kwmlondon

Lord knows. I don't know if I want to lift the lid on it, to be honest. I have a bit of time this weekend though so I may be tempted...

Yeah, Paul told me the previous owner to him had used the things as a bit of a test bed for stuff. So, not sure what pickup is in there or what the preamp is but I have NEVER had anything that puts out that much signal before. I'm worried it'll give me a shock if I touch it!

Is it? Really? At that price? I'll have to look closer. Really quilted maple? Really? The neck is fine - reminds me a bit of my MusicMan stingray. Not something I'd pick out of choice but with my playing it doesn't really matter what size neck I have - nothing's gonna make me any better!

I'm just breaking a set of DR Dragon Skins, I made a terrible mistake and got stainless steel instead of nickel.... oops. When I move up and down the freatboard there's a noise like someone making baloon animals. Odd. Very odd things. Gonna take a bit of getting used to...

Oh. Yeah. That pickuard is gross but I’m not worried about tue looks really

I've been a bit worried walking home late at night with a £4k+ Dingwall strapped to my back so I got a cheap bass from a kindly basschatter to use when I know I'm going to be walking the mean streets of New Cross in the dark (it's not bad around here to be honest, it's just I've never carried anything this valuable around before). So, I met up with Paul walbassuk in a service station on Saturday (as I've done so often before) and handed over some notes in exchange for a bass (great transaction, lovely guy - huge thanks!) It's A BASS! First impressions. The output is HOT. I mean, you could power a light off it, very very hot. Heavy but comfortable. Neck is quite nice, but chunky baseball-bat like while narrow string spacing. Frets good. Nice satin feel. The finish is horrible. I HATE photoflame but hey. doesn't really matter. Tuners are fine. Bridge is fine. Action is high, will probably take that down a few notches. Strings are fine. Should have asked what they are but it doesn't really matter. Tone is pretty Musicman like, but blimey I need to back off the active. I mean, the centre detent is higher than I'd ever use for bass, mid and treble. Taking it down to bass 2/10, mid 2/10 and treble 5/10 and backing off the volume gets you a rather pleasant sound. This is just the job. More than adequate for any of my needs. BUT that means the one-in, one-out rule will be put into action this weekend. My '89 Stingray will be going on the market. I'll miss owning it, but I won't miss the bass itself.

This is a personal review and very subjective but I'm going to try to give some useful info in case anyone wants this kind of thing. Disclaimer - I bought these by mistake, I really wanted the nickels. Score 6/10 Packaging - good. No plastic at all. Nice. Fitting - no problem, they are just the same as any other string Feel - okay, as far as coated go. I prefer Elites as they feel more natural and these have taken me a few hours of playing to get used to. I'm not sure if that's me wearing them in or my getting used to the coating but the first couple of hours were really odd and my timing was rubbish but now we're getting on okay together. Sound - hmmmmmmm. This is where I was NOT happy. I'm comparing with the original fitted Dingwalls on my bass and my only criticism of those was that the G string was a bit lacking in oomph. The Dingwalls were gutsy, bright, rich and stayed vibrant for a few months which I didn't used to find with their own brand. So. By comparison these DRs are much weaker sounding. They have decent low and and a nice ping when you attack them with slap or a pick but finger picking they seem really scooped and lack the midrange that cuts through. They also sound like a pice of wire rather than a string, a bit fence-ish. I was so put off I checked the packet and realise I'd bought stainless steel strings by mistake. I've never had them before but I won't ever buy them again as they are not to my taste. However. It was my fault so this will be my sound for the next few months! To be fair, with a bit of playing in the tone is levelling off and I'm warming to it a bit, but I'm going to ask the team at Bass Direct if I can swap the other set for nickels.

I do brew beer sometimes tho…

Paul and I did a dodgy meet up in a service station when I gave him a few dirty notes and he handed me a bass. Great comms and I’m very happy with my purchase- thank you! A lovely fella and a credit to basschat

Ace session bassist and all-round nice person Yolanda Charles also said she doesn't use a 24-fret bass for slap work out of choice. However, my slap game is so rubbish it won't make any difference to me. I practise every day but I've got a pretty poor strike rate when it comes to hitting the string!

Fun is mostly for when I'm playing with other musicians, though that's been off recently. When it's just me I like to go into the zone. It's like running or going to the gym - those have never been fun but I've been doing it consistently for the last 25 years because it's satisfying and I miss it when I don't do it.

Must take a moment to say how good the team are in GuitaGuitar in Camden. Really helpful, not pushy. Also, in my experience, Andertons have been great and so have The Bass Gallery and Bass Direct. Been very happy to put money their way over the years.

