Delberthot

1:43 is one of my favourite bass lines and indeed bass tones ever

Actually last night was the first time that I have used an 8x10" in a rehearsal studio and still been able to hear myself when the whole band were playing. It normally descends into mush so I'm liking the fact that it can cut through

I've decided to go for the tube ampology bezel. It is expensive for what is a piece of chromed plastic but I haven't seen anything else suitable. Back in the day I had one of the pickguardian ones which were pretty basic. This one seems to be designed a lot better. It actually has a really incredible slap sound which I am surprised at. I'm going to persevere with the factory strings and if I don't get on with them then I'll put my old favourite D'addario EXL160 string on. I've checked and know that they will be lower tension than they are on my Sterling due to the slightly shorter scale. For all I know Rickenbacker could be using D'addario to make their strings as I believe that they have used several string companies over the years And the next time someone asks "what's the best bass for genre of music A or B" well consider that I will be playing this in a wedding/function band covering everything from ceilidh to rock, pop, funk , disco and whatever is the flavour of the week chart single.

Even I didn't see this coming - there I was minding my own business on holiday in Scarborough and I walk past the Guitar Gallery on Bar Street and see not one or 2 but 3 brand new 4003 basses in the window. I hurredly walk past pretending I didn't notice them but the damage is already done. For the next 4 days those Rickenbackers are on my mind until it gets too much. Once I get home I am online checking out the prices and who has what. I already know what I want and luckily a few online stores have them. About 10 years ago I was in Glasgow and bought a new 4003 in midnite blue. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen but a week or so into ownership I noticed that it had the dreaded running paint. The paint under the lacquer actually ran over the binding causing it to go pale blue. I took it back to the shop and was told that it would need to be returned to Rickenbacker but they didn't have any more in stock by that point so I got a full refund. So mind made up I bought this bass on Saturday, it was waiting for me when I got home tonight and took it straight to the rehearsal. I absolutely love it so far. I keep finding myself trying to place my hand where the pickup cover is but I can't work out if it is because that is where I would find playing most comfortable or just because I can't play there because of the pickup cover.

I love D'addario strings and tried the EXL160BT balanced tension strings but I found them a wee bit too high tension for my liking and have since jumped down to EXL20BT set which are pretty good and not in the lightest bit floppy considering they are 40-95 gauge. I can even drop the E to D and they still sound good. When I was using Chromes I made my own balanced set as at the time I could buy them as singles cheaper than as a set and used 45, 60, 80, 110. They were right on the money and I was detuning the E to D back then as well

Ride like the Wind but it goes between the Christopher Cross version and the Saxon version randomly The song for getting other songs out of my head is Sikamikanico by the Chilis

I always cut all of my strings when fitting regardless of construction and haven't had one fail on me yet. This was including the E string having a Detuner to take it down to D. I can't say that I noticed any issues with Chromes when I used them. They are about as smooth as they come

I've been playing for 30 years now and been using D'addarios for about the past 10. Initially using Chromes but since I got my Musicman Sterling I've been using EXLs. I'm currently using the EXL220BT light gauge set which still sound good when the E is dropped to D but I've been thinking about trying the NYXLs as they are brighter and I've found myself looking for a brighter sound of late but don't want steels. I've also never had a duff string in all of the sets that I have bought over the years and proudly wear my D'addario t-shirt that I got with my players points to most gigs, D'addario clip on tuner at the ready 👍

"put something good on" directed at a live band always makes me laugh

Is he not related to Hugh Jass?

personally I disagree about the spotify thing about listening to what was in the charts when you were young but I may be in the minority - in 1991 when all of my friends were listening to 808 State, I was listening to Pink Floyd. The music I listen to has since about 1994, with the exception of the Chilis & Faith No More, been firmly rooted in the 70s and mainly rock music. There is music that I like before and after this period but it's mainly the 70s and I owe it all to Virgin Radio when it began in 1993. Right at the beginning it was mainly 70s rock music that they played and I discovered, ELP, Yes, Kansas, Zeppelin and loads more. For some reason I really despise most 60s music

One I don't think that you can really do anything other than to flag them to the mods is when you read a well put together advert and go through all of the additions to the thread, you're thinking that this might be something that you'd like to buy and discuss with the buyer and on the last post it says "sold" Grrrr

Fantastic - Listening to SWLABR at the moment. A huge inspiration to me when I was learning to play.

