PatrickJ

Took my Sandberg PJ and Markbass LMT 500 to a jam night this week. Sounded pretty good through the Peavy 4x10 the studio had.

Agreed, personally I'm really interesting in playing one of these and seeing what they are like. I do agree that the MetroExpress logo is a bit of a let down but I quite like the RSD circle at the end. Any indication as to when they might be available?

Cheers Cameron. Looks like Gator have a good solution with the Multi-FX 1110 Bag. It's listed as fitting the HX FX.

Afternoon Helix Fans, Has any one got a Gig Bag recommendation for the Helix FX? It's my sole pedal so I don't have it mounted on a pedal board but am getting a bit tired of lugging it around in it's original box. Something quite snug fitting would be ideal else I'll just find a cheap Laptop bag or something.

No, it's a custom Jazz but I do like those artist basses. Especially the semi-hollow fretless.

I have a custom build ongoing with Jon Shuker at the moment. PM if you want more details on my experiences thus far.

Bright Size of Life is the Jaco album I'm planning on for next week. I actually stumbled across your transcription of I Can Dig It Baby last night - i like the way you don't include tablature, forces me to practice my reading.

I've always thought this bass, currently listed in the for sale forum, is rather pretty.

Jaco

Perhaps a dedicated BC thread on the topic, others could contribute too. I've kicked off my own version of the challenge which is to pick a particular (iconic and inspirational to me) bass player then listen to their recorded work in chronological order. I really want to hear how they developed their playing over time, what projects they contributed too and what I can learn from them. I've kicked off with Jaco and Oteil Burbridge. It doesn't get more iconic in the bass world than Jaco, yet I've barely listened to his work. I knew some of classics like Donna Lee, Continuum, Portraits of Tracey etc but not much else. After listening to the self titled 1976 album and a few other random songs like Little Beaver's I Dig it Baby I'm surprised to hear some just damn funky grooves. Definately some songs there I'd like to transcribe some parts of.

I enjoyed the blog post, I'm really up for giving this or something similar a go. In my youth I only ever listened to alternative and heavy rock. Looking back most of which was pretty stinky poo and I missed out on a ton of good music. this is a great opportunity to visit alot of what I previously passed over; Jaco, Stevie Wonder, Parliament etc. etc. I really want to develop my improvisational ability - I feel this will help a lot. I would love to go properly old school and do this with Vinyls, unfortunately in the car or out walking are the only opportunities I have to really listen to music so Apple Music it is.

Damian Erskine?

I've been using Schaller strap locks for a few years now. The older type with the nut were prone to working loose over time, an issue I had with other brands too. The new S Locks are much better, the thick circular washer secured with the grub screw has yet to let me down. I should note however that these days I dont gig or rehearse much so they've not had to work particularly hard. The other brand I found to be pretty good were the Loxx USA strap locks.

Liking the look of the Ant, definitely up there on my 2020 GAS list. Can't wait to try one out - love the idea of having it behind my Helix FX for a super portable rig.

Classifying something as crap is a bit subjective, but, in my last covers band our female vocalist would suggest a number of70s and 80s pop tunes. Nothing I would ever choose to listen too but I have to say the basslines on them were far more interesting and enjoyable than the classic rock stuff the lead guitarist would put forward.

And me.

Spot on! That's exactly what I wish @Ashdown Engineering would develop. Seems a lot of other amp manufacturers have been doing this: Mesa and Ampeg IIRC.

Not played one but the look of the OriginAL has put me off of it, the new 500 slightly better but still a bit ugly. Shame as the some of the new lines of pedals and amps from Ashdown are looking great. Just seen a pic on instagram of the new ABM 600, that and the new CTM 200 look pretty tasty.

Yup, I'm up for this - cheers @Al Krow.

When I left my band (which was forced through personal circumstances) it was a huge relief. I was sick of playing the same old songs for years and the lack of commitment to rehearse new material. I was practicing regularly, a least an hour or 2 4 or 5 days a week. Since leaving that discipline has dropped, I've barely picked up my bass this year favouring instead to spend my evenings binge watching the Black List. Without a specific event to work towards, gig, rehearsal etc I find it hard to keep momentum. Maybe I should do the Rockschool grades or something.

Me too, would love to play in a band with a proper horn section.

The MXR Bass Octave Deluxe gives you a Dry control knob, this let's you control how much of the original note you hear along side the Octave down. The EBS Octabass has a control for both the Dry and Octave signals so you can tweak the levels of each. I believe the Micro POG has 3 x level controls, Dry, Octave Up and Octave down.