gjones

I'm in two bands at the moment (one more active than the other) but I have been in your situation before. When I was bandless I kept the faith and guess what a band came calling. If you've been in the same band for 10 years you obviously know your stuff so don't worry. Sooner or later your new band will come calling just like it did for me.

I know what you mean. No need to buy a 51 Precision though, if you like that sound try a set of Rotosound trubass strings. They're black nylon tapewound strings which give a very full round vintage sound. Originally they were designed to emulate double bass strings and are very easy to glide around on because of their smoothness. I thought I was the only person who uses them but a quick search found out that they're Herbie Flowers strings of choice. They come in a very heavy gauge but actually feel very supple and easy to play and sound great when playing melodic bass lines. I've tried them on my old 70's custom P/J bass and on my Geddy Lee Jazz and they sound great on both.

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='793985' date='Apr 2 2010, 03:48 AM']oh and I still do ride my bike regardless [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_DgSwMZliM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_DgSwMZliM[/url][/quote] Wow! Adrenalin rush or what! You're my hero!

Great amps for the cash! I have an early one, made in the UK, which I bought 2nd hand for £150. They're loud, light, have a great EQ, has a speaker out if you want to add another cab, are tough as old boots and the DI out is post EQ (which means you can get a great sound if you want to record with it). I've recently bought a more powerful combo but the Ashdown will still be used at smaller gigs as it has a great sound (and is a lot lighter).

I do highly recommend Rotosound TruBass strings. Which are black nylon flatwounds. Not a fan of the Rotosound flatwounds (or any others really) but this string has a really deep smooth authorative vintage character which is not a bit woolly or indistinct. Sound great with a damper, especially when recorded.

I hate new rotosound swing bass strings all they're all bass and treble and feel gritty on my fingers. BUT when they've been worn in (ie about 3 or 4 yrs) they sound great. Once they start to get too dull sounding, loosen the strings for 24hrs then tune the bass back up and the zing is back. It's just wearing them in that's a pain in the ass. p.s. of course I'm exaggerating, it usually only takes a couple of years to wear them in.

[quote name='guitarglenn' post='703367' date='Jan 6 2010, 08:00 PM']Must have, or be willing to equip yourself with the required gear and transport to do the job.[/quote] I've got the Geddy Lee bass..........but I'm not kitting myself out with a whole load of washing machines.

I have a geddy lee and when I played the squier vintage vibe it sounded as good as the geddy. But don't take my word for it read this [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=63093&hl=vintage+vibe"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...hl=vintage+vibe[/url]

[quote name='Tee' post='778289' date='Mar 18 2010, 09:22 AM']I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on it, after you've played it a bit, perhaps at volume too. I'm possibly looking for a naturally deep/warm/round vintage sounding 15" combo and arrived at either a TV 15 Bassman or an Ampeg Blue Diamond B100/200R.[/quote] I haven't received it yet but I'm playing a gig on the 26th where I can give it a bit of welly so I'll report back then. I was also considering the ampeg b200r but I heard some scare stories on harmony central (a very good review site) about the build quality being pretty poor and fuses popping when you disconnect the horn in the speaker cabinet - although everyone says the sound is excellent.

Fender TV fifteen bassman bought and paid for. It's on it's way. That Ibanez Promethean was the smart choice but I went with my heart not my head. My poor old back.

An excellant Australian review [url="http://australianmusician.com.au/DisplayStory.asp?StoryID=345"]http://australianmusician.com.au/DisplaySt...asp?StoryID=345[/url] I was planning on buying a Fender TV fifteen or An Ashdown klystron combo this week....................now I'm not so sure because this makes so much more sense. Take this little fella to the smaller gigs bring a 15" cab for the bigger ones.

This might help you out. The beringer website for this amp includes pdf manual to download which explains the functions of the various knobs and buttons [url="http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BX4210A.aspx#documentation"]http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BX421...x#documentation[/url]

This does look like a very versatile little amp with big potential. I'm planning on buying a new amp this month and it's certainly something I would consider. I'm interested in it's connectivity with other cabinets. What kind of speaker outlets does it have. I'm assuming they're jacks or speakon connectors? The reason I ask is that on the Ibanez site there's no diagram or manual available showing the back panel and I'm worried that if I wanted to connect it to another bigger cabinet I'd have to buy an Ibanez one (hope this isn't the case).

Some great advice guys..........keep it coming!

