First gig

Played my first jam session with my new u-bass, an Ortega Lizzy. Man, is that thing smooth. I'm hooked. Don't know if I'll ever go back to a regular bass. So nice to just pick up this little instrument and sound like an upright was in the room. Got lots of compliments too. I've been playing bass for 40 years--why have I never done this before?

Congrats Jerry. What amp do you use? I only play 21 to 24" scale bass. For the almost 50 years I played guitar, I was often told I should play bass, they said I had good rhythm and feel, but I didn't want to be encumbered by a big electric bass, forget an upright. Then a year after I joined a uke group over five years ago, the leader asked if anyone would like to take up the bass to fill in our sound, I discovered all the sub-short scale basses being made and I went for it. As you see in my signature, in the last four years I'm up to 22 basses.

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8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video

I play a little Mugig BM-25 that I got on Amazon. It's not really a bass amp but for jams, etc. it does a decent job. The best thing is it's battery-powered and rechargeable. I just grab it and go and don't worry about where the nearest outlet is. It wouldn't do for an outdoor gig or a large venue, but it has a DI out so I could send to the PA if needed. It's also got an XLR input for a mic so it would make an nice little rig for busking. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XYYD8FT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sounds like quite a collection you have there! Besides the ones in my sig I have a 1980 Peavey T-40 that I'll probably never sell (birthday gift from my parents; I'm the original owner). I played a Taylor GS Mini bass for the past year but since getting the Ortega I'm about to put the mini up for sale. It's a wonderful instrument but I think for the type of playing I do these days a u-bass is the ticket. I can always drag out the Peavey if I need a regular bass. (If you know anything about T-40's, "drag" is the operative word. It's like carrying a dead body to play one.)

I see what you mean when I looked up the T-40, just the reason why I didn't go with a standard size bass years ago. For all my rehearsals and small gigs I use a Phil Jones Double Four with recommended laptop battery. I have to have battery capability, at first I used my Crate Limo battery guitar amp, but the PJD4 is much better for bass, much smaller and lighter. For larger gigs I have a Carvin MB15, and an extension 115MBE for big outdoor gigs. I put together a 25Ah lithium motorcycle battery and pure sign wave inverter that lasts for hours. For DI, I have a Sony wireless system that has DI out, last August I did a gig with it going to the PA board and didn't even bring an amp. These are all my basses.

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8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video

I think my favorite, at least as far as looks, is the Yamaha conversion. Makes a nice looking bass. I'd love to play a PJ amp one day, but budget won't allow it right now. That might be on the bucket list though.

Looks like you have space for 4 more there, Mike. :nana:

jerrycobbs said:

I think my favorite, at least as far as looks, is the Yamaha conversion. Makes a nice looking bass. I'd love to play a PJ amp one day, but budget won't allow it right now. That might be on the bucket list though.

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Yes the Yamaha is nIce, only drawback is it has a mic pickup attached to the underside of the top so it has a lot of feedback and amplifies every little touch. I'm in the process of setting up the Aquila with steel flatwounds and tailpiece, so far with their Thunder Red strings, it sounds really good. It has an ABS round back like Ovation.

Save up up for the Phil Jones, it's really worth it.

Jim Hanks said:

Looks like you have space for 4 more there, Mike.

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Actually on the wall where I hang them, I can fit about 8 more.

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8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video

kohanmike said:

Actually on the wall where I hang them, I can fit about 8 more.

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Not for long. :biglaugh:

Nice. Congrats! :shaka: