Boodang

Yes!! Put these in my bass and all of a sudden 'Teen Town', not a problem!

Seymour Duncan weather report set for that Jaco sound, or EMG JV52; Rob Turner designed, passive, alnico 5 neck and alnico 2 bridge, hum cancelling. I had a similar set done by Creamery pickups (alnico 5 & 2 magnets), but single coil, not hum cancelling, and can thoroughly recommend.

'62 spec'ed neck, set neck rather than the clumsy bolt on, slab rosewood board, Seymour Duncan weather report custom pups, and a contoured body. Is it still a still a jazz? Well the neck and pickups say so, as does the tone, just way more refined than a Fender.

... also, making a living from playing bass and being professional not necessarily the same thing! Can you imagine if Sid had not departed this world so early.... bass player available, can't play bass but plenty of attitude, may smash you in the head with said bass if p!ssed off.

Yeah, but this guy was a giant @rsehole. Most people wouldn't even want to bump into him let alone work with him.

I would say the difference is about 8 hours a day practice!

Well, just to throw another set in the mix, my fav strings at the moment are the Galli Synthesis flats. They have a nylon core and as a consequence have a 'buttery' feel to them. I got these as my Obligato DB strings have a nylon core and wanted s similar feel on my BG, and they certainly get close. I would describe their sound as 'big', although I know that's probably not very helpful! I'm not sure if they're the only nylon core BG strings on the market but I haven't seen any others (anybody else know of any?).

As a FoH engineer, if someone presented me with a single DI for both bass guitar and synth bass (which admittedly doesn't happen that often!), it wouldn't be that much of a problem especially if the levels were balanced. However, unless there was a peculiar reason doing otherwise, a dedicated DI for each would be preferably. Certainly if I was running any compression the settings would be different for both.

Yep, I use the Radial Stage Bug SB2. I use 2 of them, one dedicated to the Phatty and another for the output from the small mackie mixer for the basses.

I often use a small mixer live with my basses (I usually have at least 3 basses at a gig), but if I have the opportunity to bring out the Moog phatty as well, I'll run a separate di for that as foh eq/comp etc will be way different.

Glow Tec Starglow fretmarkers. I've got them on a couple of my basses... they're low profile and stay in place well.

The eq on the Spectradrive is good but if you're happy with the Orange then there's no need. As for the spectracomp, I was surprised by how versatile the various toneprints are and how much they eq the tone. My fav straight toneprint is the 'Captain East' but there's plenty more which are a bit more extreme if you need. It got me looking into other compressors but I still use the spectracomp the most. As for DI, I've settled on a Radial SB2 stagebug. Passive, simple, and I think the transformer gives a nice rounded tone.

Compressor is a common route to go for enhancing your clean tone. I've got a couple of TC Spectracomps on my board with different toneprints loaded. They're great as you can go from a tri-band setup to classic comp and everything in between. Versatile and it only has one knob. Octavers are a different deal though. I use the Aguilar octamizer to thicken up the tone sometimes but even on subtle settings the tone does get a little artificial, and I think this pedal is the more organic sounding of the usual suspects. A great pedal though but not 'standard' clean tone fare (my fav setup is the octamizer through the grape phaser but now we're defo not in clean territory!). Again, chorus can get you certain tones but like the octaver, even subtle settings will be going away from that clean tone. It sounds like a good place to start might be to just try out some of the toneprints on a s/h Spectracomp.

Roc 'n Soc throne is my main seat for drums, bass practice and just generally sitting around. Not an office / gaming chair, but with a back rest the most comfortable throne I've had.

Hal Leonard books are great. YouTube is a good source of free lessons but it's also full of idiots, so start with some recommendations... Scott's Bass Lessons and Dan Hawkins are worth checking out. And remember to keep it fun, learning scales, technique etc is necessary but you're playing bass to play music so play along to and learn the songs that you love to listen to.

Pah, guitar is easy.... just learn the blues pentatonic and randomly play it throughout songs paying no attention to what anybody else is doing. Then take all the credit (not that I've got a chip on my shoulder about guitarists!).

Use a small mixing desk. The Behringer xenyx 1202 is currently £50 at Gear 4 music. Job done.

Try a Radial Stagebug SB-2. A passive di, great tone and difficult to overdrive. And not expensive.

I like to have the single coil J bass sound and the Precision tone, just not in a package that's as agricultural as a Fender. At least go G&L or something with a little more class!

Definitely this. Coming from DB this seems like the most natural place to play but definitely helps in producing a fuller tone.

I play DB as well as EB. Tapewounds on my fretless EB probably get the closest, but I also use the Galli Synthesis strings which have a nylon core and are close in feel to the Obligato strings on my DB.

Actually, Shakespeare could be a clever choice for a desert island. His plays were written to be performed not read, so you could spend your time doing one-man shows to the wildlife. It would take a lifetime to learn, which given the circumstances, you'd have the time spare.

1. Jazz Jungle - John McLaughlin; top musicians in full free fall jazz fun! Plus Chambers on drums having tons of fun. 2. Lotus Feet - Shakti; beautiful blending of western and eastern improvisation. 3. Giant Steps - John Coltrane; the perfect jazz track? 4. Aga of the Ladies - Hellborg / Lane; Lane at his most melodic and least manic.... beautiful. 5. Bethany - Janek Gwizdala; perfect soloing? If not, it's close. 6. Bright Size Life - Pat Metheny; Metheny always said he had so much still to learn when he did his first album, but I don't think he bettered this. Plus, Jaco's playing is spot on. 7. Stratus - Billy Cobham; one of the greatest bass grooves... and try playing the drum part! Obviously ignore the first 2 minutes of 'I discovered a moog lying around the studio'. 8. It Remains to be Seen - Bennie Maupin; 70s groove at its groovyist. Book - Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake; pure poetry from start to finish, never get tired of reading it. Luxury- John Bonham acrylic reissue drum kit. If I play the kit loud enough it might disturb someone on a neighbouring island and I'll get rescued.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, some super cool soloing, inspirational stuff.