lownote

I lose money almost every time and ownership brings me no joy. My pleasure is in the spot, the hunt, the kill. I'm not even looking for The One - got there several times and sold again, so i can repeat the whole process.

what's the best HB IYHO?

Toneriders

Call me rash but I've decided to en-active my JB40FL. Serendipity - I watched Lobster's video on upgrading to EMG pickups and blow me within hours a set of the same pups appears on the for sale section at a very good price. No iodea what we'll sound like - well, like Lobster's I spose - but the idea is to give me a very flexible quality active bass for very little more than £200.

I appreciate the original pups aren't bad given the price point, but anyone tried swapping in something more exotic?

That is very well done indeed. Unfortunately I've had to hike my laptop stand up into the air (with 3/4 inch rubber plant pot risers) to clear the Barefaced handle, which is like a sort of suitcase handle, and probably is. So I can't be neat n flush like you. And if I trim my large lip back to where you've got it I suspect over time the edge will cut into the cloth grille.

Fretless is not hard to learn. Even unlined, which I prefer. Just approach it without thinking you should be scared and you'll be fine in just a few days. Try and buy one with simple side dots on the G, A, B etc, notes; lined fretless with conventional fretted markings off the note positions witll confuse you. I would strongly recommend the Revelation unlined P bass, available from Bass Gallery in London. £199 new, so you can see if you like fretless very cheaply. I wouldn't be too fussed about the mwah sound. It becomes irrtating very quickly. It can be removed by raising the relief and action slightly, after which the bass plays just a normal bass. Further up your budget you could look at the Ibanez Portamento (4 or 5 string), with unlined but with stub sidelines around £800, or lined there's loads of choce £350-750 in the Sire range

Thanks T Bay. Nothing special. An older Jupiter tenor, with some laquer rot as they were prone to, recently comprehensively serviced and I'm told is worth £400. An almost as-new Jean Paul AS400, which sells for £619 new. Both with cases.

I have two saxes I need to sell but I'm not clear on where to find the sax equivalent of our own excellent 'for sale forum'. Both Cafe Saxophone and Saxon the Web seem difficult to navigate and I'm not even sure they have a marketplace.

You don't say why you are averse to playing fretless. There's a substantial fretless community on here, some going with lined fretless, others like myself with unlined. It's much easier than you might think, and more rewarding - after all frets are just playing by numbers, which encourages a very mechanical style of playing, with no nuance or thoughtful input from you. Not saying frets are rubbish - I'm contemplating getting a fretted fiver at this very moment simply because chordal work and playing 'up the dusty end' is very hard fretless - just that you wouldn't have the problem if you settled into playing fretless. And if the reason you don't like frewtless is the 'mwah' sound (which I hate), you can simply dial it out by increasing your relief and action height slightly.

Cool. But $109 + $75 !! US/GB shipping. And where's the head go? This, £62 for stand, laptop stand and a tie down. But not quite so 'ansome.

Shape, number of knobs, split coil single pickup. PJ is a PJ, P with a J neck is just that.

Would be good, but the other 'lip' is too low to safely hold onto the cab. Would be ideal if big lip was smaller and small lip was bigger. But that would mean major surgery. And it's only a tad bigger than the Barefaced sign it hides.

Almost done. Head now on top of cab thanks to £9 worth of laptop stand, and four pot risers from garden centre to clear the sticky out Barefaced handle. A simple tie down strap renders it all bomb proof.

yes

Very nice - and the important thing is it's all colour matched lol

Tnx. Got my eye on one coming up on eBay in next two days although not sure I'm doing the right thing. From what you say I am.

I am looking at this issue at the moment. Got BS317 tiltback, works great. Curretnly parking head underneath, verticla on a Hercules guitar stand. But for head slidy off issue, I've got this coming after Easter, £5 from IKEA or £9 from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/IKEA-BRÄDA-Laptop-Support-Black/dp/B00BT394MC/ref=asc_df_B00BT394MC/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=205157006079&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9791211232497669135&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045084&hvtargid=pla-378617878046&psc=1 . Hook lip over front of cab. Once I've got it to work you can come and see as you're only round the corner.

@stewblackWhat EQ settings do you / did you use on the 4500? I gather quality of tone is highly dependent on them with that head.