gjones

I changed the speaker in an underpowered Ashdown cab, for a bigger and more powerful one (from 200 to 400 watts). Amazingly it sounded pretty good but I wouldn't buy a cab, that had the speakers swapped, without hearing it first.

I've joined a rock band and it means I have to play some songs with a pick. I've just bought a multi effects pedal, as my pick playing is a bit uneven and I'm hoping the compressor on that will smooth it out. Of course I could just get better at playing with a pick? Nah....

I learned this fact many decades ago, when I plugged my sh*tty Carlsbro Stingray head through a Ohm 2x15 cab owned by someone else. The Carlsbro head sounded awful through the Carlsbro speakers, it came with, but great through the Ohm cab (which cost a lot more than I could afford at the time). Cheap amp plus expensive cab = good sound.

I had a 150 watt Ashdown combo (not class D) which was sufficiently loud to play with a drummer. If I'd had another cabinet attached I'm sure it would have been even louder. Of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating.......if you know wot I mean.

Hmmmm......and the 160 watt version has an external speaker jack, which is handy. All the guitarists I know are fans, and many are owners, of the guitar version.

One of the reasons I fitted initially fitted a pre to my Jazz, is that I wanted more control over my sound when I went through the desk to the PA. Most of the venues I play in, the full band go through the house PA. Then the engineer is in charge of my sound, not me. I tend to give a bug bump to the low mids before my bass goes to the desk. It tends to prevent my bass sound being turned into undefined mush by whoever the person on the desk is that night.

There's humour in life, so there should be humour in Music too.

I recently joined a new band and when we auditioned singers, we asked them to learn songs we knew and were up to speed with. If you were auditioning guitarists, would you take on the guys in those two bands? I suspect not, if they couldn't be bothered to learn the songs they'd been asked to learn.

It's not the amps that are the issue, necessarily, it's the fact that these days we don't whack them through gigantic 8x10 speaker cabs, or two 4x10s. These days everyone is after a light 'one cab solution', which is fine but it can't compete with a wall of speakers behind you for (whisper the word)......heft.

The guitarist reversed his car into mine. Luckily my car was on it's way to the wrecking yard but still, it's the principle of the thing.

The drummer, in my new band, is a big Richie Kotzen fan, so he's suggested some of his songs for the set. The only problem is that he plays both guitar and bass on the recordings and he does insist on doubling the lead guitar with the bass. The basslines he plays are difficult enough to play on guitar and are almost impossible for me to play on bass (if the guitar bends a note the bass does as well). I've told the drummer he's banned from suggesting songs, in future, unless they're Status Quo.

I have the same issue. With most music that I really like, the lyrics are secondary. Usually, I think, because they're not particularly good. I wouldn't dismiss a song because the lyrics are rubbish. An example would be most Lenny Kravitz songs, where the lyrics are usually pretty banal but the tune can be really pretty good. I like many of his songs but couldn't tell what the hell he's singing about to save my life. Then there are other songwriters, that are all about the lyrics. Examples would be, David Bowie, Dylan, Tom Waits etc and although I wouldn't be able to write down the lyrics, of even my favourite songs that they'd written, I'd probably be able to sing along to them as they were playing.

I never had an amp go down on me yet but the head I use was bought secondhand and initially had a slight distortion issue that I managed to fix (loose connectors attached to the board), so I bring a backup just to be sure. I also bring strings, a small toolkit, spare lead, batteries, etc. I don't bother bringing a spare bass as basses are pretty sturdy things (of course if I was playing Wembley I might think about it but usually I'm only playing the Dog & Duck).

I'm wondering how long it will take for someone to suggest a Fender Rumble 500 combo? Oh.....I just did! 😀

There's two types of John east Jazz bass pre amps, one of them has a flat response when all controls are at zero. You can also order it with fender style knobs, which look great. Edit: and they've come down in price by about £20 since I bought mine a few years ago!

I play a GK MB 800 through mine, it handles the power fine. I think that, as with any cab, if it starts farting, either turn the power down or turn the low end down.

Tears for Fears in a castle down in the Scottish borders. It's a weird place for such a big band to play. I've paid extra for VIP toilets. None of those chemical lavvys for me.

They're all the same really. The blend controls,that I've had experience of, just act as an on/off switch. There may be a smidgeon of a blend, a mm either side of the centre but in my experience they give you bridge pickup on full, neck pickup on full, or both on full together.

I bought a Markbass CMD121P during the initial lockdown period in 2020. I usually go for separate head and cab combinations (Barefaced and GK) but I liked the compactness of the CMD121P and had heard great things about it over the years. When I saw a great deal on Ebay, for an almost new one, I pounced. I've only managed to play one gig with it and it kept up with a loud drummer. Luckily the gig also got recorded professionally to allow the Festival organisers to stream the gig and the sound in the video was excellent (P bass recorded with a mic in front of the speaker). As mentioned before, a separate head and cab set up allows you to chop and change, if you want to experiment but the CMD121P is such a good little combo, it might be the only amp you'll ever need.

That headstock looks more 'roadworn' than my roadworn Jazz. It almost looks like it has been nibbled by a small dog.

I used to play with a drummer who accused me of being too loud. He kept on complaining until I had turned my volume to zero. Which he said sounded just about right. By the time of the next gig, we'd got a new drummer.

I played through one at a gig and my Precision sounded fantastic through it. I would have bought one myself, long ago, but they are pretty heavy.

I have to say, I don't listen to music where the bass is almost inaudible. If a musician is playing, why make him/her almost inaudible. They just shouldn't be on the stage, as they serve no purpose.

The punchiest amp/cab setup I ever played through, was an Ampeg SVT through an Ampeg 810. The two combined, weighed about the same as a small car. Barefaced make a 6x10 and 8x10 which are reasonably light.

Probably quite a few. I bought my ABM 500 III for £134 off Ebay. I'm sure there's many more for sale, at a similarly criminally low price.