No, he's done quite a few colabs with them where he has a "go" at their content or something ... so you'd think... then they end up on each other's channels. It's how you make a living through music these days. Have to be a social media content creator and he's playing the game. Good luck to him.

It has but thanks for reminding me - worth a rewatch!

I have to do the hard graft to get to be able to play what I want to. I like being able to play busy basslines, but I'm not going to do them in a half-arsed way. That's not enjoyable to me.

I should but I make more progress on the fretted and for a very long time that's been incredibly rewarding. When I'm doing my drills I usually feel the same way people do when they mediate. I tend to pick up the fretless after I've had a good couple of hours and I want to mess around, you know?

I am just not playing enough with other musicians who push me, musically. Bless the guys in my bands, they're lovely people but the're not looking for the same thing as me.

Nop. It's sitting in the case on the shelf waiting for me to put it on to sell it. I've not picked it up once since I got my Dingwall back. I have occassionally messed around with my fretless and it makes me giggle - it's like driving a car blindfolded! I sound SO bad but it's fun!

I have been listening to that album since I was born. It was one of the records my mum and dad had and it's been burned into my brain. I'm really, really glad you like it.

There is one. Willy Weeks playing with Donny Hathaway - The Voices Inside. The 1972 Recording. Every bass solo since has been a pale imitation IMO, like bad photocopies.

this is very constructive. I feel ungrateful dissing my bandmates musicanship, it seems disloyal and I could not do it to their faces and I am very grateful to them for their time and generosity and freindship. I'm not the best bassist around but I am trying to become a better musician and bass player where they are trying to play songs better and I suspect we're not after the same thing. The confidence thing is a weird one because it's not stopping me from doing anything, it's just tied up with the enjoyment. I think I'm feeling less confident BECAUSE I'm not enjoying myslef.

I don't like playing solos in public. I can't think of anyting I could ever play that anyone in an audience would ever want to listen to, but then I can only name a handful of bass solos I've enjoyed myself and those are such a high bar I think it'd be daft to try and reach it. Now... a tasty fill or a bass break with a bit of almost-indulgent close-to-over-playing for a couple of bars, that I am down with! Hit the audience with it so quickly that by the time they've realised what's happening, it's over... No, what it it's mostly about is that the more I practise something the more I'm familar with it and it gets to the point where I can just about play the notes but they're not fretted todally clean or evenly OR I play it worse than I did yesterday. That's heart-breaking, but mostly down to being tired or distracted but still. Recently it's just driven me a bit mad.

Also, I have a thing about really transparent gear. I play a Dingwall and there is NOWHERE to hide with that and it's forcing me to be really super-accurate which I mostly enjoy. It's just literally in the last couple of weeks, maybe when I'm tired and not at my best, that I try to play and I have looked at the bass and the window and thought "so this is why guitarists throw their expensive guitars at their amps." I'm in two bands. They're lovely people. They are very complementary about my playing and tone and often ask me to turn up, but they don't have any idea what I'm doing! Sometimes they listen, sometimes they get lost in their own worlds. Being fair, the drummers in each band are improving, but it's a rare treat to "click" with a drummer these days.

It is and there are points when I find myself playing the dots on the page and I almost feel giddy that I'm doing it. It's like witchcraft - I don't know the song but I'm playing it! Then, at other times I feel like I'm trying to read a foreign language and they blur into a mess in front of my eyes, but I do keep plugging at it - I can feel my brain gears crunching and try to learn something new. Lessons? I've flirted with them but the teacher I had a few years ago isn't available any longer and we got on really well - constructive, pushed me enough to make me work but encouraged in the right way to make me feel I was getting somewhere. It's so nice to hear that you have a nice tone isn't it? I'd do it again if I found the right tutor, but I'm looking more at performance classes in an adult college at the moment. I'm doing a course at City Lit at the moment and that's been getting better and better. This week we worked on improvising with a melodic minor scale over I-IV cords!!! Scary stuff but very excting!

I tend to play the same things each rehearsal - trying to get the band to work. I respect them as people and friends and definitely as song-writers, but as musicians? I'm afraid not. They've been good and let me write my own lines to their songs but I don't really get any feedback. The last rehearsal with one was really frustrating as the drummer completely loses time at points and the guitarists noodles between songs so I can't take my earplugs out. I asked him to stop but he just started again not even aware he was doing it. I now go over and turn the bass down myself on the guitarists amp! No, don't hold back. I'm pleased to get the feedback. If I'm competely honest I need to get out of the situations I'm in and take up a new challenge, it's just really hard when you like the people you play with and don't want to let them down.