Lozz196

Plus 1 to that

Dalton & Wade Garrett were the chief coolers in the film Road House.

I’d say a Jazz is always worth having, but for rock maybe a bass with P/J pickups might be worth checking out.

Guns N Roses and AC/DC, in my youth they were far too bluesy for my tastes. I kick myself for my stupidity.

Option 2 at my current age of 56, just haven’t the energy to do more nowadays Option 2 when I was younger, the more gigs the better

Makes very good sense on both counts.

I had a 4 string Fender Deluxe Active Jazz (US version) which I could coax pretty much anything from, not sure if they do a fiver but if so that’s where I’d start my search. I’d say similar with an HH Stingray. Edit - an outsider might be a Yamaha 735. And that £750 for an amp - Ashdown ABM600.

A gig at The Road House Hope Dalton & Wade Garrett were on the door

Ergonomically and looks-wise I love them, and if I didn`t just expect to hear a Precision when I`m playing the `Ray would be the ideal bass for me. But anything other than a Precision sound in a band when I`m playing just sounds wrong to me and I can`t relax into it. Shame as I find the quality of them to be superior to the Precision, and when set up to my preference I find them easier to play too.

I`m still to use my ABM PRO NEO 210s, have just been too lazy and used the (pony) Ampeg 810 at the studio. Maybe next rehearsal I`ll give them a go. Have to admit re the regular ABM cabs I found them a bit pillowy so I had Ashdown seal the ports for me, additionally I put plenty of wadding in them, made a lot of difference, really tightened up the sound a lot.

Knock Off, was the Punk on The Peninsula gig/festival that Ian (singer of Control) runs every year.

Looks great, I played at Dunoon in ‘19, was at the hotel just opposite where the ferry comes in. Great gig but a very long way.

I’m a fairly decent rhythm guitarist, when I was doing this in a band I could hear all the runs and flourishes that the bassist was putting in, most often entirely in the wrong places, either competing with the vocals or lead guitar, or getting lost when up against a drum fill. So I suppose I learned how to both utilise space and to understand when less is more on the bass as a result.

Very interesting as a few Les Paul players I know bought Tokai Love Rocks as backups to their Gibsons then moved on the Gibsons keeping the Tokais as their main, and then buying an Epiphone as their backup.

Very interesting programme on Gary Numan on Sky Arts at the moment.

It all depends on the player, the MIJ/CIJ basses are perfectly good enough, it just depends on how the player views them imo. I’m not sure about different ranges within the Japanese Fenders but I do know that although I prefer the US ones, specifically it’s the 2013-16 range that I really like. So there may be differences within the Japanese ones as well. Bit of a minefield really.

Going by the amount of Fender basses for sale that come with Fender hard cases that have damage on them I’d say Hiscox.

Good call, Vintage make very good instruments, the V4 Tony Butler Sig Precision I had was very good, not for price, just very good.

Many moons ago I used to play in D and in those days didn’t know anything about brands or gauges, so whatever I bought I used and all worked fine.

I use my little finger on my left fretting hand a lot, but thats due to the reach factor - if I had 5 fingers & thumb it would still be the one furthest from my thumb that I would use so in your position @break-evenI would still play right handed and just utilise the wedding ring finger.

Not mad at all, it’s part of the fun, finding the right instrument. It might set you down the GAS path but it also might not, it sounds like you never really gelled with the Pro ii, whereas it really looks like you love that Tokai. I think that if any musician finds an instrument that they love they should snap it up, if in a position to do so of course.

When I was both rehearsing & gigging on pretty much a weekly basis I’d charge it before each time I was using it.

Would you say you can get nearer to the ABM600 with the GK than the Ashdown RM amp?

I`d ask the guitar chap to check the fret levels as well - might be a raised fret (or two). I had similar on a Precision, just couldn`t get the action down, took it to our very own @gary mac who levelled the frets for me, he found about 2 or 3 that were slightly proud, once sorted I got the action much lower.

A Mars a day helps you work, rest & play - I remember that well, still love them as much as I did as a kid.