Billleivers

Thanks guys. Sorry, my post might have been misleading - I’m not thinking of selling. I think this bass will go to my grave with me! I’d also have no clue what it’s worth.

Just wanted to introduce my bass in case there’s any interest! I bought it 14 years ago after searching for a USA made Lakland in the UK - unsuccessfully! I was on the verge of importing a new 4 94 from the USA when this popped up on eBay from a collector in Chicago. It’s a one off 4 94 made by Ed Reynolds from parts supplied by Dan Lakin. Ed was luthier consultant to the fledgling Lakland operation. It has a chambered body, pre-CBS Jazz pickup in neck position, Seymour Duncan MM in bridge position, nitro paint finish (lots of dings!) and fabulous neck. It’s been my go-to bass since I bought it and I love it, though very few bass players I meet in the UK seem to know much about USA Laklands, let alone a one-off like this!

I'm 72 and moved to North Dorset almost 3 years ago from Leicestershire, where I played in 3 different bands. My original plan was to carry on playing in my old bands and drive up for gigs etc - that didn't work out - 3.5 hours of ravelling and the A303 put paid to it! I wouldn't say that North Dorset is a hotbed of contemporary music excellence, but I decided that I didn't want to hang up why bass on the wall quite yet. I posted in on my village Facebook page, you know, bass player seeks musicians to make sweet music with, and eventually got a reply from a local guy. His band just lost their bass player and they were looking for a suitable candidate. Got together with them, had a chat and a jam and it all fell into place. Turns out to be a really cool band, some very tasty, funky original songs. I'm now playing the best gigs in my entire music career - just as I thought I was done! The moral of my story is: don't give up, you never know what's round the next corner - and age really doesn't seem to be an issue. In my experience, If you can play the stuff, make a good sound, are physically capable of playing sometimes quite arduous gigs and get on with people, there will always be opportunities out there if you look form them.

Not exactly amp-less, but I've simplified my set up recently. Having an active bass, a Sansamp in my pedal board train and an amp head, I felt as though my signal was drowning in different eq's! I now use an EBS Microbass preamp, outputting to a Phil Jones Bass PB300 250 watt powered cab. Nice clean sound, enough whooph, with pa support and great di.

Small festival in a field in Shaftesbury, North Dorset, with Jamarca. Good gig, nice pa, good sound guy and great sound. After our set I had a little chat with the bass player in the next band up - nice guy, nice G@L bass. When they started, he absolutely tore it up - Chilli Peppers, Sir Duke (with horn solo!). Ever been in that situation that you're super impressed, but hoping he makes a balls up somewhere along the line. Alas he didn't! Just as I hoped he wouldn't start slapping - there he goes! It also turns out that the band is an informal pick-up band who have barely rehearsed together. That's it - bass on eBay tonight!

Hi I play in similar mixed environments and went over to Phil Jones gear few years ago - never looked back! I have a 150 watt Flightcase combo which In use for acousticy/quieter gigs and add a PB300 250 watt powered speaker when I need more whoomp. 400 very genuine a clean watts is loud enough for any rock gigs I do, and for anything bigger, there's always pa support anyway. It's quite pricy gear, but very high quality and well made

Maybe a strings issue? I use D'Addario nickels on my Lakland and pops sound clear, loud and bright

Hi I went done the path of in ears a while ago. I went for moulded, as attenuation of ambient sound is also very important to me. I got a pair of ACS Engage, 2 driver mouldeds, £400. TBH I'm disappointed with them. Sound is not great, but neither is my hearing, so I may be doing them a disservice! The advice I wasn't given was go for min. 3 drivers for bass. In hindsight, that would be what i should have done, but shelling out £600 for something I wasn't sure was right for me was a bit of a risk, especially as mouldeds have nil resale value!

Never plucking fingers, but sometimes fretting hand - especially if I've been playing a lot of octave stuff. Curse you disco music and Bernard Edwards! Don't mean that - I idolise him!

It's weird how sometimes what is revving up to be a horrific gig turns out to be great. I did a wedding gig in Bath with Duncan Oakley a while back. It was is a posh marquee at the back of a posh house, home of the bride's posh family. The groom was a South African BMX rider and his somewhat feral family had flown over from Capetown. The speeches went on forever, and then food didn't arrive until gone 9.00, after everyone had been quaffing champers for 2 hours - so, diametrically opposite families, all whizzed, when we finally got on stage. Could have been carnage, but amazingly everyone got on great and then dance floor was full from first number. Abiding memory was looking up halfway through Tainted Love to see a dog riding past on a skateboard! Another wedding in Bristol started off bad and got worse. Location was a village hall and we had to set up and sound check during the meal and speeches behind the stage curtain. Ever tried sound sound checking without making any noise?! Second number, the American groom wanted to sing My Girl with us - just play it exactly like the Temptations he said. However, we got to the key change in verse 3 and changed key - he didn't, so we went back to the original key while he did the key change. It went down hill from there onwards!

I use Spirocore Solos and tune to concert. Low tension, dead easy to play but still retain the Spirocore sound

Some great advice re switching etc. To be honest, I use a silent plug lead to avoid pops and bangs and ramp up the gain on my amp for the EUB. Works fine for me. Probably worth touching on dealing with the difference in scale length between EUB and bass guitar. It sometimes catches me out when I go back to bass guitar , ie hitting F sharp on the A string instead of E! Soon get acclimatised though!

Near Loughborough, Leicestershire

Thanks - yes, if I'm getting more ambient sound than I want, it might as well be low frequencies!

Yep. its a mistake to think that people aren't enjoying it just because they're not jumping around like maniacs!