Bassman68

Density & weight, I think? Swamp Ash is lighter than Ash in my experience..

Didn’t John Bentley (Sqeeze) play a TB? I seem to recall one in the “Cool for cats” video.. Another sighting was Alan Lancaster in a few Quo vids.

I’ve been after an Aria SB for a couple of years now & marvel at the prices these fetch, which surprise me given the retro style of these instruments ( I’ve was playing in an 80’s cover band pre-Covid). Whilst perusing the 80’s Japanese bass scene (Lived through it first time round, even had a JV Precision) another brand that struck me was Ibanez, especially the Roadster series.. I’ve played a few in my time & was always impressed with the build quality, Solid bolt-on necks & quite often DiMarzio pick-ups with good hardware, Often being overlooked in favour of the more sought after (& higher priced) Musician series. But whilst mention of vintage Squiers, what about the other Fender stylings of Tokai & let’s not forget the rest of the “Lawsuit” Jap basses that brought about the reason for Japanese Fenders/Squiers? Some of the build quality was awful but there were some nice alternatives out there? Even prices of these must have at least doubled/tripled in their time?

Just thought of another that I’ve seen a price increase in... Squier bullet basses What’s going on there?

The original Musicman American made S.U.B basses seem to be holding their value these days? I’d be interested in how the first Sterling by Musicman Ray 34/35’s fair... German built Warwicks pre 2000 took a dip but seem to be climbing again? But these are mostly for personal/selfish reasons as I have a 10 yr old SterlingRay 35 & 4 pre 2000 Warwicks (Not that I want to get rid of any of these basses yet) 😉

When I’m feeling in a ‘Pino’ mood... ‘87 Ray, Just add an octaver & chorus

TBH outside of the obvious sounds that can be identified on recordings (where more often than not it’s the particular bass being used) , Who can tell what amp has been used, once that track has been compressed/digitised etc? Even on your average stage, who can tell what tones are coming through FOH. For those reasons alone, That’s why I don’t care much for amp modelling in the long run, But if it makes people feel better or gives them inspiration to play, Knowing that they’re playing through A,B,C to sound like X,Y,Z.....Go for it?

Yes to a large degree? I’ve never been too keen on amp modelling myself, I normally prefer to have a fairly neutral/flat amp eq unless the song requires something different. It’s only really recording when specific sounds have been required & I usually have left it to the engineer to come up with that as 9 times out of 10, they understand how to get the best results..

Got to agree with Ped here. I’d much prefer a descriptive generalisation of an amp model like... Clean transistor/bright punch cab (GK or Trace into 4x10 with horn) Clean valve/warm stage filler (SVT into 2x15) Driven valve/Big stage (Crunchy SVT into 8x10) Warm studio recording (B15....) It would be more about those classic sounds we can all relate to without getting too hooked up on exact models?

Best buy...A new iPad which meant i could use my old one for music/set lists/lyrics etc. Worst waste of money... On two occasions cheap 5.8gz plug in transmitters from Lekato & Ammoon which both packed up within weeks of purchase, during first lock-down. At least it made me update my Sennheiser system with a new aerial for the transmitter & a new anglejack lead from ‘Designacable’ (more decent purchases).

Does your circuit board not have a trim pot to tame the output? I have trim pots on my 93 Streamer 3 band, 93 Corvette pro 2 band & 96 Thumb Nt 3 band..

“The money’s in the first five frets”..... Think was a Donald Dunn quote?

My favourite that i read over the first lock-down was Guy Pratts ‘My bass & other animals’ .. Highly recommended More anecdotal than anything but a good read all the same?

No one mentioned Ian Dury yet?

Quite interested in these myself, would like a worn black leather look... What’s the padding like on them?

Some ‘Back in the day’ pics in the early 90’s.. The GP12,RA500 rack weighed a ton.

I first met my wife when she came to audition for a band I was in, We gigged regularly for 15 years until she had to give up singing due to throat issues. Our 15 year old daughter occasionally plays Sax in another one of my bands now, I would love to be able to perform with both of them, if my wife felt up to signing a number or two?

Not the best of pictures, but here’s my Warwick Streamer originally made for John Entwistle. It’s an absolute tone monster...

I have a Warwick double gig bag that must be over 10 years old now, It's put up with plenty of use & abuse. Zips are all holding up, with only a bit of fraying to the piping around the edges. When it's time to replace it, I will go for a Mono..

So am I? I don't consider myself totally inept with gear & electronics, I've been playing for nearly 40 years... The only thing I keep thinking of, is the fact that I use active basses? Are the pre-amps overloading the transmitter? I don't over do the eq, so nothing is ever maxed out? Over the pandemic, I've been playing my Alembic, various Warwick & Musicman basses & my Status. My practice set-up has been bass into wireless, receiver plugged into multi-effects with a feed from either IPad or laptop to provide practice tracks etc. with headphones/monitors being fed from the multi-effects (either a Boss gt6b or a Zoom b3n). The only other changes to that have been any full band practices where I've taken a lead from the effects into an amp? So no rocket science there? Even transporting the system, I found a pouch that was the same size as the box, so I removed the foam from the packaging & placed that in the pouch, so kept the radio system safe in my gigbag.. I really liked the convenience of a floor mounted receiver & little more than a jackplug in my bass, as opposed to the transmitter pack of my sennheiser system that I use for 'big gigs'. I just can't get over the fact that two of these little systems have given up the ghost after little more than two months usage each? As stated in my original post both units take a charge, they appear to link/sync to each other, yet nothing seems to be being sent from the receiver? I managed to get a 'bleep' tone, plugged into an amp, with the receiver plugged direct & then switching off the transmitter, holding the sync button down & turning the transmitter back on, but on plugging into a bass, nothing? The Ebay seller of the Lekato doesn't exist anymore & the Ammoon seller want's a video of me demonstrating the problem! So I don't think I'll have any joy there?

Yeah, you're right there I suppose? my own fault for buying a cheap piece of toot.. I'll stick with my Sennheiser system in my rack for wandering moments in future.

So during lockdown I decided to treat myself to one of these cheap wireless systems for use around the house for practice purposes. After a quick look on ebay, I bought a 'Lekato ws-50' system, and very impressive was it for a couple of months.....Then I used it at a socially distanced get together with a few band mates, where it worked just fine. Unfortunately the next time I went to use it, it had packed up? The lights were both on, the receiver was receiving the transmitter, I tried all four channels, yet nothing from the amp? "Oh well, it was only cheap.....I'll get another one?" This time I went for a 'Ammoon' system, which I had read about on this very forum? IT'S ONLY HAPPENED AGAIN! Anyone else experienced any trouble with these systems or am I doing something wrong? The system is stored in its box & charged before use (well, when the red light comes on?)

"Why do you have five strings, when bass should be one note at a time?" "Oi Ringo (Macca/Lennon etc.)" "Are you all miming, what with all those blinking lights in those boxes?"

I play in an 80's covers band, which focus on the more 'synth era' stuff.....I love it! I cut my teeth on bass in the 80's, so playing this stuff is like revisiting where I learnt to play.. Thompson twins, China crisis, Howard Jones, Duran duran, Nik Kershaw, Kajagoogoo etc. I'm in heaven? Bassbiscuits is right about SAW ruining the decade, but I feel it was the progress of the computer technology in the sampling,looping,drum machine etc. which started to create the demise for real musicians? Once the sequencers took over, all that was required was a face to front the song? I realise a lot of those bands I mention used sequencers etc. but they still had a 'band' to perform it..