and it seems like a good amp also, sounds good to my ears and solidly built.

I think they make pretty good amps at the moment. The 3 valve bass head looks like it should be a good amp, despite the optimistic wattage rating. 

At home I play by Sandberg California VS because its getting a bit old now (12 years) and has a few dings and scrapes so I'm not to fussed if it gets another scratch or 2 but it sounds and plays great. Gigging I use my fender P bass (for acoustic and jazz gigs) and by Sandberg Basic for rock gigs because it has a great stingray-like punchy tone to it, I always bring the Sandy VS to gigs as a backup.

13 minutes ago, andy67 said:

For all intents and purposes, it certainly does look like a GB on the outside but, it is what it does after that that impresses me no end. It is an incredible amp in its own right and does everything I need it to do and then some. I'm sure GB would have their lawyers all over it if it contravened their patents inside although, I'd have thought they would be on it already for the looks alone. 

 

Folks, dare any of you who haven't tried a BV T or M to give it a go and then tell me you don't like it!

I think Andy was talking about the similarity of the name with that of a certain sports car. 

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Well anyone who calls their product 'bugera veyron' doesn’t lose sleep over ripping things off.

Exactly what I thought 

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

11 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

They are my go to strings these days, once they are played in they are even better 

I had the heavy gauge ones (0.052 - 0.110) but I couldn't get on with the tension on them. These feel much better and still sound great. I'm using a little bastard 30W and barefaced two10. The whole combination sounds amazing, really retro 60s sounding setup. Perfect for Beatles covers, Motown covers etc.     

Just put in a set of la Bella low tension flats on my p bass … my god 😮

I had one for about 4 years until I sold it about a month ago, it sounded great but TBH I never really used it much for gigs (too nervous). I actually preferred the sound from the 30W little bastard and when I needed more oomph I had a much more rugged 550W Ashdown Spyder, which is also a superb sounding amp, so it kinda fell between 2 stools. I bought a TE elf with the proceeds which I'm already getting more use out of. 

Would I buy another one...probably not if I'm honest but its a great amp for what it does. 

1 hour ago, miles'tone said:

Nordstrand NP4 ❤

I actually ended up with Lollar Pbass/90s and absolutely love them, nice and aggressive mids.