akabane

I find all exploration interesting in terms of instruments. However I am wondering why they went like that at it - I can see so many practical issues with this thing. I mean - if I were to do a 'multi' anything bass I'd try to do a bass version of Metheny's Picasso guitar, so it would be a multi scale, multi necks things that would have many more strings and tonal possibilities - if I have to have an unwieldly and uncomfortable instrument to play, I better be able to get out incredible sounds out of it. Just a 'fret' and 'fretless'? Not convinced. I do appreciate the reverse necks for different tuning possibilities and approaches. I don't think anybody is calling them up ordering those things. I see it as one of those 'proof of concept' instruments that eventually will die off or evolve into something actually practical - so I see no problem anywhere!

Oh man, I can hear the artificial harmonics sliding from here! A beauty!

No worries my Hemelite friend, remember you can't spell dumbass without bass!

This is catchy, my dudes. Respect!

Because when you go and witness a King Crimson concert, you realize why they decided to go for three instead! Such an unique experience.

I'm sorry your delivery guy thought that his forklift could be used as a forkscrew. Fork him! I can't really see how it might be the shop's responsibility? This obviously looks like shipping mishandling. Keep us updated. Horrible experience

Whoever did then, reeeeeally reaaaally liked the sound of the bass playing!

@BassAgent I could tell you're the one who did the final mixing of the lockdown version

What I would personally like to see more of are black/dark tinted woods, instead of black paint to cover it all. While retaining the 'elegance' of the black, it adds the nuances of the beauty of the underlying wood/patterns/depth and so on. It also helps break an all-black pattern for tricky lighting situations.

@NotAsGoodAsJaco wow, you must have had one of the few Smiths to actually have the 19mm spacing! So on the hunt for a Smith 18mm now? I have to admit, I do love my 6ers in 18 and 19 mm. My previous beast (a Yamaha TRB JP2, which I do regret selling and will buy again at some point, had its own unique character) was 19mm (AND 35 in scale!) and I never felt it to be a hindrance. I never thought I had to go down to 18mm, and as a matter of fact, I was prioritising 19mm spacings over 18mm when I was looking for my Smith. However, I decided I wanted to give a slightly narrower spacing a try and ended up going for the Smith's default 18mm, and it still feels really good. I do feel I would start to get cramped if I kept going down lower towards 17mm or less though. Something to note though, I did pretty much jump from an upright bass straight to a 6 electric, almost bypassing the 4 completely - so I never really got accustomed to a 'slim' fretboard. I like my instruments to feel like hard beasts to tame! 😎

That is a sweet looking instrument, congratulations! I do admit I like some of Ramsay's designs, keen on putting my hands on one and try them out - it might be a great good quality and not so expensive way to get that modern sound perfect for soloing and chordal work. If you record anything with it, please let me know! Keen to hear its tone!

Aaaaah, welcome to the magical world of sixers, congratulations to you And Shuker's got a killer reputation, it's a very nice instrument. Make it sing!

I found the best cure for GAS, and it's a self-concluding cycle, so this way you'll never need to buy another instrument again! My GAS-Reduction system works on three simple assumptions: Own only 1 or 2 basses of high emotional/practical, but low economic value. Set your GAS to trigger only on unrealistically expensive, 12k+ instruments Do not set aside any money for instruments: drugs and alcohol are good money sinks for this! Here's how the game theory works: You own a Jazz copy worth 80 quid, it's your best friend, and you've spent countless hours practicing it, it's literally YOUR instrument. Now you start GASsing for an Alembic Classic worth 30k. You spend lots of time listening to samples, watching pics, documentaries, you stalk the builders around, and know you'll never be able to afford one. GAS mounts up even more, and you look at your savings. 3k. You wouldn't want to sell your main axe for it because your grandpa gifted it to you before departing, and even if you did it would yield enough money for a return ticket between zones 1-4 in London. You get depressed and spend it on alcohol, and cry over your Jazz copy. The next day, you feel energised and your GAS cycle can start over. However, you'll have noticed, you will have NOT bought the object of your GAS. You put more practice time into your bass, cementifying even more the strong bond. You can trust me, this system works EVERY SINGLE TIME! Look at me, I'm the proof it works: My 'jazz copy' in this story is a bass I still own and never sold and never will The big first GAS I've ever had was for a signature factory bass worth roughly 8x the price of my bass that I could not afford Cried over it, but never sold mine. Kept fighting with myself if I would be even worthy, aside of the fact I couldn't really afford it ...then I bought it anyway a bit later Then I've had a GAS attack for a boutique high end bass, worth again around 4-5x the price of the previous GAS attack Cried over it, since it was...A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF MONEY, but never sold mine. Again; now I really CANNOT justify it given my playing (in)ability but it's awesome! ...then I bought it anyway a bit later My latest GAS attack is now the highest priced instrument I've ever set my eyes on, roughly 3x the price of the already stupidly expensive previous GAS attack I keep crying over it, since I keep saying I'll never be able to afford NOR justify it, as it would be embarassing for someone with my pathetic playing abilities to be seen with such an instrument... ...I wonder what the next step will be here...*drinks a shot* As I've shown you, my patented system of GAS control works every single time, hear it from me! Follow these simple rules and you'll soon be GAS free! ...so, where was I? Ah yeah, paying the deposit on that 8k bass..cough cough

My 4/4 upright has been with me for 20 years now - very battered but it still sings!

