LukeFRC

Since writing this I picked up a new bass... and am getting a new old amp delivered at 3pm on the 31st (my inlaws are acting courier!) so I may change my mind on this one...

I used to go through Jazz bass stages where I bought lots of Jazz basses cos they look awesome ... and then sold them cos I didn't have the low mids I was used to with a P bass and struggled playing them live. The best two were a 70's Japanese Cimar that cost £40 and was just so fun to play, and my current Sadowsky metro will lee which is my main bass at the moment (with a tiny bit of bass boost) So I found a couple I liked eventually.

ooooo what colour is that?? I a bass that every so often I think is too black. Mind you that same colour as our sofas. and my bike.

well that told me almost nothing apart from the fact the screen shows a big number. The sad thing is I bet that guy gets more plays for his reviews than @Dood does for his excellent (though hard to find) ones

the thing is the T-Bass essentially was a Fender with some really cool improvements. You could argue that is something that would sell. The Status version has a less pretty headstock but it's the same idea. The lodestone was like someone took the improvements and decided to design a bass that no-one would want to buy to try and disguise the fact that it was essentially a jazz bass the whole marketing was a bit random, I always wondered - why... D-Lakin and Ashdown ... could be underwealming, could be amazing, with the high price of new Fenders there must be a gap in the market that they are looking to exploit. I'm sure enough Sire's have been sold to show there's a market for this sort of thing, Sadowsky/Warwick seem to be aiming for a similar segment.

DR fatbeams. and there’s one of the newtone ones I like too but can’t remember what. im trying flats on my L1000 currently, set of chromes... they are ok but don’t wow me. I want to try some TI flats before I give up and go back to fatbeams

lots of older stuff... think the distributer is having a spring clean?

They are basically a brilliant solution and my fave. I like Dunlops too, they are simple to use and you can trust them staying together, they can sometimes be a bit of a pain to fit together but once they are on they are on. Schaller I've not enjoyed so much, while the the Dunlops are lightweight, wide and fairly flat, the Schaller's extend out more and are heavier, I've had them swing about and whack into the finish of the bass... my main problem has been the nut works it's way loose- and when that happens it's worse than a strap coming off as it's less expected and more sudden. The new design looks to have addressed that flaw though. But Grolsch - or any other bottle with a swing top will work. Posh lemonade should work too.

not really, it doesn't matter what makes it: more glow = more heft

I’m glad mike is building again - his Facebook page is full of beautiful work

jeez, again? You don't learn do you?! Oh well cleared up space for this one! Is the tube select dial for biasing?

so that's where you went wrong!

The APB-1 is a great pickup. It doesn't sound outstanding but IME in the mix it really shines

The basses from 1984 onwards had MEC made preamps in them. Not sure when the MEC pickups came in - very late 80's. My 91 streamer had them in. Hate active pickups though so it now wears Bartolini

you can take Frank out of Essex, but you can't take the Essex out of Frank

I've had a few so kinda keep an eye on the secondhand prices - I would put the used prices a tiny bit higher that that esp for a early (pre'92) or later (after they got all the CNC stuff and went back to high quality) - £1200 or so for a SS1, £1400-1800 for Thumb or dolphins or whatever (again the older ones) depending on how many strings they have and age/ condition etc. Secondhand, and the older ones you can get an amazing custom quality bass for silly low money. The early ones have thin thin necks too - I used to have a 1985 thumb and the neck was so thin. The downside is sometimes the sound sits in the mix in really odd places.

new prices are crazy crazy.... secondhand prices aren't. My top tip for buying basses ... decide what you want (model wise) look around the internet for one... then just give @warwickhunt a bell and see what you can make him part with - he's got a collection of very very good warwicks, and normally early (ie pre 1991) models, and if you ask nice some of them he's not super attatched too.

I used to play in a band where we lugged this big fender 2*12 combo around, we didn’t have a car so this was public transport ... we supported an Irish band that had very similar guitar tones coming from a blues jr - no real difference in the FOH once it was mic Ed up

Why do guitarists still use big cabs like that anyway?

Sssshhh don’t tell him