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Hi Mike, I've never played one of Bernie's basses but I know enough about them to appreciate the quality is top-notch and with a sound to match. I've heard you playing yours and the sound is up there with the best. It's just that they're not a brand that appeals to me. I couldn't give you a rational reason why but I've just never fancied one. Buying more basses for me at this stage in my life is more about wish-fulfilment than addressing any practical needs. I've been playing the bass since I was twelve years old and I've always gravitated towards the best instruments. I love playing the bass, but I'm not ashamed to say I love the gear, too. I've got some nice basses, and I'm going to get some more when I see something I like. I've realised recently that, not only am I not getting any younger, I am actually getting old. Maybe that's why I'm looking at the basses from my youth and thinking about what I might enjoy revisiting, or finally getting my hands on. Which brings me back around to JayDee. I remember back in the mid-1980's when Level 42 and Mark King were at the peak of their success and the demand for JayDee basses was at it's peak. If I understand correctly, to try satisfy demand John Diggins had to set up a kind of production line with a few apprentices and helpers to keep up with the orders flooding in. Where I lived there were two shops with Jaydee basses in stock. Across the UK there were retailers with Jaydee basses in stockyou could cash and carry. Availability was plentiful. However, I think John would admit that, with hindsight, quality control suffered as a result and a lot of Jaydee basses from that era are not as well-made as they should have been. When I got my custom JayDee a bit later on John told me that era had been a bit of a nightmare and he was very glad to be back to building basses mainly himself as a smaller concern. The point of all this is that it's a double edged sword when it comes to hand built boutique basses. We all want bespoke quality, but to get that level of craftsmanship it takes time and you're probably going to have to wait. You can't have it both ways. If it's handmade then it needs to be made by skilled hands, not just anybody. That means very limited supply of labour. I'm not trying to condone shoddy business practises, if and when they occur, but John's sons will be well aware of the pitfalls that came from lowering quality control to increase production. Maybe they've made a rod for their own back to some extent by insisting that the basses they put out are of a consistently high quality. Hence the wait times and pushed back delivery dates.

My jazz: Allegedly it is seafoam green but definitely seems more blue to me. Is it my eyes or is it really bluer than green??

Thanks for the feedback. It was due to the love in the forums that I gave them a go. As you say maybe they just don't work for me or this bass. It's just a shame to have to change strings so soon due to the waste of money.

Fun fact: The Royal Society* motto since 1662 has been 'Nullius in verba'....meaning 'take nobody's word for it'. So I suppose not much really changes. *the world's oldest national scientific academy.

Good afternoon, guvnor!

Amazing news! I’ll get subscribing! Is there a way to order the sample issue if we can’t attend the Birmingham show? Cheers! Andy

Thanks dude, that’s the hope. I ran the Capo for a couple of years by itself and got so used to the little bit of hair it adds to your sound that I missed it when I just used the Noble by itself. Obviously the Noble has definitely got it’s own charm to add, so the two together has worked really well but it does feel like overkill having both, on the face of it this might be a great solution that sounds as good, but simplifies my overall setup. We shall see, kicking myself for not getting in the first batch now! 😅

I have taken the brave decision to launch a new print and digital bass magazine for the UK market. I've been publishing magazines in my day job for 27 years and think it's terrible that we don't have a dedicated magazine anymore. We launch the mag officially at the Birmingham Bass & Guitar Show next month where we will have a small stand and giving away a sample issue (while stocks last) - we will then publish quarterly moving forward. Editor is Joel McIver who ran Bass Guitar magazine and then Bass Player so no cheap AI generated content here! Website is here You can subscribe via the website - our socials launch on Monday. If you are at the show next month come and say hello - be nice to put faces to names. The cover of our sample issue is here for your thoughts and comments.

Hello guys, I've been playing electric guitar for the last 2 years as a hobby. I'm not saying that I'm really good at it, but I love my playing. I want to listen to my playing, obviously for assessment and sending it to my loved ones too. I'm confused between two DAWs - garageband and logic pro. I want to pursue music production as a career and make sure that in future the DAW should have all the features that a music producer need.

Following on from this thread I have taken the brave decision to launch a new print and digital bass magazine for the UK market. I've been publishing magazines in my day job for 27 years and think it's terrible that we don't have a dedicated magazine anymore. We launch the mag officially at the Birmingham Bass & Guitar Show next month where we will have a small stand and giving away a sample issue (while stocks last) - we will then publish quarterly moving forward. Editor is Joel McIver who ran Bass Guitar magazine and then Bass Player so no cheap AI generated content here! Website is here You can subscribe via the website - our socials launch on Monday. If you are at the show next month come and say hello - be nice to put faces to names. The cover of our sample issue is here for your thoughts and comments.

If you don't like the DRs now, you are unlikely to think they have got any better in another couple of weeks. When I first started to branch out from what was available in my local musical instrument shop I bought a selection of DR strings because they were getting a lot of love here and on the US forum. I couldn't get on with any of them. I didn't like the feel and I didn't think they sounded particularly good compared with what I was used to. It's a fact not every string suits every player, and not every string suits every bass and price has very little to do with it.

@mattpbass I think if you are already using a Capo for shaping things you’ll be very very happy with this. Playing around again this morning and flat they are so similar

Now that these are a bit more freely available I picked one up a couple of weeks ago, and my impressions so far are kind of what I expected… it’s fine at what it does. To get some synthy sounds for a non synth playing bass player it’s probably the best compromise I’ve tried between form factor, quality of sounds, tracking, ease of use. Does it sound or track way better than a Future Impact (or any other solution I’ve tried)? I’d say no, but it’s a lot less fugly, and more fun to twiddle with than having to fire up an editor. Definitely feels a bit Emperor’s new clothes to me though, I’ll not be ditching the real synths for this.

I’m waiting for the Swift / Sheeran bubble to burst

Fixed.

Playing this polarising bass for two years now, here's a short review. My first impression was to hold a very sturdy built and looking bass. Fit and Finish were flawless. The action straight out of the box was high, neck had a slight backbow, but as I wanted to change strings anyway, a few little tweaks were not unexpected and no real issue. There are Thomastik flats on now. Although these strings are known for having low tension, the bass plays beautifully with a neck relief of 0,2mm and 2mm Action at the 17th fret (I've a lighter touch,so this might be not for all). So very good fretwork here. The neck is very stabil. Over time we had a humidity range from 40 -80%, and there was no need to adjust the trussrod yet. It's a medium sized neck with 22mm at 1st and 24,5 at 12th fret. This might sound a lot but it feels really nice. The tuners are good. No complains here in regard of staying in tune, but they are heavy and so they increase the neck dive, that can't be denied. The pots are not just on and off switches, they react to every slight turn. You might get heavy Rock sounds as well as motown without getting muddy. After two years now without being biased of the impression of a new aquisition, the o bass is my actual number one. The overall look of it might be not everyone' s cup of tea, but as I always loved Les Paul basses, the o bass is a GAS killer to me