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Add their Encounter to that list too.

I'm always aware that a bass might be in excellent condition because it was considered below average when played. For me, a decent amount of play wear indicates a single, or a number of players have preferred to use it over the years. Also, another benefit of a roadworn instrument is that new dings are stress free.

Happy belated birthday. I tried their phaser but really didn’t like it. I had high hopes for it, especially with the envelope mode, but I very quickly established it wasn’t for me. It was a very noisy circuit. I much preferred the Barbanera Black Pearl and the Behringer BM-13.

Robert, it all depends on what you're after and this is something that must be discussed with your teacher. If he doesn't agree with your point of view about music and piano playing, as long as it's not based on idleness only, find another teacher/tutor. Grades are there to assess the level of playing what is written, exactly the way it is written, not a way to assess your ability to interpret a piece with emotion. A very good example is the piece I'm learning right now (still Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence by Ryūichi Sakamoto), which has been performed by the composer himself who wrote the final score himself, before dying. And this is a great opportunity, because, very often, you play pieces from dead people who never recorded them themselves. So if you listen to the different versions he played himself, you'll notice that his last interpretation was fully loaded with emotion, not always sticking to the written score when it comes to timing, but linked to his feelings, making it beautiful and human, with mistakes. Listen to Lang Lang version and you'll hear a typical classical version strictly sticking to the score, and ending up in a boring version, lacking the Japanese ethnical music heritage mixed with the Debussy homage and, something that classical player can hardly do, a swing feeling. So decide wether you want some diplomas on your wall or being able to read and play a score your way with the most important parts in music: interpretation linked to emotion. That said, hélas, technique is the only way to reach that goal. Mixed feelings, I know.

Moped eyes - Super Furry Animals

That is no fun I would already be going from 2 to 1.

Rod Deas bass has "lots of providence" or dirt as it`s otherwise known.

Six Things To A Cycle — The Residents

What a nice piece of wood!! Love it!! indeed best to only oil and wax it, that way the wood comes alive!!

I'd also add, that if you do want to focus on things like dynamics or smooth legato playing or whatever, it's probably better to spend a short time per session drilling exercises like scales/arpeggios where you focus just on that skill in a simplified context. That might appear to contradict what I said above but I think the short time is key. Do it only until you feel concentration waning or you've plateaued for the day. Try playing a C major scale up and down at p, then f, then after a while introduce mp, then mf. Do it legato, and do it staccato. Try doing it up and down one octave with a steady crescendo. Then up and down with steady diminuendo. Think about how your fingers are contacting the keys before and after the notes are played. Get your wrist angle right. I guarantee that kind of focus will help you when you go back to playing actual pieces where you're having to think about more aspects at once.

Gorgeous bass!!! I’m sure you’ll play it more now it is in good shape! Although I mostly play my MK basses I really love my ProIIe too. Sometimes I think about selling it because of the good money they go for nowadays but I just can’t. I know I will regret it! I’ve restored mine too, it was in bad shape when I bought it in 2005. The J-Fets were broken a.o. and they are very hard to find, I finally found them and bought 2 spares just in case… And yes, Paul is a great luthier, I’m glad he took over from Pete with the same passion!

A few more pics

I'm not a pro-level musician/teacher so take what I say with a pinch of salt, but yes - I think only a minority of early-stage learners will play a piece 'perfectly' no matter how much they drill it. It's just not an efficient way to build up skill, you need a variety of exercises and challenges that involve as much of the brain as possible so one circuit isn't carrying the whole load. My own experience regardless of instrument is that improvement comes from moving on and learning coordination/phrasing/dynamics more holistically over many pieces. Sticking with your footballing analogy, it'd be a weird method to just drill one skill session after session. Pace of learning just won't increase beyond a certain point so you may as well move on to something else. Benefits of playing many pieces, all inter-related of course: 1. Rapid improvement per piece, keeps you motivated. 2. Builds versatility by practicing essentially similar skills but each in a unique context. 3. Improves sight-reading. This is huge, not just for the skill itself but what it means. You are decoding and finding the musical message in real-time, not just the black squiggles themselves but including the sense in the phrases, which means your ear is being tested in numerous ways. 4. Pattern-spotting between multiple musical pieces in succession, helps with reading, harmonic/scalar/rhythmic theory, general ear training, dexterity. 5. Going back to a piece after a break doing others gives you a fresh look with new musical perspectives and a chance to avoid baking in bad habits/mistakes that then take ages to undo. 6. Versatility gained here helps playing with others, and will translate e.g. from piano to bass! Edit: 7. Forgot this one, but avoids fatigue! As alluded to above, practicing one thing again and again is more fatiguing, relates to efficiency/rate of improvement. That bit of the brain is knackered now and won't get any better for a bit, move on to something else. Learning a new piece you're not just focused on coordinating fingers, but also all the sight-reading stuff (theory, reading, musicality etc). You're spreading the cognitive load!

Slightly smaller monitor?