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At the risk of adding to the "overthinking this" aspect. 😉 "Expensive" is intangible, and so hard to measure. I therefore recommend the following excellent book: https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/how-to-measure-anything-book-douglas-w-hubbard-9780470539392?

Very true but with so much power it’s easy to set it so it sounds clean. Would have been nice to have so maybe the mk2 will have one ?

The NS2000/4 is very different from what you might expect and is worth commenting on. It's got really big solid maple wings with a quilted maple veneer that is around 8mm at its thickest point around the pickups. The upper horn is feckin' hoooge. It's long too and ends above fret 12/13. This makes it much more "Fender" on the strap. The neck carve is a bit skinny in my world, it's 41mm at the nut and 26mm deep at the first fret. Now that's a Louisville Slugger to your modern J and Ibby SR players but for me, it's about as skinny as I'll go. The cavity cover has 6 screws that go into brass grommets and that cover is recessed. This is a feature that should have been on Euros. I've added grommets and machine screws to all mine but I can't ever see myself routing any of my Euros. The tuners are budget. I'll be buying some used Gotoh tuners to replace them. The nut and bridge are brass but are unique and specific to this bass from what I've seen. The quality of it is fantastic as you'd expect from that Korean factory. It's a proper 3-piece maple neck through build with mahoosive maple wings, a reasonably nice quilt vender and very high quality build. The savings in materials come from the hardware, the electronics and savings in cheap dot markers versus pearl inlays. What surprised me was the extra CNC run to put the route around the cavity instead of learning it out and putting the cover on top of the back surface. The paint job and finish is top notch but the colour is ever so dull. It's like a foggy day up North. No one is ever going to say, "Phwoar! That's a looker." I'm going to give it the @Mike Brooks treatment tomorrow. Water with Simple Green at a 30:1 ratio to clean and some Dunlop 65 Carnuba to polish it up. Fantastic and thanks to Mike for the tip. Another banger is Optimum No Rinse. I've already done the fretboard with Crimson Fretboard Cleaner and Crimson Fretboard Restorative and that did wonders. I usually use Monty’s products but found some Crimson dregs (great name for a band) in the garage last week. I'll post a pic tomorrow when it's finished its glow up. NS2A for the next project.

True but if you want a new Rickenbacker or Musicman you are going to need a little more than 2K.

Great amp apart from having no input gain clip indicator.

Indeed. Personally I would rather own one bass I love than 5 or 6 mediocre ones anyway. It does seem like one expensive bass attracts more ire than several mid priced ones..

Really liked his playing and singing. I discovered him in the late 80's with my first job as the car I was using back then had a cassette player with a Chris Rea album definitely locked in... And as I was driving this car 4 hours a day, I ended up really appreciating his music. Weird way to discover someone's talent, I know. May he rest in peace.

Yep. You can't take it with you. I would add that expensive doesn't always equal better, depending on what you want/need. In terms of function, the law of diminishing returns kicks in once you get towards £2k and upwards. However, pride of ownership is important. A nicer instrument will make you happier than a giant telly.

Just because you could do something doesn’t mean you should!

Ha ha, not yet no. But it did get very nice Gotoh GB707s and a D-tuner.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of wish-fulfilment if you can afford it. I really don't go for the idea that anyone has to justify their purchases in terms of how and where they are going to use them. If it's your own money to spend, do as you please and enjoy it how you like.

I shall crack an egg in my bath in his honour tonight..... Seriously though, will be sorely missed. I always loved when "Driving Home For Christmas" came on when I would drive home to the North East as a young lad. Holy ground indeed. RIP Chris.

Here's the fret job in progress. On an instrument with very worn frets there's a point that comes when doing a fret level where you need to make the call on either carrying on or a re-fret. This Far Eastern beaut will be getting new frets in the summer, I'm looking forward to putting Jescar 55090 stainless narrow/tall frets on, doing the fall from 15 onward and seeing how that goes. (Fret fall is brilliant if you pay up dusty ends a lot). If it works out nicely I'll be refretting the '02 E4 and the '17 E4LX Maple as they're pretty battered.

IME a change in bridge can have the effect of micro EQ (change overall tonality), micro filter (notch certain frequencies), micro envelope shaper (change attack/sustain), or micro compressor (even things out a bit). On most instruments switching bridges makes little real difference, but on some it can be tangible and helpful. It's always worth some trial and error

Thank you both, that’s really helpful. I’ll get myself a feeler gauge and if it persists I’ll take your advice and take it for a decent set up. Any recos for one in west London?

I've Been playing along to Deborah Bonhams version of Superstition, as it is best version I have played and its been years. so found it on Spotify then checking her out on the tube I came across this. How do ya get these three in the same place. https://youtu.be/Q5gc9Yk6OPc?si=8ojqcIw2klDubyv5

This is what AI says - although it may have just regurgitated the above discussion 🤣 "Yes, there can be a subtle sonic difference, with individual saddles generally providing a slightly tighter, brighter, or more focused sound, and two strings sharing a single, larger saddle (common on vintage-style bridges) potentially offering a warmer, "ballsier" tone with a more pronounced midrange. The difference is generally minor compared to other factors like string type, pickups, or playing technique, and is largely a matter of personal preference."

If the question were rephrased to ‘a bit posh’ then I guess my answer would be about £1.5k used £2k new