gjones

I blame Basschat. Although I have to say that 3 of the basses in this picture have been sold since it was taken and the only bass I gig regularly is the cream coloured Jazz on the far right. I will sell a few others in the next couple of years and I'll probably just be left with my USA Elite Precision, the 5 string G&L and the cream Jazz.

The Fender Rumble V3 100 is also my recommendation. It is light as a feather (a one finger lift), loud enough to compete with a quietish drummer and small and unobtrusive enough to use as a practice amp at home. My one cost me £165 secondhand.

I own an ABM 500 EVO lll and the Rootmaster in my local rehearsal room sounds as good as the ABM......maybe better.

If you're an original band then the more gigs the merrier, even if there's not much money involved. But if you're a cover band then the golden rule is never play for less than you feel you're worth, because that sets a precedent for your own band and other bands (i.e. that all bands will play for peanuts). So I think you made the right decision.

A bass player I replaced, back in the 80s, left his Ohm amp and 2x15 cab in his old band's rehearsal room. It had a fantastic sound and even when I plugged my rubbish Carlsbro Stingray combo head into the speaker cab I got a great sound. Unfortunately for me, he came by and picked his gear up after a couple of weeks and I was left with my rubbish Carlsbro Stingray combo, which sounded like a wet fart in comparison.

Played a gig on Friday at The Edinburgh Art Fair. It was held at a local conference/gig venue and the organisers thought that people having the chance to see some bands, after a long day of wandering around looking at art, would be a good idea. Unfortunately they didn't sell very many tickets and by the time we got to the stage there wasn't much of an audience left. The picture below shows the majority of them.

Any band I've been in which was a democracy, always folded due to disagreements about the choice of songs. The only bands I've been in that had any longevity, were those where the singer created the band around themselves and picked all the songs we played. If the singer can't sing, or doesn't want to sing the songs picked by the drummer (which is usually always the case), then the band is going nowhere fast. I don't join bands that are democracies, because in my experience, they usually have a limited lifespan. Although there are exceptions to the rule, I have a friend, who plays in a band, in which he (guitarist) the other guitarist and the bass player all sing. The person that picks the song sings it. And they've been gigging for about 20 years without anybody throwing their toys out of the pram.

If you're going through the PA I'd go for the Jazz. It's more likely to be heard out front, as the other basses you mention can sound a bit muddy without a bit of EQ. Edit: but that Ric does look great!

I assume the amateur relic job is putting people off what otherwise looks like a decent bass. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296023358083?hash=item44ec5dfa83:g:~vsAAOSwcRZlRQov

The singer and the guitarist in my main band take the dressing up part of gigging pretty seriously. I tend to just dress in black.

The Barefaced Super Compact is an excellent cab but needs a lot of power to compete with a loud drummer. I used a GK MB500 and it just wasn't quite enough. I upgraded to a GK MB800 and it gave a little bit more headroom. Interestingly enough, my Markbass 121 CMD P combo, is louder than the GK MB800 combination.

You would have thought they'd have a bunch of great stuff hanging around that was never put on an album, because after all, they were all geniuses. But it appears they only have the scrapings at the bottom of the barrel. This track probably wouldn't even get on a Rutles album (or an Oasis one for that matter).

A few years ago I put my GK MB500 through my Hartke HD112 at 4 ohms and I think I pushed it too far and I knackered it. They're only able to take 300 watts and it had a hard time keeping up with a quietish drummer. So my advice is set it at 8 ohms and if it's not loud enough, for the gigs you need it for, get another cab.

New USA Stingrays are selling for ridiculous prices these days. I bought mine, a used 2014 model, from Guitar Guitar about 4 years ago for £1200, which sounds like a total bargain now.

And the Rolling Stones are thinking about sending out digital avatars (like ABBA have done) when they can't drag their old bones on stage.

In theory, from what I've read, changing the polarity on a single pickup shouldn't change the sound but if you hear the difference then that's all that matters.

Get a Fender Rumble 100 V3 combo. It's very light (pick up with one finger light) and loud enough to play with a quiet-ish drummer. It's more than capable to be a onstage monitor if you're going through the PA (which I've used mine for many times).

Buy a practice amp with a headphone socket. That way when your wife is out, you can crank it up and annoy the cat. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/160406296787008--blackstar-fly-3-bass

I just asked ChatGPT what was the best bass for metal. It just went on and on, I couldn't shut it up!

I recently posted a bass in a Halfords bike box. They're more than happy to recycle their cycle boxes.

Sold a bass to Will at BassBros and it went extremely smoothly. He sent a courier to pick up my bass and he paid me the next day.

I was just watching a video of Billy Sheehan (the bass player in The Winery Dogs) giving a rundown of his rig. He says the rig is not very loud onstage because he monitors his bass via in ear monitors. So it appears he wasn't the one responsible for the rotten sound. I was there with a drummer who said the band's drummer, Mike Portnoy, is not a heavy hitter and Richie Kotzen who played guitar and sings, was also wearing in ear monitors, so didn't need his amp particularly loud in order to hear it. The sound engineer is starting to look, more and more like the guilty party.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see a rock band in Glasgow called the Winery Dogs. It's not the kind of gig I would normally go to but it was a free ticket from the drummer in my band, so I said what the heck and went along. They are only a three piece band, and they weren't that loud but the sound engineer was pretty awful and managed to make them sound like a woolly, mushy, indistinct mess, with inaudible vocals. The band all used IEM so the the mix probably sounded awesome in their earplugs.

Do you play bass naked?