Beer of the Bass

The GK MB200 works well with my Wizzy 10 cab and is about as small as you can get - I often use it for the smaller pubs rather than lugging my 2x12" along.

Yep, as above really. There are a few folk who have stumbled across decent basses going cheaply, but they tend to be freak occurences down to good luck. Depending where you are, you may be able find a shop which rents out beginner level instruments, which can be a way of testing the water without laying too much money down.

I've been using 11-49 D'Addario XLs on my electric guitar for a while now. I like the firmer feel and clearer sound on the bass strings compared to a standard .009 or .010" set, but in my experimentation with heavier strings in the past I've found that a wound G doesn't do it for me, so the 11-49s always seemed like the best compromise between light and heavy. However, playing friends' guitars with .010"s, there's a snappy quality and elastic feel on the top strings which I enjoy. I'm thinking about trying a 10-52 set to try and get some of this. Are any of you using these? I'm wondering how uneven the tension feels, and whether the mismatch will wreak havoc with my Bigsby.

Or the plaque on the back is off the same parted-out Burns as the one on the front! Still, if it goes for the opening £50 then someone has done well, as it looks like the better end of no-name Precision copies with that nice Ash body. Possibly the Burns plates would be of interest to a collector too, so the seller might do better if they were auctioned separately.

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1367764510' post='2069176'] This might just push me over the edge to get one of these ..... if the new model becomes available. Will cost more probably, but it's only money. [url="http://stranglers-ratter.blogspot.co.uk/"]http://stranglers-ra...blogspot.co.uk/[/url] [/quote] I'm not trying to stir things here, but weren't you posting about being strongly opposed to all of the companies who make upmarket Fender copies just a couple of weeks back? The Shuker must be one hell of a bass to change your tune quite so comprehensively!

I have managed to sort out my noise issues by changing my power supply for one of these; [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_powerplant_junior.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...lant_junior.htm[/url] Even with shipping from Germany, it's about the cheapest isolated supply out there and is quite small and neat. I've got everything velcroed to a plastic chopping board from Poundstretcher! It still gave me a little mains frequency hum when using the Super Fuzz, but adding a 100 ohm resistor in line with the power socket inside the Fuzz, along with a 100uF capacitor to ground sorted that out by adding some extra filtering.

You might regret the see-through guard after a sweaty gig or two! I've seen them with drops of sweat squeezed behind them, looking most unsightly. I guess the same thing goes on behind an opaque guard, but we never see it. It does look like a nice bass - I've always liked MM necks in particular.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1367662480' post='2068045'] I have to say that is not my experience. Most musos I have known are pretty indulgent at jam sessions. I have seen the most appaling train wrecks resulting in positive responses. I have been roasted more than once but never maliciously. [/quote] It may well have been just a couple of guys who were attending that one particular jam a few years back. I've often found musicians at the free/experimental end of things to be very approachable and pleasant though, to the point where I once played a set with Lol Coxhill before I really knew who he was, and that was great fun.

I listen to a lot of jazz, but have never felt confident trying to play it in public. I think part of this is that unlike in most other genres, the standard of musicians playing in small venues around town is scarily high (most of them have spend a number of years in full-time study from an early age) , and I feel strongly that a dabbler like me will be shown up! There is also a negative attitude I've witnessed a couple of times at open jam sessions, where whenever a less-confident newbie turns up, the regulars will do their best to call tunes which are way over their head (like expecting a double bassist to solo on Giant Steps or play Charlie Parker heads). I'm sure this doesn't happen everywhere, but it can put people off participating in their local jazz scene and gaining that experience which would help them improve their skills. When this kind of thing happens, it makes the jazz scene look like less fun than doing other kinds of gig, however musically satisfying it might be.

It does seem like an odd description - unless they've got a bi-amp setup like the old GK amps, which I don't think they do. It could be that the colour button/control on the amps are some kind of lowpass filter like the Markbass VLE, and they've just chosen bizarre wording to express that, perhaps?

[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1367404013' post='2065114'] Can it make a cup of tea? (Earl Grey, Hot) [/quote] If Douglas Adams had it right, it'll make you a cup of liquid almost, but not entirely unlike tea.

Well, my band with the EUB was a sort of free improv noise ensemble, so it wasn't even the strangest noise in the room most of the time.

A couple of years ago I had a strap made for me by this chap; [url="http://www.barefootleather.co.uk/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=244"]http://www.barefootleather.co.uk/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=244[/url] Since they're made to order, he should be able to do whatever length you need.

The MB200 might be overkill if you just need a headphone amp, but on the other hand they do sound good and are a useful thing to have around. It's actually my only amp head at the moment, which is going to be a temporary situation, but it turns out to be a remarkably useable amp for pub gigging, not just as a practice amp.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1367076083' post='2061035'] My thinking is that if I'm after a gut sound I should probably try gut. Although I jam a lot with a vegan singer/guitarist which is why I've resisted guts for so long! [/quote] You're playing an instrument held together with hide glue and have a horsehair bow at hand (unless you don't do arco). If those haven't offended his sensibilities, you're probably OK with gut strings. Myself, I couldn't live with the reedy arco sound when I tried a gut D and G, but I use the bow a lot.

Keeping a similar build style and materials between models, then tweaking the sound with pickup types and placement, wiring etc to suit that model is an eminently sensible and economical way for mass producers like Fender and G&L to do things. It doesn't say much about the significance of woods and construction style, more that Leo probably felt he'd hit upon a workable combination of ash or alder with bolt-on maple necks quite early on in his career. By way of contrast, Les Paul spent quite a bit of time experimenting with different materials for guitar bodies, and I'm sure I remember seeing an interview where he was adamant that the maple top on a Gibson Les Paul was important to the sound of that model. It can't have been chosen for aesthetics, as the earlier models were painted gold.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1366980744' post='2059817'] Buy some magic beans from me. Normally two grand but I'll do you a 50% discount. They're magic. Really. [/quote] Swap you a cow for them?

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1366979475' post='2059782'] Well, that is what i was thinking. If it was a big rig, i could understand someone wanting it, if the story was substantiated.It would be good to do gigs through his amps.But a 30w, you would never be able to show it off properly [/quote] It seems counterintuitive when you're used to high powered bass amps, but this is a guitar amp. Despite being "only" 30 watts, an AC30 is definitely a big-gig amp, and could easily be way too loud on the club circuit.

Unfortunately, Edinburgh council is clamping down on them, even though the ones have been to haven't really caused any bother to anyone (or less than your average student saturday night flat party, anyway).

If the gear side of things is all sorted, I'd be looking at all those other things which could help a band, like doing a bit of recording, getting a backdrop made, pressing up CDs, shooting a video etc.

My eight string is a dodgily converted precision copy, but I've found that the ready-made sets of strings are heavier than I'd like. I've got a .040 to .100" set on the low strings and my octave strings are .016, .025, .035 and .045" bought as singles. The slightly lowered tension makes things that bit more comfortable. I rarely take mine out on a gig, but it's great with some overdrive for a different texture when we record.

I reckon nylon is only the way to go if both daughter and teacher want to go the classical route. A well set up steel string isn't really any harder to play and fits in to most forms of popular music rather more readily. Having said that, I started on nylon string, took classical lessons through my teens and now don't even feel the urge to own a nylon string, so this is very much a personal viewpoint. The reading side of those lessons was very useful though.

If we're talking about the same "clank", the action and your right hand technique are a big part of it, but a big EQ boost around 2KHz really brings it out too. The classic (Fender, Alembic et.al) mid-scoop EQ has the scoop centred about 500Hz, so if used judiciously, it can indeed help you to hear the upper mid clanky region more clearly.