bassbiscuits

Hue and Cry’s “Labour of Love” from the late 80s is a bit of a belter. Also love McAlmont and Butler’s “Yes” but never hear it played anywhere.

I’ve always had a full-time job alongside my playing, and while I’m gutted not to be gigging I’m very glad of my desk job keeping things afloat. I always used to worry that meant I wasn’t a proper musician cos I had a job, but it’s been keeping my little family going since everything went pear-shaped in March. That said, I’ve lost thousands of pounds worth of work this year, as well as most of my social life! But it’s not forever y’know.

That does look like a cool bass. I’m no Megadeth fan but it’s anonymous enough - the kind of discreet signature model I like.

Desperate to be recognised for his “wild man” credentials by the look of it. Seemed proud that he got bored of recording an album, went to the pub, came back with a load of hangers-on, and trashed the place in a fight with his brother. Wow I wish I was that cool.

I’d hoped my solo acoustic gigs would come in under the radar a bit compared to my band work, as smaller audiences, no need to accommodate a band on stage etc. Was meant to be solo gigging next week but the venue has cancelled, even though gig there last summer was an outdoor beer garden job that would have worked well. Ive only got about 10 gigs left in the diary for this year and nothing beyond October, so I doubt very much I’ll play again this year.

Liam Gallagher seems to be a lovely man doesn’t he? Not. Trying far far too hard to come across as a rockstar, but actually just comes across as a total @r$e

Yep - I got one of these at the start of lockdown and it’s the best sounding cab I’ve ever had.

Looks like it. No forearm contour to be seen.

100% here too. Disappointed to see I wasn’t on there...

But Bros are $h1te

That’s great. I got a bit zoned out by watching that. Really interesting tho. Worryingly I couldn’t name a single tune from quite a few of the final 2019 line up tho!

I have absolutely no problem with offensive humour, as long as it’s actually funny and can be quite clever. Mightn’t always be my cup of tea, but that‘s my problem to deal with. Not offended by this - I just think it’s just cr@p! (Files alongside jokes about mother in laws and women drivers etc etc).

I’ve never lied to my wife about buying a bass, or anything else for that matter. If she was that much of a joyless old hag I wouldn’t have married her.

Good point - tho the pickup spacing in this looks decidedly 60s, suggesting it’s possibly a stripped 60s jazz body paired with a 1974 jazz neck.

I owned a blue Fender Japan E Series 1957 reissue Strat at one point which I sold for £250 eventually to pay for another Strat. Some time later realised it was some rare custom colour etc etc. Bummer.

1970 apparently was when the single thread replaced the multiple threaded 60s style. Mine has the single thread saddles and the long G intonation screw.

They did yeah up till 1973/4 when they all went back to normal length.

Sounds about right yeah. Three bolt neck joints also came in around 1974, which suggests this could be a neck from early 1974 featuring the blocks and binding but not yet the three bolt neck joint. The age of the body is harder to gauge. The single thread bridge saddles like these came in in 1970 apparently (according to the book at least) but again they could just be a simple later swap. If the bridge, pots and neck plate are all from the original body then it could well be the 1969 it was described as being, but with the 1974 neck added. Looks like a cool bass either way.

The book I’m looking at is The Fender Bass - An Illustrated History, by Hal Leonard. It’s a good resource for this sort of info.

The pickup spacing looks like 1960s, not 1970s, so I’m leaning towards thinking it could well be an early 1970s neck attached to an earlier body.

My two bobs worth as the owner of a 1970 P. I’m pretty sure there weren’t pearl blocks offered in 1969 - more like early 1970s. Im also pretty certain that the machine heads only started featuring a little circled ‘R’ next to the Fender stamp in 1973 (my 1970 has no ‘R‘ stamp.) The 1966 pot codes are common for many basses for a few years after 1966 (mine also has them). Apparently Fender had too many and so used them for a few more years, so can’t be tied to an exact date. The cut scratchplate could simply be a later replacement so not really significant. Overall tho it does look like an original old Jazz, but unlikely to be a 1969. I think they went to three bolt neck plates in about 1974 so I’d guess early 1970s - 73/74ish. Happy for anyone to add to these observations - they are just my opinions. EDIT - alternatively it could be the body and neck plate are from a 1969 but paired with a different, later neck from up to 1974.

I’m really missing gigging. It’s my time away from the pressures of work and family life, meeting friends, getting creative and letting off steam, as well as keeping my voice and my playing in shape. Im 46 so I’ve hopefully got a few years left of playing. Even tho gigs can be a pain in the @r$e logistically I do find they are the best proving ground for new material (both original and general experimentation with covers). Without any on the horizon it’s hard to feel motivated tho.

Bought a FS-5U from Frank which he cleaned and checked over before popping it in the post. It arrived within a day or two and was spot on. A good guy to deal with. Cheers buddy.