gjones

She used to have a band. I know her old drummer Debbie, who now plays with James and my niece's band . The all female band was drummer, electric guitarist and bass player which, visually, looked a lot better on stage. The last time I saw Charlie XCX, at Glastonbury, her stage show looked even worse, as she was on earlier in the day in daylight, so she didn't even have a light show - just her gyrating on the stage to pre-recorded tracks.

They missed out the shewee.....

Hmmm...... I put a set of Elixirs on a Jazz bass I have. I was practising some slap (a very rare thing for me) and noticed that the G string was very dull sounding. As the action wasn't great I took the neck off and inserted a shim in the neck pocket. When I put everything back together the G string sounded fine. I'm not sure what changed, possible something to do with string tension over the nut?

I have a John East J-Retro fitted to my Jazz Bass. I love a bit of low mid, which I feel gives punch and definition. When I go through a, front of house, PA I will turn up the low mids on my Jazz to prevent the sound engineer giving me a muddy sound out front. Of course I could change the whole character of my bass, with various options available with the J-Retro, but I mostly keep things pretty simple. I also like the ability to walk out into the room, while the band is playing, and change my tone to suit the room, without touching my amp controls.

I always feel an imminent gig usually concentrates players minds and gets them learning the set. That is, assuming they have a professional mindset in the first place and don't want to look like a fool and let everybody else down on the night.

He should just whack some tolex on it. He'll get some pretty low offers otherwise.

That's a great deal. I owned an Ashdown EB 150, which was a beginners combo similar to your's, with a 15 inch speaker. I used it for years and partnered with another 15 inch cab it could be really loud. I still really like the Ashdown sound.

My band hasn't done a gig in 5 months, when we do start gigging again (if we ever do), we'll need zimmer frames to get to the stage

In my experience, once you reduce the volume on the bridge pickup, even by a little bit, it then has no further impact on the overall tone. What you're then hearing is just the neck pickup soloed, which is naturally a bassier sound. The front pickup is usually a lot louder than the rear pickup, as well. This may be due to it's placement on the body.

The Orange Terror bass head has the same issue.

I've owned a lot of combos and they all had their flaws. They were either loud but heavy, or light and not powerful enough. But my latest combo, which is a Markbass CMD 121P, ticks both the loud and light boxes. I got mine used but I'd definitely have paid the full price (whatever that is/was) for a new one, they're definitely worth it.

And I thought it was all a scam......obviously not. I'll buy myself a ticket immediately!

So the moral of the story is, if you're planning on buying from the big stores that are left, make sure you pay by credit card or Paypal. Just in case the worst happens.

I don't know about the bass tone on this track but I really like the tune. Listening to other stuff Sven has done, I can tell he's a big fan of the sound tracks from the old Dirty Harry films. Maybe a bit of Bullit in there too.

It sounds like you haven't been sacked from your band, in reality it sounds like the guitarist they auditioned, recruited them for his own Rock/Blues band. it sounds like the drummer, singer and new guitarist, have formed a totally different band, in a different genre, with different members and (I assume) with a different band name. A band that you wouldn't want to be in, even if they had asked you. If I were you, that's how I would look at the situation.

My experience, over the years, is that you can go cheap on a head but you can't really go cheap on cabs, if you don't want the cab to fart out. If you could find a ancient, 1990s, Peavey TNT combo that would do the trick. Ashdown heads are cheap as chips. I had an Ashdown combo which served me well but needed an extension speaker to get the best out of it. Good luck with the search.

I live in Edinburgh, which is a tourist city, and the American tourists that see us play are always very enthusiastic. Maybe it's because they don't get to see many blues bands back in the town where they live.

I'm 62 and have been playing since I was 16. The first 10 years I was playing in originals bands trying to get a record contract. That ended when I realised we just we're good enough. At that stage I fell out of love with music and I thought my time as a bassist had ended. Then, about 4 years later, my sister started dating a guy who was the singer and guitarist in a Blues band and he needed a bass player! Even better, he ended up marrying my sister and he couldn't then sack me. We played up and down the UK for the next 10 years. Then he and my sister fell out and that meant I had no choice but to leave the band. At that stage I fell out of love with music and I thought my time as a bassist had ended. But then the old drummer, from the Blues band, called me and said the new band he was in needed a bass player. I've now been in that band for 23 years, other bands, over those 23 years, have come and gone and have disappeared without leaving a trace but the Blues band keeps on going. The singer is now 66 and the guitarist and drummer are in their mid 50s. We've had to take a break from gigging, as the singer and guitarist are married and are involved in complex family matters (think of the Godfather part III) which prevents them from gigging. At this stage I think I may have fallen out of love with music and I am thinking my time as a bassist had ended. Hold on there seems to be a pattern developing....... Of course I don't want to be a old fart, in a band full of old farts, playing to old farts. But as long as we don't look too ridiculous up on stage and I can still project energy into playing, then I'll continue on until I can't. Oh by the way, my sister and my brother in law got back together and I still occasionally play in his Blues band, when his new full-time bassist has something better (or more lucrative - wedding gig?) to do.

I cut my strings at a random point somewhere near (but not too near) the end. I hope that helps 😀

There was one for Andertons on Facebook which linked to what looked like an Andertons website. I messaged Andertons and they asked me to report it to Facebook. Of course Facebook did nothing. It's like the wild west out there.

I have a Markbass CMD 121 P combo. It's great for home practice and gigging.

The G&L L2000 or L2500 has a little 'sizzle' switch, which gives extra, high frequency, top end if you need it. Bats love them.

A great drummer can change the whole feel of a song, for the better.

I wonder what 'Handcrafted' means. I'm pretty sure it means, assembled in California from parts made in other countries.

A G&L L2000 tribute is a rare beast in the UK. G&L have given up on selling in the UK - or possibly retailers have. I bought a 5 string a few years ago but preloved 4 strings, at a sensible price, are very few and far between.