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I use Elixirs currently, never had anything but hugely positive things to say about them. They outlast everything else and make the hefty initial outlay well worth it over the course of a year. D’Addario NYXL strings are also incredibly long lasting, especially as they do not market them as a ‘long life string’. They don’t stay super bright, but they have kept a good level of brightness the months I have had them on, which is amazing considering a set of Ernie Ball Slinkys (which I do love) last me a couple of practices and gigs and then need replacing. I hate to be controversial and potentially antagonise any fans, but I personally find Rotosounds strings dreadful.

I have had many occasions over the years where I have thought a combo would work best for me, but luckily I snap out of it quite quickly. You already have two superb cabs which are pretty powerful alone and all you should need together for bigger gigs. Head wise I really like the Ampeg but I remember it being a bit hefty. It depends on whether you have PA support and what size band/gigs you have, but I have a Aguilar TH350 and never needed any more. I have used it in an 11 piece soul band and a loud pop/dance band. It’s cheap secondhand and so is the TH500. If I was really flush, I would love to try the Vandedkley head, or some Mesa heads, but to be honest most of the new class D micro heads are decent. You won’t go wrong with MarkBass, EBS (I had one and it was amazing) or Genzler etc

I have used external drives daily for saving graphic design files and I use HDD drives for long term storage and backups, but my day to day 1TB drive is a Samsung SSD and it is so quick and reliable compared to the various HDD drives I used to use daily but corrupted.

It’s amazing how we all perceive sound differently. I have always struggled with passive instruments, particularly P basses because if the room wasn’t right, I struggled to hear myself and cut through. In contrast a Stingray set pretty much flat with small adjustments here and there for the room (never understood how anyone could just boost the bass and treble all the way) gives me some of the best results live. The room and stage has always been the biggest factor for me though, had moments where a P bass was perfect in one venue and then sounded absolutely awful the next weekend somewhere else. I still aim to have the Leo Fender Holy Trinity one day so I have the main bases covered (excuse the pun).

I have used a couple of broker services over the years and always call the main office and ask if they will ship instruments and are there any special requirements. I ask for the name of the person I spoke to and make a note. I have never had any issues posting without a hard case (only done it twice) so long as you use an appropriate amount of packing. Now this is a vague term, but in the cases (excuse the pun) where I didn’t have a hard case, I used the original shipping boxes plus a ton of extra bubble wrap and reinforcement. I take photos at ever stage of packing as proof and have the fall back that the instrument made it from China/America/wherever in that box so it should make it across a few counties in the UK, especially with the extra packing. I also insist on sending instruments full insured for their replacement value, not secondhand value so that I and the buyer are covered. I have to say that I have never had to pay anywhere near £85 for delivery, even sending a NS Upright to Europe. Luckily I have only had to claim once, I bombarded them with photos and emails about how/why the damage had been caused and got a full payout for what I asked for......happy days.

It is a less seen model from MusicMan, basically a passive P bass, but to add to the confusion, I believe the Cutlas was also a graphite necked Stingray in the 80s. I didn’t get the concept of a passive MusicMan bass initially but I live this and would snap one up if they made it available to the common people.

I was just having a mooch about on Instagram and spotted this Cutlas bass made for Zach Cooper of Coheed and Cambria. I have seen him use a standard sunburst model but this looks amazing. This combination of wood and colour is perfection for me, I WANT ONE!! I wish MusicMan would release the basses they make for artists, there are so many cool colours and combos us common folk can’t get.

I just think these days we are really fortunate, some of the really cheap gear is really playable and solid compared to when I started and the encore basses were just beyond awful. We are also lucky that you can buy old amps and combos, that were great quality back in the 90s for little money. I have a early 150w Ashdown combo that’s superb and it was £90. It completely obliterates all the TC combos I have played (although again they are a lot lighter). I guess it’s just a great thing that you can go and make music with little outlay if your on a budget. I love ‘nice quality’ kit but also love that I can go make a good sound with a Harley Benton and a £100 trace combo. Good times!!

I know gear can be a bit more important with recording because of the nuances and clarity with recording equipment. And yes the lightweight gear makes a huge difference in a practical level so that’s really justified to me as well. It just hammered home my thoughts and suspicions I have had for a while about playing live and being a general gigging musician. I could get a good sound from a cheap combo and a Harley Benton bass and that’s a cool thing in my opinion.

Glad to help, I just wish I remembered things that are more useful that how to swap a bass tuner. 😂

Did you buy hipshot tuners by any chance? I think you can reverse them quite easily if so.

