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Very underrated instruments, from what I understand.

First gig of 2026 up in cold Manchester at Band On The Wall, was ace. Surprising number of people showed up for a two day mini-Americana festival celebrating the 10th anniversary of the bigger Buckle And Boots festival held at Whitebottom Farm near Stockport. Katy Hurt had a 45 min slot on Saturday evening and we played pretty well I think (save a few little fluffs from yours truly). It was LOUD onstage but actually very well balanced. Bass was my ACG TKO, which interested one fan to the extent that he’s contemplating commissioning one purely to hang on the wall…! Rig was house-supplied TC Electronics something with an Ampeg cab, so I just used my Digbeth pre for the FoH and to sculpt the onstage tone. We had a blast, got back to Katy’s house around 1.30am and now I should probably get out of bed 😆

A couple of weeks ago I was having no end of problems with my digits. I’d split a thumb nail right the way down one side, which got infected, making using it incredibly painful to touch anything with. I also had several rat bites (got a bunch of new pet rats) one of which got right down in between the bones of the first knuckle of my index finger, which got very infected (which I fixed by injecting 99% isopropyl alcohol into). Then one morning I woke up with a horrible pain in the pad of my other thumb. A few days later I discovered that it was a tiny, metal splinter, I have no idea where it came from. A few days after that I started getting the same pain in the pad of the index finger on the same hand. It was another metal splinter. I suspect that I got both at the same time, but the callous on the index finger meant that it had to bury itself deeper before it started making its presence known. That was a whole heap of fun to dig out!

+1 for the Crimson guitars notched thing. I have bass and guitar ones

(Squier)

TBH, I find emojis a bit passive-agressive, but if there was a rolling-eyes emoji I'd use it on this thread! 🙄

No snow today and the CFO is heading to York for the day leaving me as something called "the responsible parent". Given my eldest is severely hungover in a farm near Kirkby Lonsdale and my youngest is off to work, that leaves me and the dog. I might accidently have to check the cellar and see how warm it is and perhaps check the Armacab paint and see if its frozen, and if not frozen, and all OK, it seems a shame not to test out the paint on some surfaces using the smooth roller for two coats and then the textured roller for the third coat. I will need to build some of jig to hold it but I suspect a coat hanger or two might be just the ticket. Has anybody any experience of masking areas off? Rob

I gig a bog standard HB PB50. (actually I rolled the fingerboard edges) and it sounds amazing even with the stock pickup

The Vintage brand has made quality instruments over the years. I have 3 6 stringers at the moment and they are all good guitars My brother had a P bass type that I bought for him and it was easily gig worthy out of the box I've gigged all mine with no mods, straight from the box with only a tweak of the action and truss rod

Fascinating reading. Thank you for that.

I've been considering one of the similar shaped 8-string basses (partly inspired by @Wolverinebass's).

My ex-wife used to have a thing of not wanting the kids to go to uni. They now each have a 1st-class degree in their chosen subjects and one has a PhD. (They've also got student debts...)

https://www.emporiumhifi.com/head-office-norfolk-suffolk/manticore-mantra-turntable-with-logic-datum-ii-arm/

Jim responded to my wanted ad for an Aguilar Grape Phaser, and sold it to me. Very reasonable price, fast shipping, and great communication. A stellar chap all round! Thanks Jim!

I've found another guy who bought the same model through the same seller and he seems fine with it. Five week delivery, only criticism seemed to be lack of comms post purchase. Electronically, the plan (assuming it arrives and arrives in one piece!) is to whip out the humbuckers and drop in a pair of Warman P94 pickups and pop in the appropriate pots (assuming it's shipped with 500k pots, I'll install 250k ones to subdue the higher frequencies. Might be interesting to source some 300k or 330k pots...best of both worlds. Beyond this, dependent in what's supplied, bridge and machine heads, but who knows, they may be great.

Vintage guitar demand is (in large part) due to nostalgia. Assuming the Chinese probably don’t view the 60s and 70s as being the greatest time in the world for music and so will judge guitars on their merits rather than their potential proximity to a star.

Thanks Chris, this is a good way of looking at it I think. I guess Fender will make many guitars using the same materials but low numbers in some finishes/ configurations. It’s a shame production numbers aren’t released as some feel a lot rarer than others.

Definitely this for me as well... I think new/expensive gear is also about the satisfaction of owning it, which I do think gives a better playing experience even if it makes little difference to the sound per se. Thus said I do find it easier to dial in a sound I am happy with using Trace Elliot or Genzler/Genz Benz amps, but nevertheless I still have numerous occasions where I am not happy with my sound despite having the same kit, being in the same room etc.