Magnificent! Also beautiful figuring, very similar to mine!

Let me vouch for Meridian Basses. The guy's in Avezzano - in the Abruzzo region. It's the town I'm originally from. Went to see him once and he looked a genuinely good guy - I like the aesthethic of some of his instruments, however I've never played one. Still, I hear good things. It's quite far from where you're going to move at (we're talking central Italy here, Rome level), but do get in touch with him! Also, I second recommendation for Wood&Tronics. He makes some really great looking basses - imo - and they sound very modern and bright, a-la fodera. Divertitevi!

Whether the setup of the topic was sexist or not, I just don't understand how you people can live in an environment like that? Either having your significant other always question your purchases or having to 'do good' to them to get back into good graces? I understand most of it it's banter and just people funnily ranting without an actual reason, and kinda make into a game (or at least I hope - I can't believe so many couples are like this in here?) My partner of almost 10 years gets all happy and excited when I start going around purchasing a new instrument or whatever else I want to pursue. I'm the same with her, obviously. And she's not a musician, so it's not like 'she understands'. My latest bass purchase was more than 3k. She was pretty much more excited than I was! We both have decent jobs and generally try to take care of not 'splurging' money away. I just find it...odd. I could understand an 18yo who gets to decide whether to buy himself/herself a new bass OR bring his/her partner to their first weekend away, but come on...I'm reading of people here who supposedly have been married decades, and are still trying to sneak 'new stuff' past the partner? How...how does that work? 😮

To be fair, it is a collectible. People really don't get it, @Doctor J Doesn't make sense that 'it's damaged whooo and it's 350 quid'. There's people who would pay thousands for something like that. If I were to put on the 'on sale' section here THE (broken) NECK OF THE FIRST EVER P BASS - mind you, it's twisted, unplayable and so forth. I would bet you 10% of the sale price that you'd have people coming in in DROVES to put their hands on a 'useless' piece of history. Peace out

In my experience, everyone who Richards around how many strings a player is using doesn't deserve to be heard. Take those useless sods, put them on headphones, three recordings of the same song and ask them to identify where you're playing the 5/6/34 stringed instrument. Mah. Like A LOT of people, they're the ones who listen with their eyes. You know Lee Sklar? Have you heard of his 'producer switch'? It's an unsoldered, disconnected switch that is the only 'custom' thing on his signature instrument. What is it for, you may ask? After all, it literally does nothing. Well, in a recording session, if the producer tells him he doesn't like his tone, he MAKES SURE HE SEES HIM toggle the switch, then he slightly shifts his right hand position. Everyone loved the tone after that. So, yes, everyone, if given the chance, listens with their eyes. I just don't care and enjoy pissing those people off, playing my lines on 1 of the 6 strings I usually bring. I've ALWAYS played 6 strings since I've moved to electric, fortunately being 'judged' by what instrument I own or play doesn't happen often. When it does, I treat it like encountering a flat earther

From another Smith lover, GREAT new bass! Congratulations It will give you hours and hours of joy! EDIT: And I love it being a '90s BT 2-way preamp. Those things sound even punchier (if possible?!) than the 'newer' 3 way pre!

O_O Wait a second, are my eyes playing or is that a STEPPED FRETBOARD?? I'm so curious to try it! How does it sound? How does it work? Why? I need to know

Congrats! It looks like a great instrument and a monster to tame Always been curious about these neck-through singlecuts from Warwick (especially ones that new cost as much as a new Marleaux Contra 6!). That top is beautiful! Do you have any sound files? I'd be also curious to take a closer peek at this 'invisible fret' thing from the side, if you don't mind! It just sounds to me like saying 'proper fretwork has been used here!' with a buzzword to charge more for

What are you on about? There's no more 'album sales', like, ever. The curve of listeners actually BUYING a record has been going heavily downhill for the past 10 years or more. You go make at least a nation-wide survey asking people when was the last time they got into a shop and bought a CD. Otherwise, if you're talking about the revenue that comes from streaming (which is where everyone listens to music from nowadays and will only get more accentuated the more we go forward), these are pretty much nil, unless you're one of the top-20/30 artists on spotify or apple music. The only way left to actually 'sell an album' is through BandCamp or similar services. Most artists at this point would just start taking payment and donations from their website directly. Quite literally, the only way left to make money out of music 'old school' is with touring (let's exclude major publishing deals, which are still down by massive landslides vs 10 or 20 years ago). If you want to adapt, you build a community of fans online, they'll buy your books/recordings/whatever AND come to your gigs. By the way, your sound engineer's rate is one of the lowest I've ever seen. But I do agree with you that those 'incentives' are pretty ridicolous, and should be thought more thoroughly