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Hi Mick. You have mentioned in the past that you want to start getting bigger and better gigs for your band. The thing is that to do this, things like having decent stage patter and getting a bit of a look together are non-negotiable! You have to be able to be able to do it. A few years ago, I did a few months of deps for a R&B type band with a decent following, while their bass player underwent treatment for cancer (thankfully, he's still playing and seems to be doing well). Now this band were not great, but they were all nice guys, had a good inter-band friendship and loved what they did. All of this came across to the audience and many loved them, far beyond their actual ability as a band. They also had a singer who was a good frontman, hardly Dave Lee Roth in looks or his stage act, but was funny and engaging with a crowd. They also had a lead guitar player who was sort of OK, but nothing special. However, they constantly namechecked him and talked him up as if he was Eric Clapton! A lot of punters bought into this and thought he was a great player, where other musos would just roll their eyes. I know for a fact that a number of promoters used to book them for festivals, despite not really wanting to, just because of the demand from the audience. These things just need sorting out if you want to play better gigs. It's not really that hard to do, but the whole band needs to buy into it. If they really don't want to, then perhaps you need to start thinking about laying with someone else.

Happy Jack made the very good point about the people who just mumble into the mic between songs - those cases may as well just be "dead air" between songs, for all the good they do! Whoever gets the job needs to lean into the role, become a bit of a circus ringmaster, if you like. Loud, clear voice, as if you're doing theatre (dahling!), and if you keep it short and punchy, you keep the audience engaged. Have some good lines planned ahead of time if it helps. If you can nail it, I can't imagine the band would sustain their objections. If you need inspiration, Pete Townshend did it very well around The Who's creative peak. Look up one of their (better) live recordings (Isle of Wight 1970 is a good starting place) and skip to the breaks between the songs. It's often daft, even a bit camp, but it helps to maintain the energy.

Not received 4 million different but the same answers and got the bass on its way back to the manufacturer on day one perhaps 😂

Agree. Although I`m a Fender fan-boi through & through to me I`d say at most three ranges, US, Mex for those unable to afford a US model or wanting a cheaper backup, and signature models.

Out of all curiosity what would you have done if there was no Basschat?

In fairness, the thread title is: "Disappointing new bass day...I would appreciate some opinions.". So, opinions you got! 🙂

look mum no strings....

I'd just get a refund. Work like that isn't what I'd want in a custom bass, and a luthier that sends you a bass like that isn't one I'd trust/want to refinish it. Best advice is get your money back and go elsewhere. I'll be honest and say I dont understand the reluctance to name the builder unless you're happy for others to be provided with shoddy work jist like you have? All you're doing is protecting someone that's not bothered to provide you with a decent quality of work and sounds like they've tried to shine you on too... Reputations are earned either way, you're allowing others to get burned by protecting this builders reputation despite their work standards and service and allowing others to perhaps assume its someone who it isn't and inadvertently tarnish someone else's reputation. Dem's my two cents, not that they were asked for!

...that'll teach you to enhance your hampton with a M&S eclair.

I can see me! It was an amazing gig and was great to be back on stage with you again. I was playing the 6 string, octave higher and inferior cousin to the bass guitar unfortunately for this gig, but it was still fun nonetheless. 😜 I'm not on stage for this one (I was in the Alanis, Bowie and encore sets) but here's another photo from the front. I did like the G&L L2500 being played here. I tried it out and it seemed well made, comfortable, easy to play, with lots of tonal options.

IME the biggest issue with playing synth bass using any instrument is that most of what you are trying to recreate will have originally been played by a sequencer on the recording and therefore perfect timing is absolutely critical. Even the typical audience member will be able to tell something is off when the timing isn't rock solid even if they don't know exactly what is wrong.

Standard for this shape of Overwater bass. Both of my Overwater Originals had the strap button in the same place under the upper horn. It never caused me any problems so it must have worked well. One of those Overwaters was my main bass for the whole of the 90s and beyond.