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New Hamer Bass Day!!! With HUGE thanks to an amazing friend in WA, USA (who secured it for me and sent it to the UK) I have just received this amazing condition Copper/Gold 1990 Hamer Impact bass (designed by Kip Winger). Less than 200 ever made of this beauty....! It looks, feels, plays and sounds AWESOME!! A really focused, tight but full piano tone with a little edge. 😎🎸😎👍 That makes three Hamer Impacts in my collection now! 🎸🎸🎸

So, strolling past crack converters, as ya do... Ibanez EDA900 that i spotted 6 weeks or so ago was still in the window... Now priced at £100... I updated the above post and got absolutly no support or counseling for GAS... YOU BASSCHAT BASTARDS MADE ME DO IT... Strings off, fret clean with wire wool and a dremel polish, oiled the fretbord, squirt of Mr sheen... Wonky first pot, (Pickup Vol)... pulls out a bit and just goes round and round!? - B250k Solid Shaft... Put the old strings back on after cutting about 4cm off each one leaving 8cm past the post n three turns on the spindle... Action is a bit high, dropped the saddles, but the truss may need a tweek. Found a manual so will give that a read, piezo pickups? Ready for some distorted synth funk from the Zoom B1xFour - gonna channel my inner Daft Punk So, bit-of-weird for £85... What ya recon?

Wenge....

It can be argued that nothing is new, and that all music is the musicians paying homage to their influences. The way I like to look at bands like Snarky Puppy is that they are bringing fusion to a new generation of musicians, and making the genre relevant to people that wouldn't other wise find fusion bands from the 70's / 80's. In my opinion there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Ok I'll put myself in the firing line. I can't stand Jaco. Noodling noise pollution. Can't argue with the guys ability, but there was nothing musical about his playing. I don't get it.

Yes its a cover, yes she's a young bass player. But man can this girl play the bass.The detail in her playing is fantastic. imo.

Contrary to my expectations for this weekend, I’ve actually just managed to finish assembling the bass and it’s a belter. Due to the lateness and lack of natural light, I’ll leave the photos until tomorrow. That leaves me more time to play it tonight 😀. I’m sure all bitsa type assembly builds don’t go quite as swimmingly as this, but I have to say I’m mighty pleased.

You BAD people... I went back to the shop... Don't need another bass, got 3 and can't play! - £85 and left the shop with it in hand...

There's a reasonable amount of variation as well as not all Rays are equal - I suspect what's being referred to are the standard production models in the more standard of colours in good original condition. For a Stingray Classic (2 band EQ, mute bridge, strings through, highly figured lacquered neck etc), they will be more costly - factor in rare, sought after colours or limited editions with cool features, and this will change the value. Stingray Specials are more expensive used and this reflects the £2000+ new price. As I said before, some of this will depend how desperate the seller is fur a quick sale (and dare I say it - time of year - just like cars purchases like basses around Christmas may be low on people's priority lists, so anyone wanting to sell may be willing to lower prices - applies to new as well). For those wanting a mellow sounding Ray, but still with access to the in yer face stuff, a two pick up version helps a lot and can do a lot of other cool sounds at the flick of a switch - they've been around since 2005. Rays are one of the most sensitive basses to plucking intensity and position - move your hand closer to the neck for the mellower stuff - and don't pluck as hard. As I say, the two pick up version gives you broader palette but still the single pick up in your face ability. Hey @ped you'll have to do an NBD with pics for us 👍

Said nobody with any sense of what a proper bass should look like. It makes the sound better; the more custard in it, the better the sustain** ... Custard sustains you *** ** this claim may not be fully supported by an objective scientific investigation *** probably true in the absence of other calorie sources

Mods / Ped - can we have a 'gently disagree' button?

Little progress to report.... I think the cavity cover will be Wenge, but I had a little 3 ply left so made a quick plastic cover too.

Did the trip today. Not a single hold up on the way there - Set the cruise control at 65 and relaxed. 179 miles, according to my car, driving time 3hrs 27mins. Plus wee breaks, of course. Parking spot behind the shop, next to a a park (with toilets...). Journey home not also good apart from a detour I made to pick up something else in Ware which was stop start from M1 across to A10. But I am still smiling about the bass.... TOTALLY worth the trip. NBD thread will appear soon-ish.

I know someone who did...

I’ll add that my old TT that @DJ '65 has now got with Haüssel’s (passive) has massive balls and would defo pass for a P Loved that Jon Snow...

Spector fans, what’s happening? As you know, the Spector Euro 77 is one of my fav basses. Best neck of all my basses and killer tone (DiMarzio Model P pickup). Just saw that BD has one back in stock and at a great price. Check it out and join the 77 club 😎

IMO instead of desperately announcing big product launches for a redesigned pickup, Fender should just keep it simple. The line should consist of a 60s P, 70s P and a Modern P, in a big variety of colours, with special editions every now and then. Bob's your uncle.

Although I’m very much decided on my ‘main bass’, I’ve had fun searching for the perfect J, P and MM to have in my collection. I recently bought a MM which will arrive on Wednesday. I’ve had two before and sold them for stupid reasons so I’m hoping this one is a keeper. I do really love the sound of them, instantly recognisable and very versatile.

I can't think of a single overrated bass player. I can think of plenty of very famous bass players whose playing I don't care for, but none who are actually in some way bad at playing bass whilst everyone thinks they're great.

