uk_lefty

I think the risk of shoddy packaging is the same. If someone is going to do a bad job of it they will do a bad job regardless of who is responsible for the shipping arrangement and cost. The insurances are 9/10 worthless anyway if it gets lost or whatever so as a buyer I'm now more inclined to use a known and reliable service that will collect a bass in a hard case for 15-25.

YES!!! I bought that on 45, what a tune. Their whole album was later given to me on cassette by an American lad who ended up at my school. Some absolute nonsense songs on there but they just work, if you have that nasal a singing voice though I suppose it's the only way to go. My tuppence worth: lyrics are important to me. I remember them, I think about them, etc. But I can see why so many people only remember the chorus or completely get it wrong. 'When a man loves a woman' is often requested for weddings etc when it's actually about her doing the dirty, for example, because people only remmebr the key line from the chorus. But that to me also makes it a clever song because you "need" to go deeper in to it for the real meaning. Nonsense lyrics also work for me if they're catchy or part of something bigger. We Didn't Start the Fire is just a list of stuff, but it's making a point. Unlike rappers listing out "luxury" brand names. Then there's famously "Sting 's gibberish classic" of course.

I'm ready to lose my sh!t with this completely. F@ck ebay. They force their courier service on you at an estimated cost that's nowhere near the actual cost. You go through the packlink website and have to pay before it tells you where to drop off...?! Errr no. Tell me where the drop off point is and I'll see whether its worth it to me to get there. Got to swallow a 10 quid loss on postage just to get the package out now. F@ck ebay.

First honest player available ad!

I know this thread is about P basses and flats but if you're not fully sold on the sound and or feel of flats but you want to depart from rounds.... Consider Tapewounds. The Scott Devine video on them and an ebay promotion led me to having Fender tapewounds on my P bass for a year. I even slapped a bit with them. Worth considering... Anyway, flats are good.

Here's my flats experience for what it's worth... Ernie Ball Cobalts currently on my Fretless. Jury is out, I hadn't played them in nearly enough before I went out to gig with the bass and it didn't feel great but I think they've settled a bit now. This isn't a P bass though so I'll move on... TI flats. Had them on my P Bass for quite some time. They sound good but they are very low tension and light. They aren't my preference but I've kept them back because I think they'd sound great on a Jazz bass... I just don't have a jazz bass right now. These felt really light because I was previously using... Roti Steve Harris signature flats. They are HEAVY. Thick and solid feel under the finger. I was wincing as I wound these on my bass fearing the neck would snap. But the tone! Big, clear, full sounding strings that will go on forever and ever. I like these a lot. But my favourites are... Fender flats. For a P bass they're my perfect match. The right amount of tension, really good balance in terms of clarity but also a little bit of grittiness for digging in or playing with a pick. At their price you just cannot go wrong. I can't see me going back to anything else until I get bored once again.

I'd prefer the double-jazz pickup or whatever they call it myself.

Looks like a Sire P7 to me but with a slightly better headstock.

Thank you! I've only been able to have a quick look but can't for the life of me find out where there is a collection point near me?!

Has anyone used this? I listed an item in a hurry and couldn't see any other options for postage... I wanted local collection ideally anyway. Now the item has sold and needs shipping I've been able to charge £7 something for shipping via ebay packlink... And I've just read some scathing reviews!!! Any experience? Can I just ignore and use my post office as I had planned or is ebay going to take my postage fee assuming I'm spending it on their service?

That's the shame of it, they can do some interesting departures but they never last. I really liked the idea of the Modern Player series basses, the semi hollow that was around a few years back, and the Dimensions only got good reviews and there was a Squier model!

They must have seen my post here yesterday and Gibson'ed all the lefty basses they were going to sell as a big flip you to me. Makes sense if Bono is on their board with all the things I've said about him over the years...

Just clicked the link on the Fender email. Neither bass in left handed??! Seriously???!!! This is cow poop.

Just clicked the link on the Fender email. Neither bass in left handed??! Seriously???!!! This is cow poop.

