Skybone

If they ask for your NI number, ask them about the Work Place Pension. A Pub Landlord doesn't need to know about you or your bands NI details. He's employing you as a Sub-Contractor to provide musical services to entertain the punters. As a Sub-Contractor, he pays you direct, and it's up to you to declare your income from providing your services.

If you're aiming to join a Stoner Rock band, it might be better looking at passive basses.

I've owned a few guitars where neck dive was a problem, but never on a bass

[quote name='Bolo' timestamp='1487852799' post='3243521'] More traditional? Bring an upright. In thrash metal anything is used that tickles your fancy, from lethal spikey b.c. rich to firewood fenders, steinberger paddles to rics. [/quote] I remember watching a very technical death metal band at a gig, where the bassist impressed me massively, by not only being very good, but also by playing technical death metal very well using a double bass.

I had a G&L L2000 Tribute for a while, nice bass, but I couldn't get a sound I was happy with while it was in passive mode.

Yamaha BB424/425

Thought I had my keeper, but I had to sell it (Ric 4003 - needed the money). However, I think I have my keeper bass, mainly down to the fact that thanks to Mr Hall, I can't sell them. But they are very good basses, so I don't mind too much.

Me? I was a big Rush, Sabbath Purple & Hawkwind/Motorhead fan (driving bass lines). Spent many years playing bass, took some time out, took up playing guitar (wanted to form a band, met a bass player who had better gear, so took up guitar - it made sense at the time, and it was good fun, but was much more of a rhythm player than lead). Always kept a bass in. Now back playing bass, and loving it.

Whatever sounds good to you. However, as with a guitar, the general "rule of thumb" is OD/Dist/Fuzz, Mod, Delay, Wahworks for bass too.

There were plenty of songs that didn't have any slapping bass lines, but many, many, many more did. It was the "style of the times".

I've had both the Zoom B3 & the POD HD500x, I must say that the HD is absolutely superb, great sounds, loads of choice with effects and options. The B3 was good, but the HD is brilliant. It takes time to set up, but well worth taking the time to set up. The upside of the new Zoom B3n coming out, is the fact that there should be some very good deals on the B3.

And a "Teach Youself Slap Bass" book/video

With the B3n coming out, there should be some cracking deals on B3's due. Not forgetting second hand versions as well.

Does anyone know if there's ever been a "wide neck" version of a Thunderbird?

Don't think GAS ever goes away (especially when you visit forums!), it can be delayed for a while (especially if you can't afford to buy anything else). Very happy with my Faker's, they play great, sound great and look great IMO. I still GAS after a Ric, and other basses, but I'll just have to make do for now.

It'd have to be between Geddy & Geezer for me. There are others, but they are the two players who made me want to pick up the bass.

I just use a bog standard, 3" wide, unpadded leather strap. Works for me, wide enough to support the weight, grippy enough to prevent sliding, and long enough to be comfy. Best of all, it was relatively cheap too.

I'm not a fan of flats. Tried them a couple of times, and they just sound dull to me, and they're a bit too expensive to buy just to find out you don't like them. I'll stick with the roundwounds thanks.

Loads of chorus!

I used a B3 for a while, and found it to be versatile, though if you want to use more than 3 effects at once, it could be a bit limiting. I got an MS60B from someone on here, a great wee pedal, but very limited regarding switching effects during songs. I now use the Line6 POD HD500x, which gives me all the flexibility of an effects floor board as well as all the amp sims. Sounds great too. Modern multi-FX are so much better than their forebears, though a good number of people insist on individual effects. Must admit that I was something of an analogue snob while I was playing guitar for gigs & rehearsals (valve amp & analogue pedals), but used a POD for recording ideas and practising at home. A good multi-FX can allow you to experiment with effects that you'd either not find, or would be too expensive to buy just to experiment with. IMO, you can use the multi-FX to find sounds that you like, and then you can build an analogue rig from there if that's still a priority. When you start to look at rigs like the Axe FX, Kemper & Helix, you realise that multi's have come such a long wayin a relatively short period.

Asking for someone I know... I was asked for a bit of advice the other day about setting up a SansAmp BDDI to get a bit more "growl" from it, but without it getting too distorted. As I've never used one, I'm not too sure where to start. They use a Geddy Jazz into the SansAmp. Thanks

I used one for a while, mainly for band rehearsals & practicing at home. At rehearsals, I mainly plugged it into the PA, but also plugged it into the bass rig at the rehearsal room (bypassing the amps pre-amp section). I sold my PODxt Live last year and replaced it with the HD500x. Very happy with that, the sims and effects sound great, even though there's less choice of sims & cabs (see the POD HD500x thread).

When I was using my old PODxt bean, before I added the Bass Expansion Pack, my favourite model was the DR103 & matching 4x12. I bought the xt Live, and added the Bass Expansion Pack and discovered the SVT model that was great, but I wasn't happy with the effects. The HD was the ideal replacement, the amp models, although not as many as the XT, they are far better quality, and just sound so much better. The effects bundled with the HD's are similarly great. I'm very happy with the HD, it sounds so much better, a great improvement on the XT's.