Twanger

Yup, each to his own. In my experience, flatter boards certainly facilitate speed, dexterity and string bending, partly because they allow a lower action. And I can definitely believe that a lot of bass design is "because we've always done it that way". But for the technique I referred to as "digging in and boogieing", where you are really pulling hard at the strings with the right hand, you don't want a low action (or, more accurately, I don't want a low action), particularly on E and A, because the damn things keep bouncing off the frets and you have less tension. You'll be gripping quite hard with the left hand as well, and I find a cambered board facilitates this. It's more comfortable. This is not a sophisticated way of playing, but it's great fun and conveys a sense of drive and urgency. FWIW my current bass is very flat.

Looking forward to it, Dad. Thanks.

Those are.....impressive!

I've just joined, and thought I'd introduce myself. I started playing guitar back in the 70s, and switched to bass in the 90s, in Turkey. Blues, standard covers, playing out once a week with a 100 watt amp and beer on the Ankara bar scene. Lots of fun had. Moved back to London 10 years ago, and pretty well gave up playing - I left almost all my stuff in Turkey. So I'm getting back into bass playing. Current arsenal comprises a home made five string (it was an experiment - 19mm string spacing and 35" scale. Made out of Stewmac alder body and ebony fingerboard blanks, and locally sourced wood for the neck - maple and purple heart), a Sansamp BDDI and a Sadowsky belt clip preamp. The five is a bit of a pig to play, but sounds magic, with two Sadowsky passive J pups. As from tomorrow, I'll be the proud owner of a Blackstar Fly 3 bass amp. I'll get a real amp when I find out what and with whom I'll be playing. At the moment I just need to play at home without annoying my wife. Top of my wish list is a good P bass. But that's quite a way in the future.

Good point, but a more cambered fingerboard on a four string helps thumb hangers like me dig in and boogie. If a flat fingerboard is more like a classical guitar, the cambered one is more like a baseball bat. There's a place for both in the wide, wide world of bass playing.

I have flathead and crosshead screwdrivers at home, and I never looked for a happy medium. That would be a Swiss Army knife, which is a fun thing to have around, but no way as good as the dedicated tool for any job. I've always looked at basses in the same way. They are just different tools. I wouldn't play a 7.5" in the same way as I'd play a 20", and so the trick is to have both. One for groove, one for diddle.

Hi, Everyone. I've been reading a lot about this 3 watt amp on this site, and others. Some rave, some don't. Some people talk about hissing. Some think the tone is to die for. But none of the reviews and comments I have read really talk about how it handles a low B. Does it? How does the amp respond? This amp would fill a particular need I have if the low B is even audible - I wouldn't expect a good sound! Very grateful for all answers

Very fine guitars. I had both a JV P and a Jazz in the '90s. Excellent, excellent basses. Why did I sell them? Foolish!