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Fanned fretless? Mark

It could have been even more stupid: A fretless version...

Well I’m astonished - I’m afraid I’m one of the Basschat members who was around in the 70s and who remembers only roundwounds available in the UK shops! You went and bought (usually) one bass string (to replace the one you’d broken) and it’d be a Rotosound roundwound. Every high noon and holiday (or if you’d got enough gig money) a complete set would be bought - which would also be Rotosound roundwounds. Even my new pre EB Stingray came with roundwounds (I know the pre 78 ones came with flats). So back in the day (the 70s and 80s) many things were of a decidedly previous era and extremely unpopular (include Shadows instrumentals from 1960 ish, pastel coloured electric instruments, certain 1960s fashions) and most certainly flatwound bass strings!!! They’ve only really come back into vogue since Pino reinvented himself in the late 90s, and all things 1960s became the ‘latest thing’, including fitting flatwound strings which have such high tension you need to be a champion weight lifter to play a bass shod with them 🤣🤣 Though I say all this, I have a Stingray Classic fitted with TI flats and I’ve been playing it a lot recently - most specifically after watching Scott’s Bass Lessons interview of Joe Dart - I’m afraid I come over like this about every six months as a result of hearing Joe Dart either on a new Vulfpeck concert or like this, just playing some of his stuff. The flatwounds definitely help with fretting hand muting. However I’ll no doubt be back to my Stingray Special with zingy roundwounds in a week or three again!!! One thing I haven’t tried with the flatwound shod Stingray is playing it through my new MXR bass synth - the zingy roundwound one is great at the various preset sounds - I caused somewhat of a stir during setting up at an outdoor gig - the previous band’s keyboard player wanting to know where the very accurate ARP Herbie Hancock sound was coming from 😀😀 must try a flats fitted Stingray or Stingray fretless on it (Ian Allison’s demo on SBL absolutely sold me on getting one and it’s bloody brilliant 👍)

No, I’m a rounds man, I did (very stupidly imo) put these up for sale so put the strings they came with back on, realised my mistake so took them down sharpish.

If you’re comfortable with a fiver , then why not . Maybe the one bass does it all ..🤔 I was in a band where on a four string , the guitarists gave me a woman’s hair tie for a couple of songs.as they never had a capo . Worked fine.

My first ever bass was the 5 string version! Loved it.

I'm trying. I get the impression that the drummer is keen to get a more rock sound than just doing Stones, Credence and Gary Moore. I really dislike Gary Moore. I'm giving it one more rehearsal, to see how it feels.

So I play a lot of songs with alternative tunings (Eb and D mainly) as well as in standard E. This is not an issue when practicing at home as. Can take my time to retune, but in rehearsals and gigs, it wastes a lot of time. Rather than having several other guitars (that I can’t afford) in different tunings and swapping, I thought of getting a 5 string, keeping it in BEADG standard, and then using a capo when I need to change tuning. Songs that require drop d I can still use my 4 string with hipshot. What are people’s thoughts on using a capo with a 5-string bass? Is it acceptable or will I be shunned by the bass community and have cries of “Shame!” following me around the rest of my days?

I went to see it tonight, and I wasn't disappointed. Short but sweet and lots of big laughs. I feel like they edited it quite ruthlessly. I want to watch it again!

Well, it's the weekend, after all!

Mock up 👀 (not real) Not quite the vintage T-bird pickups, but you get the idea.

A thunderbird pickup in a Mustang is something I’ve wanted for a while!!

All flats too?

As good as the first Tap film was, BBC comedy series Brian Pern I think is the pinnacle of music comedy.

Monday was a first one back after the summer break so it expected it to be a busy one but there weren’t many bass players there this week - which was a nice bonus. Also a number of the regular singers weren’t there either. Meant that I got to play quite a few times. Bass on Love Shack, Hey Joe, Smoke on the Water (yes really!) and It’s Probably Me by Sting. The lack of male singers meant that I also got roped in to do lead vocals on Bohemian Like You and Long Train Running - I pity the audience, I really do! It was a nice way to blow off the cobwebs after the summer break and a treat to be able to play on so many of the tunes!

I tried a couple of Fender and Sandberg 5ers and hated the necks. Moved to a BB415 then BB1025X - around 42mm nut width, same as my 4-string Fender P, been a happy camper ever since.

You’re being very generous, Tim. The only places I would now be considered middle-aged are a care home and an Anglican Church congregation. 😂