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*cough* I'd say boutique guitars and basses are very much alive though. There are many great luthiers out there who are doing really well for themselves. I feel that especially high end Fender-derivatives are selling VERY well, but the exotic wood coffee table is still very much a thing too.

If you use VLC for playback, you can raise or lower the pitch (Tools | Effects | Audio effects | Advanced). Or, if you're using Youtube, you could try this: https://transpose.video/. Note: I have no experience of the latter. We play Sweet Child a semitone down, I use a pitch shifter (Zoom MS-60B+) as I play it with other bands and at open mics in D.

Does boutique just mean expensive, or does it just mean doesn't look like a Fender etc? Or maybe if it could look like a Fender, but it has a figured top. But what if it has a fancy top but wasn't expensive (relatively) and is a Fender? What if I can get someone to make me a bass that costs less or the same as an Indonesian import. Is the handmade one still boutique in that case, or does it depend on whether it looks like a Fender? I think I need a shower

Friend of mine has a custom Status Black Beauty with gold plated hardware and every conceivable option. Its amazing. He also has loads of other vintage Fenders and Stingrays. He gigs mostly with a Yamaha 5 string which cost him £120 which just sounds amazing and is super reliable. Even with his slap technique which makes Flea look like Pino it still trucks on despite the abuse.

I wonder if he got a nasty shock at the post office counter! Glad you weren't ripped off, in any case*. *sorry, no pun intended

Made significant progress in the last two days. The bridge is now ready, the neck is ready and the neck fits and by some mathematical miracle. the bridge is the right length from the 12th fret. Wonders will never cease. This is just to check for fitting and access. So the white panels are where the three way switch and the V/V/T/T pots and 1/4" socket will fit. They are in white so I could see if I liked the colour scheme. The body of the guitar is partly filled and finished, I'm testing it as I go along. Its kinda Rickenbacker six string (ish) on a bad day. Lots to do but it's getting there. I've also done the drill guide. This is used to put all the aluminium bits together. The two bits of aluminium will fit in the above guide and positions all the holes. Some are 5.25mm, some are 2.5mm and some are 3.5mm. I do not trust myself to remember the order.

The covers band I've been in the longest (Dirty Roses, classic rock) - some influence in song choice (we all make suggestions, some get taken up, some don't), basslines are up to me and my conscience. The covers band that I've transitioned from dep to permanent member in (The Bonnevilles, R&B) - I have yet to find out if I have any influence in song choice, fairly free on basslines but the guitarist has put me right on a couple of them. Originals band (RJG band) - the band is there as a means to turn the BL's already recorded material into a live set. Currently in a bit of a hiatus as we're not sure what's happening with the drummer. I've got total freedom with the basslines and it appears I haven't yet done anything stupid. Covers band I've just been recruited to (Magenta Protocol, genre spanning) - apparently everyone can make a small number of suggestions which are adopted unless they're vetoed. Basslines, again, are up to me and my conscience. I've done the website for Dirty Roses and for other past bands. Our drummer seems to be the best at getting us gigs.

And the string heights will alter.

Living In The 70's - Skyhooks

Xvive for sure. I have the U2 and I've been using it for eight years. Last Fender product I bought was their headphone amp, not bad, but not as good as the Boss Katana Go.

Yes, I purchased the Neptunuim in July 2024.

We're kicking things off at The Castle in Old Town, Swindon this Friday, as part of the Swindon Shuffle.

Both bands, equal say on everything.

Best - it's proved itself very capable for small gigs, it's handy as a back-up amp for my already small Tecamp, and it's low-powered enough to not blow up any of my cabs (with one possible exception). Sounds good. Minor gripes - jack socket output instead of combi jack/speakon, no mute switch (although admittedly it would be hard to find somewhere for a mute switch - maybe someone will come up with a pull for mute volume pot one day for pocket amps). Plus the manual is misleading about the signal LED, it shows green to indicate a signal is present and red when it's clipping.

It’s a duo and we’ve both been there and done it all so these days it’s pretty much “shall we do this?” “ yes ok let’s give it a whirl.”

Congrats pete, it looks really great

A shed somewhere in the home counties then?

Hi Dan, when I started playing back in the '60s my first bass was a s-s Watkins Rapier that I bought without even knowing that different scale lengths were available. When I found out, I made the conscious decision to play Gibson basses and have been playing s-s basses ever since. Compared to those early days I'm thankfully spoiled for choice now with so many top-drawer s-s basses and string options out there. Welcome to the best topic on the Basschat forum - for me anyway 🙂

My only question is, do you rent them for a few weeks, return them, and then someone else rents them?

The claimed advantage of stacking cabs with the drivers vertically in a line is that you get better "throw" (line arrays work on this principle). So if you want to reach the back of the room, there may be a small benefit. Probably not worth worrying about for average gig use, though.