BillyBass

@BassAdder60 I notice you bought a teal Ray34 a week or so back and now you've bought this one. First of all, you lucky b*stard! Secondly, how does the Ray34 compare to the American one? I get the impression that older Stingrays and Ray34s can often be quite heavy? The newer Stingrays seem to be a lot lighter but they are all approaching £3k I love the look of Stingrays and I like bright coloured basses so there are plenty of Stingrays, both American and 34s that tempt me. What concerns me is the weight and also that sometimes I want something more than a bridge humbucker.

It was a bit disappointing. For the £16 entry fee we were expecting a bit more. Still, it was a day out to Brighton and we enjoyed our fish and chips looking over the (overcast) beach.

Anyone going tomorrow? https://www.brightonguitarshow.co.uk I'll be going, along with a couple of mates.

Exactly. If you want something a bit flash, Charvel and Jackson are there for you. If black and maple, sunburst or white are your thing, Fender won't let you down. Personally, I like flash stuff, so the only colour I like from the new range is the blue. The only differences I can see are rounded edges on the fretboard and a satin urethane finish on the neck, instead of gloss. Still, that is two improvements.

I'm glad Lobster is back, I loved his old videos and I'm looking forward to her new ones. Lobster received a lot of supportive comments on Talkbass, re the transition, but, unfortunately, there was also some hate.

Exactly! The speed is the most difficult part of it. But anyway, you do what works for you. As you say, there is a lot of good help on the internet.

Yep I think if Alex makes a limited run (like their dirt pedal) they will all sell out; there are enough Barefaced fanbois out there. If, however, he wants to take on GK, Ashdown, Mesa etc, these amps need to be really good. I am a bit of a Barefaced fanboi but I am also a GK fanboi and I really can't see his first amp unseating my Legacy 800. I don't want an FRFR amp, I already have barefaced 12" cabinets. I want some colour from the head, so, EQ and filters please.

@lotte Congrats on your new bass and hobby. Starting out learning 'Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick'. Is like jumping in a Formula One car for you first driving lesson. 'Seven Nation Army' by the White Stripes or something by Snow Patrol might be a bit easier.

Tom bought a bass from me yesterday. This isn't the first time I have sold stuff to him; he is always really straightforward when buying gear and a really good bloke too. thanks Tom

No, it won't be 😉 Congrats on the denim bass though, looks lovely.

Definitely cultural. We have a notion of a price, and that is fixed (by us). In the Indian subcontinent, there is no fixed price for 99% of goods sold, haggling is expected and people wouldn't understand offence being taken. Whenever I have south Asian customers, for my business that is, not bass gear, I anticipate a conversation about price that would be quite different to conversations about price with English or European customers.

All personal taste innit. I don't mind that, it's got a Lakland vibe. G&L's 4 inline headstocks are way worse, the pointy bit is more obvious.

I think one of these would be helpful: https://origineffects.com/product/bassrig-64-black-panel/ It's a pre amp with a Fender Bassman cab sim. You will need a power amp to go with it, or a class D head that has the option to bypass the pre amp. As has been mentioned above, for a cabinet, Barefaced 10s might suit your sonic needs. Not cheap, but their new 3x10 cabinets seem to be popular.

With whatever approach he uses to start with: videos, lessons etc...I would advise to focus on technique at the beginning and resist the urge to learn favourite songs. Technique practice/exercises can be a bit boring but it will prevent bad habits being ingrained, which can be more difficult to unlearn later on.

I'm not really a 'seasoned player' but I love learning new songs and have been doing this pretty constantly since the end of the first lockdown. I am a covers band player and, as such, I don't need to play a particular bass line exactly as the original was played but what I play does have to fit, particularly with what the other musicians in my band are doing. I start out looking for a video with a bass tab or a chart of the guitar chords, which I follow when listening to the song. From either of these I will get a basic framework. Then, as @ahpook above does, I get out my notebook and listen to the song through several times, noting down the Intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro etc in bar sections e.g. outro: -Dm|F|Dm|A|Dm|F|Dm|A|Dm|etc to fade. (The Man who sold the world, down tuned to suit our singer's vocal range) These are my own (written) notes so I don't need to go into too much detail. I'll work out the (music) notes from the arpeggios which fit when moving along the 4 bar sections, then play and repeat until I've memorised it. I then put the song into a playlist of our set on my iPad and play along. When I've nailed a song I play it once, then move on but If I haven't, I'll play it twice and sometimes stop and practise a certain section that I haven't mastered. Then when we meet at the rehearsal, we play through and sort out our ending (-fade, doesn't work live). This works for me. You will, no doubt, work out a system of your own in due course.

Me, and many others like me are looking forward to a drop in the interest rates. We might have to wait until August though..

How many of the 10 options do you use? After doing lots of experimenting when I got my Triad, I mainly keep to either the neck soloed or the middle pup soloed; normally its just the middle pup on. The option to have the bridge and neck together, like a jazz bass with both pups full on would be useful perhaps, but I have 2 other 4 string basses with that option, so I don't have the incentive to mod mine yet.

I think lying on the sofa with a bucket of KFC is underrated.

BL and me auditioned a new drummer yesterday and it went well. Conveniently, the drummer lives on the same street as the BL and both of them have dedicated music rooms in their houses that we can rehearse in-with headphones through a laptop with a click. This is all a bit new to me, I'm used to 4 blokes in a studio with acoustic drums and amps. It's nice not to need ear protectors at a rehearsal!.