Delberthot

I have owned and played a lot of both types over the years and have come to some conclusions that suit me best. I find that when using flatwound strings, an active bass gives me more control over the sound and makes it more pleasing to the ear. My main bass is passive and is as basic as it gets being modelled after the '54 P bass. When I play "normally" it sounds very full and rich but if I play it harder as I am wont to do, it gets very nasty and in your face in a good way. Perfect for 90% of the stuff I play in my wedding/function band. I am in the process of installing a set of SD lightening something or others in my bass collection 4 string for using with my rock band for some other stuff like the chilis etc when needs must. One test that I will be doing next week is active v. passive on my 12 string basses. My Carlo Robelli is active and my Tenessee is passive so it should be good. I bought these 2 basses cos they were cheap to let me make up my mind about what to go for when I buy my more expensive 12 string. The shortlist is Hamer B2A, Chandler Royale or Waterstone Tom Petersson. I think that it also has a fair bit to do with your choice of amp and cab(s). My GK 700RB II has a very distinct sound and my Schroeder is very transparent in that if you plug a crap bass into it, it will sound like a crap bass. there's no disguising it. Its definitely not cut and dryed. I would say that for me, passive is the way to go but active still has its place for certain stuff.

The only bass I ever regret selling is my Riverhead spector/warwick copy. It had smaller than average pickups and treble machineheads that went the same way as the Gibson EB4L. It also had a Badass bridge Tradedit in at sound control in dunfermline around 1994 for my first 5 string which was a white passive Bass Collection

I used to use autoglym polish but I've not owned a bass long enough recently to warrant polishing it

Both my Japanese '51 P basses had maple fretboards and they sounded fantastic for it. I have akways wanted a late 70s fretless just like the one that john deacon from queen usd to have. the coated maple fretboards sound fanastic but the non coated ones get very dirty very quickly. My stingray got dirty far too quickly

i believe that my old Riverhead bass may be the most rare as I have seen more rocking horse number 2s than these bases. I am still looking for my old one that I sold in 1989. bit of a warwick/spector clone in dull metallic grey/

I've been trying to trim my collection down as I would love to go to gig with only one bass. That bass being my gold warmoth 54 P bass. I have, however, ended up with 2 12 string basses, an acoustic bass and a bass collection alongside, [i][/i]and[i][/i] an original trace elliot valve preamp combo for the 12 string. Oh, I also have a fretless in bits and a 1973 telecaster bass in bits. My gas now is for a Chandler Royale or Hamer B2A.

Depends what types of gigs you do- with my wedding band, my cab is on a stand angled up towards me facing away from the crowd as a monitor with my rack to the side on a keyboard stand. with my pub covers band, there is no pa so I turn the cab around to face the audience and still have my rack next to me. Works everytime. I've never been underpowered for a gig with what i have.

A couple of suggestions if you can find them would be a Yamaha BB5000 but you'll need to fight me for one cos I've been on the lookout for years. Another one would be a Rickenbacker 4003S/5 or alternatively there's a guy on the rickresource forum called Jeff Rath that can convert a 4 string into a five string using modified bridge saddles and pickups. If you're brave, try and find a 4 string with a large enough headstock to add an extra tuner. Change the pickups if need be for bar magnets rather than individual poles and get something like a Kahler bridge which adjusts every way possible. I've done this a couple of times with a Rickenfacker and a Stingray copy.

