Delberthot

I've always wanted to try a trace 4x12" as well. I missed out on getting one a few months ago as it was too far away to collect.

Okay - my bass is a bit of an extreme example but I could never get a good, convincing P bass sound out of a regular split P pickup bass and went down the single coil route and absolutely love it. Why not try one of the reissues and if you like it, you could go for the earlier late 60s telecaster bass with the single coil pickup.

I like the sound of that. Whereabout in Edinburgh is your practice room?

Precision bass, jazz neck - problem solved Can go from very mellow to hard and aggressive just by moving your playing position.

You could always try one of the humbuckers. I've been thinking about getting one for ages. Seymor Duncan do them as well as a few others. I think Sting has one in his '57 single coil P bass

Yes, we're very conservative

I would say to try and wean yourself off your home comforts so that you don't miss them on the road. Take an MP3 player and a good book. Learn how to relax and meditate if you have time before you go as it lets you keep focussed on what you are doing. It also allows you to get away from everything without ever leaving your room. You could try jogging or even a brisk walk as that's also good for getting away from everything and allows you time to think and reflect. Anything really that keeps you calm, relaxed and occupied but isn't too taxing. This isn't from experience but is everything I would do if I was about to embark on something like that. I do meditate though.

where are you?

My bass is passive - I don't do active. Its just a single coil quarter pounder in my Warmoth. I like simple - running everything fully open on the bass and using just the amp to adjust the sound. Thing is that I generally use the minimum of adjustments to an amp. Mainly everything run flat. I like having the valve overdriving just like I used to use the boost control on my old GK head for similar effect although having the valve in there has more of an effect.

One of the most in your face, agressive basses I ever owned was a Gothic Epiphone Thunderbird. Absolutely loved the thing and would probably have went on to buy a Gibson one if it hadn't been for the awful neck dive. I absolutely love the sound of a mahogany body, the reason my gold bass has one.

The one thing that got me was, instead of finding gentle overdrive, becoming more distorted as I turned up the volume like I was expecting, it sounded more like I was using a really cheap disortion pedal set to 'cheap farty sound'. It did give off a really disconcerting buzing vibration when I switched the amp off standby to use it so it was possible that years of bands who maybe don't know the correct procedure for switching one on has taken its toll. I'd never used a full valve amp before. I have an idea in my head of what I think one should sound like but that Ampeg sounded like a really cheap tranny amp. I love the Shuttle because it can be very aggressive - I have the tube overdriving on every note I play. I expected a valve amp to be able to take that aggression one step further without it becoming full-blown fuzz. I suppose the next step might be to find somewhere that I could try a few out. The Marshall is one that i wanted to try as well as Fender, Peavey, Orange and possibly even the Mark Bass one. The only barrier I can think of is that I have never ever seen a valve bass amp in a guitar shop ever other than Ampeg. A road trip may be in order.

I was playing at PJ Malloys in Dunfermline last night. When I got there, I was under the impression that the bass amp they had there was an SVT III but after setting up I had a look at it and discovered that it was an SVT II Pro. I've always wanted to try a valve amp so moved the amp over to where my own gear was and connected it to my cabinet. I waited in anticipation before I flicked the standby switch and was immediately disappointed. I couldn't explain what was wrong initially but my guitarist said that, although it sounded a bit warmer, it lacked what my own amp and sound have. I'm glad I got the chance to try it as I had been eyeing up a Marshall VBA400 for ages. They probably don't sound the same but I think that it gave me a good indication of what to expect. The thing is that I tend to go for an edgy, grindy, aggressive sound and thought that tubes would sound better than my current Genz Shuttle in that respect but its definitely solid state 1, valves 0. I'm glad I got the chance to try the amp out as valve amps are few and far between but I think that as far as my own sound requirements go, solid state is definitely the best option. Not to mention that the Ampeg weighed as much as my bass, cabinet and amp put together.

100 clams? Now that's a spicy meatball

Until I play Wembley I'm using OBBM cables. If I ended up in the big time I would get the Stageclix system. Best part of 500 clams but the ultimate as far as I am concerned.

The only place I can think of is McCormack's in Glasgow

I sold my Gothic T-bird for £100 more than this one a couple of years ago [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epiphone-Thunderbird-Bass-Great-condition-Never-gigged_W0QQitemZ220392556095QQihZ012QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epiphone-Thunderbird...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url] Absolutely fantastic rock basses but bloomin hellish neck dive.

I vote cabbage. Even if it is Fender, the logo is wrong for the era. Fretless Fenders never had fret lines cos that is too much work innit? The MIM ones do now but in the 70s they had hee haw. I believe it to be one of those Feckless Pee Bases.

Its a Carlo robelli that i got from the US. It was Sam Ash's in house brand but its made in the same factory as the Galveston and Dean basses. Warmoth only stretch to an 8 string which I have been toying with getting for a while now.

we used to do that version of Word Up years ago - fantastic. We also currently do a few of the others. Part of the reason that I have been investing in lightweight gear and easier ways to transport it is so that I'm not completely broken by the time I reach my 50s so i can still keep on playing. Isn't it every rockers wish right at the end to die on stage in front of hundreds of screaming fans and go down in a blaze of glory as a legend?

It looks a lot like the original EB-0 before the SG guitar cameout

I sold my Trace stuff long before getting a digital camera but I used to run a 7210H combo with a 1048H cabinet and later went on to use a 1153 cab as a monitor. The singer in my rock band has one of the 2x10" wedge monitors I think I may be ill as I have been dreaming about the 1225V combo almost every night for the last week. When I got my combo, the 1225V was the top banana as far as I was concerned. The other night i dreamt I used one with Iron Maiden. If anyone has one, please post a pic as it may be the only cure short of actually going out and finding one to try.

Like this

The Stingray 5 is a bit strange. It has the looks of the Silouette guitar and the electronics of the Sterling which is a bit strange in itself since there is now a 5 string Sterling - surely it would be better to change the 5 String Stingray to have the same electronics as the 4 string. the preamp in the Stingray has changed over the years from the first 2 band Eq models to the 3 band EQ. If you want more info on the preamps, go to the EB forum and go into the thread that begins 'dating your musicman' or something like that. In there, there is a link to a whole host of info about the evolution of all the components of the Stingray. I've had 2 5 strings, 2 standard 4 strings, a fretless, 20th anniversary and 30th anniversary models. the best one I had was the 30th anniversary which I put down to the mahogany body which is really the only thing different about that model. I've always wanted to try a 2 band EQ as many feel that this is the true Stingray sound without the mid-band. The SR5 came out around 1987 and as far as I know is still exactly as it was when it first came out. I think that it is mainly or possibly only the SR4 that has evolved over the years. Its just like Fenders - there have been many changes over the years, some better than others so different people like different eras of models. I personally prefer the newer models as they have the rounded over pole pieces on the pickups - the older ones, especially on my 20th anniversary SR4 were cut straight across and a bit rough to the touch, especially if you play right over the pickup.