What gear have you bought or acquired, simply because you thought you ought to..?

[gjones]

I bought a G&L L2500 tribute because I felt I was missing out on something by not playing a 5 string. I have to admit it's a great bass and extremely versatile soundwise but I've never actually needed the 5th string, so stick with my 4 strings.

 

I bought an Auralex gramma pad, a dozen years ago, when everyone was going on about them. I used it once or twice and, by mistake, ended up leaving it in a pub that I had played in. I was so underwhelmed by the thing, that I never bothered going back to collect it. These days I just put my amp on a chair, or a beer crate.

 

I bought a Nord string mute, which I have never used live (maybe one day).

 

I bought a John East J-Retro pre amp.....  and liked it so much I bought another two! 😊

 

 

[gjones]

On 14/08/2025 at 19:18, Lozz196 said:

Did try my 3-band eq ‘Ray with the band, just couldn’t get it to work - which in Lozz Speak means I tried to make it sound like a Precision and failed. 

 

That's my problem too, except I try to get every (non Jazz) Bass I buy, to sound like a Jazz Bass. I should really just stick to Jazz Basses.

Edited 3 hours ago by gjones

[Terry M.]

1 hour ago, Ed_S said:

I'd not been playing very long when I bought an acoustic bass because I thought I ought to. I was playing alongside a couple of acoustic guitarist / singers so it'd be the right tool for the job, and imagine the convenience of none of us needing to plug in to rehearse. Yeah. Just imagine it.

I completely forgot I did this too. Shows how useful it was to me.

[ricksterphil]

A Gibson Thunderbird, which looked the bogs dollocks but was uncomfortable to play and had a very thin neck at the nut end.

 

Flogged it on evilbay and bought a Mike Lull M4V

[HeadlessBassist]

36 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

I completely forgot I did this too. Shows how useful it was to me.

 

I'm guilty of that one too - Kept an early Warwick Alien for over a decade and probably used it for two one-off Jazz gigs. It's now gone and after a few trades, has been replaced by an American Performer Mustang. Better. And if a Jazz job comes in, I've got Double Basses, or plenty of Jazz Basses to palm mute on. 

[HeadlessBassist]

4 minutes ago, ricksterphil said:

A Gibson Thunderbird, which looked the bogs dollocks but was uncomfortable to play and had a very thin neck at the nut end.

 

Flogged it on evilbay and bought a Mike Lull M4V

 

Now that's what I call trading up. Better.

[silverfoxnik]

On 15/08/2025 at 07:41, Sean said:

With and without a Thumpinator would make an interesting comparison for a Bass Bash. 

 

I've got a Microthumpinator v1 and a v2 that I can bring along. 

Despite what @petebsaid in his reply to this comment of yours @Sean, back at the 4th South East Bass Bash in 2010, @s1m0n gave a fantastic - and dare I say, legendary - presentation about the joys of using compressors... 😁

 

Sadly the photos aren't available any longer, but have a look here for more info:

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

What would be informative is a bass through an hpf into an oscilloscope.

 

It's an eye opener.  Without hpf rest your hand on the strings and the trace disappears off the screen for a moment.

[Wolfram]

I bought a 'real' BBD delay years ago because I thought I should have one it for the 'authentic' sound. A Moog MF-104m.

 

Yes, it sounds superb for what it does. In the end I got frustrated with the lack of versatility - you can change settings between songs / mid-song if you hook it up with MIDI but you are stuck with that sound - sometimes I wanted cleaner / longer delays. I later got a Line6 HX Effects and haven't looked back - it sounds great and I love the total recall of presets.

 

The Moog is sitting in its box. Happily, a cruise on eBay suggests it's worth nearly three times what I paid for it, so when I get my act together I will probably move it on. 

 

Oh... And a fretless bass.... One day I will learn how to play it! 

Edited 7 hours ago by Wolfram
Fretless bass

[peteb]

1 hour ago, silverfoxnik said:

Despite what @petebsaid in his reply to this comment of yours @Sean, back at the 4th South East Bass Bash in 2010, @s1m0n gave a fantastic - and dare I say, legendary - presentation about the joys of using compressors... 😁

 

 

Having a high pass filter in your chain is different to using a compressor! Unless I'm misunderstanding your point here! 

 

[tauzero]

2 hours ago, gjones said:

I bought a G&L L2500 tribute because I felt I was missing out on something by not playing a 5 string. I have to admit it's a great bass and extremely versatile soundwise but I've never actually needed the 5th string, so stick with my 4 strings.

 

Try using the 5th string instead of not using it because you don't need it. You are allowed to play it further up than the 4th fret.

[Geek99]

3 hours ago, Ed_S said:

I'd not been playing very long when I bought an acoustic bass because I thought I ought to. I was playing alongside a couple of acoustic guitarist / singers so it'd be the right tool for the job, and imagine the convenience of none of us needing to plug in to rehearse. Yeah. Just imagine it.

