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A long story... scratching my itch for a semi-acoustic bass I got my mitts on a Hagstrom Viking in natty sunburst. After a good clean and a setup I slapped on some GHS medium Scale flats and got down to playing. The good - some nice plunky '60s tones. The bad - neck dive (OK with grippy strap), odd ergonomics - the brige is up near the centre of the body (20 frets to body neck) which means your right hand falls over the bridge - you have to shove everything to the right to get anywhere near the neck pickup. The worst selector switch - a rotary six way (A / A+B / B and same with coil splits) with chicken head knob - a right flimsy crackly mess. Replaced with a Switchcraft short toggle (binned the meh coil splits) - so much better. Didn't play it a lot TBH, but when bro came round for a soul jam it seemed appropriate - out came the Hagstrom showing a big ding at the lower body edge. Closer inspection shows the top coming away from the side - hmmm... I did not knock it, it's been safe in the rack - and I live alone with no pets... looks like the glue gave out under pressure? Out with the G cramps and leather pads but no way will the gap close without totally crushing the thing... So any ideas for a fix? Drip in CA glue to stabilise? Sand down the high part and attempt a finish touch up?

I’ve had this but not as acute as your episode. For what it’s worth, I eventually had to see a consultant because it kept recurring in a milder form (and still does a bit when I get run down). She gave me these exercises to do which basically involve making yourself so dizzy that you nearly lose your breakfast. If you persevere, you eventually get your brain to compensate. It works. I could trust myself to ride a motorbike again and do all normal activities. These days, you probably don’t need to see a consultant, you can probably find the exercises on t’internet, e.g. https://www.entuk.org/patients/conditions/93/cawthornecooksey_exercises/ Good luck and recover quickly!

Yep. Contacted the all knowing Dave at Ashdown ...... Replacement bulb on its way. Fantastic product support as usual.!!! 👍

I dropped a b******k. This is the bass part to the track 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' from the 2017 Django Bates album, 'Saluting Sergeant Pepper' with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band. There is no way to post the tune itself on here and the only way to hear it is to buy the album. Sorry! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band-django-bates/

People the same age as us and into rock music. I should say some of our arrangements have more bite than the originals 😁

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Breathless - The Corrs

I'm actually going to go back to a EHB1005MS Sea Foam Green, which a bit mental as I've bought/sold two previously, they aren't perfect but I miss it! The bad parts: Side dots are useless (I added stickers) Locking jack is annoying (but can be changed to non-locking) Slanted back - having the bass angled more upwards means your fretting hand needs to be bent up more, that doesn't seem an improvement to me, but it isn't too extreme so isn't a deal-breaker. The matte paint is easy to scratch and stain (don't put stickers on them, when pulled off they pull away the top matte coat). The sound is a bit bland - fine, but not a character like 'that sounds like a Jazz/Precision/Stingray', it just sounds like a modern bass. I've heard people say the Bartolini BH2 are muddy but I not found that to be the case - or at least wasn't an issue for me but I'm usually someone who reduces the treble and likes older strings. ...but mostly they are nit-picking things, I've sold each time as I hadn't needed a 5 string for the band I'm in but felt I required a traditional 4 string passive Jazz sort of sound and look (and as I'm fickle!). The good stuff that's got me going back again: It's pretty much the lightest 5 string available (about 3.4kg) and is well balanced, once you've got used to that weight and balance everything else seems badly designed and too heavy. Headless although is a bit of a devisive look but is very practical - can use normal strings and change them just as fast as traditional tuners, it makes the overall bass length shorter, stays in tune (tuners are stable and don't get moved when in gig bag etc), moves the weight to the other end of the bass so can make the bass light and not have neck dive. Good neck, I like the shape and the non-glossy. Stays in tune due to the headless design and graphite reinforced neck. 35-33" feels like a good amount of multiscale to me. Dingwall fans (of the Dingwall fans!) often seemed to say 'that isn't enough to be worthwhile, you need 37" B', but most seem to have changed their tune now Dingwall have released the 35" - 32" S1, so now 35" B is long enuugh is it?! Certainly for alll sorts of other Basses 35" is considered a good length for a B (and I feel is 32" needed for the G? I dunno, I think a 33" G is perfect for making the tension/tone even and helping erganomics, it certainly isn't a common complaint that a 33" G is too long - I mean, most Basses are 34" G and other Dingwalls have 34" G). 3 band EQ is quite powerful, I particularaly like the sweepable mids. Good that internally can change the maximum active output to match passive or be louder if you choose. Passive mode is good backup in-case the battery dies mid gig. Andertons have them for £999 at the moment (and £10 store credit), personally I don't think the new EHBs with the Fishman pickups/EQ are worth £600 more - you end up with a pickup/preamp system that has no true passive mode (and no battery indicator) and no sweepable mids, and I'm not sure if true but I've heard it said that as the pickups themselves are active as well as the preamp they get through batteries quite fast. I'm tempted with the EHB1135MS-SKL but they are about £277 more expensive basically for cosmetics - and they're not available from any UK shop (Thomann are good but it's just extra faff for delivery and potential returns). And then the other basses I had been considering are the Dingwall SP1 but I can't justify spending an extra £1,200 for something that is probably better in some ways - but not every way (main negatives for me other than £1,200 extra and they are bigger and heavier, no blend between pickups, no sweepable mids).

I’ve re-read some of her posts last night as we did communicate on threads. I think I saw a picture once, blonde lady with a glass of wine ?

Industrial Disease - Dire Straits