TheLowDown

This is so true and what so many people don't appear to realise, even now. There are still people who believe that all things made in China and the East is of low quality, oblivious to the fact that it was the parent company who instructs the manufacturing arm to make cheap quality gear, and this is why China had in previous decades, undeservedly got a bad rep. Almost all of the world's manufacturing are in that area of the world now and they will produce everything from low quality rubbish to high quality perfection depending on what they're paid and what they're instructed to produce by the company's name written on their products. This also applies to the individual factory, most if not all of which are capable of producing everything from cheap quality to perfection depending on what they're told to produce. With products like basses and the level of machining available now, I can't see anything being of anything other than very decent quality at a minimum.

I don't think the quality of the B string has much to do with whether the bass is budget or expensive. It appears to be more to do with the correct setup of the strings such as avoiding them being twisted, using a reasonably balanced set, and using stainless steel strings (nickel and nickel plated B-strings always sound awful to me, as if it was from a different set of strings that went dead years ago).

The Bugera Veyron tube is pretty decent for an amp head. Some people prefer to measure in RMS but this is often not the best measurement, but it's estimated at around 700W RMS and the cost about £270. For cabs you can try the ones from Trace Elliot and Phil Jones which weigh around 7 kg each for about 300W. at 8ohms.

It's good to have a focus and ignore the distractions. No point in playing EB if it doesn't interest you anymore. Good luck!

There are no 'benefits' in the same way that there are no benefits of the cello compared to a bass. It's just different. I don't bother with mwah and sliding all over the place, and definitely don't want to play it like Jaco did(I hate that tone and it does nothing for me), and these are things which can be done far far too much on the fretless. I don't play it much differently to how I play the fretted. Most of the reason why I play fretless is for ear training so I bought an unlined. And I suppose I sometimes like the more organic sound too and the potential for more expressive playing for home projects. Whether lined or unlined is a moot point. The side dots on a lined are the same as fretted, but on unlined they're where the frets are. If you just like the sound of fretless and nothing else, get lined. If you want the full experience and want to help train your ears too, go unlined. The beauty of the unlined is it helps you to see better with your ears and rely on them more than you would with a fretted or lined fretless.

The B string is definitely an improvement if you're not using well balanced strings on parallel frets. I've realised now that I'm not keen on using scales above 34 inch for comfort reasons. Other than an improvement to the B string without lots of tweaking necessary on parallels, I don't see them as having any real advantage and are therefore best staying a niche product.

I suppose it depends how the band formed. If it was originally one singer who initially aimed to sing to some random backing band or session musicians, then they would have to use their own name to advertise their 'brand'. They would have been new to the music business, so as time went on they may have learnt enough to realise that maybe they want to have a regular backing band for stability. It's not always about ego, but marketing.

It's upstairs in the loft, a bit knackered now but still plays last time I played it.

You don't need to go beyond the 12th because it repeats. I think it's a good idea, to begin with, to go up and down each string singing each note as accurately as you can. Some people name the sharps going up and the flats going down, and others just say "A B" for A#/Bb. After that I would play the major, natural minor and dominant/Mixolydian scales from the lowest possible note on the B string to the 12th on the C string, singing the scale degree(just say ....3...4...5...6...7....1....2.......3....) as you go. Pay attention to where the various root notes are on the neck so that you can see where all the intervals are related to the root. This helps to not only enable you to see the 6 string bass as not just a 4 or 5 string with an extra string or 2, but gets you out of the root to root thinking. It really helps for you to see where all the intervals are on the neck so that you can truly know the fretboard. One thing I also used to do was to put on a drum track find and play a random note such as Ab as quickly as possible going from one Ab to another Ab randomly. Then do the same with another note. I would do the above every day for a few months, and then after that maybe refresh every so often. Use the floating thumb technique.

@Quatschmacher@paul_5@Boodang I thought I emphasised the point about the backend of the music. Effects may be useful for things like slap and other circus exhibits that are key part of idle home noodlings, showing off in record shops, and the w#*kery section in some bands, but are much less effective for the rhythm section. Janek is more known for his solo stuff which is very much in the foreground.

I prefer a nice clean organic sound, but for the last few weeks I had considered adding some multiFX just to see how much I can make my sound even worse as well as scratching a curious itch. I don't think effects goes well with bass unless you're playing rock/punk/metal and fighting for your life for any leftover morsels of sonic space. I think effects are much more useful with guitars that are more front-end instruments. It feels quite wrong adding effects to a backend instrument like drums or bass, akin to having puppeteers in fancy dress.

