Ed_S

Yeah, actual fret sprout due to board shrinkage I've got the tools and ability to deal with - the reverse was a new one on me too. Sadly I could feel it quite clearly when I was playing. The only commonality between my basses was that they were all early cedar body super-lights, made before they switched to paulownia. I never actually tried to contact Sandberg about the issue since all evidence pointed to it not being a manufacturing defect on just one neck, and by the time I'd stopped trying to convince myself to keep them as they were, I no longer needed them anyway.

Yup, exactly that! I tried really hard to persuade myself that I was ok with it because, as you rightly say, aside from that they're great. I considered trying to fill the ends of the slots myself, but over the enforced break from gigging I ended up going back to playing 5s so the Sandberg 4s were sold before I could make a mess and reduce their value! Probably for the best... Shame about the lack of email response - not ideal.

I had three Cali 2 Superlights (two TM4s and one TT4) and ended up moving them on because as nice as they were for weight, body shape/size, neck profile, hardware stability and indeed sound, I just couldn't get used to how they felt in my hand as a result of how the frets were fitted. They all had whatever the opposite of fret sprout is, and it must have been intentional rather than a defect as all three of them were exactly the same irrespective of fretboard material. I couldn't make myself ignore it, as much as I wanted to, so would advise that you make sure it either doesn't apply or doesn't bother you.

Fairly recently had a positive first-and-only experience of dealing with Live Louder in Altrincham. Friendly and helpful on the phone, gave the bass I was after a full look-over for any dings it might have picked up in the shop, packed it up well, sent it out as promised and even wrote me a little note on the invoice to say they hoped I'd enjoy my new toy! So far, so good. WD Music have always been very good at replying to emails, and they sent me a replacement for a duff tuning key in a boxed set I'd bought without any questions at all. I've never experienced any messing about when buying tools and parts from Northwest Guitars, Vanson Guitars or Glued to Music either.

Time to ring the speaking clock? 😉 ...is that even a thing these days?

Epic 🙂 To be honest, I was never strongly against these when they first came out - there was just no way I was going to pay the ticket price for one at that point. If I was still playing 4 string Precisions I'd have actually been quite tempted to give this one a go when it came up for sale, but I'm on the 5s at present. Agree about the bridge - the slightly curvy Fender high mass one that they used on the USA Standard / Professional models might look quite fitting. Hope it's a success!

One of those 2013 closet classics that looks like a Bronco?

I'm in a somewhat similar place, but it's my band and bass parts. We're only just about to get back together after an extended break due to the pandemic and our lead singer having to move away for work, and during the hiatus I've switched back to playing 5s. I've spent the last 10 years with that band playing 4s. I've arrived at the conclusion that I'll give a better performance if I just play the old songs how I want to hear them now, and if that's using the additional low notes then so be it. If I try it and those notes don't work, then I'll hear that and I won't be tempted to play them again, but if they do work and I'm just forbidding myself to play them then that won't last very long.

I’ve found the cleanest way to remove tape residue can sometimes just be to use more tape. Put some new tape that isn’t going to fall apart over the residue, then peel it off and it often takes the old stuff with it. Repeat as necessary with a fresh section.

Oh aye, I'm not calling myself any kind of mic expert either, and if an SM58 had turned up it would probably have performed fine. Just like a P bass, even if you have a preference for something fancier, you're generally hard pressed to argue with the ability of a standard workhorse to get the job done. On that basis, if I find myself auditioning for a new band at any point in the future, I'm taking my USA Fender Jazz 5, because as much as it's not my favourite all-rounder to play, aside from the extra string it's as unarguable a bass as I can manage.

The fact that she'd turned up with any mic at all signalled that she might be a keeper. That and the big gloves.

I was once told by a guy behind a mixing desk that I should change all my gear for whatever would get me "closer to the ideal of a perfect sine wave". He'd clearly been smoking a lot of assorted garden clippings, so I just nodded and smiled. I have, but I did it in line with the 'if you want me to use it then you can provide it' sentiment. Our last singer turned up with a Rode M2 which did her voice no favours at all and really didn't behave well in a loud rehearsal room, so I offered up a selection of others to try and we arrived at a Beta 57a for rehearsals and an E838 for gigs. At no point did I suggest that she needed to spend any money.

The valve amp I've got has no fans and a row of six EL34s quite close up to the back grille, so when I pick it up by the top handles with the back facing me (it balances best that way) it ends up at zipper-height and the whole experience is a bit 'Kings of Leon' if I've not let it cool down first. I tend to point my floor fan at the back of it while I'm packing other things away, which speeds the process up acceptably.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that I've had an occasional negative experience with just about every music shop I've ever frequented; BD, PMT, GG, G4M etc. all included, but I know I'm not in a great mood at work every single day and I'm certainly not beyond making a mistake, so I try to keep things in perspective. There have been times I've not managed it and stores I've never returned to because I believe them to be fundamentally dishonest, but if it's an interpersonal issue I tend to just chew the person there and then rather than walk away seething. I wonder whether BD get more attention partly because of the kind of stock they hold. When you've finally decided to treat yourself to a bit of expensive, speciality kit that you've been building up in your head, which you've potentially travelled a fair distance to try/buy, and then the purchase goes wrong or you don't get the attitude you'd like from the salesman, it often seems to go down like a brick. Lower value commodity purchases that people make more frequently from whichever box-shifter is local / has stock / ships cheapest, perhaps have less to go wrong with them in the first place, and raise less emotional responses and negative reviews when they do go wrong?

