ossyrocks

I just have been a good boy this year because Santa (MrsRocks) has been very generous with me.

There’s a pic of mine up there^^

That’s the way I justify it to my better half. I think my 73 has gone up quite a bit since I bought it in February.

Mojo right there. Love it.

This is a tough one for me to answer as I’m relatively new to bass. This time last year I possessed a Squier Affinity P Bass and a Fender Rumble 15. My gear has gone from zero to hero in 12 months, with a Fender Roadworn series Jazz, a Markbass rig, a vintage Fender Bassman and a few pedals. But the greatest thing I bought this year, and has had the most impact on me personally must be my vintage 1973 P bass. It’s light, plays wonderfully, sounds immense, and inspires me to play every day. Rob

I play guitar in a community music group. All ages and abilities, and I do it just to help people out, people who otherwise wouldn’t get to play with other musicians and do gigs, or even get out of the house sometimes. The “set list” is about 60 tunes, with different people singing and playing on portions of it, although I generally help out on all of them. We’ve settled on Songbook Pro. It handles all kinds of formats, from Ultimate Guitar downloads to scanned PDFs of handwritten sheets. Set lists can be created, rearranged and shared with everyone to load on their own cheap android tablets, so we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet. With so many tunes, it’s impossible to get everyone to learn everything by heart, so it really makes life easier to have all the chords and lyrics in order and just swipe left for the next tune. Rob

That’s just what I’ve done. I’ve bought the 2016 AV ‘63 this morning over on The Fretboard Forum. I can see you’ve been looking at it and commenting, so I hope you’re not too miffed with me for buying it! Rob

I'd probably buy an AVRI too if one cropped up. I just think these MV basses are interesting, but I don't want to buy without trying first. With an AVRI, I probably would buy without holding it in my hands first, because I kind of know what to expect.

What's the nut width on the 70's one, there's no info on the MV website? Bass Direct list the '62 at 43mm, I just wondered if the '72 was narrower? My '73 P bass is 41mm. I think I can cope with the extra 2mm though. Lots of reasons ^here to just jump on one. The Fiesta Red P is under 9lbs and has £100 off because of a ding on the back of the body, which I'm sure I can live with! I rarely buy new guitars. The last ones were some Custom Shop Gibsons which were being sold off at discount prices in 2018, and I bought them because they were so cheap. I sold all three for a profit later. I doubt this would be the case for this bass though. Thanks for the help chaps. Rob

Now I feel rather foolish, I don’t know how I missed that. There are only two in stock, and they are a six hour round trip away. Are they the only dealer?

I’m looking around for something precisiony, and I’m quite intrigued with the Modern Vintage MVP4-62. However, no amount of googling is getting me any closer to finding anything in the UK. What am I doing wrong? Who has them, who’s tried one, who’s got one? Cheers, Rob

Thanks for all the advice on the LMB-3, and sorry to have hijacked the thread a bit. I've received the one I bought on ebay this week and have just tried it out. It doesn't work! Either on battery or 9v power, only the Level control functions, the rest of the controls have no effect on the sound whatsoever, in any position. I've requested a return via Ebay. A bit disappointed! I'll put an ad in the Wanted Section. Rob

I bought a TU-2 from Chris this week. He’d posted it even before I’d paid! Great to deal with. Rob

That’s great, thanks! I’m looking forward to getting used to it. Rob

I’ve just bought a secondhand LMB-3 to put together an old style Boss BCB-30 board. TU-2, LMB-3 and SYB-5. This is only my second compressor ever. I’m using a vintage P bass through a Mark Bass LM3 and a Barefaced One10 at the moment. I have a TE Elf head on the way though. It’s a low volume contemporary jazz band I’m doing. For those that have experience of the LMB-3, can you give me some pointers on where to start with it? I just want it to even out my inconsistencies, give me a little punch (but not top end), but still allow a bit of dynamic in my playing when I need it. Cheers, Rob PS. The SYB-5 is just for one tune at the moment, Chameleon by Herbie Hancock. I’m right in thinking this should be last in the chain aren’t I?

I'm actively looking for another vintage P bass, but every single one is about £1000 or more than I paid for my '73 only in February this year, and that was from ATB Guitars who I consider to be a "high end" dealer. Take that '71 at Reidy's for instance, £3999 and the fretboard is buggered. Are they actually selling, that's the question? Rob

My GAS might be terminal. There was a chap there last night with a double bass and we had a chat about it. He said I should basically just buy one. Who am I to argue?

I think I would struggle to get him to do a setup for me. He just likes bigger more interesting jobs now. If you're around the Manchester area, you could try Max Cottam? I've known him for a long time, he's done a refret for me 20 years ago which is still going well, and he's got a good reputation. This is all 6 string stuff though, I don't know about his experience with basses. Rob

He has "officially" hung up his tools and retired, but he still does a bit of work for longstanding customers. He still has his workshop and everything in it, and is still building guitars, but they are mostly for himself these days. He's just finishing a refret on a vintage 335 for me and I'm collecting it on Tuesday. I can honestly say that I've not come across anyone better in the last 30 years. His work is impeccable. One option on ^that P bass would be to replace the board. He did one recently for a friend of mine on another vintage 335 and honestly if he hadn't told me I would never have guessed it was a new board.