kwmlondon

I’d never seen them live and he’s not pictured with a bass in the videos I’d seen.

That is one of the loveliest basslines in Motown. Technically got a lot going on, but so melodic and catchy it's easy to miss what a tour-de-force it is of playing. Amazing stuff.

Hmmmmm. Tempted… my guitarist has a gritty bass that would love a new set of strings. I’d like to treat him…

You in the US or UK? It's only £8 postage which is fine if you buy a couple of sets. US... no idea!

I recon Elvis is probably the most surprising one here. Maybe he just liked the look of it, but he seemed to enjoy being pictured with a precision.

I think people forget that Keithe Richards was/is a hellva bass player

You went straight for disco royalty!!!! Great choice! Did you know Chaka Khan played bass from time-to-time when she was in Rufus? Also played drums. I remember and interview with Dave Swift where he said he was super-careful to nail the basslines 100% accurately for her as she was a bassist herself, but I've never been able to find any footage or a recording!

Okay. I have this thing where I always get quite excited when someone I never know was a bassist turns out to have form on the old four-string. I'm going to kick off with Demis Roussos. Yes. Forever And Ever, him from Abigail's Party. Described once as “a fully-laden banquet table beneath which a frightened lady appeared to be bleating for deliverance” Well, I knew he was the singer in Aphrodite's Child but I'd never really clocked that he was the bassist and I'm going to stick my head above the parapet and say 666 is one of the best prog albums ever recorded. And Roussos was the bass player! So... have you been caught out by surprise? I've got a couple in mind...

I really like Olympia. A bit less tension than LaBella's and not as pingy. Very nice. And cheap!

I may well do. I'm following this thread so post date up nearer the time and I'll try and get up that way.

I think Gus basses are some of the most beautiful instruments ever made. Never seen one in the flesh.

I know what you mean, but when a neck is worn, that's not down to lack of care, that's years and years of a hand playing it. There's a difference between battered and uncared for and worn through regular use and I just find myself drawn towards an instrument that's been played a lot. It may even be romantic nonsense - I am only human!

Well, I have this thing about vintage instruments - if it's old e.g. 70s, 80s, if it's not got loads of wear then I'm not really going to want to pick it up myself. I'm always going to be drawn to the most beaten-up and worn-out basses in the shop because those are the ones that people have taken to gig after gig, week after week. You don't do that with a crappy instrument, you move it on and get a better one. Whenever I see a pristine 70s Jazz or Precision I feel no desire to play it because nobody else has wanted to play it. Where have all the Fenders gone? Well, loads will have been "modded" over the years and bits lost or destroyed. I'd say a high percentage of Fender necks will have warped and been replaced - one of the things about Fenders (the best IMO) is that you can swap things around. Most are probably sitting in someone's bedroom where they get picked up occasionally but the owner won't want to get rid of them because they spent years gigging with them and will never part with something so personally valuable.

Yeah, should be fun!

Last night I did a rehearsal with my CMD 121P for the first time and we were all blown away by how good it is. I had to wind it up to about half way to balance the drummer but it had no problem keeping up with the three of us and I use a Dingwall 5 string so some lows in there. Weirdly, when I'm playing I can find it a bit tough to assess the tone, but maybe that's down to the earplug, anyway - when the drummer had a go on the Dingwall/Markbass setup and I was just listening I was floored by how good it sounded. Deep, snappy, punchy but a few degrees off HiFi, just enough for it to be colouring the sound and in a lovely way. I've also got a Darkglass Adam that I use for distortion and compression but didn't have it last night. I stuck the amp on a little portable wheely thing and walked to the rehearsal with bass and amp, it's about 20-25 mins and I was shocked by being able to take a whole gig-level setup without needing the car. If you'd told me this was possible when I was young I'd not have believed you. I do have an NY121 cab too but I keep it at a friend's place for when I'm rehearsing there, if I ever need that extra for a gig I can put the two together - looking forward to trying that one day!

Update it’s FANTASTIC!!! Many positive comments at the rehersal…

Sold Paul an EBS 212 and the whole process was spot-on. Great communication. We had a bit of a faff trying to find each other in Camberwell but we did it! Hope the cab is a perfect partner for tye Handbox valve head… nice rig! Thanks. Kim

Bought a Markbass CMD 121P from Bruce and am very happy. The whole process was great, the item is exactly as expected and the communication was as good as you could hope for. Would have liked to have stayed a bit longer to chat when I picked up the amp but I was on a really tight schedule. Many thanks!

Yeah, I walked to an open mic a couple of weeks ago but then that's the trade-off for putting up with all the down sides of living in London! Suits me but not for all...

Yep. If we end up doing something outdoors I'll look into hiring a high-capacity 240v battery pack. We could run everything off one of those, no noise or anything. I've got access to petrol generators but they're all pretty noisy so not ideal but would have to do at a pinch. Could just put it out of the way.

No, nothing organised just a bit of a play along. I have no idea about inverters but if it means heavy investment in kit I won’t bother. Would rather hire a battery PA system or something. Really helpful comments though. Much appreciated.

My guitarist has been talking about doing a gig at an open-air event which I like the sound of, but am wondering about how I'd power my bass amp. I've got a class D Markbass LMII and a spare 12v battery but does anyone have any experience of running an amp off an invertor for a couple of hours? I'll try to do the maths when I get home but if anyone's done something like this it'd be really useful to know. Cheers!

Cheers, yes, and if it had been just me and guitar it'd have been fine but keeping up with a drummer is a real challenge with a practise amp. Did it though, and without any 'orrible farty distortion! Moving stuff around wasn't really an option anyway, but good tip - will bear in mind if it comes up again.

What model is it? Having had a scoot could it be the MB112? Probably a single 4 ohm 12". You could run something like a TC 250w into it, or one of those BAM200 things, that'd be fine - the BAM200 is pretty cheap too. Otherwise just get a 500w head and mind the levels. No, not ideal for a high-end amp, I'll grant you.

When I lived in the sticks I had to drive everywhere, but honest - the gear was SO MASSIVE there was never any alternative. Now I've got a iddybiddididdy 1x12 Markbass combo I can just roll onto the underground or bus or even walk to a rehearsal space WITH MY WHOLE RIG! Back in the day that'd have been sci-fi, but it's only an option because where I live there's a metro system, buses, trams, Ubers are cheap and plentiful etc. It's not viable where my folks live, at all.