Bob Lord

oh go on then...

Not exactly new, got it on the day after Boxing Day, but I've been waiting for my 'Treble Bezel' to come before taking some pics... Love it! I had an ugly red and black 1980s 4003 in the 90s, which sounded equally good, but this looks far better to me - I love the McCartney look with dot markers and no binding (though I'm not about to splatter it with silver and white paint in a fab LSD frenzy). And the rounded body is more wrist-friendly when wielding a plectrum... V happy. And the case smells like a Gibson case - all vanilla and cupcakes...

I see a few local band types using them, and they invariably seem to do their best to make them sound like a normal bass. Which I totally miss the point of... if you're not using it for its ability to get that grindy, aggressive trademark sound, then (IMO), there's too much downside in using one. If you're going to use a fat, wooly fingerstyle sound, there a loads of basses that do a better job. Grab a plectrum, turn up the gain, turn up the mids and turn up the volume!! Waste of money otherwise BTW I'm not dissing them, I love them and own one, but they're not very practical or comfortable. The only reason to use such a specialist instrument (apart from how cool they look) is because you need their unique sound

none so far I had my first gig with it last night, at a place I know well, so I knew what the load in would be. 2 steps into the pub, 2 steps up onto the little stage. At an unknown venue (or one with a flight of stairs) I'll take my Ashdown stuff (4x10, 1x15). Life's too short for a hernia

don't ask!

he was going for a specific, Bernard Edwards 'Chic' sound, so you've got to whip out a Stingray for that. Doesn't mean Precisions are poo. You wouldn't have a toolbox with just spanners in it. I see different basses (and amps, and playing techniques) as different tools for different jobs. Good luck trying to get a JJ Burnel style middly P bass type grind with a plectrum, out of a Stingray. Ask me how i know.

Ok, if we're talking about professionals... In rock, it's probably because you turn up, have to plug into a rented SVT, and provide low, fat root notey noises with a bit of an edge at a loud drummer and loud guitarist - fatten everything up without getting too much in the way. You're not the featured musician, so you can't afford to throw your weight around about what gear you use and how loud you are. You use what's there, and use what makes people happy. Works perfectly for that, and because they're so simple and sturdy, you don't have to worry about things breaking

that looks nice

I think nearly all new basses are overpriced nowadays. The new Stingrays are crazy money. Fender are asking more than a grand for some of their fancier Mexican instruments, which is nuts IMO.

oops

Citizen Steely Dan

OP, did you get the treble bezel? If so, how did you like it?

I think they’re overpriced and the bridge pickup surround on my 4003s is deadly sharp when you take the cover off. The bridge isn’t very well designed either - hard to adjust on the plus side, it plays great (other than having to be careful not to bash your hands on the sharp bits), sounds great acoustically and even better when plugged in. I love the looks and if you want THAT SOUND, then nothing else will do I think they shine most when played with a plectrum. I wouldn’t take it to something that needed fingerstyle overrated? Some people really want that sound, and they really deliver it. Not my idea of overrated, though they’re not for everyone

£139 for a 4x10's got to be worth a punt, even if it turns out to be not amazing sounding, and not something you'd take on the road for 20 years. Having said that, I'd rather try and pick up a second hand Ashdown ABM 410 from ebay, for about that price - there seems to be a lot of cheap ashdown gear out there, and I think probably a safer bet in terms of sound and durability than an obscure chinese brand (didn't wharfedale make cheap stereos you'd get in argos, like alba?!)

I'd probably burn to death trying to save the SVT rig

I’m over the moon about everything I’ve bought this year. Nothing was bad: mexican ‘player’ precision - can’t belive how well built Mexican fenders are nowadays ampeg svt-cl and svt-810e. Both USA made ones. Yup, pretty happy with this 2009 music man stingray. 3 band. Love it ashdown abm evo iv 600 + klystron 410 & klystron 115. Can’t find fault with this

...and then Mr Slash appears!

a suzuki grand vitara. it only just fits

I imagine it'd sound almost the same, but take the weight down to a more managable 65-70 kg or so

then there's the opposite - times where you kick donkey. You know it's all sounding great in the room. Everyone in the band is singing and playing at the top of their game, and you're all locked into a really tight feel. You think to yourself 'this is ace! If I was in the audience, even I'd be impressed (and I'm not easily impressed)', but you get next to NOTHING back from the audience. That's far more demoralising than feeling a bit guilty about getting a reaction you didn't think you earned

I've found no relationship between how good a bass sounds, and how heavy it is, tbh. It doesn't seem to be a factor I'd rather play a good sounding light one than a good sounding heavy one, cos... who really wants to strap a 12lb weight on their shoulder unless there's no other choice?

Been after an 8x10 for a while to complete the SVT rig. Went today to pick up one I got on eBay. Sounds good, except I can't really crank it at home right now to gig volume to really hear what it sounds like in anger. Pretty angry, I'd imagine. After hearing horror stories about carting them about, I have to say it's actually easier (provided you've got wide enough doors etc) to move than a couple of 4x10s, just because you wheel it about like a trolley. The head is more of a pain in the backside tbh Anyway, i'm delighted & wanted to share in the delight with you

Erm... I'll sometimes listen to music i'm not otherwise keen on, if the bass player's really good, but there's that much great music out there that ticks more boxes, that I don't see the point making yourself suffer just to hear a well played bass... I have to say, many of the most amazing bass players on the planet seem to choose to play the most unoriginal, antiseptic, landfill jazz rock fusion. It seems that being a great bass player doesn't necessarily make you a great artist

another Joe Walsh fan here. Far, far more talented than his persona (drunken happy funny crazy guy) might lead you to think

Relatively few people care about what paintbrushes Michelangelo used to paint the Sistine Chapel. And those 16th century brushes almost certainly won't have been as 'good' as stuff you can get now. But would they have made the results any better? I think he would have found a way to make a masterpiece regardless of what equipment he had. Give me the best brushes in the world, and you'll still get something an elephant could have done And we're not even in the realm of artistic masterpieces here, we're on about - for most of us - the sound of a bass guitar as heard by drunken people from across the room in a British pub. Of course a stinky poo hot band with cheap gear will blow away a bunch of guys with all the gear and no idea. As long as the stuff is fit for purpose. And especially nowadays when cnc assisted manufacturing can produce far better instruments for far less money than ever before. I think many blokes have something wired into them that makes them want to gather stuff. And to always be on the lookout for the next shiny thing. And the internet makes it possible to spend every free minute reading up on, watching videos of, discussing your next cool purchase. It's just blokes. I have no problem with it, unless talking about basses and looking at bass related stuff on the internet is something you do INSTEAD of playing them. The stuff I have now is probably the most expensive bass gear I've ever had, and I think it definitely sounds the best. But I doubt many audience members could distingush between any of the different setups I've had. The main reason for getting industry standard gear (i.e. stuff that professionals use), is that it's usually the most reliable, and (for amps and cabs, anyway) will sound great even when you turn it up LOUD