Boodang

I do gigs stone cold sober these days, so should be relatively stable on a bar stool. And if the audience aren't paying attention I could always fall off on purpose!

Good point!

This thread is probably not aimed at the rockers among us. I usually play in a piano/bass/drums trio doing jazz groove stuff (think 70s tv theme tunes). Half the set I play an EUB, the other half with a bass guitar for the funkier numbers. When I'm playing the bass guitar I'm the only mobile member of the band but it's not like I feel it's necessary, or appropriate, to leap about the stage, so I just stand there and feel a bit of a tit. Then I thought, just because it's a bass guitar doesn't mean I have to stand, so now I bring along a bar stool, use that and then like the rest of the band I'm sitting on my derrière whilst playing. I also applied this to a covers band I was in which was mostly a collection of friends who just wanted to play. The stage was crowded, 3 guitarists, backing vocals, percussion, keys, and occasional brass/woodwind, there wasn't much room to leap about, so I started plonking myself at the back next to the drummer on a bar stool and only came out the shadows if most of the band took a break while we did an uptempo rock number. So the question is, do we play standing up just because that's what's expected / how it's always been done? How many out there play sitting down? I remember Herbie Flower's used to do the Sky gigs on a bar stool. I'm thinking of taking this to new levels with the trio. I'm going to get a small rug and do the Hellborg thing and play sitting cross legged on the floor. Another option as there's space in the van, is to bring a nice comfy padded lounge chair and do the gig sprawled out in that. I could put a standard lamp next to me to give it that homely feel!

I like Westones basses for the way they play and I've always had a Thunder 1a in my collection but.... they're heavy beasts and the original electronics and pickups were not great. My Thunder has a Bartolini pickup and Aguilar preamp. As nice as it is £700 seems a lot for a Thunder II especially if it has original electronics which would benefit from being swapped out.

Thinking about it, other than the odd dep for a band, my gigs are jazz oriented with an EUB or if it's a bass guitar I do the gig sitting on a bar stool as I've given up leaping about the stage! Consequently it's quite a static arrangement so under those circumstances I might just use this cable as in terms of abuse it's not too different an environment that the studio.

Was in a band once with an alcoholic drummer. We used to keep the gaps between numbers as short as possible to reduce drinking time and regulars to our gigs would put on bets as to how far he would get through the night before falling off his stool. We were young and it all seemed very rock 'n roll at the time which in hindsight wasn't very mature but that's the folly of youth for you.

Many moons ago in my youth, I was in an originals band doing indie / depression songs about loneliness and suicide (our singer/lyricist favourite topic) with suitable droning / whining guitar parts. We were playing a pub in Northampton, the first set got rid of half the audience, then when the rest saw us come back for more they downed their pints and legged it. About 2 songs in to the second set and playing to an empty pub the barman came up and politely asked us to stop playing ('preferably forever' were his actual words!), pack up and go home, in the hope he could salvage something from the rest of the evening. Surprisingly the band lasted a long time given that the reaction that night was not an uncommon experience.

Just reading their web blurb, these cables are designed for the recording studio not live work, hence flexibility is not a priority. I can definitely say this cable is not flexible! It's like a stiff thick rope. A shout out for Design-a-cable though, as efficient as ever in communications and getting the cable out quickly.

Always want more stories!

For me the fretless is a more expressive instrument. Not just slides, which is easy to over use, but vibrato (which you can't replicate on a fretted) and micro tonal adjustments to add colour. I've got both lined and unlined. With unlined I feel like I have more freedom, the lined is better for intonation higher up (you still have to use your ears as just putting your finger on the line won't work) but I feel it takes more concentration to play. I started on an unlined though, so that probably explains it. I find fretted hard to play, you can only put your finger in one place, just behind the fret. Much more freedom on a fretless! As for technique, it's not the Jaco thing. I pluck over the fingerboard around the 17th area and only move off the board if I'm playing high up.