It's not that I don't enjoy or see the value in that side of live music, but raw newness and mistakes whilst listening to material I've never heard before is why I go and see local original bands and pay a fiver to get in. Or why I make sure I'm there at doors to catch all the support bands for more established acts that I've paid a higher ticket price and possibly travel/hotel costs to go and see. A workshop-esque show from an established band commanding a high ticket price wouldn't do it for me.

Just a beer-fuelled thought in isolation without too much concern as to how well it'd work in practice. I guess on reflection it would work best for artists that are already held in some regard, have a few albums out and aren't yet jaded enough to not be bothering with new ones. To provide context, there I was, stood watching Iron Maiden (who were, at least at the time, very into touring a new album and playing it in its entirety and then doing a few hits at the end to wrap up) and I realised that I was just stood there paying a lot to drink and shrug my shoulders because I clearly hadn't diligently done my homework and learned to love their new material end-to-end in time for the show. I wasn't really considering streaming vs radio etc. - just that at that gig, I'd have really liked to hear something I knew, and would have cheered much louder afterwards had it been forthcoming. Indeed, when they played the few older tracks at the end, everybody did. Afterwards I considered that, had I been given more time to naturally assimilate the 'new' album into my listening, I could have known it and would have enjoyed the gig much more. However, if I'd been asked right then on the way out, I would have said that they needed to just give it up and play greatest hits shows to give the people what they want.

I've walked out of a few shows having paid upwards of fifty quid a ticket, usually because the sound was so bad that it was impossible to tell whether the artist was past it, but now and then because it was all too obvious that they were. Given the ease of recording videos with decent sound and distributing them on youtube, my suggestion would be to announce the tour and put out a very candid and un-doctored live track from the rehearsals or warm-up shows. That way, people would be able to get a feel for what they might expect to see if they go, and can make a decision based on something. The "if you don't want to go then don't" argument is only any good if you can actually know whether you want to go; how are you meant to know whether this is the time that you'll be disappointed if all you've got to go on is the fact that you weren't disappointed 5 years ago? Show us what's on offer; some will buy tickets no matter what, some will think the preview sounds ace and buy their tickets, and some will avoid paying to be disappointed. The artist can then reduce venue capacity and/or retire when they can't legitimately sell the tickets any longer on the back of previewing the show. If that never happens to them... great! The new material question is one I've contemplated over a few pints and came to the conclusion that bands tour albums too soon after their release. People haven't had time to work that material into their listening and think of it as a favourite by the time they hear it live, so the crowd reaction is lukewarm compared to the older material and that reinforces the idea that crowds only want a greatest hits tour. In an ideal world, I think bands should only tour their first album when they've released their second, then continue out-of-step like that, so they're always playing material that more people have had some time to feel a connection with. As an added bonus, if there's an album at the end that never gets toured as a result, that's leaves a great opportunity for a tribute.

Also, some of the digital modelling preamps I've seen seem to lure guitarists towards creating patches that in isolation sound like the entire guitar content, sometimes including bass, of a fully produced and mastered album. Very handy if you don't have the other musicians there, but risking a real mess if you do. In a similar vein, sounding better because there's less to sound bad is one of the reasons that I went back to playing 4s. I was sick of certain house engineers making a mess of the low end so, rather than keeping on trying to bring it up and at best being ignored (at worst, 'offending' them and risking the vindictive mix), I just deprived them of the raw material to do it. Instant improvement.

I bought a cheap job-lot of Warwick Red nickels and, aside from being a bit rougher than I'm used to, the sodding things try to epilate my arms! I guess it's a peculiarity of the way they're wound, and the B strings are definitely the worst offenders, but the E and A have a go as well. They sound alright but they're pretty much unusable. Hopefully the HBs just let you be hairy in peace.

Sounds totally relatable - I sometimes describe a bass as demanding a certain physicality to get the best out of it, and whilst I don't fancy the idea of playing full sets on them, I do like half an hour at home now and then. Used to have a Yamaha TRB-1005J which was a really good example of that. As for switching allegiance, I seem to do a 7 year cycle with a 3 year thinking-about-it period. I did three years initial getting into playing followed by seven of black-and-pointy 5s, then three years making sure I wanted a change and discovering Precisions followed by seven of predominantly P and J variant 4s. I'm just currently coming to the end of three years changing over to Ibanez SR 5s, so I should be set for the next seven and just starting to fancy a change by 2029 with a view to being fully kitted out with the latest and greatest in 2032.