In our defence, none of those littered items are British. The fact that there's a sunset makes it even less likely.

The thumb should only be used as a pivot and a sort of stabiliser for the hand, and there should not be any pressure applied by the thumb to the back of the neck. In fact, it's quite possible to play many basslines even without the thumb touching the back of the neck at all, albeit not with 100% success.

I have the Snark ST2 clipon but I never use it. It's advertised as being fast and accurate, and it's definitely neither of those. I tune manually first and then check with a phone app.

Boss GT-1B seems decent. It's got most everything apart from rhythms, and with better quality samples than the more artificial sounding Zooms.

I've never had a 5 or 6 string without the problem with the low B string. The heavier the gauge the worse the problem gets. There is some theory that the strings have to be in balance. So the gauges selected for 5 string that work 'ideally' on that must be rebalanced to work on 6 string or 7 string or even 4 string. In other words for the 6 string for example you can't just add a C string and expect it to work ideally using the same gauges on B-G.

A lot of Smashing Pumpkins are laid back.

Usually when there is wrist pain it's because it's an uncomfortable angle on the fretting arm or the plucking arm, often by having the bass too low slung or the neck being almost parallel to the floor. Painful issues can arise if you're using your fingers with the wrist at a bent angle. The wrist must be as straight as possible at all times when plucking and fretting. Lighter gauge strings can also help with fretting, but some people don't like the less full tone. My guess is that they get you playing songs quickly is because they think that's what most beginners want to do and to make it fun. Some people just want to play songs and that's all, just like with guitar. They're not interested in self improvement except where it serves them to play songs that they know. I would get the basics such as posture, stance, where to place your thumb and fingers for plucking and fretting before you begin a song. The basics that you develop early on will help help to minimise future injures. I think it's much better to develop good habits early on rather than waste time later on undoing bad habits and dealing with carpel tunnel and tendonitis. Songs are more of a fun day activity, but don't do much in the long term for increasing skill, especially if that's all the beginner wants to do IMO.

What I do is search ebay and Discogs for what they sold for to get a rough idea. In the olden days it used to be Record Collector mag. Never ever sell to a 2nd hand record shop. Never ever ever.

The neck should be around 45 degrees so that your wrist is not at such an uncomfortable angle. I don't know anything about what bass you're using or how you're holding it, so at a guess there may be neck dive, which means that I would invest in good wide leather strap that has rough material on the inside to grip well. The more it grips the less effort you use to hold the bass in a comfortable position, which means that you can focus on playing and have less fatigue over a long play session. Try using the simandl technique where your little finger and ring finger are pressed together to give extra strength to your fretting. The nerves in the little finger and ring finger are joined anyway, so this makes them less independent from each other than other fingers. But yeah a lot of it is just building up the required muscles and actions in your hand an fingers.

The only one I've made enquiries with in in the recent pat are Andertons, but they sound like stingebags. Up to around £150 they give you half value of what they think it's worth, £150- £!500 they will give you two thirds, and above £1500 they give three quarters.

As long as a can get anything similar to a p-bass-like sound I don't care. Anything too bridgey or jacoish gets returned or sold, but I've never had to do that - except once when I wanted to try a stingray type bass - because the placement of the pickups near to the neck determines that aspect of the tone. Other than that I don't go out of my way to get any specific sound. All my gear is inexpensive for what it is and does the job.

My plucking hand thumb 'floats' up and down, and will rest lightly on the string immediately below(in pitch) but never on the pickup. I try to position my thumb as a sort of "free wandering agent" because it's tempting to anchor the thumb, so this mindset avoids that. My thumb is always muting all of the strings below on 4 and 5/6 string. If I'm plucking the C string then the base of my thumb is muting the B and E string. From the base of my thumb to the tip of my thumb is always pressed lightly against all the lower strings at all times. I'm not sure how that would be achieved. Perhaps you're holding your elbow out too far. The problem may stem from your posture(best not to sit low or slouch while playing).

They're extremely niche. I would hazard a guess that 80% or probably much more of basses sold are 4 string. 5 strings are a fun instrument to play, but when high street shops, already struggling, have to balance the books and consider what will sell and what wont, a 5 or 6 string is unlikely to be considered high on the list. They're more likely to get more of what will sell.

I think you're spot on the mark. It's why I don't bother with expensive basses. Lots of people mistakenly judge quality by price tag or brand name, totally oblivious to the fact that they're getting screwed most of the time. People believe that if they pay a lot for something, it must be good lol. It always pays to do extensive research before purchases and to be aware of the market.