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So while I have a couple of days off work, I really wanted to take a couple of hours to scratch a P Bass itch I have, I don't know where it came from as I have NEVER liked the look or the thought of a P Bass, but I've been bitten recently and the itch is too much, so got to scratch it. I popped into Guitar Guitar in Newcastle and asked them to unfurl their in stock P Basses, line them up and let me try them all in a shootout fashion to see if any of them were a suitable ointment. With that said I was presented with lots of basses highlighting Fenders highly confusing catalogue of models, with a £5000 50's custom shop propping one end and a Squier Classic Vibe at the other, sandwiched in the middle were American Pro's, Vintera's, and Players series'. What a bloody hit and miss selection of basses they are, some were good, some were awful, combinations of good / bad strings, setups and neck feel, the £800 Vintera having a much better setup than the twice the price American Pro for instance... I can quickly talk about that £5k P bass here, and this is for people who have played it... that neck... WTF... it's a tree, U profile? sheesh!... ...So for an hour I went back and forward between 5 or 6 basses until I was playing just one and didn't want to put it down... that bass was... drum roll please... a... Squier FSR (Factory / Fender Special Run?) Late 50's Custom Vibe P Bass (awful mouthful) in a two tone sunburst (never liked this colour) with a anodised gold (never ever would have wanted this) pickguard... so it's a P Bass in a colour combination that I would never have looked twice at, it's got a maple fingerboard which I have forever told myself I don't like, and it's a squier... so why did I buy it? well put simply it's one of the best basses I have ever played, ever, I couldn't put it down, I went back to it after playing US Pros and Mex Vinteras and Players Series' and for me it was just better, the neck was better, the frets were better, the feel was better, it was just better so I left with it and then played it for 2.5 hours straight when I got it home, it's tremendous. £400, was the American Pro 4 times the bass? not a bloody chance. As for P Basses I thought they could only produce a stuffy wooly thumpy jumper sound, but it knocks most basses out the park for bark and bite, volume up, tone down and it just nails everything I want to play. I'm converted! It's a wonderful instrument, and I'm definitely coming round to the two tone sunburst and gold pickguard, it's classy in a "late 50's" kind of way 🤔.

My Youngest (13) is showing an interest... His mate plays electric guitar and his dad acoustic guitar in a kids church band occasionaly. Hopefuly Marcus can join em on the root notes and take it from there... I new that Cheapy Ibby would come in handy... a few well placed stickers... Wired both my GSRs VBT to make things easy, and left the PHAT II so he can join the 'Dark Side'... Sorted! Should keep him out of trouble and of the computer for a bit...

Not last night, but last Saturday, a three-hour afternoon 'invitation only' private do, organised by our 2nd guitar/keys. The hall, originally, in bygone days, a stable for coach and horses, it's quite spacious enough for the fifty or so folks attending. Firstly, though, a clean sweep... Plenty of access from the wide-open side door... S'not as easy as all that, this 'ere keys stuff... ... but it all works come the sound check ... A first outing, too, for the newly-built and as yet unpainted, Hartke-driven bass combo (more on that in the Build section of the forum...). Unproven for 'live' work, we'd hedged our bets with the Ampeg, just in case, and just as well, as the combo isn't up to the task on its own. Maybe with the planned 4x5 extension cab..? The Ampeg was fine, of course, so no worries for the evening... Some pre-gig ambience from our LED PAR lights... An unusual format for this, our first outing for a couple of years, with a two sets alternating two or three as The Daub'z, with all five of us, and two or three songs as a solo or duo, giving a sort of cabaret feel to the occasion. A first outing, too, for one of my e-drum kits, for a more cut-down, one-hand set-up, which worked quite well. No need for a massive FOH for such a small room; it's the Behringers on sticks that you see in the corners. This meant, however, no foldback, which makes e-drums a little... erm... 'delicate' to play. All I hear is the clickety-flack of the nylon tips on the pads, and nothing at all from the bass pedal..! The event went off well, with a good turn-out, despite hard rain all day, and a splendid time was had by all. If I get any decent shots of us playing, or, even better, any video, I'll add them here. As a group we shared a marine choucroute for evening meal after breaking down the gear and I was home at half-past ten. A format to be repeated, with some slight technical adjustments. I'm not sure it would work quite so well with a 'cold' audience, but we're unlikely to be playing out again for some time yet, in any case. Altogether a very satisfactory, if modest, event, so 'Happy Daze'.

He doth protest too much… I detect an unresolved Eden issue. @GearguyDid your Dad have a World Tour rig that he never let you touch??? 🤣

Olympic White P, maple fretboard, black pickguard, long strap, curly lead and curly top lip.

