Maude

It doesn't matter whether angled or straight, just another personal preference and sometimes one or the other is better suited to the situation. In your link to the cables, in picture three a right angled might be better to take the strain off the lead where it comes out of the plug, in picture five a right angled cable probably wouldn't fit so a straight would be better suited. It's all stuff you'll pick up along the way, so don't worry too much at the moment.

Yes, he messaged me late last year about the music scene down here as he was planning on retiring to Cornwall. So I guess he's just enjoying retirement.

And good old microfibre cloths are as good as anything for polishing.

Any strap will be fine to start with. As you progress you will find what suits you with all sorts of gear. Too much info to deal with at the start could be off putting as it'll distract from actually playing the bass. It's only us old farts with heavy basses that need all the help we can get over a two hour gig. 😁 If you get this Sire and the Orange amp you mention at the beginning you will have a great start to bass playing, regardless of what strap, lead, etc.

As said straps are down to a personal preference. I used to always just use the old skool 2" wide nylon type. But now with the availability on the Internet I've settled on the Mono Betty's as my favourite, lots don't like them though. Personally I don't like anything grippy as it pulls my top to bunch on my shoulder, others love a grippy strap. Some like padded, some don't. All I would say is that the wider (up to about 4") the more comfortable it will be in the long run as it spreads the load over a larger area of shoulder.

@Ricky 4000 Does a standard Ricky not have five knobs and a switch, two switches if you include the push/pull knob? But that said a 4000 only has two knobs. I don't know why started this post. 😆

The worst scratches look to be just above the string ferrules on the back but will more than likely polish out, the rest looks like it just needs a good wipe over. Get the best deal you can and go for it. 👍

Sooo, a package including bass, amp, lead, bag, strap, tuner and ten lessons with a famous player of your choosing, all for £299. Bargain!! 😁

Ah OK 🙂

Isn't it £369 on there, or am I looking at the wrong one?

It depends what the small marks are. Just small swirls or very light scratches would polish out anyway, any dents is obviously a different matter. Strings are largely irrelevant as they'll be used after a couple of weeks of you playing it anyway and they are a consumable item. I'd be tempted to buy it and then if it has more than the type of marks that can be polished, contact them about returning it has it has what you consider more than light marks, they probably won't want it back and may offer a further discount, or a free instrument lead as that will cost them less. Even ask them to throw in a lead to sweeten the deal at the beginning.

Nor does one need that sort of money. Sure it's nice to have nice basses but the standard of the lower priced basses these days is phenomenal. I've been eyeing up an Ibanez Talman short scale to use as a piccolo bass, the reviews look/sound amazing and it's only £150. I gigged for a year with a bass that only cost me £40 when I had other much more expensive basses. That Sire could be the only bass you'll ever need, but you'll end up buying more 😉

Funny you should say that, I painted three basses a couple of days ago and felt the same with the compressor running making a right racket. I've been doing some work in the garden using a rotovator, chainsaw, petrol hedgecutter and mower and felt the same guilt. It's definitely a strange time. Hopefully we'll see some progress soon. 👍

Yes, sorry I didn't mean to suggest that you'd accused anyone of theft, just that it's a difficult situation to resolve if the bass doesn't turn up being that nobody (apart from parcelforce) has really done anything wrong. It really annoys me that couriers can just lose parcels and not be liable. In most people's jobs, if they mess up it has to be put right at their expense. Having said that I would say that the liability still lies with the sender as until it arrives it's still their responsibility.

Unfortunately, I can see this being put down as a civil dispute, if it came to legal action, as he hasn't stolen your bass, just not paid you for it. EBay or PayPal won't care as he hasn't sold stolen goods. You just have to hope it turns up but I know that helpless feeling when a courier losses something. Fingers crossed for you. 🙂

I might try and put together a custom set as the d'addario one have a plain G (20) string and I'd rather have a wound one really, just for consistency in feel if it's possible, I'm assuming it is as a D in a Ernie Ball set of extra slinkie guitar strings is a wound 22.

Thanks for that, without being able to see it without zooming in massively, I couldn't work out what I was looking for. As you say, barely any difference, no more so than changing to flats or between light or heavy gauge strings really. I'll buy a set and try them on an existing bass and maybe if I like them I'll treat myself to a shortscale Talman, I've been watching some reviews and it sounds great as a shortie P, but then that's not what I want it for.

Oh wait, wrong Byrnie. 😁

Thanks, I think. 🤔 I'm trying to navigate that on a phone so have to zoom in and then can't see all the different headings. Are piccolo bass strings even on there, or should I be looking at the guitar strings section? None under the bass strings section will be tuned an octave above the bass register.

Now order it quick before someone changes your mind for you. 😁

That is an amazing piece of wood. Is it going to be dyed a colour or staying au naturel?

Afternoon all. Being at home bored at the moment, as most of us are, I've taken a fancy to trying out a piccolo bass. I've watched a few vids of short scale basses with piccolo strings and that's the route I'm taking. D'addario do a set for around £15 and being my go to string manufacturer seems cheap and logical. The question of tension is where I'm in the dark. Does a set of piccolo strings put more or less tension on the neck? I know they're thinner (20,32,42,52) but being tuned an octave higher makes me think there'll be more tension. I'm not worried about setting the bass up, just that the three short scales I have are all either old, hollow or substandard materials, or a combination and extra tension might kill them. I have been looking at the Ibanez Talman short scale as I've always liked those basses and they're only £150 new, but I really shouldn't be buying any more basses. Sooo, any thoughts on the tension front. 🙂

A great Rancid song to help you learn and get used to string spacing is 'Fall Back Down'. For the most part the bass is runs of the same notes so although reasonable fast you could do half as many notes until you're used to finding your strings. It utilises all four strings fairly equally. It does have some tasty little fills which you could leave out until more confident, although they sound tricky they're actual fairly simple, Matt Freeman makes complicated sounding basslines out of fairly simple note choices and I mean that in a good way. This song is, to me, a great song to help build the skills you've outlined by playing as much, or little, as you're comfortable with without losing the feel of the song. Enjoy 🙂

So which do you prefer? 🤔

Got this lacquered today, along with the other two, but as I'm doing them at home in the garden the inevitable local fly colony decided to come and see what I was up to. I picked out what I could but I'll see what they're like once dry. They're currently hanging in my shed drying and acting as spider traps no doubt. It might all be pointless because when I went to get the neck from my special wardrobe of wonders it wasn't there, and I can't remember where I put it. I'll have a hunt tomorrow.