derrenleepoole

The group Shotgun Face (or Mike Bendy, never sure which) used to be just bass and drums. Their newer stuff is a trio I believe. If you can find their early stuff it's pretty wacked out

It's also worth noting that the cost of a good EUB, there's not point in buying cheaper as it's false economy, is probably good money spent on a proper upright. There are some good deals to be had and some good instruments to be found if you look around. I'm all for the ease of EUB, but nothing beats that feeling of playing a proper upright, with it's big boomy tone and vibration next to your body. You just can't get that in a EUB ever. Some come close to a reasonable upright tone, but nothing beats the real thing.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='656731' date='Nov 17 2009, 10:06 AM']maybe true, but a pro photographer with a crap camera that overexposes or can't focus isn't gonna take too many great snaps. Likewise a great bassist with a crap cheap bass will still be prone to interference issues and issues of playability and tone. This thread is about the bass not the player which is why I said: [i]By pro job I mean sounds good enough to do a decent job at a gig for the player, with sufficient build quality to negate any interference issues, plays well with a decent set up, and to an average member of the audience would be no different sound wise to a bass 2 or 3 times it's value. [/i][/quote] I think we're both saying the same thing here, but worded differently. A 'professional' can, or at least should be able to work around limitations, whatever they might happen to be. I agree this is not quite the discussion from the OP's question, but it's worth mentioning nonetheless. Regardless of this, the bass is just a tool... in my experience, it's only really you the player and maybe the odd muso in the crowd that actually cares about your gear and could hear the difference. I've known people who actually couldn't hear bass in songs, no matter how loud it is! For what it's worth, I play lower priced gear now, specifically an OLP Stingray. It's a great instrument that's got good weight, sets up fairly well, holds tune and has a good tonal character. It cost me £130. Will it do a 'pro' job... yes. Why? Because I'm playing it professionally - or at least attempting too, not because the bass is any more or less 'pro' than any other bass in my collection. In my view and experience, professionalism is a combination of a good musician with a capable instrument. Or failing that, a professional who can work with or around any limitations thrown at them and still deliver a good job. Interference from a bad bass or poor tone can be worked in a studio if required. In a live setting, interference is often masked by other noises, tone can be adapted or sacrificed if required, especially if the player isn't anal enough to worry about such things and just get on with the job. Peace.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='656452' date='Nov 16 2009, 09:38 PM']Great for the money is one thing but do you thing they can do a pro job as defined above?[/quote] A pro camera won't make you a pro photographer if you can't use it, right? The same could be said of using a 'pro' instrument. A bass, regardless of cost will or should sound good in the right hands. It should never be the instrument, but the player that is the pro. Having a pro instrument simply helps more...

The wider the strap the better, and others have mentioned, a rough side to grip your clothes helps. Maybe a change of tuners to ultr-lite versions might be an option too if cost is reasonable. Other than that your only real option is to change the bass. Bad bass balance can cause so many playing and physical problems that the effort of playing it outweighs the basses long term usefulness.

I've just got an OLP Stingray, and it's a great bass. The natural finish with maple neck is lovely, and I'm loving the humbucker bite of the pickup. I can't comment if it's true to an actual Stingray as I've never played one, but I like the tone. The tuners are certainly the weakest part of the bass for sure. It's stays in tune fine, but the rings that sit at the front of tuners work their way out from their respective holes - the fit is just not that good. I'm adding an active preamp to get a higher output, and maybe a newer Seymour Duncan pickup, and most certainly flatwound strings. I'm certainly going to get another if I can as a backup bass, maybe even fretless.

Admittedly, even I find this a little too show-man-ship-ish!

I think Selene is a beautiful composition full stop, regardless of how the composition is achieved. I personally find Morning Star to be a much more enjoyable lively piece too. I think all bassists sometimes forget the the bass guitar is nothing more than a tool to get the job done. Manring happens to have a very advanced bass that stretches his musical language more than a standard bassists, and some feel, rightly or wrongly that this isn't perhaps 'bass playing' in the traditional sense. Does that really matter though? Not really. Why? Because above all else, it should be the music you should listen too first. I can find as much pleasure in a simple 1-5 blues line as I can in any complicated Manring piece. It's all the same dish, just served different garnish

Brand New Heavies - Heavy Rhyme Experience Vol. 1 [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YjHl7Zt5H8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YjHl7Zt5H8[/url] It's little out of date now, but there's some killer bass grooves. The BNH are recording Volume 2 at the moment

[quote name='neilb' post='649985' date='Nov 9 2009, 07:20 PM']Doesnt matter how big or small it was, it was ample for the 5 notes he played on it during the whole performance. Looked a twat if you ask me.[/quote] I'd rather look a 'twat' as you put it and still get the pay cheque he got for playing 5 notes on national TV