Here are also some pictures of the dot installation procedure, for posterity. First I figured out the middle point between frets. Then I made a small indent with something pointy, I recall it was a pin needle this time. Then I made it into a small counter-sink with just a small drill bit and finger power. This was to prevent chipping and all that nasty stuff. Then I made the final hole, 3mm I recall it was. And stuck the plastic pipe inside with a dab of regular locktite superglue. Added some tape for protection and used my mini-saw to cut it flush. The saw is just a metal saw blade cut in half and added some tape as a handle. Totally works. Then I cleaned the cavity with a smaller drill bit, just by hands. Packed in that glow-in-the-dark powder and added a drop of the super-thin starbond CA glue. It just sucks straight in, capillary action. Couple of times I even got a green flash of light due to the exotermic reaction, that was weird to see The CA glue is so potent that it generates a bit of heat when reacting. After some filing and fine grit sandpaper, et voilà!

Interesting... https://zoomcorp.com/en/gb/multi-effects/bass-effects/b6/?fbclid=IwAR2vWIJ3oqxhF91D3Clk1SO6FBUhMva0E8SRI2-cavz7ILoMO5CgexQIEBE

Here's the one in question .. Owned by Paul gray from around the last Rods album 78/79 through the damned black/album strawberries and into UFO .. It was a bass used just for studio/spare from what i gather and he owned it until early 2000's. I know the guy he sold it to and the receipts are from the guy who then bought it from him ...who sold it to me ... can be heard here if anyone cares .... and not for sale... Ever ! as it's the best playing bass in the world

Stop them! Drugs will be cheaper!

Fodera Emperor Deluxe Custom peacock maple top 5, FBass BN4 cocobolo top, Wal Mk3 5 spalted top, Ken Smith Elite 5 ebony top, Fodera Imperial Elite Richard Bona olive burl top.

Come on man. Spit it out. Tell us what you really think!

I ditched my amp and cabs completely for the very reasons described by the OP. I used to own a very nice (and very expensive) big rig that looked very impressive, but as the OP has discovered when all the gigs you do the bass goes through the PA it was starting to look a bit redundant. On the big stages as soon as I stepped away from being directly in front of my rig I could hear more or "me" in the fold back than I could from my cabs and on the smaller stages I was being asked to turn it down so as not to interfere with the FoH mix, that even stood directly in front of it the bass being supplied for the guitarist in his wedge on the other side of the stage was louder! At the same time I'd been following the various FRFR threads on here and they were making a lot more sense to me, so I sold everything and bought a Line6 Helix Floor and an RCF 745 powered cab. As I also play Bass VI in another band having a "neutral" sounding amp and cab system was a lot more versatile and saved having to carry a massive and complex rig that could cope with both "guitar" and "bass" sounds. And after selling all my conventional amplification I actually came away with a small profit! I don't miss the old big rig in the slightest. For the big gigs (Nottingham Rescue Rooms, Leeds O2 etc.) I do I don't even bother taking the RCF cab. I just give the PA a DI from the Helix and get a monitor mix that is balanced all the way across the stage. For the one gig I've done since changing where the PA was strictly vocals only the RCF was more than adequate for projecting the bass sound into the audience. For all the other in-between gigs I usually tuck the cab out of the way (the size and shape also lets me fit it in spaces where there would be no room for a conventional bass rig) and often have it firing across the stage so the rest of the band can hear me without it disturbing the FoH mix. All the sound shaping is done with the Helix and therefore what the audience hears is exactly what I hear on stage only much louder and with no nasty frequencies ready to spill into the drum and vocal mics and ruin the sound. It makes you think that the only bassists really benefiting from expensive boutique bass rigs are those who just play pub gigs where the bass doesn't go through the PA and their rig is entirely responsible for the bass sound that the audience hears.

The stock response should be 'P' bass. However, the correct answer is whatever you want and can afford because that is the essence of punk.

70s Punk? Think you'd have a job to beat a P bass, both in looks and tone. Probably covers most of the bass parts played in that era!

I've got a Tiesco Clubcard, can I help...?

The Ethiopians 'Train to Skaville' (Boops Riddim - must have been used on 100 other tunes, 54-46 probably the most famous)

Yeah I'm loving that colour very much 😁

Not to be outdone by @spacecowboybelow, I also bought a bass at Newcastle Guitarguitar yesterday. A Balaguer 'select series' Goliath. And here she is: Double humbucker with pull pots for each pup's volume that turn the pups into single coil. So it can be a jazz, and also a HH. Practising today I really love the bridge pup soloed, it has a lovely bark to it. It's very light, not weighed but would estimate at 4kg or less, so I don't know why it's called 'Goliath'!. The neck is gorgeous, see the pic. It also feels fantastic. I can see no improvement on this with any American made Fender. Apparently the 'Select Series' are made in a factory in Korea with 7 luthiers, so not mass produced a la Cort in Indonesia. It was £899, with a deal so mid range, price wise but the quality is way above MIM Fender (of which I own two). I feel like I've got a top of the range bass for a steal.

