chris_b

My wife still laughs about my dance moves from the 70's!! Strange, cos I'm certain they were the height of cool.

Really? Most professional PA systems are powered by D class amps.

I'm a Precision guy, so I want fat, warm, articulate and clean. Thump and low mid fullness required in spades.

Guys, has anyone experience of replacing the standard pickups on a Sandberg TT5 Jazz bass with Bartolini Dual In-line Hum Cancelling pickups? I believe these are the 59J model. I have a Sandberg TT5 which sounds OK, but I need better than OK, so I'm looking at these Barts as a replacement. Any comments. Cheers

Sire, @Merton's ACG and Lakland Skylines would be on my list.

The French don't call it the English Channel but that doesn’t seem to be an issue, so if everyone calls it the Gulf of Mexico, that's what it is.

I haven't seen any gigs restricting the number of musicians! I do a lot of guitar, bass and drums gigs. The money is better but there's no room for other musicians in the arrangements.

I have bought basses that have been Pleked, but never had a bass Pleked, so I have no before/after experience. I've owned several basses that I thought were the best and played like a dream. I had a full service and set up done by the Bass Gallery, and my fantastic basses came back playing even better. Now, whenever I buy a new bass I take it to the Gallery for them to wave their magic wand.

I've used a bar stool as well. Depends on the band, sometimes it doesn't look right and other times it doesn't look out of place. Like most things bass, no one else seems to care.

I have Pro 17's and Pro 26's, for when I'm playing with a certain guitarist!!

My solution to extend my gigging life was to get a Barefaced 112 at 10kg/21lbs, a folding trolley, a D class amp at 5lbs, and as a backup, just in case I need to go even lighter, I have 2 Barefaced One10's at 7kg/15lbs. I now have 3 basses that weigh less than 3.2kg/7.1lbs and use a bar stool if my back is playing up.

Glad to hear you finally have finally resolved your back issues.

I've heard good things about the Alexander Technique. Coupled with a good work out routine, to strengthen your core, should resolve most problems.

ACS, ACS, ACS

We had a guitarist do that, except no message. One day he was here, next day he wasn't. Didn't answer any calls or other forms of communication. It was a good band but without him it just folded! A waste of a good band.

65? Tut. . . . a mere youngster.

Those 4" heels were killers. I was glad when I stopped wearing mine!

I hope the floor is reinforced!

Shame you're thinking of hanging up your bass. Bass has never been a hobby for me. Even if a band felt like work, it was always a million times better than w-o-r-k! I've worked with some a-hole band leaders but the a-hole managers were always worse. Good luck. . . . don't sell all your gear. . . . you'll be back.

I'd be looking at Newtone. British made strings that seem to get good reviews.

I thought that, which is why I added the "refusing more loans" bit. I believe the support for Ukraine is funded by loans and some of the US borrowing even goes towards paying off interest on the debt!!

Unfortunately he's right, but this attitude still has to be fought. I've just been listening to a Trump on Europe podcast. He's after the EU with a vengeance, but thinks he has a good relationship with Keir Starmer, so, "We will work something out". That sounds very ominous and is probably Trump code for, " Starmer is going to roll over and do what he's told". The UK cannot fall out of step with the EU in negotiating with Trump, under any circumstances.

The US National Debt currently stands at $36 trillion!! Most of it is owed to China and Japan. Why is China playing Trump's tariff game? At a stroke they could end all this nonsense by calling in their loans, or at the very least refusing any more loans.

Sorry but you can't placate a madman. Trump is a bully and a taker. Give him what he wants and he will be back for more. We have to get real and finally admit we are Europeans and Europe is where we will prosper in the long term. We have to make that work for everyone's sake. I pray I am wrong, but there is very little chance of a happy future for the US with Trump in charge, and in 4 years time the voting really will be rigged. A 3rd term for Trump or Trump Jr is almost a certainty.