uncle psychosis

Here are the ibanez bass Cliff Notes: Exceptional value Horrible second hand resale (see above) Not for everyone

[quote name='uzzell' timestamp='1423759447' post='2688745'] I love my Shimverb for those more subtle moments. The shimmer mode is pretty unique by my knowledge and is great. [/quote] Shimmer is on quite a few reverb pedals. Strymon Bluesky, Line6 Verbzilla, a couple from Neunaber. There are others too. For my money, the shimmer on the shimverb was unusably crap The normal sounds on it were pretty decent though

I tend to think that if you're trying to get children really hooked on making music then you're often better starting with classical instruments. There are very few opportunities for 14 year olds to get gigs (or even just to play with others) on bass guitar or electric guitar. School music is very classical oriented, there's loads of chances to get involved in structured, organised live music. Get them the music bug. Then point them in the right direction once they're smitten ;-) Not to say you shouldn't encourage them to play bass from a young age - just that you should maybe encourage them to play bass in addition to something more school music friendly!

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1423600787' post='2686975'] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3](why on Earth install roundwounds on a fretless in the first place?),[/size][/font][/color] [/quote] If only Jaco was alive, we could ask him...

I suspect that that scratch is a bit too big but you can use a walnut to fill in small scratches on wood. No, really!! http://www.wikihow.com/Seal-Wood-Scratches-With-a-Walnut

The Zoom B3 has an emulation of the U5 on it. I really like how it sounds compared to the real thing but it sounds good to me. You could then use the other effects on the B3 too.

Hartke Bass Attack or Zoom B3 would be my recommendation.

Given the price of many of the 2 channel preamps I'd be tempted to buy two cheaper preamps and set each one up differently for each instrument.

Legend has it that Paul Simonon couldn't play the bass at all when he joined The Clash. Just get out there and do it. There are far worse things in life than occasionally mucking up a bass line in a song.

You let someone else use your rig and the world didn't end? Has basschat lied to me???! ;-)

I had no problems buying stuff from them but they shafted me on a warranty return. I won't be using them again.

I always think that slagging off Fender because they keep making the same old stuff is a bit like slagging off Heinz because they keep making Baked Beans.

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1423126694' post='2680975'] Well perhaps it's fortunes are changing - where are all the naysayers?! [/quote] I've never been able to get a tone that I liked out of one. Clearly it works for some people, thats cool, I'd never claim that a pedal was rubbish just because I didn't have a use for it.

Does the LED change colour when the battery charge is low?

About once a year or so, sooner if they start to feel minging or the intonation goes. I'm a bit more careful about doing it more often (annually!) now after the one and only time I snapped a string at a gig. Those were really old strings. Probably a coincidence but I'm paranoid!

I wouldn't be surprised. I tend to think the instrument industry has grown to a size that just isn't sustainable long term. There are almost too many companies making too many things. How many tubescreamer variants does the world need? How many P basses?

I don't think that the guys who make the notes come out the speakers have ever done particularly well out of the music industry. You need to be a songwriter of some sort to see the big bucks.

The compression thread in question was a bit of a disaster all round. Just because you're a professional doesn't mean that your opinions (and that's all they were) are beyond question. Stating that using compression is "a crutch" is pretty clearly a really daft thing to say. The response from some regulars was also pretty daft. Embarrassing all round really. I'm not sure the blame lies solely with anyone.

I don't actually think there's a huge amount we would learn about bass playing if there were more pros here. We'd get some nice advice/anecdotes about the music industry and maybe the odd bit of gear advice but I don't think we'd be able to get a whole load of advice about actually playing. Forums aren't suited to that. There's a reason no-one gives lessons via email!

Other cheapy amps that get good reviews are the Roland Cube series. There's also the Yamaha THR which looks right up your street but its a lot more pennies. I quite fancy a Pathfinder myself, lets hope we don't bid against each other They were £35 on Amazon at Christmas, gutted I missed out on one.

I've got a B3. Part of me is considering getting a standalone preamp/DI pedal just for portability/durability/ease of use. The MXR DI+ appeals on size/cost/features. Can anyone tell me how representative of the MXR the B3 implementation of it is? i.e if I can get a good sound that I like out of the B3 will I be able to get the same sound from the MXR? Cheers

I play bass in two different bands that only have one guitarist, and I actually find that I prefer *not* to deliberately change the sound to fill out the space (not often, anyway). One of the best things about having fewer players is that there is more contrast in the sound of the band across different sections. The "light and shade" really adds something that is often missing in traditional four piece lineups where its easy to just end up with a relentless wall of noise.

The Vox Pathfinder amps are meant to be really good. The guitar version gets some fairly spectacular reviews for an amp that costs £50 brand new! I assume the bass version is similarly decent.

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1422711610' post='2675900'] I've literally just bought this VM Precision for £120 off of eBay, it was only listed for a few minutes before I snapped it up. Well pleased! [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221677783228?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT"]http://www.ebay.co.u...K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT[/url] [/quote] Top work that man. Looks great.

$199 at sweetwater and musicians friend. Much better than $280! Interesting to see if it stays at that price.