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1. DJ Mixer or sound desk: I need a phono preamp for vinyl at home, I also need a way of having my synth and bass and iPad and mix going through a mixer with an effects loop (home studio and potentially live use). A decent 4 channel DJ mixer with Phono inputs could do this (e.g. Allen & Heath Xone 43, £550), or perhaps a mixing desk (e.g. Yamaha MG 12 XU, £350) but that Yamaha would need a seperate phono preamp. 2. 4 string passive Jazz Bass. My main Bass is a 5 string active but it'd be nice to have something a bit different as backup. ....I dunno, but I think that is it (which is just as well as that short list is gonna be a stretch for Santa's budget!). I usually have a massive shopping list but I'm happy with my current Bass setup (Ibanez EHB 1005MS is decent enough and is lightweight for rehearsals and gigs, Ashdown RM 500 does the job, Markbass 102 is lightweight and good sound, Boss GX-10 covers most effects I need).

Due to the bridge placement and the headstock size, the Eastwood Hooky, despite being a short scale, is actually a couple of cm longer than my 34" scale Gus G3s.

In the early days there were a few that I got excited about but turned out to be disappointments. I had one particular bass on loan, didn't actually own it, not sure this counts but to this day is hands down the worst bass I've ever played in my life. Everything about it was sh*te. The finish, the pick ups, the neck....etc. Truly awful thing. Ibanez srx595. My first decent bass was a srx300 which I adored. Loved the fast & slim neck. So much so, I decided I wanted a 5 string upgrade. That thing was gorgeous to look at, but it just felt awful in my hands. After a short while it was moved on. Fast forward a while, lessons learned and I have been lucky in the past 15 years and haven't really owned anything I really disliked. I recently ventured back into the ibanez SRX world and now own a srx705 (bought for £200, bargain). Love the feel of this bass however I wasn't happy with the aggressive tone. So it now sports some Aguilar DCBs. Looks and sounds lovely.

I agree on the 'space saving' aspect. I joined a Glam band and the tight 'stages' meant I used a Status Streamline for the first few gigs to avoid sword fighting with the guitarist.....it didn't really look the part though so I've progressed through various Mustangs until I've ended up with the current Sandy Lionel and sparkly shorty Ray.

Yep, almost exclusively with these 2 little demons….

Good choice, FB seems to be filled with conspiracy theorists and politicising morons. Stay on the 'bass' side.

I've got a Status CW-1; I bought it with money that I received from my mum for my birthday just before she died. I don't really need it for the gigs I do and as it's a case queen I wouldn't want to gig it at some of the venues we do. It's a shame it doesn't get the play time it deserves but I couldn't part with it.

The action is now a respectable 3mm at the 12th. However the strings are bottoming out between the 22nd and 24th frets because of the shimming (which is still quite extreme). So I'm going to remove one of the shims and see where we land, but I think I might need to take a little bit of material off the heel of the neck.

The screws were from a kit I got off ebay. There were long neck fixing screws and shorter neck fixing screws, these are the shorter option. So when it was all back together the end of the neck sits a little bit proud of the body:

Now I want to know if Sting ever gigged a Stingray

So, I had the neck clamped up all night and the bow seems better, if not entirely cured. This morning I decided to tackle the concealed fixings for the neck. I drilled a hole in the body using a 4mm bit and then the last cm into the heel of the neck, a 3mm. I then used a spare screw to thread the holes (in the neck) and make it easier to get the proper fixing in. Here's a pic

There is a whole thread on mandolin playing, here.

Remember that to just play the stuff you like is a bit self indulgent. It's good to play stuff that you wouldn't normally consider. You can expand your range and appreciate music that you might have passed over before. Playing ensemble is definitely better than playing to backing tracks. I'm not knocking the tracks because they're good for practice. It's just that the dynamics of a recorded song never vary. Band mates can be more responsive and will help you to become a well rounded player. Open Mic nights are always good for meeting local people too.

I Will Fix You - Coldplay

Unlike the wonky, malformed lumps and blobs that make up the majority of 'unique', 'hand-crafted', 'custom' & 'one-off' basses, it does at least seem that this is what the creator intended it to look like. Perhaps, like the work of numerous artists in a variety of other disciplines can, this artefact offers us a glimpse into the unique mind and tortured soul of a profoundly disturbed creator.

Dowland on the bass! I never thought of that. I’ve played most of his works on the lute, where it sits perfectly of course. Never thought of it in 5ths tuning, let alone on a bass. Kudos for exploring that! Any online recording?

The first set I had was the first recording of all six by Anner Bylsma, which I still love some 45 years later. Not so much his second recording of all six. Not sure why. I have his book discussing the suites, and his approach to them which goes against what everyone else does 😆 I don’t know of Queyras. Interpretations tend to fall into two camps: Romantic/Heroic or Earthy Dance Music. Sometimes a combination of the two is attempted. If you can stand listening to the tenor banjo, here’s my take on the first suite: and the 2nd suite on a classical guitar tuned a fifth lower, with special strings from Aquila: Through illness these last two years I now find it very difficult to play fingerstyle, so am spending more time with a bow on my viola da gamba - as close as I’ll get to playing a cello. I find I can also play bass with thumb and index, which explains my investigation in how to transfer Bach to that instrument. It has been useful reading all the comments here.

Your ability to highlight in such straight lines is extraordinary.