 

 

I bought one from

@Len_derby - I find it very useful, unless it has a huge body it really won’t compete volume-wise with an acoustic guitar, but it’s still audible for jamming 

[Geek99]

12 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

Try using the 5th string instead of not using it because you don't need it. You are allowed to play it further up than the 4th fret.

It’s not often that I agree with @tauzero but this time i do. Play across from the fifth string when it’s easier than using open strings, don’t expect to find uses for notes lower than E, they don’t come up that often

[silverfoxnik]

53 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

Having a high pass filter in your chain is different to using a compressor! Unless I'm misunderstanding your point here! 

 

 

 

"No, it really wouldn't be interesting in a situation like a Bass Bash." 

 

My point was only that you'd be amazed and suprised at what talks Basschat peeps have found interesting at the various Bashes over the years...  

[ProjeKtWEREWOLF]

I have just ordered an EHX Tri Parallel. 

No idea if I actually need one, but I think I *might*? I think this counts. 

[ricksterphil]

14 minutes ago, ProjeKtWEREWOLF said:

I have just ordered an EHX Tri Parallel. 

No idea if I actually need one, but I think I *might*? I think this counts. 

Applies to at least 50% of my pedal purchases

[peteb]

3 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

 

 

"No, it really wouldn't be interesting in a situation like a Bass Bash." 

 

My point was only that you'd be amazed and suprised at what talks Basschat peeps have found interesting at the various Bashes over the years...  

 

I would still suggest that a demonstration of using a HPL with a fixed cut-off frequency would have limited appeal, even at a Bass Bash: 'So that's what the bass sounds like on its own and this is what it sounds like once we've engaged the Thumpinator that removes frequencies below 25Hz, which you couldn't hear anyway'!  

 

[Dad3353]

39 minutes ago, peteb said:

I would still suggest that a demonstration of using a HPL with a fixed cut-off frequency would have limited appeal, even at a Bass Bash: 'So that's what the bass sounds like on its own and this is what it sounds like once we've engaged the Thumpinator that removes frequencies below 25Hz, which you couldn't hear anyway'!  

 

It's not something to be demonstrated in that 'audio' fashion, but if the speaker cone displacement was visible, it could make the point. Not all comparisons are audible; this is one of them. 

[peteb]

2 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

It's not something to be demonstrated in that 'audio' fashion, but if the speaker cone displacement was visible, it could make the point. Not all comparisons are audible; this is one of them. 

 

Again, not the sort of thing that lends itself to a display for a room full of people at a Bass Bash. You could absolutely discuss why a bass player may want to use a HPF, but difficult to demonstrate in the same way you could show the benefits of, and the different ways of how to use a compressor. 

 

[simonlittle]

5 hours ago, Wolfram said:

Oh... And a fretless bass.... One day I will learn how to play it! 

Oh man I forgot about fretless basses! Bought three different ones over the years because I thought I should have one in the arsenal only to sell them on years later when no opportunity to use them live presents itself. Nearly did it again a few weeks ago but common sense prevailed at the eleventh hour…

[bass_dinger]

Three spare basses. I tried to go for an obscure make and model, to make it difficult to find spares and duplicates, but I still have 4 Washburn Bantam basses.  Dual humbuckers, Dual single coils, dual Bartolinis.  Fretless Dual bartolinis.  Green.  Natural.  Zebra. Wacky blue-turquoise burst. Actually, they are a good thing to have  - fun to play, easy to use.  But I should have got rid of some of them earlier. 

 

A chorus pedal.  I  wonder what it sounds like - I must try it one day.

 

A thick plectrum.  I wonder what it sounds like - I must try it one day etc etc 

 

 

 

Edited 32 minutes ago by bass_dinger

[51m0n]

8 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

Despite what @petebsaid in his reply to this comment of yours @Sean, back at the 4th South East Bass Bash in 2010, @s1m0n gave a fantastic - and dare I say, legendary - presentation about the joys of using compressors... 😁

 

Sadly the photos aren't available any longer, but have a look here for more info:

 

 

Holy shit, 15 years ago 🤪

[MichaelDean]

There was a plectrum thread on here a while ago and I bought a whole different bunch, just to end up right where I started. 

 

At least it wasn't a big outlay!

[51m0n]

On 15/08/2025 at 11:43, tauzero said:

 

Plus if you have a compressor, it won't be trying to act on sub-audio frequencies and messing up its response to audible sound.

Well, strictly speaking any compressor with a sidechain filter would do that too...

[silverfoxnik]

1 minute ago, 51m0n said:

Holy shit, 15 years ago 🤪

I know - that's freaking crazy, right! 

 

T'was a great day, as I recall, especially your talk...

 

We were all sat there ever so reverential and eager to learn. .. 🧑‍🎓😁

 

Hope all's well with you btw, Si....