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I’m going to buy my dog a new precision. She showed some interest in a photo, maybe she’ll manage to get a sound out of it if I wedge a dog chew between the strings and then I’ll have a free pass on that purchase

No Reply At All - Genesis

I’m contemplating a Backbeat after the weekend gig where as the gig went on I found it harder and harder to hear myself. Because of that I began fingering harder and harder to the point my fingers cramped up. i figure if I can feel myself playing I might be less prone to this reoccurring. I know I need to work more on technique but in the heat of the moment theory can go out of the window. A new G2 backbeat is £399 but there’s no used ones around. But there’s some used G1 units about for £170 ish So should I try a used G1 unit first and upgrade if I like it ? - or just bite the bullet and get the F2 ? Thanks in advance

Raising money for our local hospice in a couple of weeks.

Another request (although I think there are loads of these out there already), the Chuck Rainey part for 'Josie' from the 1977 Steel Dan album, 'Aja'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Josie-Chuck-Rainey-Bass.pdf

Late to the party: Just on-shored (to Vermont) a Batking fretless. It's remarkably well built, especially for the price. Oddly the gut-buster (white) strings that came installed seem to have been pre-stretched...they very easily tuned up to pitch and (almost) stay there, day after day. But about the battery: my red indicator light is on when I use the tuner, and I'm now worried that the pre-amp might be cursed with that always-on "feature." @mcnach and @tauzero: any fixes you've come up with? My over-the-air troubleshooting suggests that the ring and sleeve connections might be reversed, but I thought I'd sound out the gang before attempting micro-surgery. Also, should a swap-out be needed, I see there's a pre-amp that looks identical to the one in the Batking for $14US, called "EVALM." Its input impedance is listed at a whopping 22Mohms!

Had a look. I think there is only one note difference (although it repeats). The differences are Chris plays it 'slower' in terms of bpm and he also includes an E major key signature which I don't. Chris is correct whereas I, as a Jazzer, use accidentals to sharpen and flatten notes. He also does the correct thing in terms of the geography which I don't. I suspect Chris's chart is technically superior to mine but I played them both through and it's all good.

Lovely collection you have there too, @Stub Mandrel. Especially liking your Sire P10. I had the V10 for a while. It was a great bass.

Happy to help, and it's always nice when I stumble across new music that I like. Mark

All great options with not much between them but having a visual loop indicator is a huge benefit!

Finally had the opportunity to play one today. For anyone worried about the pickup sounding like a mudbucker, no need for concern...this thing sounds great, quite a change in tone rolling off the tone knob. I can only imagine how good it would sound with proper strings. The quality of this bass is surprisingly good, even though I expected as much...and damn, it looks even better in real life! Sweetwater has several and they all seem to be in the 9 pound zone, but I'm guessing the one I played was much closer to 8 pounds. Oh yeah, it does both hard rock 𝘢𝘯𝘥 soft rock with equal conviction...I have to believe it'd make a nice bass for that Motown sound, too. Yes, I've played the Fender Vintera version, but no one would ever be able to convince me to buy one of them instead.

Agreed, it's personal abstinence, only stuff for you and you alone counts.

ooh new bass sound to aspire to. Not quite sure why this came up in my watchlist but I like it!