That's where you're going wrong - you're meant to film yourself playing bass

Apart from an 18 month break I've been with the same keyboard player / singer since 1995 and guitarist since 2001 Most of the guys I played with at school gave it up which was a shame, there were some decent players back then

Same with me and nearly 2 and a half years later it is still in excellent condition. I bought one of the Blake cases but it was absolutely ginormous so it went with a bass I was selling and I kept the TGI for my Sterling For cables I found this - It's a bag for lights so has a central divider. Strap and cables etc that I use all the time go in one side and spares cables, screwdriver etc go in the other and batteries for the bass and wireless live in the front pocket

My first thought is a Harper or a Palmer something like that. They were around about the same time as Wesley. Possibly a Mazetti with that headstock

I tried a set of Chromes on one I had last year and it sounded really good. I've never liked the sound or feel of the bronze acoustic strings

I thought that I'd give the Eclipse a try as well. I find it much faster than the Snark but after a couple of months the screen is burst. Still works but looks like something has pressed against it. If they made a more expensive version with a tougher screen then I'd buy one in a minute. they do take too long to turn on and off though if you want to tune between songs unless you leave it on all the time.

I only adjust the truss, saddles & intonation when changing string gauges. Once I get my setup done it never changes. I don't have a high action, in fact someone commented on how low it was which was a surprise to me so it actually does surprise me when players mention having to adjust everything due to humidity, time of year etc.

The Stingray 5 originally had alnico pickups, then switched out to ceramic. When they brought out the Sterling 5 they switched the pickups back to alnico. I'm really not understanding the 'scooped' thing that so many people have been talking about here. As someone who loves lots of mids then I shouldn't like the sound of my Sterling but it's right on the money for me.

I'm one of those people referenced above that bought a brand new Sterling. I've only had it since April 2016 but the price has gone up by £520 in that time which equates to a price rise of 34%. That's just incredible. I'm not sure about the reference to too much twang with a Stingray - are you sure it wasn't a Stingray guitar? 🤔 That would get you loads of twang. I'm not sure what to make of the new Stingrays or what the future holds. The new ones have elements of both Sterling and Bongo incorporated in them now so I'm unsure how that will affect the Sterling and Bongo models. I think that they will certainly be interesting and will give one a try if I have the opportunity

I recently changed from a set of D'addario EXL160BT strings with a combined tension of 114.3kgs to a set of EXL220BT super light gauge strings with a combined tension of 58.96kgs and in total spent about 20 minutes over the course of a few nights adjusting the truss rod, intonation and saddle & pickup heights. I'm by no means an expert and actually find myself checking online to double check which way the truss rod goes relative to where the fret rattle is before touching anything. As long as you take your time and don't make any extreme adjustments then you can't really go wrong. When i was a young lad twice I had my basses set up and on both occasions I had to adjust everything when I got them back as the action had been set too low. There's only one person who truly knows how to set your bass up ( unless you are fortunate enough to be in a big touring band and can afford a bass tech who can study your playing and how your basses are set up ) and that is you. Only you know when it is exactly right so I would never entrust someone I have never met, who doesn't know how I play, regardless of their reputation, to touch my basses as I know that it will never be exactly how I want it. A fret dress, refret, filing the nut or routing the body for a new pickup.electronics are completely different and I would probably go to a pro for that kind of work

I think the younger the better as you'll pick it up quicker the younger you are. I was 11 when I got my first acoustic guitar and 12 when I got my first bass. Plus all you have when you are young is school and friends - there's no job, mortgage, financial considerations and all of the many other distractions that prevent us or at least hinder us from taking up new hobbies the older we get. A real shame is all of the really good musicians I knew from school who didn't continue to play into adulthood. There were loads of us all playing in various bands in school and I think that myself and another girl I knew who was a phenomenal classical guitarist may be the only ones who are still playing

How about one of these? I'm guessing that he didn't want to risk singeing that thick mane of hair 😀