I've just gone down the LG1000 head route, and I was lucky to get the Superfly 484 cab that goes with it at a steal price. The 484 is a superb cab, but it does limit what you can do with the head. Basically the cab is split in two like the LG heads. Each side is two 8" drivers running at 4ohms. This means you can get the full 1000 watts from the LG head, but you can't run any other cabs with it even though it has speakon connectors to do this. The only way to do this would be to have a head that could handle 2 ohms, and the LG obviously can't. Tonally the 484 can handle the lows very well, but has a very strong lower mid range punch voicing. It's easy to carry, and has a good small size making it a perfect compromise between power and ease of use. If was to make a suggestion, I would choose to get 8 ohm cabinets instead of 4ohm. Three reasons really... 1. it will allow you a more flexible cabinet combination in the long run. For example 1x15 and 2x10 on one side, with the same on the other. Or something totally ridiculous like four 1x18 with 2 on each side! You get the picture 2. I would imagine 8ohm cabinets would have a better re-sale value to them, given that 4ohms is quite a specific usage and not everyone wants them. 3. During a recent gig, my new head had a channel go down, there was a signal going in, but nothing coming out on the right side. I could run the left side at the full 500 watts because I had the 484, which was lucky and plenty loud enough as it happens. If I'd had two 4ohm cabinets for each side as you're suggesting, I would of been sunk to the 500 watts for the one side, but left with only one cabinet! At least in a scenario like this, you could run 2 8 ohm cabinets together and still get 500 watts but keeping more tonally control etc. Does that make sense? I know you'd still only have 500 watts if everything was working okay using two 8 ohm cabs, but at least you'd cover your bases. Just some thoughts and user experience. Hope it helps?

Well, I'm not too sure about the piezo side of things, as I have limited experience with them. I have used a piezo in an EUB before, the Bass Buddy handled that okay. Not too sure in an acoustic upright setting. The Bass Buddy is well priced and you would easily make your money back as they retail for £300 new. Might be worth a shot just to see, if the funds permit of course?

The Bass Buddy is a superb preamp. Designed by a bassist, for bassists. While it's a preamp primarily used by electric bassists, the eq is voiced specifically for bass instruments. The signal is super clean with no tone colouration, is quiet and the compressor is superb. The small size, excellent build quality and feature set are certainly worth considering. There's currently one on [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Phil-Jones-Bass-Buddy-Preamp-Pre-amp-Excellent_W0QQitemZ280419163785QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL?hash=item414a48de89"]eBay[/url] for £175. A steal I'd say!

It's recommended that you use these amps close up to walls to help boost the lower end a bit. But at that price... you absolute swine!!!! Good score!

Mark Bass make exceptional amps. I've owned a LM250 head and a CMD121P combo. Both quality bits of gear. But I think to get the very best out of them you also need a good bass. The tone is so flat and transparent that a poor bass will still sound poor through these amps, there's not much colouration to your tone at all.

I can take or leave bass orientated music. Jaco's work is as much about the compositional skill for me, and his amazing time keeping than his soloing. His solos are really quite dull most of the time. Manring is an exception as someone already said, he just happens to compose and play on a bass, but what he does goes beyond strict bass playing. I have complete respect and understanding for that, and can enjoy the music compositionally as well as technically for that reason. Nothing beats good old solid groove, and for that just slap on some Bob Marley or early Led Zeppelin. Sheer quality. If you're into a more modern tone but love groove, I strongly recommend Nik Bartsch's [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbi80MDCZc8"]RONIN[/url] - now that guy can groove in the oddest of time signatures and still lays it down. (Imagine a cross between Steve Reich and the hardest, tightest funk/jazz band around and you're close).

The Palatino range are popular as first time EUB purchases. They're relatively cheap, and like the Stagg models they will need some time and modification to get them playing properly. Not sure about the Stagg, but the Palatinos can be modified to use a drum stand so they become hands-free. There's loads about this on Talkbass, and I have some photos as well I could PM you if needed. The Palatinos seem to be like the SX basses of the upright world and have a loyal following of users and modders. Most people assume, and I know I did, that buying an EUB will get you an upright sound in an electric package. Simply not true. You can get close, and some really high end models do. But at the end of the day it's nothing more than a fancy fretless bass. Knowing this, you can work better with the instrument to work around an short comings.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='634655' date='Oct 23 2009, 05:36 PM']Lucky shot I took at a gig earlier this year...[/quote] That is one ace shot. Looks almost pro!

Don't let it lie, give the money back and get him to claim on his insurance, and don't take no for an answer. Ring up every day, even every hour to make your point clear.... persistence is a virtue! Make it absolutely clear that what was done was unacceptable. Failing reason, a tin a paint thrown over a car late at night but *drunks* should balance out the damage But of course I would never endorse such a thing!

The Gotoh 201 will do as good a job as the Badass, but a considerably cheaper price. I've had both the Badass and the Gotoh, and the Gotoh would be my preferred choice. I think the Badass bridges are just a little too big and can look overwhelming on some basses. The Gotoh seems to sit right on most if not any bass. Just my 2 pence worth.

A Mac, in particular the OS X system, is a very stable and user friendly interface, very robust and generally virus and maintenance free. I'm a graphic designer and use Macs primarily. That said, a well maintained PC designed specifically for audio use, i.e. no internet apps, graphics apps or unnecessary software will do the job very well. Some companies make audio specific PC's with faster hard drives and audio interfaces etc. If you know the PC interface, then stick with what you know. I would look in the back of Sound On Sound or Performance Magazine and see who is offering any audio specific PCs. It will probably cost as much as a Mac, but it will be designed for the job in hand.