uk_lefty

22 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

There's already an excellent aftermarket pickup ther

Already sorted with Mr Chilli!

22 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Should you need a preamp, I have six (yes 6) 2EQ to build with all the components including Radio knobs and the metal plate, everything you need, in fact.

Interesting! Will send you a PM

Just received a message from the previous owner that it was bought like this new. I think this will be worth the effort to upgrade the electrics.

My Stingray acquired a little brother this morning.

I think the previous owner has had the fingerboard professionally replaced, and a very good job has been done too. Hardware and electronics are not great but am hoping I can pickup some secondhand upgrades.

Update: I am told by the previous owner it was bought as new in fretless. Lovely stuff.

Fretless Sterling Ray 34... Don't see many of these available. I also think this one was professionally defretted, I can't remember the lefties being available fretless. 

It has only arrived today but so far my thoughts: the fingerboard feels lovely, I think it's some kind of ebony. The neck profile is a bit slimmer than my US Stingray. Flatwounds sound great on it, I thought I'd need rounds of some kind but there are decent strings on it right now. 

Bad points:

The machine heads feels a bit flimsy, will need to see how it settles. Also the preamp and pickup is nowhere near the league of my US Stingray. 

More discovery to be made after work

1 minute ago, fretmeister said:

 

Yeah - I'm in East Mids so it's a bit of a hike and I'd have to spring for a hotel on the night too. Zero members of my family would be interested in going.

Make it a bass chat meet up?

I didn't go to watch Amy Winehouse (before the Black album) because I didn't want to go alone. Then never got to see her at all. Massive missed opportunity. 

A friend of mine went through a divorce and she went to loads of gigs on her own, ended up making a massive network of friends. I'm not saying you're in that position, but at a gig you never have to be on your own. Unless it's one of my gigs, then it might just be you and the bar staff 😜

17 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

@uk_lefty is looking for an '80s style bass. I'd say it doesn't get more '80s than this! 

Thanks LeftJ. Unfortunately this one requires care and attention I am not qualified to give.

4 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

How does the Artist Presale work?

I think that's what I've bought through... If you have an O2 phone or maybe even Virgin Media subscriptions then you go through O2 priority and you get dibs on some gigs and events before general release. There may be other ways but that's the only one I know of.

Another rehearsal last night. The last one was cancelled with the sax player being sick and everyone else generally feeling ropey too. Nevertheless we soldiered on and learned a few new songs as well as tightened up the remainder. 

We are starting to really gel as a band now. Everyone does their homework and it's easy to have a go at new stuff together. This feels really good. We have a good half a set of material built up now with a clear plan on what we want to add. 

Still in need of a singer... The singer I really wanted seems to have lost interest. These things happen. No other good candidates have come forward. I know a lady singer who has fronted cover bands before who I could contact, and will have a nother push at advertising. 

Having a very-80's bass on hand has been something I've hopefully fixed. No Aria SBs or Washburn Status available in left handed I caught a defretted Sterling Ray 34 which should arrive today or tomorrow. Looking forward to receiving this! To be fair, all of my basses are 80s appropriate but something fretted and headless would be the dream... So the search isn't over (is it ever!!). Got to focus on getting a singer though... 

Just got my tickets... Standing area. Going with a guitarist friend. What will be the split of the crowd in a ratio of bassists, guitarists, keys, drummers? Agree that it's a huge venue for what would be best in a sweaty little club but it's one night only so for me I just think it's too good an opportunity to miss.

On 04/11/2025 at 20:27, crazycloud said:

Unless you're tying to do an aesthetically authentic tribute band for a group that you need to look like, eg KISS, Beatles, then no one in the audience will notice or care what you're playing providing it's not too out there,

Understood, but we do want to have an 80s pop band aesthetic, playing just any instruments and wearing our normal everyday clothes would not do the job.

I have a defretted Sterling Ray 34 on the way...!!  It's something I've always wanted tor try so I couldn't resist at the price. A nice Aria SB would be a dream but maybe for another day

Hardly used since we did some crazy rack mount thing with the X-Air. You'd be spending £81 to get one brand new posted from Thomann.

£50 collected or I could look at shipping at cost to the buyer.

It's still up with no signs of movement but I am careful with it, keeping the load bearing parts nearest the wall fixings and having the acoustic guitar on there which weighs very little.

On 05/11/2025 at 13:47, neepheid said:

Long scale?  Epiphone Jack Casady.

 

*mic drop*

 

This all day long.

There's an Andertons video where they compare some semi-hollows including the Warwick Star and Epiphone Jack Cassady, some others too I think... That should give you a good idea of the possible sounds. 

I had an Epiphone JC and found it really versatile, great bass.

