Maude

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I don't think a new bass will help. It will for a bit until the novelty wears off and then you'll be back where you are now. A decent Stingray shouldn't be holding you back. Maybe try playing a completely different style of music and follow it back to its roots and see where that leads, I quite like playing along to hip hop and really getting a groove going, but then find out where the samples came from and play along with those songs, then if I'm enjoying that I'll hunt out more songs by that artist or others in a similar style, I end up playing music I would never have thought of and discovering new stuff. You say new songs on take minutes to figure out so either you're phenomenally good or you aren't taxing yourself enough. Try learning something completely out of your comfort zone. But ultimately, I don't think a new bass will get your head and heart back into it, only you can do that. 🙂

"That boy's not right you know! I'm tellin' you, he's not right in the head!"

I don't like the Sabbath songs with stupid lyrics. Fairies Wear Boots is my favourite. 😁

One mans dancing is another mans torturous convulsions I suppose.

Great stuff. Can you remember any songs? 😁

Now for the rediculous one, an early 70s Kay KJP-1B. Notoriously shite but as I was taught to respect your elders I felt it deserved some love. Completely restored and after a good set up and wax potting the pickup it's surprisingly nice to play. Definitely fun and quirky.

My Hofner Ignition Club. Another super lightweight bass that is a joy to play. Custom oversized ivory scratchplate and control plate, vintage style bakelite knobs and LaBella flats.

Here's my 90s reissue Danelectro Longhorn, mint green with silver sparkle instead of the white tape. Lovely and lightweight with a surprisingly aggressive, Rickenbackeresque tone.

Have you bought it? No! That's how it's helps with your travel. You don't need to carry around do you because they've cunningly designed it as a pointless bass that won't sell, therefore nobody will have to carry around. 😁

That's the great thing with individual bridge pieces, you can set them to exactly your preferred string spacing. His preference was, "All over the feckin' place!"

I don't usual like 'fancy' basses but "HELLO!!" that is a beauty. Amazing wood and colour, congrats. 👍

I'd be happy using Troy's cover (video above) as an accurate rendition of the song. It seems a relatively simply bassline compared to some of the stuff he posts which is bang on. I don't mean easy though, it's a surprisingly busy line for quite a slow, laid back song, but it is repetitive which helps. I had to learn The Who's 'The Real Me' and his version was spot on and helped a great deal. Good luck with learning it and as others have said, don't worry too much about getting it absolutely perfect. It's better to not play it exactly the same but play it well, than get it note perfect but with no feeling. And the most important bit? Enjoy yourself. 👍

Can you apply the same logic to Ultravox's Vienna?

I think you'll find it harder to sell as a fretless so may have to let it go cheaper. Only because there's less people looking for a fretless. It's completely your call though, obviously. 🙂

A second hand fretless neck would be a sensible route to take as it's reversible. But it depends on the value you place on the bass you want to convert and how committed you are to using a fretless. I'm in a similar position in that I have two Line6 Variax's and was going to defret one, but they are selling for about £600 ish now so I might try a find a suitable neck to see if it's what I want. If it isn't I can refit the original neck and sell it. Ultimately only you can decide I suppose.