chris_b

I've done that. I didn't bother to read the instructions(!!) and turned up at the cricket club. The gig had been moved, 6 months before, 2 miles down the road to the rugby club!!

There are only 2 questions; does the band want to do it and do the ticket sales make it possible.

This. Never meet your heroes.

We were asked to learn a song for a posh party gig. The guitarist launched into it and after 4 bars the rest of the band came in. . . . in a different key! We'd all listened to one version on YT and he'd listened to a different version!! We were busking Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman and I thought I knew it. Unfortunately I hit the wrong chord at the start of the middle section, after that I couldn't get it back on track. 5 years later and the band still rips the P out of me for that one. Stuff happens.

Practice with more focus, better concentration. Practice until you can't get it wrong. Finally, getting yourself out of a hole, musically, with no one spotting it, is a skill everyone should perfect.

I played one in a shop and liked it. My brain didn't explode. I rarely get up the dusty end so any issues up there wouldn't affect me. If the right one came along at the right price I'd jump at it.

Of course.

Unless we are Oompa Loompa's or have an injury, hand and finger size or shape shouldn't be a problem. Bad technique definitely will affect how we play bass and what basses we can comfortably play. Seems it's easier to buy a smaller bass than work on changing our technique.

I'm still looking for my unicorn bass. Must sound better than my Sadowsky and weigh less than 3.5 kg.

I prefer clear, they didn't stand out too much. I always get the cord, which ensures I can't drop and lose them.

Can we stop this childishness?

The first song I played on stage was Spoonful by Howlin Wolf. The gig came to a crashing halt as we announced the last song. All the lights came on and the caretaker of the youth club was walking up the middle of the the empty hall, saying, "I wouldn't bother. They've all gone home!"

My Wolfcraft trolley easily handles all kerbs, gravel paths and steps. ps. . . . and flights of stairs.

Calling all the Metro Express owners. . . . have you weighed your basses? I've seen a couple of examples that were about 10lbs. Is that the average or are there any in the 7-8lb range? Cheers. ps I should have said 5 string basses. . .

Sorry, not in my world.

Why doesn't tone appear on your list? It's #1 on my list.

I'll not have a bad word said against tort, burst and rosewood.

Oh yes. . . . . . . . !

Hi Dave, there's one given, as long as I'm alive I'm gigging. The task is to make it happen. No question, the best bass I've owned so far is my 9.8lb Sadowsky Jazz, which is too heavy for my back! So I had to find the bass that is good enough to replace the Sadowsky, at the right weight, and, as the budget isn't what it was, at the right cost. Tone is always the problem, but, as long as the bass weighs, plays and looks right the tone can be managed. I've just perked up a cheap Cort Jazz with a Sadowsky preamp pedal. I was planning to change the pickups and add a preamp (which was double the cost of the bass!!) but this pedal gets the sound 90% there with 10% of the outlay. It's a start.

I have 1 x 8.3lb, 2 x 7lb and 1 x 6.8lb 5 string basses sitting right here. If anyone can't find a lightweight 5 string bass they're not looking hard enough.

Leland Sklar said in an interview that he'll play the bass that the songs require, but if he has to play one note below E he'll use a 5 string bass for the whole show, because he's not going to switch basses on stage. Pretty much my thoughts. I don't see the point in switching basses around (even less point in retuning mid set) when I've got one instrument that covers all formats. If there's a 4 string song that really doesn't require the B string then I'll just play it on the upper 4 strings. I also play several songs on 2 strings and one song that that only requires the E string. As I say, it's a good to have one instrument that covers all requirements.

I've had fantastic cabs for the last 30+ years, but over time the weight issue keeps cropping up. I went from a Dynacord combo that weighed as much as a small planet to 2 x 90lb Mesa Boogie EV cabs, to a 52lb Epifani 410, to 3 x 30lb Bergantino 112's. Then 10 years ago I discovered I could solve all my physical problems with 2 x 22lb Barefaced 112 cabs. These days there are many great lightweight cabs to chose from, but my BF's are the lightest, loudest and best sounding cabs I've owned. I haven't used my trolley in years.

The tribal thing gets very tedious. Everyone's choices are equally valid, even when they obviously made the wrong choice!!

Pino and Marcus Miller both play 5 string basses. Top players are always going to be flexible enough play what's required, as the recently posted Sean Hurley video shows, when he got out his 55-94 Lakland. Only the silly billy's are going to push one side or the other.