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The bass came with rounds which sounded great but I do love LaBella flats on an ebony board. New set arrived today so on they went and set up. Everything I wanted from this instrument and more. Delicious, fat, warm tone from it. One happy chappy. So you see, Santa does exist after all.

Thanks @Rosie C gutted as I did really well for a change and the lady hostess told me I “smashed it”. Pub is quiet Jan and feb so first one is March. It’s the only really local one around me

Assuming that a bass can be set up for the action that you favour, and the frets don't cut your fingers to ribbons, neck width and profile would be the most significant factors, with body shape and balance also coming into it. Playability is a very personal thing though. I like basses with quite slim shallow necks, so my (expensive by my measure) Seis are great, but my Squier MVM Jazz 5 (cheap), Ray5 (cheap), and Ibanez SRF705 (mid-range) aren't far behind, and my Warwick Thumb 5 (expensive) is a bit behind them and my Antoniotsai dragon bass (cheap) is their equal. Precision 5s and fatneck Warwicks are right out. I think my Ibanez EHB1265MS (expensive) and Cort Space 5 (mid-range) are pretty much equivalent for playability. But other people love baseball bat necks and dislike slim necks, so a Squier Precision 5 would suit them better than a Sei 5.

That's a nice looking Bass for sure. I'm curious JD, you sound like you place the aesthetics of a Bass very highly, whereas I mainly go for the feel, playability and sound of the bass in question. I stopped by the Gallery during my Precision research and chose the green American Professional Classic, because that particular instrument felt and sounded great to me. I'm not really bothered about colours

Personally I wouldn't take this to a door stripping company even in the UK. The chemicals used are rather too aggressive in order to get the job done with the minimum of fuss and you are likely to end up with 4 separate pieces of wood. Doors mostly survive because they are held together by woodworking joints and nails although it is always best to re-glue them after the stripping process.

Very true. If this was a Fender bass from the same era, this thread would have probably generated an outcry with posts full of words like "mojo" and "vintage". However 70s Kramers are an oddity only really interesting to enthusiasts of aluminium basses (like myself). Having said that the body colour isn't the most attractive, and if this bass was mine and I hadn't already had a poor experience trying to strip a 70s Kramer bass, I might be tempted to change it.

But... none of the playability elements you list are determined by price. There are playability elements that are - such as neck shape, finish, fretwork but these can be excellent on inexpensive basses (some Squiers for example).

Welcome to the forum Tim!!! Tim just bought my Sire MM5. Top bloke, great comms. Will be an asset to the forum I’m sure! Deal with confidence people. Enjoy the bass @Tim curtis merry Christmas 🎄🎅🏻

Yes, but which one? The early 2000s ones with the S1 parallel/series switching were a bit flaky, the 2008 was a seriously good instrument. The 2012 was pretty good too, with a very modern punch to the sound.

Very much a biker thing too. I still do it when we're playing "Highway to Hell" so as to give me something to do in the verse.

I would point out that far more young girls gravitated towards the Bay City Rollers. Perhaps their popularity then, with their incredibly short trousers, was reflected in the adoration with which Rishi Sunak was regarded.

Sorry to hear your family have had had such a tough time. I had a year like this in 2024; Sister in Law died of a brain tumour in April, my Mum died of pancreatic cancer in July, and Brother in Law was in a coma and hospitalised for ten months with brain abscesses (he has recovered but won't walk again), and then to top it all off our dog died in December. It really made my wife and I reflect on things, so much so we have decided to retire (I'm being made redundant in March next year, so that forces the issue somewhat as at 60 I have no appetite to get back into the fray) and enjoy life. You never now when or how it might change, and we are lucky to have paid off the mortgage and have two grown kids, so it feels right. Life can throw a lot of crap at us sometimes, as the other comments attest to, but we keep on pushing don't we.

Final open mic of the year for me last night. Some solo performers, Mrs Zero and I performing a couple of Christmas songs, and a couple of bands. By a strange coincidence, all the members of Jayler happened to be there and did some songs, although of course Jayler themselves weren't there as there's some contractual thing.

American Standard series.

@dub_junkie Cheers for that. My pal Rick Wilson (Moonshine Guitars) was working for Greg at the time when the Cort collaboration started, I was going by his tale of events.