Recent content by oldjohn1951

I've been plunking away with this little amp for a year and it now drives a mid-1990s Fender BSR15 cabinet; mostly at home. It does it pretty well in a 1500 square foot room. I really like the compressor when practicing on my 5-string as it helps "unmuddy" the B string (Rotosound). So far, I...

I bought a Joyo Bantamp Badass Bass head from Pitbull Audio a couple of months ago. I like it a lot. It has a lot of punch and is plenty loud for small venues and great for practice. At the last gig, I played through a GK cab in a small bar and it had enough oomph and was only cranked 2/3...

UPDATE--March 23, 2021: The Hotone Thunder Bass's input conked out after about 10 months--just quit. I disassembled the unit and found the input jack was not seating the plug properly. However, when I bent the metal clips that secure the plug into the jack the sound became badly distorted...

I would avoid the Hotone Thunder Bass. Mine played fine for a while, really sounded nice and I was running it through a dead combo amp with two 12-inch speakers. It had plenty of oomph for an 800- square foot room. About 10 months after I got it; the input just quit. I disassembled the unit...

It depends on you; how dedicated you are, how well you can follow instructions and how much QUALITY time you are willing to put into it. Also, IMHO, a bass guitar is a "team instrument." When I pick up this instrument and play with others I understand I am part of a team to accomplish a set of...

I have a small practice amp that does the job in an 800 square foot area without having it cranked very far at all. That amp is sitting on an amp stand so it projects the sound up and out into the room as opposed to having it on the floor and the sound getting restricted by the amp on the floor...

Right on! It is a fun way to pass time and learn something(s) in the mix. A pencil and paper to write down what you are doing is helpful.

If you read the Rotosound history portion of their website, John Entwistle of The Who constantly complained about dead-sounding E and A strings. He went to Rotosound and they discovered the cores of those particular strings were not beefy enough to carry the sound he was after properly. The...

If your budget is really limited, look into what Aliexpress and DHgate are selling these days. I have had good luck with these instruments as once they've been tweaked they play reasonably well. For the money, you are NOT going to get a professionally set-up instrument and the strings are...

I practice on the bass that requires more effort. The more accurate I get with the "harder to play" bass then it makes the "go play for people" bass easier to handle and faster (provided I don't get careless). I think of the "harder" bass as the musical equivalent of a fungo bat. It works for...

I've tried a lot of different strings, but I talk to people, ask what they use and why and then try those strings that cut through everything else with minimum effort. Right now I'm using Rotosound Swing Bass 66 Stainless Steel Roundwound 45-105 standards. They work for me. They are loud...

I'm not going to dispute a word of your observation but you had to see this to believe it. Shortly after having it serviced one time, the unit began performing poorly again. This time I took it to another tech for a 2nd opinion. The response was "put your wallet away--it isn't worth it" and...

My suggestion is to save up for a well-made hand-wired tube amp if you are in this for the long haul; and I mean the long haul. I have a tube amp more than 50 years old. I treat my equipment well and the unit just keeps going, only needing servicing 2 or 3 times in its life. My solid state...

I have a RH Paul McCartney "Magical Mystery Tour" knock off Rickenbacker from aliexpress. I love it. I spent an addl. $60 with a luthier to correct some top end fret buzzing and new strings. I'm a bass hobbiest and play casually with a bunch of other old farts (all pushing 70) and this bass...