The Funk

If you live near there just find a way of picking it up yourself. I don't trust musical equipment shops. They regularly manage to sell stuff you've already bought off them to someone else.

Bloody hell. That looks nice.

If you're ever in South London, they had a few in stock in Gig Sounds last time I was there. Didn't get a proper chance to try one out thanks to the ars*y store manager.

For bass you need more power than guitar because it takes more power to produce low frequencies cleanly. The general rule is to have four times as many Watts as your guitarist. So if your guitarist has a 50W amp, you should have a 200W amp. What brands do you know are available in Lithuania?

If your budget's around £230, then you should probably set aside around £50-70 of that for a good practice amp. Don't get a rubbish one. That leaves £160-180 for the bass.

Yeah, you're right about 'the wrong instrument' putting a newbie off playing altogether. I recommend the Wesley purely 'cos I've played it and was pleased with how it plays. I also think it looks cool and could fit most band styles further down the line. EDIT: I've recommended it 3 times in this thread now. I should say that I'm not saying it's the best budget bass out there. Just one that I thought was decent value.

You could either get a tube combo, or a tube amp head + cabinet (the cabs don't have tubes in them), or a tube preamp + power amp (either tube or transistor) + cabinet. I think Rob Trujillo of Metallica uses an Ampeg of some kind. I'll do some research and find out.

The reason I'd recommend the Wesley is that I've played it a couple of times and it's actually a decent bass. I usually expect most basses under £300 to be utter sh!t and many are. I was extremely surprised that a bass that cost £100 played very well and was constructed/finished well. I haven't played the cheaper Washburns, Yamahas or Ibanezes so I can't comment on them. I don't know what they're like. EDIT: My first bass was a Mexican-made Fender Jazz Standard. I've still got it and could happily survive just with that. The trouble is the MIM Fender Jazzes are over £300 IIRC and I think a few duds slip through their quality control procedures.

I don't know about that advice. Not for a first bass anyway. Everything feels unnatural when you start playing bass. Just get a good quality, fairly straightforward bass for a reasonable price and see how you get on. It's only now after 13 years of playing that I can tell what kinds of basses suit me or don't suit me when I try them out. EDIT: Also, I'd say the sooner you own a bass, the sooner you can get practising and actually progress.

[quote name='Krysbass' post='33012' date='Jul 17 2007, 01:18 PM']I seem to remember that Martin Kemp is seen “playing” a Westone semi-acoustic guitar in the “True” video, which seems to have become the only one you ever see these days.[/quote] Ah, that's what confused me!

Wesley do a nice starter bass for £100. My guitarist recently got one after I had a look around at budget basses for him. It's pretty decent, it turns out. Put on a good set of strings and you could comfortably gig with it. That means you wouldn't need to think about upgrading for a good few years. [url="http://www.wesleyguitars.co.uk/storefrontprofiles/DeluxeSFItemDetail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=44184&c=519508&i=231365257"][/url]

It could be that he couldn't recreate the magic without the other co-creators.

Just checking your thoughts guys. The Mu-Tron creator (Mike something or other) recommended either finding a vintage Mu-Tron or getting a Q-Tron (which he designed for E-H). I understand that his recommendation for the Q-Tron might be based on considerations other than sound.

How does the Q-Tron fare in comparison to the Mu-Tron III? Any experience/ideas/thoughts/advice for someone considering getting a Q-Tron and hoping for the Mu-Tron III sound?

Got to agree with the post above. If you really need more support (how heavy an amp is it?) then you should see about racking it at the back too.

I saw one of Flea jamming with River Phoenix. That was interesting.

[quote name='3V17C' post='31032' date='Jul 13 2007, 12:51 AM']Randy Jackson - the American Idol judge Martin Kemp - that bloke off Eastenders (and now sofa advertisement fame!) who used to be in Spandau Ballet[/quote] To be fair, Randy Jackson got his America Idol judge gig off the back of his bass playing resumé, didn't he? I thought Martin Kemp was the guitarist? [quote name='d-basser' post='31033' date='Jul 13 2007, 12:51 AM']Jonny Depp plays some bass to[/quote] He's good mates with Flea. There's a cool clip of a Flea instructional video from the late 80s floating around the net. If you look closely you'll see that the interviewer is none other than Jonny Depp.

I was going to say something but it's already been said. It's fair to say you like the low end.

Interestingly, no votes for Gibson in the poll. I tried a Gibson Les Paul Standard bass not expecting much of it - I was very, very wrong. Fantastic sound for a great many things. The sound was somewhere between a Jazz and a Musicman (which could be a completely useless description). I've also previously tried a vintage EB3, Jack Bruce-style, and one of those semi-acoustics a la Jack Cassidy. Big, big sound. Precision-y but rounder and less defined. Anyway, I don't actually own or play one. Just surprised noone else on here does.

6 months would be too long a break though. If you're in the US you should see if you can get out playing a bit. Leave the Warwick here and buy a cheap, beat-up, 19th-hand Fender out there for your trip.

Not a terrible idea, you know. You could get a matte black and a black abalone guard then. I'm surprised none of the tortoiseshell crew have piped up yet.

They're holding the power amp for me for the next two weeks. If I live off toast and walk to and from work for the next six weeks, it should be alright. Someone buy my QSC Power Amp. EDIT: Decided against it. Panic buying Eden bass gear. Damn it.

I think I just came in my pants.