You can do cheese covers that (probably) nobody else plays... We bloody love playing kc and the sunshine band 'give it up' the roof comes off any venue. It's a boring bass line but it's enjoyable getting everyone singing along with a song they can remember fondly. We have to do Sex on Fire, it's pretty much the law isn't it??! I was dead against it but it's never failed to go down well, excuse the terminology. I do feel I need a more musical and creative outlet though. Playing three or four chord basic riffs is OK but within the covers it's not always possible to play the way I want to. I trying to set up a separate band in the new year to do something more challenging, less successful and lower paid. I just need more hours in a day, more days in a week, my kids to sleep more, and I will have the time to do more than daydream about it!

Thanks mate 😊

Available to dep as my own covers band slows down a bit. I've played the typical pub rock stuff plus a bit more, blues etc. Can do some backing vox. Fretted, Fretless, gig quality gear and own transport.

"You'll never play a guitar the same way again.." or words to that effect. The new range is going to be entirely left handed with just one shitty bottom of the range right hander in black only with no options. A small recompense from years of neglecting left handers. That's it, if you want one you have to play it upside down.

So true! Not having time to practice much and no gigs until 2020 my bass fix is coming from BC, No Treble and ebay. I've placed offers on two great value second hand basses I have no real need for... But I do want my old MiM jazz back, listening to old recordings it sounded the nuts, just a slight cut above the Sire 5 string I also regret selling! However I did buy a brand new USA Stingray last year and that is, for me, the ultimate gigging bass it does everything with big brass bullocks. I don't really need anything else. But I want a few more in the stable!

Mine would be: Effects-wise the Boss LMB-3. Dead cheap second hand, probably because they can be quite hard to get a good compression out of but they work wonders on a Fretless when you use the enhance function. Caline power supply thingy for peanuts off ebay, powers loads of pedals and never let me down. Second hand might be cheating a hit but I picked up a Boss Gt10-B for a bargain, it does a billion things more than I ever need, a very sophisticated multi fx, looper, recording interface... The works. It's old tech so I guess someone was upgrading to something smaller, lighter and with a better pc interface but it's a very, very serious bit of kit that I can see lasting forever. Bass-wise... I bang on enough about my Fretless Kramer but it really was a steal at 250 quid brand new in 2002.

A vajazzle would be a hidden gem? I don't have one.

If I had never read this thread I wouldn't have been on The Ashdown site wondering what colour my cabs would be best in... Cream? Red?

I see your point. I expect they can't undercut their retailers otherwise those retailers wouldn't stock the product any more. The retailers probably use far more shipping of individual items than Ashdown and can get better pricing and processes to do that, I would guess. If there is something extra you get from buying direct, like the colour options, then maybe that is what draws people to buy direct?

I still don't quite get it, as in the vid the player bumps in to the ramp every now and then. I can see its use as a practice tool to encourage consistent and lighter playing but I don't think I'd want one on my basses. Then again I dig in like I'm rebuilding the channel tunnel so I don't think I'm the target market!!

My drummer has a tendency to speed up and slow down, and if the lead guitarist counts us in then half the time the tempo will be wrong. We are quite well rehearsed as a unit so we can rescue a lot of songs by either changing the feel or finding a point to kick up or down a gear without having to give nods and winks but sometimes it is just too much to recover from. We have at gigs had to stop and start again which is really, really crappy. We also in rehearsal agree who counts us in for each song. It's admirable that the guitarist wants to eliminate dead time and get us from song to sing quickly but he shouldn't be counting in some of the songs at all and we have made that known. The drummer wants us to play to a click track but I don't. I like the feeling that it could all fall apart any minute, I like having to listen to what's going on and react, I've never played to a click but I'm concerned it could take the raw edge off things for my band at least and I don't want to have to have in-ears, mainly due to cost. I'm probably completely wrong, there's nothing wrong with just playing at a constant tempo per song, but there's something about it I'm just not sold on... Yet. But you don't know if you've never tried, I guess.