chris_b

Basses weighing 1lb, made of Graphene.

Apart from Statins, these days I don't know anyone who takes drugs. That wasn't always the case. Rock was all about excess and if you did it properly it was fun, although many didn't know when enough was enough and some died as a result, the 27 Club for example. The sensible ones just got high and didn't overdo it. I only ever saw one guy on hard drugs, an American keys player in my first pro band. We arrived in Amsterdam and he managed to find someone selling coke before the rest of us had even got out of the van!! The secret was to have a good time on joints and beer.

With the advent of CNC machines, I don't think automation defines mass produced any more. There are low volume shops with all the machines. IMO mass produced just means high volume output, fewer choices and, in many cases, reduced QC. There are boutique shops which contract out cutting bodies and making necks. They are low volume and high quality, with many options, but they are probably not defined as hand made anymore.

Mass produced. . . someone calls the timber yard and orders 20 tons of wood to be delivered. Not mass produced. . . . the luthier goes to the timber yard and selects the wood he's going to make into basses.

Just picked up 2 Barefaced One10's. Oh well, there's always 2027!!

I'm ruining a clean sheet. . . picking up 2 cabs tomorrow. . . . and looking at a couple of basses next week!

Nothing for 2 years. Next year might be different.

Not my favourite sound. Has a very metallic sound to me. Does that bass have a metal fretboard? Alembic tried that for John McVie many years ago. Not sure that worked either.

2026 would be a good year if I got more gigs, got more deps and (I always say this) improved my networking.

I get my ears hoovered out regularly, currently that's every 2 years. While you are there get some ACS moulds done and save the rest of your hearing.

Jack , it must be nearly 20 years since you used to come to our jam night at the Grey Horse. I remember seeing you in the audience.

Hey Jack, picking up that bass was a good move. Here's to the next 1000.

In the early 70's an electrician explained cable maintenance to me. I don't deal with extra long runs but the twist while you are looping method has worked for me since then. My guitar lead is 15' and just passed it's 40th birthday. I bought another cable as a spare about 10 years ago and it's never been used. I fixed the twizzle problem by not moving on stage. Works every time. The other part of cable maintenance which is often ignored, Lay all cables on stage where they won't be stood or walked on.

Me having a "sound" wasn't something I'd thought about before the internet came along and put everything under a microscope. I guess I must have a "sound" because I've been told I make all my basses sound similar. Mike Lull and Sadowsky basses through Aguilar amps and 2 x 112 Barefaced cabs gets the the sound I'm happiest with, so I guess that's it. Duck Dunn, John McVie, Nathan East and Reggie McBride are the players who inspire me. I'd be very happy if I got close to sounding like those guys.

Lots of good ideas for working with your current gear. . . . but, how about buying a better bass, or a good preamp pedal to add more clarity and definition to your sound.

We played a gig the Sunday before Christmas; the keys player was hobbling around with an arthritic ankle and foot (6 months ago he had an operation to fuse the joints and went into anaphylactic shock and all but died on the operating table, caused by the anaesthetic, and they couldn't operate!!), the drummer brought his nephew to set up the kit, because he'd strained his lower back and couldn't bend down, the guitarist is a cancer survivor, currently OK and I've a bad back and arthritic hip which meant I sat on a stool for the gig! In the last year I've lost a band leader to fatal stroke, another will probably never gig again due to several doses of double pneumonia, lost dozens of gigs due to 2 band leaders having hip replacement surgery, and 1 band leader taking time off to be with his sick wife! Getting old is more than tough, it's an Fing PIA.

Merry Christmas one and all. I've been feeling out of sorts for a few days and today I've woken up with a sore throat, body aches, and fatigue, which are the symptoms for this year's Covid!!

Do we actually know what JE was after when he bought a new bass?

It seems the category we are in, bedroom players, hobby players and more serious players, defines expensive. No one can judge sound quality, or whether they would like one bass better than the other, from the price tag. If you have concluded that from my posts then maybe I should have been clearer. We all have different criteria for a good sound. For some it's a Sire, for others it's a Sadowsky and for some it's a custom Alembic. Owning either one is dependent on what you define as the sound you want to make. A Ferrari or an Aston Martin might be a status symbol, but I don't know anyone who bought a bass for that reason. Great players are great players but can still sound bad. We are all dependent on our gear, and quality of our signal chain, for our sound. When we are listening to good players using "average" basses, we are actually hearing very expensive studio equipment and the "magical" ears of top engineers.

I've used a Mark bass amp for a little while, but played through a TH500 for over 10 years. I also use an AG700 and TH700. IMO Aguilar amps and Barefaced cabs are made for each other.

I ran an Ampeg SVT3 PRO for many years. I'd suggest a Mark Bass or Aguilar TH500 as a replacement.

If that's the extent of your ambition, go for it.