I'm planning on buying a new combo next weekend. My budget is £700 max and I've narrowed it down to 3 contenders. 1 - Harke Hydrive 115c 2 - Ashdown ABM c115 EVO III 3 - TV Fifteen Fender Bassman The Harke is about £150 cheaper than the other two which is large part of the reason it is in the running. The Ashdown is on my list because I've used them before and I like the basic sound. The Fender is on the list because I love the vintage look of it and listening to the Ed Freidland video review of it on Youtube the tone is close to the one that I'm looking for. What I want is a good clear punchy sound with a thumping bottom end but no wooliness at high volume. I don't really care if it has valves or not as an overdriven sound is not high on my list of priorities and I don't want something too heavy (so 4x10s combos are out - have you ever tried lifting one of those things?). Before I make my final decision I thought the smart thing to do to would be to ask my fellow Basschatters what their opinions were about my 3 contenders. I'm hoping that some of you own or have owned one of these amps in the past and I would be grateful for any advice that would help me make the final decision. Or possibly you can suggest another amp that, in your opinion, is better than the ones on my shortlist that you think I should consider.........I'm all ears.

Hmmmmm.........I'm waiting for the Vintage Vibe Jazz to come out in sunburst. Then I'll pounce.

If it's a eejit drunken punter I just say NO! If they're persistant I say to them, in a not so light hearted manner, ' If I can have a shot of your wife/girlfriend - you can have a shot of my bass'. They usually get the point. Nobody has yet shouted ' Hey Doris get yer arse over here! This guys gonna let me try his bass guitar!'

Hmmmmm I played one the other day and the inlays were pearloid (well mother of toilet seat perhaps). The neck is pretty chunky much more so than my Geddy Lee Jazz which is based on a 70's bass. It didn't sound anything like my geddy frankly, even with the rear pickup moved nearer the bridge......but it's still a nice bass though, especially in sunburst.

Cover of John Paul Jones Solo in the Lemon Song by Led Zep [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-DNTY8ONw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9-DNTY8ONw[/url]

From my experience of talking to professional sound engineers, they love bands that don't have a loud backline. It causes feedback by being picked up by onstage mics - which means the vocals and acoustic instruments can't be turned up and end up lost in the mix. I play in two bands, the first is an electric blues band. The 2nd is an alt country band that uses primarily acoustic instruments and for both bands, at bigger gigs, I tend to use my amp just as a monitor and DI straight into the PA which results in a better overall sound. Frankly I'd love to turn up to 11 but I know I need to keep it relatively low on stage for the band to sound good out front. Some musicians I've met (and played with) have the opposite view which is ' As long as I sound good I don't give a sh*t what the band as a whole sound like' . But they tend to spend a lot of time playing along to records alone in their bedrooms, because nobody wants them in their band.

I've got a friend who has had quite a few stingrays in his time who recently bought a & 75 reissue MIA Jazz. I met him in the street recently and he told me that, although the Jazz is a great bass, he missed the Stingray sound so much when gigging that he put a MM humbucker in the middle between the two pickups. I haven't heard it played yet but I'll update basschat when I have. He obviously wanted his cake and he wanted to eat it as well.

[quote name='silddx' post='735984' date='Feb 5 2010, 11:44 AM']No, not yours mate BUT, [i]"If a custom shop bass has alot of wear and tear (and no deep cracks etc) I would generally think its because it was such a good bass, the owner couldnt put it down, imo that is a sign of a very good instrument."[/i] I'm sorry but I think that's absolute nadgers. The odd ding and scratch I can understand, but I can't see why any instrument should end up looking like it's spent six months in the Gorbals because someone "loved" it.[/quote] I resent that.... I live in the Gorbals! But on the other hand my bass does look like sh*t.

[quote name='ped' post='735666' date='Feb 4 2010, 11:42 PM']I doubt many of us really mind what the audience think, though. We are nerds and as such like to get our sound the way we like it, regardless of how the ignorant public feel. I don't do it for anyone other than myself. It's the same with anything, really. I almost like the fact that its something only I appreciate![/quote] Yes......we are nerds (I am reading this topic at 2am......therefore I am a nerd).

[quote name='TimR' post='735461' date='Feb 4 2010, 08:01 PM']Ultimately there are only two catagories of people who listen to the bass tone at a gig. 1) The Bass player. 2) A Bass player in the audience. To most people we're the big guitar at the back. Other players have complemented me on my tone. I assume my playing sucks, but the piece of wood and other expensive hardware I bought to smash those notes out sounds good.[/quote] Sad but true.

If he's asking you to charge the cc £11,000 and send him £5,000 back it's obviously not his cc. He's got someone elses card details and is scamming them as well as you. And guess whose door the cops will turn up at - it won't be his. Scumbags like these do rely on people being both greedy AND stupid. It's great that you're stringing him out and having a laugh at his expense. This could be the guy [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92qs6lRx014"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92qs6lRx014[/url]