PaulWarning

[quote name='PaulWarning' post='1129859' date='Feb 16 2011, 04:36 PM']this questions been asked loads of times, once read an interview with JJ and he said he'd tried hundreds of P's over the years and never found one that sounded like the old Green one that broke in half, I've said it before but IMO you can't nail that sound because it was a fluke, if you could JJ would still sound like he did on the the first 3 Stranglers albums and he doesn't, IMO of course[/quote] [quote name='Algae' post='1130689' date='Feb 17 2011, 10:23 AM']Yeah but that is my point , JJ can't get the exact sound now because he insists on using British made gear only and will not try other. My thoughts are that maybe with different gear that sound could be acheived hence asking about Ampeg or maybe some other ? A modern Hiwatt perhaps ? Any ideas ?[/quote] I think if it were possible to replicate JJ's early sound somebody would have done it by now, and as far as I know nobody has, if somebody knows different I'd love to hear it

this questions been asked loads of times, once read an interview with JJ and he said he'd tried hundreds of P's over the years and never found one that sounded like the old Green one that broke in half, I've said it before but IMO you can't nail that sound because it was a fluke, if you could JJ would still sound like he did on the the first 3 Stranglers albums and he doesn't, IMO of course

I've had about 6 sets of Elixir strings and although they last a long time the coating does start to come off fairly quickly where I batter them with my pick, but not this last set, they've been on about 3 months now and there's still no sign of them going all furry on me, anybody else notice this, have they improved them?

[quote name='lemmywinks' date='Feb 10 2011, 12:47 PM' post='1122522'] If you've been using Elixirs then you'll be used to the silky smooth texture, other strings feel rougher. I love Elixirs, even when they go hairy! I use Elixirs and the last set that I'm still using haven't gone hairy, have they changed something, anybody else noticed this?

[quote name='GD89' post='1091272' date='Jan 16 2011, 12:32 PM']I play in a punk/ska band, i've been playing a musicman sterling for a couple of years. Im in the process of selling it and purchasing either an american standard jazz or p-bass. I've tried them both out and im thinking about going for the P-bass, I've got a decent rig so it'll sound awesome and all the records I've heard with a p-bass bass on it sounds in my mind exactly how a bass should sound. so, for the type of music I play, what you reckon, P-bass or Jazz??[/quote] I play in a punk band, with just one guitarist, I've had a mim jazz, a stingray, now I've got a MIA P, I don't bother looking at other basses anymore, says it all

I use Elixirs, they seem to last forever, at least a year,and I like a bight sound, and the latest set haven't suffered the 'skin shedding' don't know whether they've changed the coating. They cost more but you save in the long run

[quote name='Doddy' post='1080665' date='Jan 7 2011, 01:08 AM']I've got mine on the neck volume.[/quote] when I did mine I put a switch where the tone control is and took that out, never used it anyway, it's a way of trying it out without fitting a push pull pot

IMO Bill is underrated, I'm not brilliant at figuring things out but the bass line on I Wanna Be your Man has got me beat and is so much better than Macca's effort, I presume he's playing it with his thumb which is pretty impressive at that speed

not eveyone will agree with this but start your price at the minimum you're prepared to except, saves tears later, reserve prices just put people off because they don't know what the reserve is.

[quote name='PaulWarning' post='1016514' date='Nov 8 2010, 04:11 PM']There's a school of thought that says you should bypass the pots on the bass, because they degrade the signal, and use your amp to make any adjustments, I believe Mike Dirnt does this[/quote] [quote name='dave_bass5' post='1016522' date='Nov 8 2010, 04:17 PM']Thanks but i think there would be more downsides than benefits to doing this. Its all baloney IME. it might make a very slight difference in a studio setting but i doubt it would make much difference in the real world. If it did people wouldnt pay £1000's for basses that had knobs. When i got my old DJ5 modded to a PJ i did a lot of reading and it seemed that taking the Jazz pup out of circuit would improve the P tone. I got a switch put in the bass to do just this. Not once did i ever hear any difference between having the pup off using the switch and just turning it to zero.[/quote] Can't say I've noticed any difference either, when I've have done it because I've got fed up with crackle pots, but I do think you're better off adjusting tone on the amp, I never had much luck with passive tone controls, they always seem to be like on off switches even on my MIA P

There's a school of thought that says you should bypass the pots on the bass, because they degrade the signal, and use your amp to make any adjustments, I believe Mike Dirnt does this

I may be wrong but I think you can do all this with audacity and it's free!

