BigRedX

Plus making absolutely zero attempt to disguise the fact that the body is made of (at least) 3 pieces of completely mismatched wood. Even if they couldn't be bothered to pick a better example of f the production line for the photograph, 10 minutes in Photoshop would have sorted this out. Doesn't anyone in the Fender marketing department care any more?

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I notice that they haven't bothered applying the same finish to the neck.

So if you were why would you consider one of these over a proper Fender, or one of the established and respected copyists such as Sandberg, Maruszczyk, G&L, etc.

But since the 50s the music doesn't die after the original performance. There's the recording which is very often (IME) far superior to the live version. That can be enjoyed at any time. Besides there's always exciting new bands appearing to replace those that have died, split up or simply can't cut it live or in the studio any more. Or than as a personal preference there is simply no need to be living in the past. To get back on track with the OP... I ought to start by saying that I'm not and never have been a Genesis fan. Their music has always been at odds with what I wanted to listen to, and unlike some of their contemporaries I still haven't come to appreciate them retrospectively. Also I don't really buy into the nostalgia trip. Because of the music I am currently playing I get to see quite a lot of bands that I was very much into "back in the day", because I am playing support to them, and I have to say that so far not one of them has been close to replicating what I enjoyed about seeing them in the 80s. It makes no difference where it is still the original/classic line-up or one so far removed that it might as well be a tribute act, I almost always come away having enjoyed the newer bands on the bill more. I can completely understand why they are doing it though. Given the opportunity there are a couple of bands from my past that I would resurrect in a flash, and I wouldn't even need to truck load of money to convince me to do it. However as an audience member I'd rather keep my memories of seeing bands back when they were still young, hungry and exciting, and for those I never got the chance to see at the time, I'll stick with the records. They won't let me down.

I have massive playlist of cover versions in my iTunes library and while many of them are good very few are IMO superior to the original, and when they are it almost always because it is the cover that I am most familiar with. No what I am saying is that IME music that has some performance input from the writer(s) or composer(s) tends to have that something extra, and tends to be closer to the original visions of those who wrote it. As someone who considers themselves a composer first and a musician second this is something I feel strongly about.

Lots of songs are written by non-performers but lots are preformed by those that write them. And yes there are lots of covers but IME the original is nearly always the definitive version. In bands with line-up changes, the people who are constant, generally turn out to be the important writers within the band. And going back to your previous point about The Four Seasons and The Magic Flute, I don't know about the Four Seasons but The Magic Flute was originally written specifically for the company that performed it, and the libretto was written by Emanuel Schikaneder who also sang the role of Papageno in the original performances. You see music has a long history of being originally performed by the people who wrote it! Even in modern classical music this continues. Also the pieces I've seen over the last 10 years have either been performed by the ensemble(s) the music was originally written for, or the composer had some performance involvement either as a musician or conductor.

You really need to try all the various options - Schaller, Dunlop, rubber washers, screwing the strap directly onto the instrument before you can make an informed decision. Both the Schaller and Dunlop systems can suffer from user error when fitting and neither are 100% fool proof if you've never used them before. The Dunlop model does require additional maintenance in the form of making sure the ball-bearing mechanism is kept lubricated otherwise it will seize up and stop locking. The other two methods make removing the strap from the instrument less than straight-forward which can be a problem if you need to remove it for transport or storage and not risk the strap damaging the bass.

Because "popular" music and rock music in all it's various forms has a history of being performed by the people who wrote it. And IME they have a better connection and understanding of the music because of this.

As I said in another thread regarding a new manufacturer of what are essentially Fender copies, unless you are very lucky you are pretty much doomed to failure if you can't do one of two things: 1. Build functional but basic, straight copies of P and J Basses and sell them for less than a Squier versions. 2. Make custom built copies that superficially look like a P or J Basses but have been individually tailored to the customer's needs whether it be simply a custom finish/fancy woods or something more radical like neck-through construction - similar to what Sei offer with their J Bass inspired instruments, but still be able to sell them for less than the typical Fender Custom Shop instrument.