Hi all, Just to jump on this thread to agree with everyone who says that Sandberg is amazing. Over ten years ago I went searching for my "last bass", the one that would see me through to the end of times. I went into every shop playing Fenders, MM, and the rest but nothing clicked. Long story short, one shop owner pointed me to a brand I'd never heard of called "Sandberg" and I fell in love with the range despite them looking so simliar to the other basses. It was the sound that drew me in. Speaking of sound, I was certain that the bass would be a MM style humbucker, but in the end, the California JJ (now TT) proved the most versatile and pleasant. I even narrowed it down to two seemingly identical JJs which sounded different enough that you could tell them apart in a blind test. As an aside, I realised then that buying instruments online is not for me. Well, ten years have passed, and I've been true to my word in that no other basses have passed through my hands since (eagle eyed may see a different bass in my profile pic; I bought two basses that day!) Sometimes a little GAS has bubbled to the surface, but overall I'm satisfied that my search is over and resisting it has been relatively easy. At the time the bass(es) was a significant invesment, probably one I couldn't make now, but it's been a worthy one in my opinion. The California JJ isn't an aged one, and this probably needs to be said that, while I'm no John Entwistle, the bass has been gigged and played extensively in that time and yet it looks as good as the day I bought it. In other words, if you buy a "shiny" Sandberg hoping it'll look aged after a few trips down the pub, then forget it: they're built like tanks. Picture was taken yesterday next to my other old faithful of similar vintage: my Acoustic Image Coda III.

New rig for me at the moment. At lot of re jogging, selling and replacing due to covid work situation, but I'm really happy with this. Blisteringly powerful and versatile. Ashdown ABM 600 evo iv (main head). Ashdown RM500 (back up head). Ashdown tone pocket for practicing. Korg pitchblack tuner. Line 6 G90 wireless unit. Ashdown ABM evo iv cab. Cheeky markbass keeper on the side to hold the bass. Current main bass Fender Player precision.

I bet they're hard to light.

I might be cynical but having worked in a music store and having had dealings with Andertons, this has “here’s a stock answer that tells you not to do it so it saves us any backlash when you try it and it goes wrong” written all over it. Andertons are generally pretty clueless about bass so I wouldn’t take their advice as the basis for your decision (especially when the manufacturer has confirmed the opposite/truth!) IME, I bought a Sire P7 V earlier this year from Andertons and the pickup covers come off and could be replaced (although I haven’t taken the time to see if they are ‘standard’ size) Also, it might be helpful to know that whilst the Sire P7 V split coil pickup is ‘shorter’ than a standard replacement set (like Aguilar etc), the routing in the bass is larger to accommodate any upgrades, you’d just have to get the pick guard hole made larger to match the pickup.

Can’t particularly relate as I’ve always preferred the feel of a brand new pick and intentionally use ones that stay feeling that way for a good length of time. Since ‘brand new’ is a much easier state to return to than ‘perfectly worn in’, I’d probably invest some more time and money into trying to find one that feels alright from new and then stick with it - bulk buy and treat them as more of a disposable item. Or I guess maybe find another player whose ‘worn out’ is your ‘perfectly worn in’ like some people (equally confusingly to me) do with roundwound strings!

I was over in SW Florida in 2007, I visited Sam Ash music store in Sarasota, I could have picked up a new Ray for $1200, the exchange rate at the time was two dollars to the pound, £600 !! I still kick myself for not buying one at the time.

I think your wrong I'm sure most people can pull off by themselves lol

Said nobody with any taste ever.

Needs tort ....

Some PE: As awesome as ever!

And so I succumbed to the temptation to do a cover of Dean Town by Vulfpeck... but wow what a gorgeous bass line! Here is my version played with a Fender Precision American Performer in single coil mode. I hope it is at least decent! 😅

There's great Precisions too :-)

Can I borrow one of yours on a month's trial seeing as you aren't using it for gigs...? Thought so. Sorry to bother you. Heeheehee

Mmm, custard. It's a recorded fact that sunburst and tort are the emanations of the devil's backside.

MarloweDK all the way then

I think one of the things about under/over rated I’d we only really see/hear what they do for their bands. Who knows if Dee Dee Ramone could play slap-bass in the way that Flea does? Certainly not needed in The Ramones but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t (tho I do have my suspicions it wasn’t his bag).

I don't think there is such a thing as over or under rated.....just personal opinion and what floats our own boat and what doesn't... Maybe we should all strive to be the sort of bass player we want to see in the world?

+10. And you get far more of a buzz from playing unlined, increasingly learning to trust your ear rather than looking at the board. Plus girls (and boys) look at you admiringly because you're not using L plates.

Are you familiar with synthesis to any degree already? If not, check out the following link and it should make the editor make more sense. https://learningsynths.ableton.com Glad you’re enjoying the patches. Check out the Spectrum patches too as they work on C4. Also, remember to adjust the input knob on any user patches you click on to set the correct level for your bass; the manual tells you how to do this properly.

I like to use a plec carved from the toenail clippings of giants. It's a bit difficult unless you have some magic beans with which to grow a beanstalk. In the meantime, have a search within the forum for "plectrum" and "pick". There have already been lots of discussions and suggestions that may be of interest. Jack

I've noticed this too. I remember when you could snap up a Stingray 5 in great condition with a hard case for about £700!

The thing about Stingrays is that they are pretty unique and you can still sometimes pick them up pretty cheap. I generally gig jazz basses, but I do like having a Stingray as an option.

I have a teal one, I think you let yours go too cheap, mine has been my only bass and has been gigged for many years, still in almost mint condition, don’t think I would ever consider selling it.

Ill see you in 2022 then 😔

Slightly misleading title there. Should be "Bloke who played in AC/DC for a few weeks, 45 years ago, dies.... Stops anyone thinking that Cliff Williams has passed away...