uk_lefty

I've been thinking about trimming down the number of basses recently.... Now I've seen this 

7 hours ago, msb said:

Single Coil Precision Bass , the original style before the split pickup in 57.

Aaahhhh I get it.

Loving the matching headstocks!! 

I used to do the same on my Stingray and just used my standard Ernie Ball Slinky strings, whatever the guage is in the pink packet. No issues with excess flop or flap.

One thing I love about some of my better pedals, Darkglass duality fuzz and Alpha Omicron drive, is that they retain a lot of the punchiness of the attack. I find a lot of drive pedals made of bass just make a fizzy noise that takes out the attack. How are the drives on the ME90B?

7 hours ago, msb said:

It wasn’t just a trinity. Between the SCPBs and the L2500 there was quite a pile of basses. You’ve got the greatest hits of the middle section.

SCPBs? Not familiar with that...

Anyhow, I won't turn my nose up at greatest hits. Played the jazz last night, gorgeous instrument. The Stingray is a cut above everything though.

How did I forget Kickstart My Heart!!?? 💫

I'm a left handed bass player and over the years I've been tempted to answer a few ads for Beatles tributes. If I had joined any I would be buying a Hofner and the black suit with no lapels, white collarless shirt, otherwise what's the point? If you don't do the clothes and get the instruments in the right ballpark then why even restrict yourself to material from just one band? Just be a sixties cover band or whatever.

My band at the moment is being asked to do 00's theme nights. We've had tons of discussions about whether we should include a song or two from 1999 or 2010, whether there is anything distinctive from the decade to wear, etc. but luckily it's not too complicated to pull off. We've never had anyone say "hey! Left handed mexican p basses weren't available in the Noughties!" Or criticism of how we dress. At the end of the day, when we do this we are "The Desert Penguins plays the Noughties" or something similar title so that you know we are a band doing a special set for the night, rather than a specialist band... If we were we would have to be called "The Noughty boys" or something awful like that.

People are just rude. At least they didn't go over any pedals.

On 11/05/2024 at 00:23, DGBass said:

I had the later green stripe stingray head and will buck the trend and admit I liked it a lot. It was way better than the equivalent HH VS Bassamp of the time in my opinion and louder/more powerful. 150 watts @ 4 ohms and around 100 watts @ 8 ohms. Built tough, solid and very reliable. Loud as thunder as well. The preset tone buttons were admitedly a bit hit or miss but its simplicity was its strong point. I recently bought one for nostalgic purposes and did use it briefly with a band. It sounded great and was very reliable. As with lots of stuff of this era, they were weighty. The Stingray combo I had was immensely heavy which is why I've now sold it on to some vintage amp enthusiasts who were much younger and fitter than I am.  They loved it even though it weighed a ton. The drivers in these big reflex horn stingrays are very efficient Fane units with 3 inch voice coils. Very unusual for the time. The one I just sold was over 40 years old and all original. If a nice condition green stripe head came along I'd be quite tempted but I wouldn't buy the earlier silver face ones. Too old, and will almost certainly need a bit of servicing especially if they look a bit tatty and well used. 

 

I bought one of these on a whim. It was utterly ridiculous. Loud as thunder, and flippin massive. Luckily it had wheels.

20 minutes ago, rasher80 said:

If you're a right hander.... just why??? 

 

When I see this, it really gets the blood pressure ramping up 😂

Probably from lefties who had to learn on right handed instruments

Not modification as such but more dressing it up. I really like the neck pickup cover on a jazz, jury is out on the P though. It looks special, but I miss playing right over the pickup. 

On 13/05/2024 at 16:12, DaleASmith said:

EBay for £95. I already had the Hi Mass bridge and EMG pickups so I put them on it. 
It sounds really great. 

It weights a tonne 

Looking good!!! I have one also, wouldn't say it's at all heavy though. Haven't bothered upgrading mine at all, sounds great as it is. I really like the fretboard on these.

To answer the original question.... I paid £1800+ for my US Stingray in 2019. They were about £800 new at one point in time but I didn't have the money then. So I guess to me it was worth it. I've owned other good quality mass produced basses since including US and Japanese Fenders and the Stingray is still a cut above those. So on relative terms it was worth what I paid. Also, had I not paid the price I wouldn't have been able to buy it. Lots of different ways of looking at value/ worth but I'm comfortable with my decision.

5 hours ago, Misdee said:

I'm one of those people who has to get things at at least a reasonable price or I can't enjoy it

I'm from Yorkshire too 😀😀

Joking.

I know what you mean. My US Jazz was only bought because it was the last one and had £300 off.

This Saturday The Desert Penguins are back at the Brewhouse in Cardiff, just nextdoor to the famous chippy alley. 

We played there last year and had a phenomenal time. What a great venue!! 

We will be playing rock and indie covers from the 00's to today, and some pop-goes-rock on the way too. 

Gorgeous 🤩 

I've owned MIM Fenders, Sires and a Harley Benton jazz. 90's MIM Fenders are not great IMO but the 2012 onwards are good quality instruments. Sires are excellent though, a whole other level IMO especially the V7 and all the options you can have. The Harley Bentons are not as "good" as either but for less than £175 new you are getting incredible value. I gig a Harley Benton fretless jazz because it's a great bass, regardless of it costing 1/10th of other basses I own. 

I got my Kramer Striker five string fretless in 2002. It was my second bass, bought for my 18th birthday. My parents, divorced, clueless about music, contributed 1/3 the cost each and I the rest. It was between this and a Steinberger Spirit, back in the old Musicyo days. I went for the Kramer because it was both five string, very hard to get lefty then, and fretless and i'd just been introduced to Pearl Jam. 

I still occasionally gig this bass, but rarely now because it doesn't suit the style of music I'm playing. We talked about doing a studio recording and video and immediately I thought of this bass. It's a cheaply put together bass which now has a Kiogon loom to get the best out of the stock pickups, but it feels and sounds great. I love it and can never get rid of it.

6 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Wow. Basschat loved that reply so much it posted it many times!

I just thought you'd stepped on a delay

On 09/05/2024 at 11:30, funkydoug said:

I own one and am very happy with the sounds.

Great stuff! Curious to know whether it does come with any preset sounds? The old GT10-B had some excellent presets to give you amp and EQ settings to sound like Cream, Level 42, among others.

I am so, so tempted. And the Boss Amps too... I guess with the ME90B the only thing it can't replace is my Boss wireless. I don't know what I'd do with that if I went to a multi FX.

I think I've only made a profit on two basses: an MIJ Precision that I wish I still had, and a Washburn Status that sounded great, looked amazing but just wouldn't be getting gigs after my 80s experiment band failed to get off the ground. The regrettable sale that often haunts me is my Warwick Streamer LX, bought for about £400 in the early 2000's and sold for about the same a year or two later after never truly bonding it regularly reappears on BC, Reverb and eBay every few years for £900 or more https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226072472758?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=174vNm9IScK&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=XRJhsZSpS5O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It's a lovely, lovely bass and now I'm a bit older and wiser I'd love to give it another go. But I can't at that price.

Mine just a few days ago... 

Should get the black P bass back today with ashtrays fitted.