I had this bass made at the end of last year but its taken me ages to get round to taking some pictures of it. I spent the best part of 3 years and 50 basses trying to find my perfect bass and realised that my own perfect bass had yet to be made. So I set about compiling the best parts of all the basses I had played and it came out as follows: Body: Mahogany - nothng growls for me like this wood as featured in my 30th Anniversary Stingray and Thunderbird in the '54 body shape. Neck: Wenge - one of the coarsest yet fast woods I have played which was on my Warwick NT5, P bass width and '51-57 headstock shape Fretboard: Ebony - none more black and clear sounding. Just like my Bass Collection SB565 I specified this with no front dots. Finish: Gold Sparkle - my Modulus Flea Bass had the silver sparkle finish and I though about doing something different. Hardware: Gold Gotoh 201 bridge as used on the Flea Bass; Schaller machineheads as per my RICs and Stingrays, Gold Schaller straplocks, Optima Gold strings guage 45, 60, 80, 100; Hipshot string tree; Warwick JAN III nut; Warmoth gold compound frets; Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder SCPB pickup Well enough of the yada yada, here she is:= I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The sound is phenomenal. Really dirty and aggresive but can be tamed for some clasic tones. A word of warning for others who are thinking about going down this route: I thought long and hard about what i wanted to achieve and the result was [b][i]exactly[/i][/b] what I wanted. If you get it wrong you'll get peanuts for it if you try to sell it (unless of course you like peanuts) [b][/b]

"APROX' 20 TEARS OLD, REFURBISHED BY MYSELF" I wouldn't want to buy a neck with 1 tear never mind 20 - and why is he shouting?

With the wedding band we take a deposit on booking which can be anything from a few weeks to a couple of years to the actual booking but with my pub rock band its seat of the pants get paid on the night or torch the place type of gig.

I really want to go and see Fishbone in the Garage in Glasgow but don't know anyone who likes them. Is anyone here going? If it comes to it I'll go myself but I prefer to go with other mental fans. Cheers :-D

I spent the best part of 3 years buying, trying and selling bases to find what I wanted. I decided to take the best parts of all of the basses I had liked and have them made into something of my own. I began with a wenge neck like my Thumb bass had. Ebony fretboard like my Bass Collection 5 string. Mahogany body like my 30th Anniversary Stingray. routed for a SCBP pickup and tele headstock like my '51 reissue P bass. I did in fact own over 30 basses but these had the best features. To make it really different I had the body finished in gold flake, all gold hardware, the gold frets that they offer and Optima gold strings. Looks really mental/out there man/ gay(according to my drummer) but I stand by it and it does look fantastic, especially under lights. I only have one problem with it. they make the necks so stable that there is no adjustment to give more relief due to the steel rods that they use. I could actually take the truss rod out and the neck wouldn't move. I plan on taking it to Jimmy Moon in glasgow to put a bit more relief into it and also fix the small mistake I made when putting it together. I wanted a Warwick just-a-nut but the neck was only precut to fit a standard nut so I went in and created a bigger groove and fired the new nut in. Unfortunately I put it in the wrong place so the notes on the first few frets are a mile out. Apart from that, its fantastic. Absolutely rock solid - not neck heavy like some people have said in the past. Highly recommended for anyone who wants something to suit them that they cannot find in a music store. Just make sure that you know exactly what you want cos you'll get hee haw for it when you sell it because most people unfamiliar with their work believe them to be just a parts company rather than a company making what I would call high quality guitar parts easily better than any american fender i have played.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Its one of a handful of radio stations that I listen to. Being in central Scotland we also have Rock Radio which is one of my other favourites. I listen to Planet Rock every day, it can't go - right, where's my lottery ticket?

They're all made in Japan. I don't think they have done a MIM one. There have been Masterbuilt ones made in America but that's about it. One of the finest basses I ever owned in terms of quality of sound, playability and build quality. I had one of the 2 tone versions as I have to agree that the lungbutter yellow one is a bit horrid to look at although I have seen some that are more pleasing on the eye. It was the last bass I bought during my quest for the ideal bass before I had my Warmoth built with a '54 body with SCPB quarterpounder and original P bass headstock. Absolutely hated having to sell it but the lack of contour got to me after a while, even though i would wear a sweatband on my right wrist. Same reason that I have never got on with the bound bodied Rickenbackers.

