Bleat

Marshall DBS 7200 😍 Really would like a DBS cab for it, but this old Q- Max cab sounds the business for now.

I had something along these lines last year. It is so frustrating! 20 years away from bands and gigging, I finally I had an opportunity to get into a rock covers band again.

The supposed lead guitarist sent over a small set list of songs in December 2020, mostly simple rock songs with a couple of songs I didn't know so I learned them. The "band" finally got together in July 2021 for a rehearsal. I turned up with a list of 30+ songs including the list I was sent initially. Me and the drummer were the new boys and had never met , but turns out he could play well, was already gigging with another band, and he liked and knew a lot of the songs I had written down. We seemed to click which was good. However, the rhythm guitarist was a no show, the singer was a no show, and the guy who had initially sent his set list in December 2020 basically couldn't play any of the songs! He just hadn't learned them in all that time. He also thought that it was a good idea to waste the practice time plus mine and drummers money trying to learn said songs! What an utter waste of time and effort.

This is my set neck and upper fret "access". I think they are just there for show. Even my long fingers aren't long enough to do anything up there. I don't care about higher than the 7th fret anyway. 

Currently I have one cheap bass and one even cheaper bass. If I could have afforded to keep my Gibson Les Paul just to sit and play at home and just generally admire I would have, but no use if it's not practical due to its stupid weight. Top quality all round though.

My £200 Washburn B200 might not have the price tag or quality but I love it more, and it weighs less. It is definitely "the one" and would have to be prized from my cold, dead hands. I think that having an instrument like that is worth way more than any monetary value. My backup bass is an Artist P type bass which cost me £50 and was a brand new customer return... nothing wrong with it apart from being boring. 

🤘

I can do general setups ie intonation and saddle adjustment, truss adjustment. I am fine with replacing  hardware, soldering pots and wiring with help of diagrams. I don't do anything with regards to fretwork though.

Only I know how I play and how I want the instrument to feel in my hands. Also with so many helpful Youtube "how to" videos these days, there's really no excuse to not at least learn basic adjustments / maintenance.

The real trick to it has already been mentioned. It can be tempting to play heavy music with force, but through experience I found it's all about relaxing the fingers and playing quite lightly. I don't play music quite this heavy but play most forms of rock. It took me years to learn to play 2 fingered Steve Harris galloping style, but one day the light bulb came on and realised it was mostly just all down to learning to play more lightly with the right hand and flicking my fingers across the strings.  I also use a very light gauge  30 50 70 85 . Maybe a lighter gauge could be worth trying?

It's preparing us for the coming Zombie Apocalypse ™

I'm not racist... I despise everyone equally.

Have I fallen into some sort of worm hole and emerged into an alternate reality or is this just some bad nonsensical nightmare featuring Mark King?

Looks very similar to the Charvel San Dimas basses.  

This is what I consider to be the most underrated bit of bass gear ever. 😎

Bought some flat wound strings last week. I had to up the gauge to 100's from my now usual round wound Rotosound 85's as that was the cheapest set I could find.  Fitted them, spent quite a while setting up bass, hated them, took them off, threw them in the bin and put my 85's back on. There was a reason to put flat wounds on but I won't bore anyone with the details. 

The Aria for sure, but also like the Washburn Style as shown above. 😎

I started with standard 45-105 gauge and have been steadily dropping over the last year or two. The lightest gauge I could find as a set are Rotosound 30/50/65/85 which I am currently using and quite like them,  Not the usual gauge for a "rock" bass player but then I'm generally not usual I guess!

27 minutes ago, ped said:

I’ll measure it later

You sounded just like an old ex-girlfriend of mine when you typed that.

I would describe the sound as "a new obscure late night BBC2 comedy theme tune that will initially attract only a few viewers due to a clash with Match Of The Day, but will eventually end up on the BBC1 Saturday prime time slot in a few months time due to millions of people raving about it on social media" -esque.

It should work if you say it quickly enough.

😐

Adam Clayton possibly somewhere last week demonstrating his position of being "the man" in the band, wearing his best sparkly top and trousers playing his signature bass finished in an eye catching lilac glitter effect. His matching handbag is behind his back just out of shot. 

I play with fingers mostly as I feel more in control of what's happening. I like to play close to the bridge mostly, but can move around comfortably if needed as I use floating thumb. I also use an "invisible" pick technique where it looks like I am holding a pick but actually use my first finger as the pick itself to strum the strings, so I retain the direct connection to them. It is something I have always done naturally, though I have started to use a "real" pick every so often more recently just to develop it as another playing style.

He's obviously not interested in the other band members, not about being a good musician, has no interest in the band looking and sounding at its best on stage, not bothered by how he behaves towards others... yeah I would walk and find some actual grown ups to play with. 

I now have to find a band that plays Back In Black just so I can really annoy and irritate the guitarist by playing the actual correct note. 😏

I am a fan of Washburn basses. I have owned a few over the years. I started my love affair with a brand new B-200 in 1993, owned more basses of various types and brands than I care to remember in between, and have recently come full circle and got hold of another B-200 earlier this year. I will always be a fan of Gibson basses also, but alas only from afar currently.  

I learnt a few covers which were new to me, put the time in to nail them ( as us bass players tend to do), turned up for first actual rehersal with "band" after weeks of online "talking the talk" and song suggestions etc to find both guitarists could hardly play a note between them. I removed myself quickly from that waste of time...but... I now have a few new songs in my personal repetoire which I would not have otherwise. Unless you hated the songs, it's not a waste of time in that respect, and may prove useful for any future band you may join.

7 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I'm glad he's a luthier.

 

He could have been a plastic surgeon. 😳

I think he may possibly have already been there and done that, but moved onto bits of wood just for the challenge.

It's Rickenbacker's new neck joint design.

Gibson Cherry red , cherry burst on most but not all basses , black on most but not all basses.

Most of all I love the dark metallic blue finish on my Washburn.

😎