Angel

Ahh, so I'll probably never find one like it again. Oh well, thanks for the info.

Totally a Spector! I wanted to love Warwicks, but every one I tried I thought nah, not for me.

Every so often I wistfully recall the bass that got away. I also give myself a firm kick up the b*tt for not actually knowing exactly what it was! My fave ever bass, I found it secondhand at the Bass gallery in Camden. As a very rough guess about 12-15 years ago. It’s slightly weird though as I don’t actually remember if it was 4 or 5 string. I have had times over the years where I’ve flipped between using 4 or 5 strings and I honestly don’t recall where I was at this time in terms of preference. I guess that sounds a bit mad. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it again recently, and I’d love to work out what it actually was. My initial looking around on the internet did not find exactly the same thing so I thought I’d try asking you lot – which may well come to nothing! So, what can I say about it. Well, it was a Spector bass, and at the time was going for I think £1,800 secondhand. I went and played it a couple of times and it felt sublime, but there was no way I could afford it. A painful experience! I’m pretty sure it was an NS bass, and looked extremely similar to the example below, same basic body look/inlays/fretboard – but there was one critical difference – The neck was a dark wood with a very ‘textured’ grainy feel to it. I particularly loved that feel. I’ve never seen another bass with a neck like it. No clue what wood it was! Any idea what specific bass that would have been? And if it was available as both 5 and 4 string or not?

Bought a ticket for Steve Hackett but it's not until Oct 2026! I don't get out much in my old age (62) but I may catch either of my two fave bands before then (Pendragon and Lifesigns) if possible.

I stand corrected on the Tune suggestion! What do I know! many thanks people

Tune is a reasonable suggestion, but I don't think it's a Tune. I had a go at a screenshot, this is the best I could find

This is a video that I often put on at work as it's great background music, it's a live concert by two superb Japanese jazz fusion bands- Casiopea and T-Square. They all take to the stage at once and just share out duties. Anyway, I was watching excellent bassist Sutoh Mitsuru and for the first time I paid a bit more attention to the instrument that he was playing. It's an 8 string, and has a trem (!). I've been trying to find the bass on line but I've had no luck so far, so I was wondering if anyone recognises the shape? I'd just like to know what it is. The whole video is around 2h 44m long, but your best look at the bass in question is at 2h 14m when the bassists do a bit of showboating. Sutoh is the guy with glasses and a green bass. The other bassist is Yoshihiro Naruse, both very good! Anyone got an 8 string bass? What are they like to play? What does it give you extra sound-wise?

Two wonderful songs. I love all Genesis until Steve Hackett left. I have a more complicated relationship after that! Growing up I was obsessed with the top 40, and I loved it when Genesis would get into the charts, they just felt like my kind of band. Having said that, I didn't like all of the poppy songs, and I never bought another album after Wind & Wuthering. I have music on when at work, and sometimes I stick on a Genesis concert (when they were down to the three core members), and really enjoy all those hits. Although I much prefer the old proggy songs, the hit laden stuff somehow works for me as background music.

I'm liking these Brubaker headless guitars, particularly the 4 string. With prices starting at £3700 I won't be buying one though! I'm planning on building another bass, I may try something inspired by this design. Not necessarily the finish/colours, just the shape etc. Brubaker Guitars has introduced the NBS Headless Bass Series, a new line of four- and five-string basses available in both 34-inch and 30-inch scale lengths. Designed for flexibility and travel ease, these basses feature Brubaker’s BOB (Brubaker On-Board) swappable preamp system, allowing bass players to switch between six distinct preamps in under a minute. Each NBS bass comes with a True Passive Module as the default, with other available preamps crafted by brands such as Bartolini, DarkGlass, John East, Aguilar, and Nordstrand. Standard specifications for the NBS series include an alder body with a spalted maple top, maple neck, and Hipshot hardware. Pickup configurations include J/J, P/J, and humbucker options, providing additional customisation. Every bass is hand-numbered and signed by master luthier Kevin Brubaker, who states, “The NBS Headless series represents years of innovation and feedback from the players who inspire us.”

@prowla I love the look of the twin neck! I'm not sure I'd have a use for it but it looks so cool to me.

I'd be put off by Ali express! Not exactly quality merchants! But hey, it could be brilliant. Let us know how it is.

Thanks for the link, I can't believe you got plug parts in there!

Intriguing but very expensive. Their video is pretty useless - it takes forever going through everything for virtually every string, and it doesn't even explain how they work. I would have liked to actually hear the string/note as the wheel was turned to get an idea of how well it works, what the turning to tuning ratio is etc. rather than plus pointless music all through. Do these people want to sell their product?

Thanks, a long and intriguing thread! It will take a while to get through it all, but interesting so far - and those mini basses - fascinating!

Thanks for flagging up, good to see!

I quite fancy making a headless bass, just wondering if anyone else here has already done one? Also wondering if anyone has hardware recommendations?

I'm no fan but I don't mind them reforming. To be honest though I'm sick of hearing it in the news already! I was never into Britpop so I just didn't really hear them back in the day. I LOVED Our Friends in the North (TV series) when it came out, and the very last song on the last episode was amazing, very cool and so fitted the vibe of the end. It was Don't look back in anger. Since then I have a mild appreciation of the band, although I have realised that I quite like Noel in interviews but I can't stand Liam.

I find songs a bit boring without a solo break. Doesn't have to be guitar, and yes, best if it fits the song of course! I listened to a fair degree of 80s 90s metal back in the day, and quite often the solo was a bit rubbish. You need a decent solo that adds to the song - for example, Brian May's playing on These are the days of our lives - short and sweet but so compliments the whole song. I'm not into loads of singing over everything, for me the best songs have plenty of 'musical' space. Yeah, I'm a prog fan!

Can't find a pic of me with a bass right now, so this is me showing off my SOUNDS freebie shirt (given away in the early 80s). The shirt is thin as heck but lovely on a hot day, there can't be many that survived - although a good condition one did turn up on eBay for £500 recently.

Japan were around during my art college years, but I never listened to them at all. Just looked like a bunch of pretty boys to me. Likewise I've never knowingly heard Mick Karn. Now I feel like they are a band I should finally listen to, maybe tomorrow at work I usually have music on all day. Best album to start with? Actually I really like live stuff so I may look for an old concert on Youtube

but this guy is very nifty. However, he is also accompanied by superb bass playing! Apparently the bass player is Thiago Espírito Santo, not a name I've heard before Old video - 9 years ago ...

That album blew my mind when I first heard it! It was around 82 I guess and I was late teens, having mostly listened to chart music up to then. It was so different to the usual 'bunch of songs' that were on most albums. I got all those early KC albums.

That has the potential to be great, but maybe you are into reggae and he's into death metal.

Tom Morello graduated from Harvard with a degree in political science, which I remember from this exchange:

Well I'm slumming it with just BA (Hons) after my name.