Ed_S

I don't think I've seen any Premium or Prestige SRs in high gloss poly - have I missed a beat? Or do you mean just in general I should buy other basses that do come in the finish I'd prefer? Or drop down to the 300/400 series SRs to get the shape and the gloss finish but lose the niceties? Or something else entirely like have a body refinished?

Nah, they're bolt-on. I much prefer a solid colour finish on the top and around, if not over, the neck joint. That said, I picked a 1305SB up genuinely cheap in the 2021 Black Friday sales and it's been a very nice bass feel/sound-wise, but the best I can say about it aesthetically is that it should be quite forgiving when it comes to repairing any gigging dings with a bit of felt-tip, nail polish or superglue! The finish on the majority of SRs does seem to be quite soft, so I'm taking that as a legitimate bonus. That's the thing that concerns me about the new 1355B - I like the mocha finish, but I bet it will be an absolute damage magnet... and show it.

Would have to be a Masterbuilt Vampyre NT 5.

I own both and I like them for different reasons, so it's a tricky one. Actually that's a good call - a USA Pro II Precision V would be a cool free gift. Olympic white and rosewood for me, though.

Nah, I think the best I could ever hope for is some kind of break-even where I only spend money from sales of existing stuff on new stuff.

Bought 3, including a Harley Benton which may be the cheapest bass I've ever owned. Just. Paid for 1, a Warwick with an ETA of early 2024, which will easily be the most expensive. Sold 9, plus a stupidly heavy valve head, a load of empty cases I was tripping over and some studio bits. I don't know if that's legally -6 until the order arrives, or morally only -5. I'm actively thinning things down, though, so there's at least one more bass to go, and further review of amps, cabs and pedals.

For me, it all comes down to finite available space. If I'm out of space but still want to try new things (which I invariably do - it's a definite part of the hobby for me) then I have to let something go, and if I get to the point where nothing can go, then nothing can arrive either. If I'd kept every bass I've ever owned then I would have been out of room a long time before I got to try any of my favourites, and if you put every bass I've ever owned in front of me in exactly the same state as when I sold it, there are only a couple I'd actually want back.

Perhaps a post better suited to the psychology of collecting thread, but I'll pay about £1k-£1.5k of new money and/or theoretically any amount of recycled money. So if I buy three basses at £1.5k each but subsequently then sell them for £1k each, then in theory the only thing stopping me from spending up to £4.5k on the next one would be the voice in my head saying "you'll never take it out of the house". At present, £3.5k (4 trade-ins plus £250 of new cash) is the actual maximum and it's not even going to be built and delivered for at least another year so I don't know how I'll feel about it when it arrives. Most of the 'money' was never in my hand, though, and at that point it will have been gone for so long that I'm hoping it'll be a "meh.. just get on and use it" reaction.

Was there something different about the HA3500 compared with the others in the series? I can't remember what, but I'm sure I read something years ago about that being the odd one out somehow. I had a HA2000 and VX410 as my first separates rig, and later a HA5500 which I put through Ashdown and Markbass cabs, and they were all great rigs. I've played a few HA3500s belonging to venues and other bassists, though, and I never got quite the same feeling despite knowing the controls really well, but I always put that down to it being possibly mistreated kit and an unfamiliar room.

Ah, sorry, wasn’t referring to anything in particular that anyone else had said there - I had a SansAmp RBI from them go faulty on me and literally burn its PSU out after about 2 mins turned on. They really were quite chatty and affable on the phone as they organised a collection and replacement, so I just went on that experience. I guess on reflection I just meant that they wouldn’t deny the request.

Oh I don’t doubt that at all and I’m sure they’d be very nice about it as well, but other threads suggest that the actual logistics of returning big boxes to them is a massive pain at present, and I was happy to accept what turned up since I knew I could sort it out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining - I’m happy with my purchase - I’m just agreeing that some of these instruments built to tight price points arrive less than perfect and could prove problematic for a less experienced owner.

