chris_b

If you have a few frets getting in the way then you definitely should have this work done. IME this will be a night and day improvement. I had my Lakland set up and fret stoned at the Gallery. It came back playing like there weren't any strings on it. I wish I'd done it years before. The action was so low I couldn't play the thing so I had to raise it a little, but you can still feel the difference. I currently have another bass at the Gallery having the frets being worked on. This isn't just about low action. It makes your bass play better at any action you choose.

Anyone played the Star at Bentworth? The bass almost stands in front of the gents and the ladies have to walk thorough the band to get to their loo.

The only gig I've refused to go back to was a restaurant gig at the Swanage Blues Festival when I was in a duo with an acoustic guitarist. We were told to set up at the end of the bar, which was beside the coffee machine. They were making coffee for most of the night. We couldn't hear ourselves over the grinding and hissing sound of that bloody machine. I used to play a gig in Ladbroke Grove in the early 70's and when the fights broke out it was like they were out of the Beano, a big ball of dust with arms and legs poking out. I'm surprised no one ever got seriously hurt. The one rule we had was never to stop playing. They used to come over afterwards and apologise for spoiling our songs!!

Pick any one. . . . My Cherie Amour, Soul Man, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), Midnight Train To Georgia.

Playing good gigs (and plenty of them), professional attitude (this is not a hobby), good players (very good), intelligent people and non smokers. In reality. . . . you get what you can!

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1495616080' post='3305241'] Isn't the Tone Hammer pretty much just an OBP-3 in pedal format[/quote] . . . . and I believe the TH* amps are and extension of the same.

Aim to get the best sound you can on a gig. . . . then aim to get the best sound you can on a recording. They are not going to be the same thing.

One of the larger laptop bags? I use those foam filled aluminium cases from Maplins for my TH500's.

As long as the playing is right, it doesn't matter what gear the bassist is using. An engineer with a good set of ears can polish up the sound of any bass with the facilities of even the smallest studio.

Why are bands not working? Get deps in.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1495527019' post='3304394'] Is a Precision a one trick pony too? [/quote] I'd say it was, for most of us. . . . then think of JJ Burnell and James Jamerson. Well, there are two tricks right there that are so far apart I don't know how "one trick pony" can accurately sum up a P bass. When I had my MM SR5 I felt it didn't fit into certain bands and sounds. I've never felt that with a P bass, but for "multiple tricks" my Lakland 55-94 has been the most flexible bass I've owned.

8 ohm 410 and 210's are fine to run together. It doesn't matter that the 410 is receiving half the power of the 210, just make sure you are working within the 210's power range and all will be good. A 4 ohm 410 and 8 ohm 210 is a more even set up. All speakers will receive the same amount of power. You need an amp that goes to 2.67 ohms for this though.

I'm currently doing a lot of deps for a band where the regular bass player works shifts. Some months I'm doing more gigs with them than he is. Love it!

I have no idea what the MEC sounds like and I'm not a fan of Warwick basses in general or any of the sounds I've heard them make in particular, but the OBP3 is a stonking preamp. It has a huge tone, almost too much. A little goes a very long way. Did I say it sounds good? You can run it at 9v or 18v but Aguilar recommend you remove one of the battery clips if you go 9v. I sold a J5 with the OBP3 preamp and I'd rate it as one of the best basses I've owned. It was sold because I found, in spite of all the good points, I still preferred my passive P bass. People buy and sell gear for a variety of reasons, so I wouldn't draw any conclusions from the "merry-go-round" that is the Basschat classifieds.

Not all the time. I got abuse several times when I told people they shouldn't be posting negative comments in For Sale threads. Any thing/one irked you lately?

The Who are the same. You can't change any of Pete Townsend's chord shapes or inversions. They just won't work, so poor old Roger Daltry has to keep on hitting those notes when most other singers of his age have dropped their numbers by several keys. Stevie Wonder is still in the original keys but he takes weekly singing lessons to keep his voice in shape. Maybe your singer needs lessons, exercises and advice more than a key change.

Doris Stokes was a happy medium.

. . . . or choose another band to copy.

This isn't about what you want. It's about what you need. Tune down and all the required changes that entails, get a 5 string bass and embrace the flexibility or get another singer.

For every note there's an equivalent rest. Work out the patterns the notes make. Then all you have to do is substitute no note and call it a rest. The count carries on the same whether there is a note or a rest.

I bought my Fender Precision in Brussels in early 1969. Brand new for £90 9/- (that's 45p). About half the London price at the time. Unfortunately it was a very average instrument, as were so many back then, anyway it did me for the next 25 years or so. Apart from 1 gig, unplayed since I moved to 5 strings in the mid 90's.

All IMO. . . . but I'd say there's arguably no point in using flats on an active bass. The possibilities, the dynamics and tonal range of a pre amp are largely wasted on flats. I've put flats on active and passive Jazz type basses and the end result was that I'd moved the sound so far over to P bass that I'd have been better off with a real P bass. In the 90's I upgraded my old Precision with Bartolini pickups. It was a 110% night and day improvement. A year later I thought I'd finish the job and add a pre amp. I put in a top of the range Bart pre amp and improved the sound by . . . about 5%. IME good pickups give you the most benefit to the sound of a P bass. The preamp and J pickup (which I also did) gave such little improvement that, all this time later, I still regret wasting all that money. If you really want a pre amp I'd suggest an outboard pre amp, such as the Sadowsky. My 2p.

What pickups and strings are you using on this P bass.

Let me try tempting you with a Sadowsky RV5. Ad at bottom of post, in my sig.