TheLowDown

The military may find a good use for these sonic weapons.

Science has something to say about why the bassist may be the most important member of the band. According to research carried out by PNAS, people are more likely to respond to the rhythm and the lower frequencies of the song than they are the melody and higher pitches, such as played by the vocalist and the guitar. The bassist provides both the harmony - the arpeggiated chord tones - and the rhythm of the song. So I would say that we're at least as important as any other member of the band.

Chris, me old China. I'm very serious. Sorry to hear about your job, but those opinions expressed by you there are very out of date and out of touch with reality. It's not 100% about the cost. I suggest you do your research instead of judging by outdated stereotypes and what you read in the tabloids.

A lot of people fall for this old chestnut and actually believe it to be true. The reason why manufacturing has shifted to the East is NOT primarily because of cost. That's just one factor. The main factor is the availability of talent and the value chains within a small localised area. That doesn't exist in Europe or the USA. Another old chestnut that people, even now, continue to believe, is that products made in China/Indonesia/Vietnam are of poor quality. The truth of the matter is that the quality is determined not by where it's made, but by what the (Western) parent company has asked of it. If they ask for low cost skimping on this and that, that's what they get. If they ask for a well made product, that's what they get.

If you go to your basket on Thomann in now says this:

I'm not going to bother with Thomann or any overseas companies for a while, unless it's necessary. Basswise, I think it's now a good idea to take stock and appreciate more the things that I have.

My fretless(es) are mostly lightweight(around 7.9lbs) unlined Harley Bentons for less than £150. Spending a lot of money is best if you have specific requirement, so I would get something that's cost effective until you know what you want.

One of the above posters suggested one to one lessons. It will make lessons more interactive for you, providing instant feedback, and most importantly of all they will provide some direction, inspiration, and hand holding which is important when you reach a plateau. I probably wouldn't recommend this method forever because of the prices, but they're a good way of getting you out of a rut so that you have a clear direction of where you want to go next.

Wait until the plateau arrives, and then you will start to question if the guitar is for you in the same way that you questioned about the bass. It won't always be about progressing. I get the feeling that the underlying reason for you playing bass/guitar is only to achieve something with it rather than to simply enjoy the process. The bass or guitar is just a vehicle for you. That's where you're going wrong. At the end of the day it sounds like this instrument switching is about frustration rather than some deeply felt realisation.

I think you learn a lot more by having to research (on the net or otherwise) what you need to learn, and then forming your own practice plan. I believe these hand holding courses are mostly a waste, and are only useful to certain people.

The underlining is not being aggressive, it's a link to Thomann's website showing the delivery costs.

Worth bearing in mind that there is no delivery cost on items above £135. Just to be clear.

Well the amount appeared to be around 19.2% anyway, which also happens to be the German rate. Not sure how it all works yet. What's this "£25 delivery cost"?

It appears to be around 19% VAT that we add on to get the final price we pay minus shipping costs(it used to be free above £100 but now it's £135), which is the VAT rate of Germany.

Some people have been known to fuss over having to have audiophile type quality. Above an mp3 of 320bps(some people say 192), very few people can tell the difference in the quality anyway. A lot of people have vivid imaginations. Just enjoy the music.

I remember reading an article about vinyl from a record engineer who worked on vinyl, cassette, 4 track, and other formats for years.. He was saying that the warmth that people talk about when listening to vinyl is not something to be sought after, but is actually an artefact of a lossy recording. It's the same with valve amps. They don't reproduce the sound very well, even though their sound is popular. It would be much better to just simulate it in a normal amp. I can totally understand vinyl becoming more popular though because they provide a more tangible and tactile owning experience than CDs. They're larger, often have those lyric booklets rather than the tiny things with CDs. They're more involving. I believe that it's the millennials who are largely responsible for buying the vinyl, even though few of them play the record. They just want something solid to own in the days of digital. I used to have a minidisk player as part of my hifi at one time that was sold to me as the next big thing to replace CDs. I don't think I ever used it for the minidisk.

I always thought that in those cases it's because they're collecting history rather than paying for quality as there's lots of people who collect basses around. At this stage it doesn't appeal to me, but I can definitely see the appeal. I'm strictly a bass user rather than collector.

When you've tried several of the Harley Benton and other less expensive brands, the question should be why many of the other brands - such as Fender and Warwick and others - charge so much. I'm sure there are many people who still want to believe that they're getting better quality when they pay more, almost like it provides comfort and reassurance that they spent wisely, but that's quite clearly not true in this day and age.

I always use one finger per fret and it works for me, but the rule is that you should use the best method for different types of playing. Simandl feels very alien to me now.

I think the neck of the 1 pickup model is quite chunky, definitely more so than the HB B-450. That's put me off the 2 pickup model.

I'm sure there must be a joke in there, to join all the other bass solo jokes.

Looks great. What's the neck profile like (C or D shaped)? I think a D profile is the most comfortable for a 5 and 6 string.

Good idea! I think it would be useful to keep a gig journal of how the gig went, equipment used, audience response, and if there was anything to be learned from it. The act of writing it down helps to make the gig more memorable for in future.

I bought one of those Snark ones so that I could tune the fretless to a drone, but so far I haven't found it very accurate or useful". It jumps around too much and isn't that responsive.

Lots of Thomann prices have been going up by around £10 in the last few days. The HB MB-5, lots of the HB progressive series have all increased suddenly. Wonder if it's the VAT added in preparation or what seeing that I ate some of grandma's cookies so she knows I live in the UK.