Yup.. I recently bought a very cheap HB PJ-5 which would almost certainly stop a new player in their tracks. A 1.5mm uniform gap between the back of the neck and the bottom of the pocket, every fret profiled like a wood chisel and really badly sprouted on both ends, nut significantly wider than the neck and sharp on every edge, pickup screws not driven in, bridge screws just spinning round with no bite into the body wood, bottom strap button punched through the gloss by a screw driven in at a very odd angle, tuners loose and rattling, scratchy pots, loose jack socket, no cavity shielding... and amusingly a very well adhered QC Pass sticker on the headstock. After spending an afternoon sorting everything out it's actually a good instrument (the neck is true and has some really nice grain, the fit between neck and pocket is perfect when cleared of sawdust and clamped before assembling, the truss rod works, the nut slots are cut well, the frets are level and reasonably crowned, the pickups themselves sound decent etc.) but it needed to be fully reassembled, fret-end-fettled and rewired in order to be genuinely playable. The skills and experience would be beyond most raw beginners, and the tools and parts would probably equal if not exceed the purchase price of the instrument.

Well I shifted most of the bits and pieces I intended to this week, but didn't get a good enough offer for my 4-string bitsa that was in storage at the studio, which is unfortunate given that I'd already bought its cheapo 5-string replacement. Said cheapo arrived in a humorously unplayable state, but I kinda bonded with it whilst sorting its many and varied problems and now find that it'd be a shame to just stick in the corner of a cold gear-store for occasional travel-light rehearsals. In fact, it's maybe even worth getting it some nicer tuners since they seem to be its weakest remaining link. Maybe a nicer bridge while I'm at it - just to get into 'free postage' territory, you know. So I intended to sell one from storage and two from home, but I managed to sell 2 from home, bring 1 home that never lived here to begin with and gain 1 that wasn't supposed to live here but probably now does. But the money from selling the two (plus some unloved pre/amps and studio outboard) is now burning a hole through my head and there's a pimp-grade purple sparkle Ray35 that keeps crossing my mind. Maybe I'll break even, but it's looking like I might end up actually gaining one! Oh well...

That sounds like a perfectly sensible collection to me! I've had a couple of US Standards so I totally get the attraction - they sound good but they have a certain feel as well. And a smell when new. New US Fender smell - probably the only thing I've not seen bottled and advertised on telly in the run up to the festering season. Sentimental value is a funny one; I've had instruments that have been with me a while and done some cool gigs, or been bought for me either as a milestone birthday gift or by somebody who's since passed on, but I've never let that stop me from using or selling them. It's always been either a mixture of pristine-ness and probable future scarcity of new replacements, or true one-in-a-million-example-ness, that puts things into the home use category for me. When I played Precisions they were all fair game for gigging since I didn't feel I'd ever have a problem getting another new Precision, and when I stopped playing Precisions I moved them all on without any real hesitation for the same reason.

Historically my odd approach has been to find a bass that I really like, then get another one exactly the same to be the appointed 'main gigging' bass since I wouldn't want to risk anything happening to my new favourite, then get a cheaper range version to be the appointed 'gigging backup', then realise that I like the two expensive ones equally for different reasons and wouldn't want to risk either of them getting lost/nicked/damaged, then get another that's essentially the same but in my second choice colour scheme so I artificially like it less and don't mind taking it out. The pandemic has given me time at home to really trip over stuff and wish I had more space, though, so I traded 7 last time I had a week off work, and I have another 3 lined up to go next week. That gets things back under control for now!

Very true, though if you have no objection to playing a P or J at a gig when you're likely to be working with a sound engineer who maybe lacks a bit of experience, then giving them something they feel instantly comfortable with when you only have a few minutes between bands can be a good tactic for getting an overall better result. I bought my first P bass because I liked it, not because I felt I needed it, but I soon noticed the advantage when it came to line-check-only gigs. If playing something else (or simply not playing a Fender) is more important than the chance of that slight advantage, or you just don't play those sorts of gigs, that's cool.