I did a gig last night with a shared backline and multiple bands playing and had a good night. It’s a long time since I have done this and it was really nice to see some other bands and bass players etc and everyone was really friendly and relaxed, a good gig! We all shared an old Trace 1x15 combo which was the same amp I had when I was starting out, and it sounded good once I tweaked the 7 band eq. In fact everyone sounded good through it, it sounded like a nice fat bass tone, nothing not to like. So I was basically sat there thinking all the bass players sounded good and punchy, with the same amp and different basses; Sire, Hohner, Ibanez Talman, and two Stingrays. None of them sounded bad, in fact in the room in a band context it was very difficult to tell the difference. So why the hell do I worry so much? I can’t say my Aguilar sounded greatly better than an old Trace (it’s a lot lighter though) and my Stingray was probably no better sounding than the cheap Ibanez. Yes I like a nice bass, but I am not going to delude myself I want nice basses for any more reason that it’s snobbery and aesthetics (and a little bit of playability to be fair). Although the Ibanez was very well made and felt great.

He is brilliant, he does an amazing medley on YouTube with one of his songs into all kinds of famous tunes and his voice is like butter.

For those with a bigger budget I would say look for the Pre Ernie Ball stingrays, very desireable and apparently have a sound of their own. For me the best years are the late 80s 90s rays with the bigger bridge plate, spoke wheel truss rod, contoured bodies and a lot of them also had figured necks as standard. Saying that even the early 2000s rays had some lovely figuring on the necks, just before they all seemed to get the really bland, pale, maple necks and the figuring only came on more expensive models.

That looks perfectly legit to me, it just looks like the owner/seller isn’t fully aware that there was a name change, that is just an American Standard so the same bass essentially. He/she probably just looked up the fender website to check the model name and got it a bit wrong.

I have a very close friend who is a ‘pro’ musician/writer/session musician, and he uses Harley Benton Jazz 60% of the time. Companies need to make money and they will feed off your insecurities and bombard you with cow poop, to make you part with more money. There are times when it may not be appropriate to do a session for someone with a £100 bass (mainly down to other people’s preconceived ideas and ignorance) but using one for other applications doesn’t make you an amateur. Use your ears, if it sounds good it is good.

Placed an order as it was rude not to for £15, that’s a couple of coffees in most places. Happy to wait a few months if need be.

I know that bass and the last time I was in the shop I thought it had almost found a home with a new owner. Sadly I never had a chance to play it, despite the offer to bring it into the shop for me to try. It looks incredible and what a wonderful experience it must have been. It was a big blow to the local music community when it’s owner passed away and it is sad that the shop has come to the end of its days too. I used to spend a lot of time and money in there.

Yup, I used to play a Jazz when I started and was always after thin necks on other basses because I thought they made me play faster. Over the years I have found that I don’t cope well with thin necks, I get bad cramp and feel like my fingers get on top of one another and almost trip over themselves. One of the reasons I struggled with 5 strings was because the spacings on a lot of them were too tight, then I found 5 strings which had ‘normal’ 19mm spacing and I moved to them exclusively for nearly 10 years. I absolutely adore the classic 50s precision necks, which are almost as big as a stingray 5 but width and find them incredibly comfortable. I’m currently on a Stingray which is a nice nut width and not too deep and find that a good fit. I would love a Jazz as they always appealed to me visually, but I would have to build a bitsa or a custom order with a precision neck to make it playable for me. I also keep my eyes peeled for the elusive 2001 Fender PJ Hotrod which I would love.

Well done sir, I nearly started one yesterday but got distracted and forgot. A couple of things caught my eye; The new Fender Bass Preamp designed by Alex Aguilar (the man behind the original Aguilar amps/preamps) The new £600 Ireland made Sheeran acoustics by Lowden Guitars. Can’t say I’m a massive Ed Sheeran fan, but a £600 Irish built Lowden acoustic has to be worth a try.

@EBS_freak that is a tune, and that is also what I call I superb function band. we used to do some artful dodger - moving too fast, ultra nate- free, Estelle - American boy, sub sub - ain’t no love, strike - you sure do. There were a few other 90s dance ones that went down stupidly well but I have forgotten them now, we used to do a 15min medley of dance stuff that was incredible and I don’t like 90s dance music. 😂

This above.....I sadly have done a few comparisons over the years and Elixirs always win out over the course of a year. Depending on the brand I compared with, the savings changed, but against using EB Slinky’s I reckon I saved about £20, and I dread to think what that would be against something like rotosounds which I wouldn’t keep on longer than one practice and a sweaty gig. D’Addario NYXL strings are well worth a look too, they aren’t advertised as long life, but they outlast every other kind of non coated string I have used by a country mile.

I have been in plenty of bands where their idea of smart was as you describe, black suits, shoes and ties, white shirts. Its a bit naff for most occasions. In a few bands we have basically had some rules of what not to wear, so basically: No black, no trainers, no blue stone washed jeans, no wearing just a t-shirt (a smart plain T-shirt with a waistcoat can look ok) and no super bright colours unless it’s a fun occasion or for friends etc. This basically forced people into smart trousers/chinos, of varying colours sometimes, but more often than not grays. Smart tailored shirts with nice patterns or a solid muted colour, and more often than not, brown leather boots/shoes/brogues. Jeans were fine for pub gigs or casual settings but always dark gray, dark blue kind of denim, no ‘dad’ jeans. Obviously you judge the venue, and we did wear suits for occasions, but again always grays or blues etc.