Why do you want to go wireless? I can understand it for singers who don't play an instrument and who move around the stage a lot, but not for those also playing an instrument whose mic will be on a stand anyway. Or is this a different band where you are just doing vocals?

It's not really very much like either design, but does have more in common with the Hofner, which is rather disingenuous IMO.

But is the intonation still right? I once had a set of string with similar wear that were impossible to intonate because the wear meant that the strings were not of an even unit mass along their length.

Hopefully @EBS_freak will be along with some more detailed insights but the situation is basically this: The analogue system will use compander techniques to compress the audio signal for transmission and then expand it again before sending to the desk. This will result in some degradation of the audio - you won't get the full frequency or dynamic range of the original audio signal. Also depending on the broadcast frequencies and the country(s) you are intending to use it in you might need to buy a licence. The digital version operates on the 2.4GHz frequency which is the same as WiFi. The transmitted signal will be full frequency and dynamic range within the restrictions of the AD-DA converters. There will be a slight amount of latency compared with the analogue version (I couldn't find any figures on the Shure web site). What is more important is the potential for interference from other users in the WiFi frequency - that's every member of your audience with a smart phone trying to get on Facebook etc. To many competing devices and the system will simply stop working. Any chance of being able to try each version at a gig? That way you will get a better idea of which system is going to work best for you.

You are best tagging @EBS_freak in this thread. What models are you looking at? Pro or consumer grade?

You do know that before yesterday the previous posts were all from nine and a half years ago?

If you play standing up balance and position on the strap are far more important than weight. I've got rid of basses in the past that were light but simply didn't hang right on the strap which made them too difficult (for me) to play.

IIRC this has come up before either here or on another music forum and there is no easy way to directly send the money to the charity of your choice. You have to collect it from Bandcamp and then pass it on.

Exactly. There are some nice looking signature basses available, but all that means is the person putting their name to the bass had the same ideas about what they wanted from an instrument as I do.

Are you sure that’s the original bridge. IIRC Kays from the 70s had either a very primitive Gibson style bridge or a two piece that allowed you to adjust the string spacing but not the intonation.

I would agree. You need some space for the vocals to sit in if you want the bass and drums to be as loud as that. So EQ the bottom end out of the vocals and the top end out of the bass and kick drum so that they are not fighting for the same sonic space. See if you EQ out the vocal range from the melody synth parts as well. Not sure about the sound choices on the intro but that's just a matter of taste.

In theory anything goes if it works for you. In practice fretless basses have the strings much closer to the fingerboard (by about the height of the average fret), so before you go ahead and add frets try raising the action by about 1mm at the 12th fret and see how you get on with playing fretless on the upper part of the neck. That you give you some idea about how useful the fretless part is going to be once you have added frets to the lower end of the fingerboard.

I don't get this "feel" of the fingerboard. On fretted basses and guitars my fingers barely touch anything other than the strings, and even if they did the ends are so callused from years of bass playing they have very little sensation in them.

To answer the OP. No. Not in the slightest. I learnt to play mostly because I wanted to write songs/music. Seeing someone else regurgitate an existing piece of music holds pretty much zero interest for me. Also while they are probably all far better players than I am, from what I have seen, I am safe in the knowledge that my room is tidier than their's, and I look after my body better and have a far better dress sense than any of them (well the male ones at least). ;-)

That sounds like a lot of effort for a problem that shouldn't have existed in the first place. Surely the whole point of a "relic" is that it is just cosmetic, and doesn't actually affect the functioning of the instrument in any way. You don't get relic'd basses with massive fret wear or crackly electrics, so why is a non-functional bridge deemed to be OK? In the end it's just a BBOT bridge, so do what everyone else would have done before old Fender style instruments were deemed to be valuable, and replace it with a new functional part. There's a brand new BBOT bridge with threaded saddles on eBay right now for less than £7.00 including postage. Of course it's new and shiny, but that's how a proper old bass which has had failed parts replaced would look.