Oh aye. I had one of those when they first came out, and it sounded absolutely immense through a BF Super12, so I can imagine the Four10 does it at least equal justice. Had a real 'bounce' to it, if you know what I mean! Sadly mine popped a capacitor and died so I ended up with my money back, but it left quite an impression and I must admit I do occasionally find myself considering buying another.

I imagine that the construction of each model of bass, the specific model of Aguilar pickup in use, the model of preamp fitted (mine were both the TonePump with the internal trim pot) and the player's preference in strings and setup probably all need to be factored in, along with player technique and amplification. For the same bass in all but colour, with the same preamp, strings, setup and same me, through the same onward signal chain, the DCBs sounded polite and grown-up, whereas the EMGs... just don't! 🙂

I had two very nice Rebop 5s - one I bought second hand with Aguilar DCBs installed by the previous owner, and one I bought brand new with a pair of EMG 40CS from the factory. The Aguilars were nice pickups, but I came to realise that nice isn't really what I wanted from a Spector so that one moved on when I was having a thin-down, and the 40CS which has a more aggressive character to it is still here. I've never had anything with 'proper' Barts - just MK1 and BH2 types - so I don't really know whether I'd like them or not, but even so, if I was ever ordering another Spector it'd most likely be one with EMGs fitted.

Their XLS DriveCore 2 series do as well. The original silver ones didn't, so my previous attempt at a rig based around a Sansamp RBI and XLS1500 was very disappointing indeed. I picked up an inexplicably cheap XLS2002 a few months back, though, and whilst I haven't tried it out with a preamp yet, I'm generally more hopeful for when I finally get round to it.

If it was a v3 500 I'd be tempted to say it might have been dodgy or damaged. I've played through a couple in addition to my own and never had the 'under a pile of blankets' experience.

Agreed. I have both of those combos and I sound like me no matter which one I'm playing through.

I first went round the houses trying lots of different electric guitar strings and settled on D'Addario XLs as being the most consistent and reliable. GHS Boomers sounded unappealing, Dean Markley felt unappealing, Ernie Ball stretched for miles before they'd hold in tune, and there were others that I can't recall. D'Addario XLs just went on, stretched in, tuned up, sounded good and lasted well. My first basses were Yamahas which came from the factory with decent but anonymous strings on them which lasted ages because I was only learning, and then Ibanezes which at that time came from the factory with Elixirs on them... so also lasted ages as you'd expect. Consequently, it was a while before I got into buying bass strings, but when I did, I went straight for D'Addario XLs because they were what I played on guitar and I figured they'd be a safe bet. They were, and they're still my favourite go-to string for the majority of basses 20+ years later, though I do also use Dunlop Super-Bright nickels on my USA Jazz as I just like the feel of them on there, what with them being naturally a bit more flexible but the bass being string-through-body. I played Prosteels for a while and liked them but they eat frets, used Rotosound steels when they were cheap and didn't mind them but they eat frets even faster, tried EB Slinky but they didn't seem to last well before sounding dull, tried Elixirs of different coatings but couldn't justify the cost over just changing sets of uncoated strings, tried DRs of different colours but couldn't put up with the DoA rate, and most recently tried Warwick Red nickels as a nod to being economical but they're too rough for my liking. I'm not a great user of flats so I've not gone as far down that road, but Fender 9050 were nice enough, Rotosound Monel were like torture implements, D'Addario Chromes weren't smooth enough, and I've currently got some Galli jazz flats which are very smooth indeed and I'm enjoying the novelty of ...in small doses ...for now!

Nah, just standard UK conditions - humidity in the house is usually about 50% relative. All three basses arrived like it and never flinched one way or the other while they were here as best I could ever tell. One maple and two pau ferro boards with the same 'feature' as well, so not just one type of wood. But yeah, I think it's going to be one of those little mysteries. I wouldn't be put off buying another Sandberg, but I'd want to check it first to make sure it wasn't similarly afflicted.

That was where I would have gone had I kept them - I actually even bought the glue, precision applicator tips and micromesh pads to do the job. I still don't get why they were like that in the first place, though.