Rich

Sod's law being what it is, the first time you don't take one, you'll need it. In the past I've been let down three times by a bass at gigs, luckily none of them was a big paid affair. Nonetheless each time, I wished to god that I'd had a spare bass with me. It would have been rather more than a comfort blanket.

...and the lord looked upon the Wood Store, and he saw that it was good... not to mention potentially expensive...

[quote name='kdphysio' post='133083' date='Feb 3 2008, 03:36 PM']It's just like women......there's always a more beautiful one out there....... but luckily guitars can't say no! [/quote]
Yes, and thankfully they don't point and laugh when you're naked either.

[quote name='Ant' post='118139' date='Jan 10 2008, 08:18 PM']hello all, thanks for the replies and help - ive decided to go with a shuker.

and i shall keep you all informed!!![/quote]
Good call... but if it were my money, I'd have at least tried the Ibanez first.

For everyone who said "Why do you need a backup..?"...
[quote name='nottswarwick' post='134741' date='Feb 5 2008, 11:50 PM']my view....if you are doing semi-pro or pro gigs, you need a spare instrument on stage, without question. Possibly rare, but strings do break, batteries do die suddenly, electronics do fail...rare I know, but if this happens and you are being paid you need to be able to pick up your spare immediately and carry on. If you have to cut short someones wedding gig, you are really not going to be popular.[/quote][i]...this[/i] is why.
If I take a backup to a gig, it's a 5... but that's just because I happen to have two 5s Before I got the Shuke, my backup was a 4 with a D-tuner.

How about another totally colossal pedal board Joe? I reckon you could do with some more FX

Liking that very much. Yum.
It's as nice as the Fly bass is awful, which is very. Shame, because the Fly guitar is simply brilliant... if I was a gtrist, I'd have bought one years ago.

For someone who complains about a lack of open-minded towards your particular instrument of choice, you display a remarkable lack of it towards anything other than that which you feel to be cutting-edge or innovative. I can almost guarantee you that in 20 years time there will still be far more call for 4/5 string groove-merchants than there will for ERB-wielding 'innovators'. Both will continue to co-exist, and this is a good thing. I'm not going to slag you off for looking up the side road and thinking "I wonder where that goes?"... more power to your elbow, good luck and I'll be interested to hear where you end up. Me, I am quite happy with my big wide A-road thank you very much, and I'd appreciate it if you could show me (and all the others like me) the same courtesy and not constantly sneer at us. And yes, you do.

[quote name='OldGit' post='132067' date='Feb 1 2008, 05:11 PM']I'm bringing some "UK Luthier product" .. or a couple of Shuker basses as I prefer to call them :0 and Rich is too [/quote]Yup, and I'll also bring my Alternative UK Luthier Product -- or 'Wal' to you

Said it before & will say it again... the Hipshot detuner thingy is the single most useful mod you can make to a 4-string bass.

I'm using [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD280pro-Closed-Monitor-Headphone/dp/B000065BPB/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1201860864&sr=8-1"]Sennheiser HD280 Pros[/url]. Love 'em.

What a fabulous choice to have to make! I'm quite jealous.
What dood said... have you got any pics?

Got plenty of tone, thanks.

Being a cheapskate, I still use Warwick Reds 40-130 on my fives... got a nice low action with minimal buzz, but I think a lot of that is down to the fact that I don't play too hard these days (the ramp has sorted that out). I've got Elixir 45s on my Yam fretless and they feel broadly similar tension-wise.

Try everything you can lay your hands on. If a shop is reluctant to let you try stuff, walk and take your cash elsewhere.
For a classic look, the Squier VMJ as mentioned before.
For a more contemporary vibe, the Yamahas are IMHO unbeatable value for money.

A 6mm action is more than a little high... you can drive a truck under it! Definitely needs to come down. Looks like your best option is to spend your 200 sovs immediately.

Clip-on horn mics are a great idea, but are they man enough for some jobs? Baritone sax for example?

Daltry is right about needing another Pistols... not necessarily the band [i]per se[/i], but the whole ethos of the band, of the punk idea... the rebellion against the bullshit music had become before it, the endless manufactured pea-soup disco nonsense. Tina Charles' "I Love To Love" anybody? Now tell me that's not a million miles from Umberella-ella-fcking ella. For Boney M, read Girls Aloud.
The industry need the same punk shake up, something to inspire not just a few people but the masses, something to make the greater music buying public wake up, smell the vinyl, and realise that music is stagnant and will just get worse without a radical change in approach. Until the people buying the music realise this and embrace this change of approach, the industry heirarchy will keep churning out the same old bollocks and pop really will eat itself.

Hi Matt, welcome to the Bristolian Chapter of basschat There's a lot of us!

Well what with Bristol being a Uni town, I understand that many of the clubs are pretty good on Friday & Saturday nights...

Ah. Not [i]that[/i] sort of action. Whoops, sorry.
You pretty much said it yourself... it's a personal thing. The default height is whatever feels best for you. Sorry if this is a bit vague! Your best bet is to take your bass to a friendly repair/service bod and get him to sort it out.

"Good morning, The Bass Centre."
"Ah, hello, I'd like to blow a thousand quid on a bass without even having clapped eyes on it first, never mind actually playing it."
"Well you've come to the right place! And while you're committing yourself sight-unseen to a very major instrument purchase, can I also interest you in splashing out even more of your hard-earned on an amp that you have no idea whether you'll like or not?"

For god's sake.

The Fiddlers in Bristol last night... being January we weren't expecting much, but it was a belter. Great crowd well up for it, and our very own [b]joegarcia[/b] behind the desk... I've heard nothing but excellent reports on the FOH sound, most of them being of the "best sound you've had at the Fiddlers" variety.
The only sad thing is that it was Dr.Liz's last gig on alto sax... she's off, taking her shiny new medical degree to pastures new. Gonna miss her.

I'd like to try one, but just out of curiosity really. The looks alone are enough to put me off, and the sound Mr.King gets out of his is diabolical. I really hope they're capable of a bit more low-end than he gets.

Excellent review, first class stuff. The colour is uber-yuck and the bridge is far too antiquated for my liking, but tonally it seems to be a lot more versatile than I was expecting. I would definitely want to blend the two pickups, so yes either the internal mod or an outside unit -- either the ABY box or perhaps a little 2-channel mixer?

Yay, I think I might even be able to make it to this one!
If so, I'll bring
[list]
[*]Shuker J-5
[*]Status S1 five [i](perhaps)[/i]
[*]Wal Pro IIE
[*]Focusrite/Crown rig
[*]Nemesis cabs x2
[/list]

Can not [i]believe[/i] that Weckl and Chambers have only had one mention so far...