My Jedson Tele bass does look similar... apart from the emg mod! Honestly can hardly be called a bass at a 24" scale. The cheapskates just put 4 strings on their guitar version and called it a bass guitar. With nylon strings and the emg it sounds quite big but plays like sh*t. Have to say tho, that as cr*p as it is, it makes you play differently with the consequence that I write a lot of interesting bass lines with it... I wouldn't part with mine!

Yep, got mine for a bit of a laugh as it's so bonkers. Worth it, as now I have a laugh everytime someone asks to borrow a bass of mine. There's the look of relief when I say of course, then a look of incredulity as I hand them the Jedson instead of the custom bass I was playing!

Yeah, Basschat the board game! With questions like 'what's the best bass guitar' and 'who's the best bass player of all time'!!

I was in a band for a while that was like a train wreck in slow motion. A reggae outfit complete with backing singers and brass. Rehearsing in London week after week, we all had high hopes as the people involved were 'connected'! Eventually though, rehearsals took on a pattern that never varied... waiting for everyone to arrive the brass section would neck red stripe, then the rest of the band would start on the weed, this would continue for hours while the singer and band leader would nicpic over arrangements and playing nuances. When it came time for the singer to do his thing he was always too far gone. In 6 months I never heard him sing a note! I still can't believe I lasted that long before moving on. For all I know they're still rehearsing.

My current method of dealing with this issue... I possess the worlds worst bass, a Jedson tele bass with a 24" scale (!), the only way it can be tuned is A,D,G,C, and intonation is impossible above the 10th fret. I hand them this bass.

Inspired by a comment in another thread where someone posted 'who would possibly turn up with a bass that bad to a session', to which I replied you would be surprised, I thought it might be fun to share some of those moments which turn into train wrecks, be it incompetent musicians, engineers, promoters, or self destructing equipment/ musicians, engineers, promoters, plus mishaps and misunderstandings. Unreliable musicians have always been a source of frustration and at times (in hindsight!) amusement. I was in a trio and we had managed to get the headline slot at a small local festival, about a thousand people and we were chuffed to be given to top slot. The pianist was a fantastic player but a bit flakey, so I made sure to pick him up early so he didn't get lost. He'd just bought a new keyboard and as we were getting ready a horrible thought struck me, had he bought a stand for the new keys (until that moment it hadn't occurred to me it was a possibility).... but apparently this had slipped his mind. With moments to go we hastily found two small boxes and he played the gig crossed legged on the stage floor. The audience thought we were a great duo but couldn't understand where the piano sounds were coming from!

TC Electronic Spectracomp.... one knob but has the benefit of toneprints, so behind the simplicity is a 3 band comp with lots of expertly tweaked presets to choose from. Oh, and it's cheap and has a small footprint.

It's always the playing that counts but we have a choice of what to play it on and thus interesting side debates like this.

Certainly true... but as well as tone it has to be playable.

Pino is going to deliver what the client wants/needs and, as good value for money as it might be, a Harley Benton is not going to be the right choice. It's a bass that's cut to the bone with too many compromises for that.

Ah, but are these tedious threads about 'I like my cheap bass, so blah blah blah', more, or less, tedious than comments about how tedious they are?!

I agree about not being able to hear a difference at a certain price point but interestingly it was more about playability for me. I was in a shop and played a Pedulla buzz, wasn't expecting much but for some reason it really gelled for me.... but the price! I had reached a point where I could afford the bass but was unwilling to do so. Now Pedulla have ceased making basses I'm regretting that decision!

You would be surprised! I've always made an effort with gear so as not to let myself or the band/session down, but occasionally you see someone turn up with a total train wreck in gear terms like it doesn't matter and somehow their talent will overcome this... not a bad idea for a 'train wreck' stories thread elsewhere.

Although not as mathematically neat, the logic is probably reversed and the £250 bass is a 100x better than the £25, and the £2500 is only 1.4x!

Possible the only parameters are how much are you willing and able to spend!