Mono Vertigo and Gator Pro-Go are my personal favourites for conventionally shaped basses at the moment - Mono for the Ibanez SR, and the slightly roomier Gator for the Spector (because it's 35" so a bit longer) and Fender (because it's got 4+1 big tuners sticking out). If you've gone with a more expensive Ibanez SR, then the Mono is a really nice fit. I'd advise against the 'sleeve' version as it doesn't do very much to protect an angled-back headstock.

I've topped and tailed my collection over the last year to remove the cheap ones and the expensive ones, leaving just my favourite 'go-to' instruments in the middle-ground. They cost somewhere between about £850 and £1250 new, which seems to be the smart price range for me to get an instrument that feels right, looks good, is well made, is durable and hopefully sounds alright as well. Pay any more and I'm just lining myself up for a huge drop when I inevitably want a change. Pay any less and I'll start to fiddle with upgrades until I might as well have just bought the one I actually wanted. Obviously we all have different circumstances, commitments, priorities and budgets, so I'm only saying what's true for me and absolutely not trying to tell anyone what I think should be true for them. As a nod to the original question, I'd say that no, I've not seen many professionals at decent size gigs playing obviously budget gear. I've seen a lot of vintage gear being played by older artists, a lot of flagship new gear being played by artists with endorsement deals, and then a lot of stuff that falls in my middle-ground (ESP E-IIs, PRS S2s, Fender MIJs, Spector Euros, Ibanez Premiums etc.) being played by younger/aspiring/jobbing artists.

I used to use whatever music I could read to play an instrument, whereas now I use an instrument to play whatever music I can hear. Maybe that's similar. Or not! 🙂 I wonder whether any of that stems from comments made by people who've conflated their experience of learning theory and reading, with a parallel experience of learning an instrument and being persistently told by an authority figure that they're wrong for playing anything other than what's on the page, exactly as it's written. Absolutely, but I think a lot depends on how you get started. I learned to read music as a kid because it was presented as a mandatory part of playing violin, and whilst I won't say it did me no good, I would much prefer to see aspiring learners of all ages told by their would-be teachers that it can actually be optional depending on their aims. A lot of people who started sawing a fiddle in half at the same time I did ended up quitting completely because they didn't get on with reading but had been led to believe that you can't have one without the other.

A guy in a long-since-closed music shop told me that there were some manufacturers who wouldn't let their dealers put certain products into sales, so instead they would call any such products that had been hanging around for too long 'mint condition second hand' and sell them off that way. I don't buy second hand gear as a rule, but he pointed out an amp and a guitar he thought might interest me and quietly mentioned that although marked second hand, they'd never actually left the shop. I did wonder, since I'd clocked both of them when they were 'new' the weekend before and found it odd to think both had been sold and traded back in, in the space of a week. Fender weren't one of the manufacturers involved or mentioned to me, but I wouldn't exactly be scandalised to find that some shops still use similar strategies to move stock that's sticking to their hands. Perhaps that's why there are so many instances on here of people ordering 'B-stock' and excitedly exclaiming that they've checked it under an interrogation lamp and can't find a thing wrong with it. As to whether I'd pay for a CS, I hate relic jobs and nitro finishes so that probably limits my interest in a substantial number of them that are out there to take off the wall. Ordering a pristine one finished in poly sounds a lot like ordering whatever the current USA flagship production model happens to be, but writing "...and if I slip you another two grand, please can you send me a nice one?" on the bottom of the invoice, when in reality it should already be nice enough. More recently I was in a shop trying a Ray35 out when an older bloke came up and asked if he could borrow the amp for a bit to test out his new CS Precision that he was collecting. He was massively excited, telling me that he's wanted one for his whole playing career, finally decided to go for it, this was the one and he'd moved everything else on. I was happy that he was happy, but it looked like a P, sounded like a P, none of the wood grain looked spectacular, and the orange fluffy-lined case (which he'd opened like a big treasure chest in a Zelda dungeon) just looked a bit cheap. He offered to let me have a play on it, which don't get me wrong I really appreciated given how much he clearly loved the thing, but fortunately I was able to honestly say that my sweat seems to make nitro feel sticky so it was for the best that I didn't even touch it! I say 'fortunately' because I reckon I'd have been significantly underwhelmed and unable to hide the fact.

If it only needs to pass from a distance, you could just try getting somebody to make you a custom one-piece pickguard that doesn't need to modify anything about the original bass but has the missing visual cues that separate a J from a P, which to me are the straight line between the pickups and the tail at the bottom. I would use the existing screw holes and sub in with a bit of double-sided where required, and not try to move the pot or jack positions either - just swap the Jazz knobs for chrome domes. Literally do it as a completely reversible cosmetic nod to the P and see how it turns out. Might work...!