I've managed to get it down to: trip 1 from the car: 4u Rack with amp and tuner inside in one hand and Schroeder 212L in the other. trip 2: Small rucksack with cables on my back, Bass in one hand, 2 stands in the other. That's it

I think there's someing that SKB put in the cases to make them smell. There are different smells but my previous Ricks and my current Stingray smell of maple syrup. In fact, I'm not using the case for my stingray. I've had it in a gig bag for the last month and the bass still smells like this.

I've used the Maxima gold strings before but wasn't sold on them. I forgot to mention that the body is rear routed so it won't have a scratchplate or control plate and I have chosen the Gotoh 201 bridge

I find myself using my thumb more and more for tunes with one of my bands and want to learn how to play like sting does but can't find anything to show me how it is done. Lets face it - it looks cool and is completely different to normal. I have only ever seen one other bass player play like this. I am fully versed in "regular" 2 fingered playing and just want to add something different to my repertoire. Any sources of info are fully appreciated.

I thought I'd let out the details to my next bass. So far only my wife knows the details (she doesn't really care though) Based on the delivery schedule the guys at Warmoth have given me - it is due around Christmas. I love my '51 reissue precision but hate the fact that it is so jaggy - as in the lack of contouring so I have gone with a '54 style mahogany body which will be finished in Gold Flake. I loved the neck on my Warwick Thumb NT5 so I have gone with a Wenge neck and Ebony fretboard with no dots on the fretboard. All of the hardware is gold and I have also ordered the neck with the copper alloy fretwire which looks like gold. I have gone with the standard Fender single coil pickup as I think that this is the best one for me. the pots are CTS 500k and I have a .047 Sprague cap for the tone. the only 2 things I need to get are the nut and strings. I had ordered an ABM JAN bridge from Bass Parts Resource but they don't have any so I may get it from Warwick or may go for a JAN III. I am toying over the idea of getting TI flats for it or staying with my regular EB Hybrid Slinkies or going for something completely different. As soon as I have the parts, I will be posting lots of pictures The other thing I want to do is get a decal for the headstock. I don't want one that says it is a Fender because it will obviously not be one. I have seen one that says "Fender Telebastard" and would like something along the same vain but can't tink of anything witty like that

i reherse at a place in Bonnybridge, near me, called The Bunker. I usually play through an Ashdown 15" combo with Peavey 4x10" underneath it and am really impressed with it. I have been taking my own gear to practices for years so it is really good to be able to just fire my bass, a strap and a cable into the boot. £8 an hour so its not bad. No more mucking around with gear and cables - enough of that at the gigs

I've never actually owned an American fender as i have never felt them to be worth the extra dough. I have had one Mexican Precision; a Geddy Jazz (CIJ); SQ Squier Precision (MIJ); JV Squier Precision (MIJ); 2 '51 reissue Precisons (CIJ) the first time I bought one of the '51s I thought that it had such an amazing sound but at the time I couldn't live without a low B as I had been playing 5ers for the best part of 10 years. Many basses later I bought another one after making the transition back to 4 strings and I absolutely love it. I've never been able to get a good sound from the split P pickup but the straight single coil is 'my sound'. It is the absolute best bass I have ever played. I've had some corkers of basses over the years - around 10-12 Stingrays including 3 5ers a 20th and a 30th anniversary 4 string; 3 Ricks; Warwick thumb NT5; Yamaha TRB 6 fretless; Thunderbird; Modulus Flea. this is the kind of comparison that I am making - to me this bass is much much better than any of these. Some basses have got close but never delivered as much as my current one. Its dead simple to get a great sound from it. the 2 saddle bridge is limiting to get the intonation right but I love it. Can you tell that i like this bass?

I've been using one of the Fender rack ones for the last year and am very impressed. Tunes very quickly and have used it with 4, 5, 6 & 8 string basses with no problems. Its also cool as the leds do a Knight Rider sweep from left to right when you are not playing and a big blue Fender 'F' lights up when you are in tune.

A box for a 46" TV is perfect

Playing tonight but then again its a wedding and I am in Scotland so it won't affect me