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We have a tiny music store in town, from what I can gather it relies on its (extremely good and busy) upstairs music school to survive. And I'm glad it does. All I ever buy from there is picks, as I don't need any budget basses and they don't carry my preferred strings. But it's nice to know it's there.

I'm not keen on built-in XLR outputs unless they are guaranteed to be protected from phantom power voltages. I always use my own passive EMO DI box with my Helix for connecting it to the PA.

I'd give the EMGs a while, see if you like them. It's different from passive, but there is a lot to be said for them. They are active pickups which is different from an active preamp, and one of the differences is that the current draw is much lower so you don't need to swap the batteries often. Here is a pretty strong argument for the EMGs! And here is a way to boost the voltage going to the pickups (Lee has 18 volts with 2 batteries IIRC) - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192895789297?_trksid=p4375194.c101949.m162918 - check the specs on the pickups first to make sure they can handle it - most of them can handle up to 27 volts - I found it made for more headroom (as I lean in a bit too much on the strings).

Bass Direct ticks a lot of boxes for me: Fair part excahnge prices, great selection of basses to try out in a friendly place, and it is often only shop in the UK to get certain basses.

No surprise really, its a combo of a couple of shipments a week and the fact it is / was pentecost , the annual tradition for all Germans to take the time off to spend in their cars and sit in traffic on the way the coast ... We spent it in Zeeland ... it rained and blusterd ... the entire time .... we then flew to Riga just in time for the weather to improve massively, i hear from family it was 29C .

Great bass, congrats! It is my #1 and have it about 19 years. If you ever want to upgrade the pups check https://tombrantleyrewinds.com/geddy-lee-jazz-bass-pickups Great upgrade on my GL signature.

Ruh-roh!

You folks were in fine form. Very obvious that you were having a great time up there, and it showed in all your performances. It was particularly good to hear such a well-played pedal steel, his less is more approach was perfect. And oh my word, your ACG sounded droolworthy, especially down low. That B string is a thing of beauty. I will definitely be looking out for you lot in the future. Thanks for a great night. Apologise for the terrible photo

If you look at the second photo you can see that the octave strings are above for E, A and D and below for G, B and E. Interesting idea. Something I might look at if I ever manage to find one of these.

Shoulder Stay or Shoulder Go? - The Clash

I have pau ferro on a fretted Warwick Streamer and on the Fender Jaco fretless jazz and I like it a lot on both. In fact, I liked it so much on the Warwick that I was giving serious consideration to using it on a custom bass. I loved how warm the tone was, albeit it’s difficult to discern how much of that is down to the fretboard wood and how much is down to other factors.

Agreed, I hate the furry feel of Pau Ferro, I would never choose it over rosewood or maple.

I don't even notice the fingerboard when I'm playing and I don't think I'm particularly delicate when I'm pushing down on strings. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. It's a purely aesthetic choice for me, and it sounds like I'm fortunate, because agonising over what a thin strip of wood is made of sure seems to torture and torment a few folk out there.

Hi Terry It's very kind of you to think of me and to help me out 🙏 I've bought from Andertons several times. Three brand new Sire's and bits and bobs accessory wise. To be honest I felt Andertons might be being a bit over cautious with their grading, though there is a bit of a dent that could be influencing that. The photos aren't brilliant because the white finish is bouncing back too much glare. Interesting to hear what you say about the AFR5. I do like the shape of these and being a bit of a fan of the old Ergodyne series (I have an EDC) had always fancied an EDA though not altogether sure I like the sound plus I've heard discouraging feedback about the Piezo pick up. In a way I envy you living within 'dropping in' distance of Anderons and the London stores. I'm originally from North of the River myself and remember spending many a Saturday in the days of my youth trawling the music scene in and around Soho trying to decide what gear I'd buy - if I had any money😂 Now I'm 250 miles away and retired but did manage to persuade my wife to drop into Yamaha HQ, London when we were there a year ago (I walked out with a brand new TRBX604 but couldn't get on with it so sold it a few months later). That's the trouble with us guitarists, we're a fickle bunch 😂!! Have a good weekend

First of three gigs with this guy 😃. We have a Billy Joel tribute band in Holland and we got our stamp of approval from original drummer Liberty DeVitto. He agreed on coming over from the US to do these gigs with us. Needless to say we are over the moon with him agreeing to play with us. Had a blast on the first and looking forward to number two and three.

There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Pelvis - Kirsty MacColl

Agreed - I didnt' think it was a great looking wood for that, but certainly not something I thought about other than the first glance. I mean I prefer ebony because its black, then wenge as it has nice markings.

So the string layout on the top photo is what you would expect, but then in the 2nd and 3rd, the top sets of strings are reversed (the 4th one you can't really see).