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Right now!? You are Santa Claus, and I claim my £5. No rush, indeed. I plan to order the piano after Christmas (but before the 2026 Gear Abstinence Challenge starts...). Even then, I can forego midi connectivity, until the right bit of kit comes up. I am puzzled by the Roland/Cakewalk MIDI to USB devices - that cable will only plug into the FP-30X's USB Memory slot (rather than the USB Computer output, which the guy in the Roland shop said I should use. However, he admitted that it was not his area of expertise). Also, the guy in the Roland shop didn't recommend the Roland/Cakewalk MIDI to USB device - odd. Hence, my question about connectivity, here.

Maybe we should have a team of coordinators who could coordinate the other coordinators who are coordinating the various things they, errr, coordinate?

I hear you. Yes, it’s a sign of our age I guess. All the best to you matey.

If you want to use two dedicated MIDI devices, as MIDI is an in/out protocol system, you'll need something like the CME that you mentioned with an USB B to A or C cable: https://www.thomann.co.uk/cme_h4midi_wc.htm You'll need to have 4 MIDI cables, 1 USB B to A or C cable and a power supply. Otherwise, there are simple USB to MIDI cables like this one: https://www.thomann.co.uk/cme_u2_midi_pro.htm But you'll need an USB B to A adapter as it's always been that stupid, like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PRO-POWER-Adaptor-High-Speed-Converter/dp/B0839VHWVD I've used the Roland/Cakewalk device with great success, but it's USB powered: https://www.thomann.co.uk/roland_um_one_mkii.htm Mine is an old Cakewalk, which has become sticky over the years, and you can get it for postage fee, should you want it:

Agreed. I think Simon Gallup has played pretty much every bass there is at various times, particularly live and he always just sounds like Simon Gallup.

Right you all need to stop now as I'm getting GAS for one of these, especially you with that bubinga one @AndyTravis

This ^^^

Yep, same here. My Mum had a fall, ended up in hospital, went to rehab then got a blood infection and went downhill. Back to hospital and we thought we'd lost her. Improved and released home with carers popping in but hated not being able to get around her own home and went downhill again. Back to hospital and then released to a care home, where she is now.... and I'm now dealing with my Dad who is frail, lonely and struggling to get about. I've also lost 2 friends to suicide and 4 friends to illness this year.... as well as a losing a huge musical hero. Not sure next year will be any better tbh. All my heroes are of 'that age' and my Parents are nearing the end. I guess it's just that time in life and I should just suck it up....

I attend a 'mass jam' in the Forest of Dean each month, and in December they have a bonus Christmas. I'm in the rainbow jumper at the back. I played bass uke most of the night through my Roland Cube Street EX, but did two solo numbers on treble recorder - "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" - I do like a bit of 15th/16th century music

Your bass next, I think. He was on a mission to own *all* the basses in the world after all...

Yep if I weren`t in a band, albeit a non-gigging band, I`d be quite happy being a bedroom player with my fairly weighty Fender US Precision. But being in said band I need a bass that is lighter, and shorter scale, hence my Sandberg.

Do we actually know what JE was after when he bought a new bass?

It seems the category we are in, bedroom players, hobby players and more serious players, defines expensive. No one can judge sound quality, or whether they would like one bass better than the other, from the price tag. If you have concluded that from my posts then maybe I should have been clearer. We all have different criteria for a good sound. For some it's a Sire, for others it's a Sadowsky and for some it's a custom Alembic. Owning either one is dependent on what you define as the sound you want to make. A Ferrari or an Aston Martin might be a status symbol, but I don't know anyone who bought a bass for that reason. Great players are great players but can still sound bad. We are all dependent on our gear, and quality of our signal chain, for our sound. When we are listening to good players using "average" basses, we are actually hearing very expensive studio equipment and the "magical" ears of top engineers.

Entwistle spent years and a fortune on hundreds of bases and never sounded any different.

I never believed in the "Every bass player needs a P bass" credo, but I still regret not buying this one. Never saw a nicer P bass in my whole life.

Lovely!

I worked in a music shop that was selling Tanglewood Curbows in the late 90s - red or blue with ebanol boards, singple pickups with slapswitch and matt hardware. I definitely didn't see any Cort branded Curbows until a number of years later. Read that the UK model was initially branded Tanglewood and later changed to Cort which would explain the situation. So Tanglewood being "pre Cort" is about right from my experience even though worldwide they were likely released at the same time, just not here in the UK.

Fantastic looking bass well done 👍

Lesson to be learned going forward - next time, as soon as the date is decided, make a thread?

Always wanted the cort. never actually owned one. The fretless 5 in “bubinga” on here a couple of years ago would’ve been perfect. missed out. BAH

100% ^^ How a particular bass sounds in the mix may actually not differ that much but, equally, there's an unmistakable signature sound to some of the greats eg John Entwistle. For me, the quality of the pups and electronics makes the biggest difference here. YMMV! Playability of basses on the other hand is another thing: weight, balance/neck dive, string spacing, neck thickness, how a bass sits on your frame etc. Can individually, and certainly together, make a real difference to how comfortable and enjoyable a bass is to play. Would it be fair to say, as a rule of thumb, that the really budget basses don't major on playability? But also that playability won't necessarily improve much beyond midrange bass prices and you then start increasingly paying for branding and/or craftsmanship of boutique basses?

… for anyone wanting a decent software synth, and not spend out on hardware just yet, the Moog Mariana is ace 👍🏻👍🏻. It’s currently on sale at the moment from the Moog website. The iOS version is £15!! Bonkers for what you get (but maybe easier getting a signal out of a laptop if wanting to use live??) https://software.moogmusic.com/store/mariana