Managed to find a decent desk on eBay and picked it up quite cheaply. Also started on the acoustic treatment today too. I still need to install the computer and hook it up to everything. I also ordered a 16 rack unit which turned up damaged (thanks UPS) so I have an abundance of rack gear waiting for a home. I also got one of them portable vocal booths and managed to get some Producer's Choice sound blankets to cover it. The results are quite good actually and as it can be taken down it also saves on space.

I had a gig! Proper stage, PA, foldback, audience who could choose whether to listen or walk away, new songs to learn, and some great vocalists. This was my first time on a proper raised stage and it was was hard work, for sure. I struggled to hear the other musicians a little, and until yesterday I had no real concept of how long it would take to set up the kit - an 8 hour day for 90 minutes of playing. I have a new respect for people who play on stage, hats off to you all! It was fun. I want to do it again - but better!

One of us! One of us! And HNBD, you have bought well.

It distracts them and then I can post another thread about Br*xit....

I need to go to Specsavers 🤪

I sold a blue 4003S to Paul Gray from The Damned a couple of years ago. He was using it as a back up for his original blue 4001. Nice guy.

I have a VT300. Ive had a Metro combo (well 2 actually), a WT550, a WT800 and even a recent WTP600. You could say I’m an Eden fan. The recent WTP600 was a real throw back to the proper Edens from the 90s. To dispel a myth, the VT300 is about 20kg, is very serviceable (thanks to valve biasing on the rear panel) and it sounds fantastic. It even sounds fine for low volume practice and of course it has a bit of grunt n grind to it which the other Edens generally don’t. It sounds great with passive basses whereas the others lend themselves to active a bit more. It’s my personal fave of all the amps I’ve owned.

i can only agree with all the comments, the guy is on the ball when it comes to back up of his products. i installed a J retro in my jazz but hated the top end glassyness of it as i could not hear the top end tone to the notes only a sort of hi clickyness, so after a discussion with jon he just said no problem bring it back and i will drop down the hi an octave so you can hear it clearer in the notes, which i wanted for recording, so i said i dont mind doing it myself ( im a bit of a tec electronics geek anyway) so he just sent me full instructions of what to do, just a change of a cap for a lower value, so i thought sod it al put the cap on another switch so i can swap between two hi's, what a nice guy, even to someone thats as much as a pain in the crack as me 🙂 and here it is...

Gregory isaacs at the moment

And a nice wee BMW bike in the shot too. Bikes and bands..............a great combination IMO of course. Dave

Some of those top flight Squiers are really going for the complacent soft underbelly of Fender.

Love this TT4 SL in Satin Black: https://bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Sandberg_TT4_Superlight.html

My Youngest (13) is showing an interest... His mate plays electric guitar and his dad acoustic guitar in a kids church band occasionaly. Hopefuly Marcus can join em on the root notes and take it from there... I new that Cheapy Ibby would come in handy... a few well placed stickers to help him along and make it his own... Wired both my GSRs VBT to make things easy, and left the PHAT II so he can join the 'Dark Side'... Sorted!.. Should keep him out of trouble and of the computer for a bit...

I’ve posted these before but I love watching them

I'm completely the opposite. Started on a P bass, have owned... oooh.. many - Fenders (70's, 90's, 2000's, US/Japanese/Mexican), Squiers, Japanese copies, bitsas.. tried branching out with Warwicks, Ibanez's, Spectors, Deans.. and came full circle. There are P basses and there are P basses as you found out. Nicest playing one I owned was a Mexican first generation "black logo" I bought from here, next to the 1976 I used to own, and the Limelight I recently got (again from here). A lot of it is down to the neck/nut width. tried my mates Mex Classic and hated the surfboardlike nut width, prefer my 96 Squier which has a 40mm nut similair to the 70's US models. Sweet spot for me is a 40mm nut.

Eden bass amps were generic stinky poo. Made from the common solid state components available, Eden was a sterile, hard surface typical transistor design. NOTHING special in any way. Eden failed not only because "NON" bass company Marshall had the bad idea to acquire them, but because their designs were basic , uninteresting, and hyped far beyond performance. With no organic appeal and a user base of jazzbos and weekend warriors, Eden was never embraced by the Pro bassists. Good riddance.

I had a lefty one I picked up cheap a few years ago. Used on several functions and worked for all styles I found. There were known to be the occasional issue with the truss rod IIRC!

We played at Billingham Forum Theatre last night - a full house, great crowd and no fuel problems getting there! Happy days.

I've bought several basses from Peach, excellent people to deal with. I particularly like the fact that they show pictures of the instrument you are buying, not just one pulled off the manufacturer's website. Bought a Vintera Jazz Bass from them 2 or 3 weeks ago and was able to choose which of the two they had in stock I wanted, using their pictures as my reference. One of them had a pleasing swirl in the grain of the fingerboard that I liked, and it looked exactly the same when it arrived, less than 24 hours after ordering.

I belive it makes a very Hardy fretboard.