gjones

'It's all in the fingers'

The Cobra 90 was my first amp, when I was 17. It was too underpowered to play with a drummer, so I saved my pennies and bought a Carlsbro Stingray 150 combo, with a 15 inch speaker. I thought it was the beez kneez, until I plugged my bass into it. Put any actually bass through it and it would fart like a hippo. So I had to play with a crappy twangy sound, that I hated. I once played a 5 string through it and it almost exploded. Sh*te!!!

His bass player, Vail Johnson, was a member of Basschat for a short while, until he got chased off by armchair experts.

I used to own a TV15 and it was a lovely combo. But because of the, very heavy, ferrite speaker magnet in the original speaker, it weighed a ton. I used to dream of fitting it with a Neodynium speaker By the way, the original speaker was 4 ohms.

I bought a Class D amp from Basschat, about two years ago. When I plugged my bass into it there was a background distortion, every time I played a note, that sounded ominous. Before I contacted the Basschatter that sold it to me, I opened it up and made sure all the cables were connected securely to the board (they weren't soldered, they were attached using little plastic connectors). I replaced the case, plugged my bass back in and the distortion had gone. I put the issue down to the courier chucking it around in the back of his van. I've gigged it plenty of times since then and it's never let me down (I do bring a spare, just in case). My point is, before any money is paid for a repair, it's a good idea to open a faulty amp up and make sure there are no obvious, visible problems, that can be sorted easily. Which of course you did, without success unfortunately.

Uhhhh.......WhatsApp I recently came back from a couple of days away, to over 200 messages on WhatsApp, from my fellow band members. There was absolutely nothing worth reading. They all have too much time on their hands.

I'll not be going back to my Carlsbro Cobra 90, oh no 😨

About 10 years ago I had an ABM 500 III which, although I loved the sound of it, just wasn't loud enough through the (very heavy) ABM 15 cab I also owned at the time. So I bought a TC electronic classic 450 and a TC 212. I didn't like the TC head and because I liked the Ashdown sound bought their brand new MiBass class D head. Which I really liked and went well with the Barefaced Compact I then bought. I went off on a bit of a tangent, by buying a GK MB500 head (which is exceptionally loud) but a few months a go I saw an Ashdown ABM 500 III (made in the UK) going cheap on ebay and managed to buy it for the stupidly low price of £134. It sounds as good as I remembered it sounding. I haven't had the chance to fire it up and play it loud, as most of our gigs have backline provided by the venue but I'm sure it will sound fantastic through my Compact once I do. Great amps..

Why didn't they do the honorable thing and disband the band, then two weeks later, reform it with the previous bass player and a different name? Isn't that how it's done?

I usually gig with a Barefaced Compact and an 800 watt amp, which is very loud. But in smaller venues i can use my Rumble V3 100 combo. They sound great, are a 1 finger lift and are loud enough to compete with a sensible drummer. I bought mine for £165 second-hand and is one of my better buys. I love the little thing.

They looked like they had a great time. But Rory never quite got that riff

I owned two fender curly leads. The first one just didn't work when I used it for the first time and the second one, I got as a replacement, sucked all the top end out of my sound. I gave it away. I now use a Fender custom shop lead (a straight one), so I don't have a thing against Fender, but make sure @happy jack has replacement with him, when he gigs with his curly lead.

12 basses

Ed Friedland, in his review on youtube, mentioned neodynium speakers but when the 6 foot 6 delivery driver refused to carry it up to my 3rd floor flat, I realised they weren't. Possibly Fender original plan was to fit neo speakers but it would have added a lot to the cost, which was £700 when I bought it new. So, gorgeous combo, but a total pain to hump around (with one little handle on the top).

I used to own the TV15. It was loud enough for pub gigs but it weighed the same as a small planet.

I have an Elite Precision. They replaced the deluxe and were only out for 2 or 3 years before this Ultra came along. The only difference I can see is the Elite has a wheel at the body end to adjust the truss rod, which is pretty useful. I have to admit the Elite was a rotten name, possibly designed to appeal to dentists and car salesmen?

He should just play the first verse and chorus and then on the 2nd verse you'll have picked it up and you can just join in. After all, it's only Chuck Berry. I you have a problem, record the rehearsal and play along with it in the comfort of your own home.

Playing in front of the beat sounds good if you want to put over a sense of urgency, like when playing a punk tune. Or you can play waaaay behind the beat, as in this Muddy Waters Song.

If you like Amy Whitehouse, you like The Dap Kings. They play on Back To Black.

The snare is just behind the beat. Which gives a laid back feel. Some drummers I've played with have no idea how to play behind the beat. They obviously don't listen to soul or blues. It's a difficult skill to master.

11 basses, 5 amps, 4 cabs, 3 guitars. I don't have any more room under my bed

I agree with the above. But you'll probably never ever slap again in your life. The great Ed Friedland has recorded instructional DVDs on slap bass (I bought one), but in real life no band he's ever played with, has ever asked him to play any

As a experiment, swap the strings.

Why did British Band Wang Chung get to No2 in the US charts, with this 1986 single, and only a measly 76 in the UK charts. Only the Gods of Pop know the answer to that question. Always thought the singer had an uncanny resemblance to Dr Zachary Smith from Lost In Space.

My GK MB500 and GKMB 800 don't get particularly warm when I gig them, I assume because they're digital. I've never noticed the fans.