chris_b

You left John McVie off the list. Marshall was considered to be the best sound around at the time. They were the first ones with that rock sound and while every one else was trying to catch up Marshall cleaned up. Good gear was expensive back then so most gigging musicians played what ever they could get their hands on. But owning Marshall was the aim. Until Hiwatt, Orange etc cam along then Marshall had some serious competition.

Years ago we had a new keyboard player and were rehearsing to go "up north" for 3 days. He casually mentioned that he now couldn't do the middle gig and could we get a dep. There then followed a pretty uncomfortable 15 mins while he was fired, packed up his gear and left the room. This is why I prefer to be friendly with the guys I play with but not their friend. Try to keep personal feelings out of playing.

IMO the engineers were responsible for a lot of Jamerson's sound. If you listen to the before and after videos on Youtube, they cleaned up his sound. . . a lot. What would they be sounding like now? As Bob Babbitt ended up playing PJB, very clean sounding gear, don't assume that JJ would still be sounding distorted/saturated.

Tough bass lines? Ones that are perfectly in time.

Prince had a left handed bass player (Sonny T) in the early days who played a 5 string Warwick. Apparently before Prince's OCD went into overdrive he didn't mind bass players choosing their own instruments. The bottom line is, anyone playing at this level will use what ever bass is appropriate, required or requested.

Exactly, all about personal preferences and how you decide to do the job you have to do. The end result should be the deciding factor. I've been playing 5ers since the mid 90's. They are very rarely mentioned by the bands or other musicians (I've never had a negative comment) but they are noticed and commented on by audiences all the time, and they are always inquisitive and intrigued. The only negativity I've seen towards 5ers has been from other bassists and only on the internet, never in person. I don't understand how the instrument any of us play can cause a negative reaction in anyone. Why do they even care? I'll admit I'm lazy, but I don't see any benefit in swapping to an EADG tuned instrument, in the middle of a set, from an instrument that is tuned BEADG. I know a regular 4 string player who's tuned CFBbEb. I have no idea why and didn't bother to ask. He just likes it that way. No better reason in my book.

Phone Paul at Wal and ask him what he recommends.

I'd expect them to sell the instrument. They set their rate and I agree to it or not and set the price accordingly. The rate itself is irrelevant. The commission, in many cases, includes VAT.

The question is why do you want to switch? Do you need the extra strings or not? Would you miss them if they weren't there? IMO like there is no point in moving to a 5 or 6 string bass unless you need to. . . . there is no point in moving away from a 5 or 6 string bass if you're still using the extra strings. At the end of the day, unless someone else is paying you to play a particular instrument, play what is relevant to you and what you want to play. If you find it difficult to adapt your style to move back to a 4 string bass, just work at it. If it is an insurmountable problem just stick with what you're currently playing.

Might be. Overwater are a very good company making an excellent product. I don't know anything about the Tanglewood's though.

I'd buy the MTD, because I've seen good players playing them, they sound very good and, like Roger Sadowsky, Mike Tobias isn't the kind of guy to put his name on anything that isn't top quality, even his budget line basses.

If you're playing the number this fast then change the bass line. At this speed you've moved away from the Queen song and you're into Quo/rock territory. It's a shuffle so pumping root notes will sound fine. That's what I'd play.

What is the song?

This is/was also a finish on Mesa Boogie gear.

A few years ago I ran 2 Aguilar TH500's into 2 Berg 112's and a Berg 212. Created a magnificent sound. The amps were daisy chained via send/return. The preamp on the first amp drives both power sections. You'd have to use a split lead or A/B box if you wanted to run both preamps.

I remember Mozart's first gig at the 100 Club.

I lived in Sydney for 18 months and when I came home I was just glad to see weather. Be careful what you wish for. 12 hours of sunshine and 30c temps for two thirds of the year might seem like heaven, but it's hell when you're in the middle of it. Our second Christmas levelled out at 45c for about 2 weeks! From one extreme to the other, in the UK, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. For about 5 years I used to gig on the west coast of Scotland at the start of January. I didn't understand when I saw some people going to the shops dressed in oilskins, like trawlermen. Then the first storm struck. I nearly died of exposure, wearing my M&S raincoat, walking the 100 yds to the gig!

There is a Lakland Skyline 55-01 in the classifieds right now.

You are absolutely right. A band that is too loud only because that is how the drummer plays should receive an immediate kick up the derrière for being rather silly!! Then they should fire the drummer and get a better one.

My experience of democracy in bands is like herding cats. I now work for band leaders. I sometimes get to make suggestions and if my comments are positive and helpful I can be listened to, but mostly these guys know what they are doing without my help.

Good point BRX. I went from 3 112's to 2 112's to achieve the same volume, because the 2 cabs were more sensitive.

This isn't a great question. The size of the venue has no bearing on how loud some bands play. I should know I'm in one of the silly ones! The minimum I've gone out with in the last 20 years was a DI into the PA, but to keep on topic, 80% of my gigs have been done with a 500 watt amp and 2 112 cabs. 2 112's because 2 cabs sound better than 1, even at low volume. A 500 watt amp because sometimes I need it and there are several volume controls on the front for when I don't. When you buy your gear always aim to keep something in reserve, ie if you think you need 200 watts, don't get a 200 watt amp. There is nothing worse than turning up to a gig with not quite enough. And nothing sounds worse than gear that is running flat out, trying to cope.

Yep. If the band can't make a song work, for whatever reason, don't fret, just bin it. There are always other songs out there that will work so don't spend time trying to fix something that can't be fixed. We once had a singer trying to force Jermain Jackson's Let's Get Serious on the band, when half of the guys were so far out of their comfort zones and had not idea how to play it! In the end we never gigged it but the unhappiness and bad feeling lasted a long time.

Lower away. If it works, fine, if it doesn't (nothing lost) go back to a higher action and consider Steve's suggestions. I improved the feel of several top end basses by getting the frets levelled and a set up at the Bass Gallery. IMO definitely worth considering. I've also seen some very fast players with high actions, so focus on your technique and just try to play faster.