Quick q for anyone who has had this done... I am considering buying a very beaten up vintage bass. At some point in the past someone has done a very bad defret. I think the board is unusable and would want it removing and replacing with a nice slab of unlined ebony or wenge. How much would I be spending on an operation like that, ballpark, please?  And are there any recommendations? I have emailed Shuker but expect he's a very busy chap, any other recommendations gratefully received.

Thank you

Have listened to this album almost non-stop. Great tracks, I wish I could play like that!!! 

Really enjoying that!  I like the meaty tone with a little bit of nasal accent in it too. I avoided the seasickness inducing camera work by reading the comments and allowing the video to play as I scrolled down page 1.

54 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

You don’t get more ‘80s than headless basses ! (Well maybe metal pointy basses ) 
Nothing wrong with the cricket bats , but wouldn’t you consider a full bodied Hohner Jack?  Not sure if you can get left handed ones .

I think for the look headless is the way forward. I had a cricket bat Hohner before but didn't get on with the string spacing. The dream would be a headless bass with a body, like a Status... I had a Washburn Status but the neck was always bowing one way or another so I moved it on. I've never seen a lefty Hohner Jack before.

1 hour ago, Grahambythesea said:

Stingray - sterling variety available as a lefty at a very competitive price.

I've got a US one already!

8 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

Learn to play right handed

 

But in all seriousness - 80s Yamaha - BB perhaps - I think they did a few lefties?

Ooohhh Yamaha Motion basses... They look the part

So, I outed three basses recently. Now I've got the itch for a new one, but I really need it honestly!!! 😁

Context: my main band is a four piece doing mostly 2000s covers. I also have an 80s band starting up and I fancy having a very 80s bass for it. Being left handed my options are limited, so here's some ideas:

I've got a nice Mexican P bass. It currently looks 70's, black body and guard, maple neck, cream pup covers. I could "dress this up" more like an 80s style bass: white guard, white pup covers, white plastic knobs and maybe gold hardware at a stretch.

Buy another bass... Now, funds are limited, so no brand new Status unfortunately. I've mailed someone who was selling an Aria SB a long time ago to see if it's still available. I could easily get a Steinberger Spirit cricket bat but I'm not a big fan. I will keep an eye out for Westone's, Washburn Status, etc... if funds allowed and I got impatient I could go to the bass hunter chap in Japan, good chance of a lefty Aria SB out there I reckon?

Then there's the others that aren't so distinctly 80s but could be worth a punt just because... I'm drawn to Warwicks now and there's a few Thumb basses available in London. I've also come across a heavily modified Fender P bass from the late 70s that needs a hell of a lot of work but that could become a very versatile fretless vintage bass.

What would you do?

I guess I did this but it wasn't as straightforward as simply a better opportunity. I had become really close friends with the band over the five years and felt really bad about leaving, but I had to. There were lots of contributing factors:

Set list barely changed in five years;

Arguments over what to put in the set list, which links to it being more about what some of the guys wanted to play Vs what worked for our audience;

Playing random gigs hours away for little or no pay, but not happy about playing for good money forty minutes from home;

Rehearsal time being spent mostly on waiting for singer and drummer to arrive, forty mins drummer set up, then fag break, then a little bit of rehearsal before next fag break;

Being awkward with gig enquiries, only wanting to do the same gigs for people they already knew... So we spend all our gigs playing the same set to the same people;

All of those things built up and led me to quit. The final straw for me was a gig being booked on a date everyone knew I was away. With no rehearsal. I found out about the gig through a Facebook post. So I wished them luck with the gig and advised they get a dep because I was, as in the diary and as I had answered when asked, away at a friend's wedding. I auditioned for another band, got the gig, then quit the first band. It was the best thing I could have done. 

I am now setting up an 80s band with the guitarist from band number 1, four years or so after quitting. He and and another have come to a handful of my gigs. The story among the first band is that I was never available for gigs and I was holding them back... Well, if you count missing one gig because we had a baby due around that time and another because someone booked and announced a gig despite knowing I was away... Anyhow, all water under the bridge. I saw the one who had the biggest issue with it all a few weeks back and it's all good. 

The silly thing is with the first band I was really close with them all. It's just that two of four of them were great friends but not great band mates. 

That is a work of art.

11 hours ago, rasher80 said:

https://ebay.us/m/fdM1nW

 

Ibanez Artcore with a weird looking dent on the rear body... shame as it's one bass I never got round to trying

That dent is odd, and no mention of it in the description!  It's a nice looking bass for sure.

https://ebay.us/m/hwxR17

Interesting looking bass! I have no idea if the price is right, just a quirky looking thing.