Muzz

I played a Fender Roadworn P a while back and really liked it on the playing front (other than the biiiig chunky neck, but that's just me; anything over a toothpick and I'm out), tho I'm not a fan of relicing at all. They seem to hold their value really well, tho, so you'll pay pretty much what they cost when new for one. I suppose dings don't affect their resale value... 🙂

Case in point; I use the Stomp so 'my sound(s)*' comes from that box, and then I pick the amp to suit the gig, from none with inears, to a 112 combo, to a 212&115 Mesa stack. The amps just make 'my sounds' louder in different ways. I always DI, too. I played a festival a week or so ago where the supplied rig was a Markbass LMIII/2 x 410. It wasn't ideal (these sorts of gigs rarely are), but 'my sounds' were there; not as much onstage, but definitely out front. I'd move to an FRFR/PA cab if there was one which could cover all my gigs, but I'd need a pair to cope with the bigger gigs, and that's a big outlay. * Both my core sound, and any more, erm, esoteric ones I use in a covers/wedding band with a wide range of styles to, erm, cover...from Rock Clank to Muse to C&W thump to Marcus Miller zing...I know I could get close with just the bass for some of it, but we got out (mostly) as a trio, so the bass is more evident without keys/2nd guitar in the mix...even the punters might notice... 😕🙂

If you're looking at Gus/Buzzard sort of money, tho, it brings you into luthier territory; if I had a couple of £k, I'd be talking to Jon Shuker about a light, balanced Thunderbird/Fenderbird, built exactly to my requirements... The one on the left started life as an Epiphone (tho there's only the body wood and neckplate left), and is only half a Shuker, but it's not heavy, and balances just fine...the strap button has been moved, tho... We don't mention the upper fret access, tho (it was kind of an accident, involving a 22-fret Lakland neck and a lot of ill-advised giddiness)...not that I ever really venture up into Nosebleed Territory...

I do like that...sums up quite a lot of basses I've owned and played... 😁

I had a ZZB - in fact I've got one at the moment stashed away, because it needs lots of work, but although they're not heavy (they're a 32" scale, too) IIRC there was some neck dive...and that's from a Fenderbird lover... I've played a Buzzard, and (again IIRC) it wasn't light; it had that Warwick Brick Outhouse Build to it, tho...unless you tuck it right up under your right arm a la Entwistle, the nut can get a lonnnng way away... +1 for the Dingwall D-Bird/D-Rocs; not heavy at all, and the body curves and balance are exemplary...

Having left the last three big stadium-type gigs* mid-concert, you couldn't persuade me to part with the best part of £100 (or more) for the experience any more. I saw the fantastic Robert Jon and the Wreck at Night and Day (250 capacity) for £12 the other week, and I'm going to Cadillac 3 at the Academy for £22, this sort of gig invariably sounds better, looks better, and has a much better atmosphere, for a fraction of the nose-bleeding cost of the stadium stuff. The Ritz is my favourite venue (the O2 Leeds is good, too) for slightly more well-known bands, and I can't recall a bad sound in there, ever. The only big-capacity gig I've enjoyed in the last few years was Ennio Morricone in Dublin, but that, as you can imagine, was a seated affair...and given there were 198 people on the stage, a big venue was pretty much required... *The Foo Fighters at Manchester Cricket Ground, the Hollywood Vampires at the MEN, and Alterbridge at the MEN...all because of truly dreadful, gig-ruining sound...well, the Hollywood Vampires were a joke musically, as well, but the sound was very poor, too...

When I first dipped a toe into these waters (pre-Stomp days), I used my iPad and the Positive Grid preamps/effects into a Markbass F1. I'm not that keen on the LM heads, but I thought the F1 was very 'quick and clean'...plus it's a lot smaller than the LMs... You'd have to find a SH one these days, tho...

A shot from last Friday: 414 with Fender bridge and Hipshot Ultralites (inc D-Tuner)...the perfect 'Don't worry about it' gigging P-Bass... 🙂

Yeah, they must have reformed with younger members; they were the youngest band by a looong way last weekend...Jay's a great drummer, too...

Yep, Jay was running the whole thing, as well as smashing it on drums and guitar - they're a great band, especially since I've got socks older than most of them... 😃 Edit: I've just checked, and Jay's Status Quoing were a much younger lineup than the one I've found online...

I've had better nights, for sure...

A bit of a curate's egg of a weekend at the McVention Quo festival in Glasgow. We (the originals band) played the Friday night, and went down well for the only non-Quo-Trib band on for the weekend. I cocked up badly on the energy front, tho; I got a Greggs at about 8 in the morning on the way up there, and then with all the faffing of a multi-band lineup, I didn't eat before we went on at 8pm. I'm still recovering from the nasty flu&Covid thing I had a couple of weeks ago (though I've been fully negative for more than a week), and just didn't have enough in the tank, so three songs in I went off a cliff in terms of energy; I honestly thought I was gonna collapse, and I don't remember the last three songs. If it'd have been anything other than a gig, I would've gone and laid down, but hey, the show goes on... I felt better after a Maccy D's after I got off stage, but I was in bed in the hotel for eleven... Was OK for the next day - I stuck around to roadie for/watch State Of Quo, the band our drummer and geetarist are in (they were the best band of the weekend, including John Coghlan's bunch), and we went our for a curry after, but it was hardly the Bacchanalian debauchery it could have been... The supplied Markbass rig (LMIII and 2 x 410HFs) reminded me why I sold my MB stuff years ago, but I made the best of it, and apparently it sounded good out front... This is the first number, before I felt like lying down on the stage and expiring...:

Like BRX, my Stomp is now 'my sound in a box' (and yeah, that includes amp/cab sims, compression, etc) which is invaluable for the different varieties of gigs I do, from tiny pubs using minimal gear to big stages with supplied backline. All I do is amplify it differently. I also use it for a pretty wide range of sounds I need in the covers band (and yeah, Muse is part of that), and also for pitch shifting (I have several banks of sounds, each one shifted down, from E to Eb to D to Db to C). So the short answer is, for me, yep.

😁

I do quite a few varieties of gigs, so I have a few setups; for the pub/function trio, we have a small but good quality PA (we use triggered drums) which we take to every gig, so why wouldn't I reduce my load and take the minimum kit and go into the PA? I'll either use IEMs or, for simplicity in small pubs, I have a Rumble 100 which I cut all the bass from and use as a small monitor, and let the PA do the heavy lifting. I also have a bigger rig for use in the 'traditional' Rawk Band, which isn't set up for IEMs, the geetards use Marshall 100s/412s. My sound comes from the Helix Stomp, so my amps are mostly flat; the only time I EQ is for the room. I'm playing a big 'shared backline' gig at the weekend, there's a MarkBass 2x410 rig provided, again I'll just set it flat, use the Stomp in front of it, and let the engineer worry about the FOH. Edit: TLDR, I guess the short answer is 'both'.