Billy Bongo

Two mostly if I'm with a band or in session, although a thumb comes in handy. If soloing extemporaneously (sorry for the gobful) I use a bendy pick. I once tried to use my pinky, kind of as a reserve, but it confused the remains of my aged brain, so I stopped and went back to watching the rain run down the window.

For me yes and no. I can do solos on anything - usually badly - as I'm sure anyone on here can, but some guitars have a natural tone that appeals and some are dead wood, so not sure I agree with your comment about asking what the best colour is. But it is all subjective. Nice pic btw!

Have to agree. I had an original PB and the tonal range was limited, but it suited bands where the bass was only a background, so as long as there was a thump, which the PB did well, the lead and the skin basher were happy. My first bass was a Vox Clubman short scale - still have it - but it was a plank. Having said that my 64 Burns Bison with Rezomatic pickups through a decent Marshall causes nose bleeds, spontaneous deafness and removes plaster from walls, so they were not all bad.😳😜

Thanks, I will. I am easily impressed having played some right junk in my time, so Ibanez is probably right until I get a gig that pays more than £50!

Many thanks for that comprehensive run down, Ito. I know most of them and like the work of John Patitucci and many others. You have it right when you say 'if the instrument does not talk to you' - if it feels like a block of wood with strings, it is.

Up to £500. Might go a bit higher for the right bass.

True. I'd be interested to know what mellow means to you.

Thanks. Looking at Ibanez at the moment. I tried an Ibanez Gio 6 string and was surprised by the range of tones and the playability for no money. I ought to try an SR too. I will check out Dingwall. Thanks for the suggestion👍

Thanks. MTD are a tad too much dosh for me, even though they make some lovely basses.

'Mellow' to me means warm. Bit too old to be swapping out pickups😳

I'll take a look, thanks😃

I'm playing a 4 and 5 string in a geriatric band, but soloing in my home studio on the 7 string fretless and will be collaborating with an ambience producer in the immediate future. Five or six string? The tonal range is so much greater with more strings, but I'm having some difficulty with my 7 string - fingers are no longer as flexibIe will look at Warwick - its not a maker I've ever considered. Thanks.

Good advice. I tried an Ibanez 6 string recently and was genuinely surprised by the quality. Tone is impossible to define, but every bass has a character and without EQ that character is apparent. With the Ibanez tone control off, to me it has a mellow, warm sound, but could be made 'mellower' by flatwounds.

Cheers to those who kindly commented! Pretty poor response otherwise. Maybe I was wrong about 'knowledgeable bass players', or perhaps I hit a time when they were having their cocoa? 😳😊

I have a 1964 Burns Bison Bass, a cheap Glarry and a 7 string fretless 'Prestige'. The 7 string is pretty good (if tricky to play), the Burns is great for gigs ( if heavy) and the Glarry is surprisingly good for a plank with strings, but I'm looking for a different more mellow sound for solos without thrashing the EQ. This forum has the most knowledgeable bass players on the planet so suggestions are welcome. I'm on tablets so my fingers are currently bananas!

Sounds like my life +10! My knowledge of modern gear extends to a 1964 Burns Bison and a 2021 Glarry I bought for £70. I have a 7 string fretless as well, but get easily confused! The folks on here are very knowledgeable, so you are with friends. 😊

That's a good point. Cheers BRX.

No apologies necessary. Thanks, Smanth, it's a good piece of kit but I had one of these a few years ago and had much trouble with it, so I have an aversion to Focusrite even though they make some great products and are used by people I respect (and that's not many). Probably go for Audion, M-Audio etc., if I can't source a Thunderbolt input.

Cheers for that Beedster! I would have liked a Thunderbolt interface (mine are minis on the Macbook) but the price is prohibitive even secondhand, so I was trying to get speed without paying. They kill you for that in Sheffield. My Macbook is still on Yosemite OS, so some modern interfaces won't work with it, but I love Yosemite. Latency is my bugbear having had numerous i/o's that claimed zero latency but always had it. Ah well...

Hi All, Sniffing around a secondhand audio interface. The interface is Firewire. My Macbook Pro has Thunderbolt ports into Logic Pro. I'm not a techie so does anybody know if Firewire fits into Thunderbolt without an adaptor? Doesn't look as if it does. If not, is there an adaptor, cable etc.? Any foreseeable problems? Advice appreciated! Billy

Very right. With a few exceptions. My first bass was a short scale Vox Clubman and there were only two sounds - woolly or raspy. Imagine my surprise when I borrowed a pal's Rickenbacker and found I had three! Then I bought a '64 Burns Bison and found I had any sound from the Rezo's I wanted to have! Lately, I bought a £62 Glarry Flame (liked the body shape) and I could get ALMOST the same sounds out of it with EQ. Big surprise. And then recently a cheap 'Prestige' fretless 7 string with a tonal quality that gave me everything. Can't yet play the damn thing, but I love making noises and exploring the expanded soundscape all those strings give. And fretless... it's a bugger!!! Of course, I might be just a crap player....:D

Years ago, when Napoleon had just retreated from Moscow, I had a regular gig on a local RAF base. The building was a Nissan hut from WW2 and made of tin. The reverb was terrific, but on the occasions you don't want reverb it was impossible to dial out, even with the limited EQ gear we had. It could be mitigated by using only the neck pickup on my Bison and as a (then) plectrum player using a felt plectrum. One twiddle on the treble meant reverb, so it was either full reverb or double bass - nothing in between. It was better when we filled it with wool clad 'erks' (ground crew usually)! So, after this lengthy ramble, it's the room. Every room is different. Adapt or die.😊

It all depends if you want to be led by a selfish git. This instance sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Imagine, if you will, a time in the future when you have 'made it'. There you are miserably hanging about in the background whilst Clapton goes off on an impromptu solo. You mention it afterwards and he flies into a rage. He does this every time you query anything. For five years. Do you want that? Or would you be better finding a band without a lead ego? Bass is what drives any band. It hits the guts of an audience. Without you it is just a lot of noise without heart. If this bloke has no respect for you now then prepare to be further humiliated. Sounds harsh I know, but this stuff is meant to be enjoyable and it doesn't sound as if you are enjoying it right now.

Cheers HZ.👍