chris_b

Recording studios don't use bell wire for a reason. So quality of design, materials and manufacturing will have an effect on cables as they do for every other product. If the rest of your system and your ears are good enough then a difference in cables could be noticeable. Lee Sklar has a story about a Toto tour, when he and the sound guy compared cables and wireless and they could hear that cable sounded better. So if your ears are good enough then cables at different price points are an option. The best option is to let others make their choices based on what they hear rather than on what you hear.

I've heard plenty of players using Markbass amps and cabs and they all sounded pretty good to me.The LM3 has gone from SS to class D and from Made in Italy to Made in China, but if a company has its ears in the right place none of that should matter. My LM2, from many years ago, was a great sounding amp. I would expect the LM3 to be the same. And if you look around there are pro players using them too, including Joe Dart.

Alex Clabber. He designs and builds the cabs and runs the Barefaced company. Email him from the Barefaced website.

I'm betting my OBBM cables will out last me.

Ask Alex.

Playing with two drummers has been on my bucket list since I heard that James Brown used two. Sadly I discovered that only one played at a time! Then we supported the Doobie Brothers in the early 70's and with their two drummers the sound was immense. I think that opportunity has gone. These days I don't play gigs with big enough stages.

The best mod I did to my Precision was to change the weak Fender pickup to Bartolini. That was a gazillion percent improvement to the tone and worth every penny. Encouraged by this success I spent a fortune adding a J pickup. I found this mod added a minimal amount to the tone, but I didn't hear it take anything away.

Sounds like they're nicely run in. I saw an interview with Bob Glaub, LA session ace, and he has a Precision with 42 year old La Bellas on! I don't think he was joking!

I had GHS flats on my PJ5 until I replaced them with TI flats. I thought they were good. I'd use them again. I'm surprised the La Bellas have "gone off"! Not sure what that means, or how it could happen, especially if they weren't played much. I thought they were good for decades.

I've bought several of my best basses on eBay, but I collected in person so did get to play them before I handed over the cash. I've also bought basses and amps unseen from Bassdirect and Basschat. I'm pretty careful with my choices and who I do business with. I have a very slow turnover of gear and so far (fingers crossed) I haven't been stung.

I've had several great deals. In 2002 no one seemed to be interested in Lakland. I saw a good one, hardly played, on eBay and finally, in 2003, bought it for just over half the original asking price. It was my main bass for a decade. But the best deal, in 2004 I watched a mk2 Wal 5 string on eBay getting no bidders for about 6 months. Again the price dropped to about half the original price! At that point I grabbed it. Sadly I didn't get on with it and a month later (talk about 2 buses!) a wonderful mk 3 Wal 5 string popped up the local ABC Music. They gave me a very good trade deal on the mk 2.

No. I'm saying that "flat" is a concept that doesn't matter to most bassists, but starting from a base point of zero is a better than wherever some deaf thrash metal "person", using a dozen pedals, left off last time.

Start with Music Of My Mind and work up to Hotter Than July (it's ok to leave out Secret Life Of Plants!).

The Customs will make a judgement, then it's up to you to prove them wrong.

OBBM. . . . . oh! damn!!

I didn't say great Top Ten. The pubs, clubs, colleges and University's were a thriving scene. I do really badly on hit records in quizzes. I stopped listening to those songs in about 1967.

If the controls have a 0 at 12 o'clock you know that's where the manufacturer intended the sound of this amp to be. You will be able to add or subtract as you wish, but with this type of control 12 o'clock is a good starting point. If the controls start at 0 and increase as you turn the controls clockwise then start at 0 and find you sound from there. The real "flat" on many amps could be anywhere on the dial and isn't a real concern for most players.

How about searching out a vintage Hiwatt DR103.

Great times.

Sorry, I misread your post.

I went from 500 watts to 800 watts. I play at the same volume but the amp works half as hard and IMO sounds better as a result. The 1200 watt amps that I've seen seem to bring extra clarity and a fuller tone. Plus 2 or even 2.67 ohms is very flexible. The loudest I've ever been was when I used 2 daisy-chained TH500's into a 212 and 2 112's. That was during the sound check. For the gig I had to turn both amps down to 9 o'clock. So really big amps aren't always the answer.

The other thing do is for a player to refine their technique so they don't hit strings inadvertently. Then they won't have to mute every string all the time.

According to Wiki: Sklar (also Sklyar), is a Ukrainian and Belorussian surname meaning "glassmaker",

Assuming the guitarist and drummer hadn't arrived yet, I would turn the volume down, all presets and buttons etc off, put all the EQ to 12 o'clock and take it from there. I wouldn't spend much time working on the sound. IMO rehearsals are to get the band stopping and starting together and to get the geography right, so thereabouts is close enough.