[quote name='webby' post='1012312' date='Nov 4 2010, 05:14 PM']I bought a pair of ER20's recently (Our drummer is ever so loud) but when I wear them I find the bass a little hard to follow. It's like everthing's turned down, which is what I wanted of course, but the bass seems to get lost a little bit. Maybe I should just turn my amp up?[/quote] When I use my ER 20's I can hear my bass better, IMO if they filter anything out it's the higher frequencies

[quote name='dougal' post='1011644' date='Nov 4 2010, 08:27 AM']I paid something along those lines; not quite as much but close. I guess it depends on how comfy you find the ER-20s, which are a tenner (including shipping), or thereabouts. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Advanced-Communication-Solutions-Musician-Earplugs/dp/B000UJ8RHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288859159&sr=8-1"][/url] They'll do the job, just not as comfy or frequency neutral (imo).[/quote] I use ER-20's, they do the job for me

If any of the band members don't like doing a song we don't do it, it is supposed to be fun

In my experience it's more important to wear them when you're in the audience than when you're on stage, it's much louder in front of the PA speakers, and yes it does improve the sound quality, gets rid of the high fequency distortion that happens when the deaf sound engineer pushes the slider to 11

[quote name='gary mac' post='998057' date='Oct 23 2010, 02:10 PM']I've got both. A while back I loved my Jazz and didn't play the P for months. Decided I was a J bass chap. Then picked up the P again and decided I'm more of a P bass chap. So no help to you at all. Thing is they are both good instruments, they wouldn't have been about for all these years otherwise. My advise would be to visit a decent shop and try a few. Quality can vary greatly. Try them unplugged, try them plugged in and both sitting and standing with a strap.[/quote] It's good advice to visit a shop and try before you buy, not always possible if you're a cack handed player like me, but what should always be remembered is just because a bass sounds good when you're playing it on your own doesn't mean it will be good in a band situation

[quote name='tauzero' post='997711' date='Oct 23 2010, 01:58 AM']Something I'm curious about is what amps have been blown up by other bands, and just how the bloody hell they manage it. I wouldn't want to own an amp so fragile that it can be blown up in a fairly normal gigging situation.[/quote] I've often wondered that, maybe I'm wrong, but I would have thought there would be more chance of damaging the speakers than the amp because of misuse

[quote name='Bass_Guardian' post='997983' date='Oct 23 2010, 01:13 PM']I heard that a P bass sounds pretty dull?? Is that true?[/quote] I wouldn't have said so, I use mine with the tone control full on, with Elixir strings and play with a pick so it certainly isn't dull, If you roll all the treble out and play with your fingers there will certainly be loads of bottom end there but I don't think I would call it dull

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='997998' date='Oct 23 2010, 01:24 PM']I think we are just getting our wires crossed TBH? We are reading your original post as "any cheap bass wont cut through as well as any expensive bass" which is not true hence someone elses uncalled for "Idiot" comment . Where it sounds like what you mean is "a cheaper version/copy does not cut through as well as a more expensive version" which is nearer the truth but still not really gospel as I said before my cheaper albeit £1250 Ray cuts through better than my £censored pre EB Ray, Also I have a modded active jazz that owes me about £400 that can mix it with the best of them trust me its awesome. So I kind of know what your saying but still disagree [/quote] I'll settle for that, I can only bass my opinion on the basses I've used, if someone else has used more or different basses to me and comes to a different conclusion fair enough

P for me, I play in a 3 piece band and I find the P just fills the sound out better, I've got relatively big hands so the wide neck issue doesn't bother me.

more or less, certainly the same band, can't remember what came first the MIA P or my Marshall MB, at the risk of being called an idiot again I'll try a qualify my remarks by saying in my experience with the basses I've owned, the Ray and the P both had a more solid bottom end than the cheaper copies. Maybe there are crappy expensive basses, but I've been lucky enough to avoid them

I've got a MB4210 and I've had reliabilty issues, first one had to go back to marshall and they sent a replacement and that one had a broken spade connector on one of the speakers which I soldered on, since then no trouble at all done about 30 gigs with it, great amp

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='995170' date='Oct 20 2010, 06:17 PM']Just adding volume is not what most people class as cutting through the mix though so I still disagree really. A sadowsky Jazz bass on the front pup wont cut through like a cheap jazz on its back pup if you keep everything else the same will it? It might be a more pleasing sound but if you are talking purley on cutting through then the cost of the bass is irrelevent.[/quote] I've no experience with sadowsky basses but I've owned a few P copies over the years including a Squire and I've had a MIM Fender Jazz, but none of these cut through/sat in the mix nearly as well as my old Stingray and my current MIA P, so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='993896' date='Oct 19 2010, 06:26 PM']Not put the best but I know what he is saying .cheap and if it cuts through dont really go hand in hand. A cheap P bass will cut through anything with a good amp better than a Pukka T bird for instance unless you are familiar with them and know how to get that cool sound to come through you will fiddle all night.A cheap P or J copy at a jam night within 2 mins you will get a useable sound even if its not your normal sound or even one you like but as far as cutting through defo![/quote] Well I suppose you'll hear any bass if it's loud enough compared to everything else, a good amp will only achieve so much, its the computer saying, rubbish in rubbish out, If I were to say a quality bass sits better in the mix it might be better understood what I'm getting at.