FinnDave

It would be easier to read if we could compress it down to less than one page.

First 'decent' bass I owned was an early 80s Precision, bought new in West London. Very disappointing, it would randomly cut out on stage and the problem "couldn't" be traced by the shop that sold it to me. Luckily it didn't put me off Fenders for life, I now have 7 assorted Fenders and all are totally reliable and stable, but none are more than 5 or 6 years old. Perhaps my children can benefit from them being vintage by the time I shuffle off (hopefully!).

OK, cheers. I think.

And then there's the other group. of people who have no idea what these things are and to doesn't actually bother them. I assume 'Venn crossover' is a band, or is it two bands?

That's still more than I have heard of!

Still more than a pint costs, and I know which I'd rather have!

Could they also explain what 'money' is, as I am a bass player as well..

I have yet to find a scenario in which I have required any bass to require more sustain, personally. I have never heard the song or the band quoted in the example above, so can't comment further on that.

I've always felt it was an inappropriate import from the six string world, where sustain is a much-valued property on any guitar, apparently. It doesn't seem relevant to any bass playing I've ever done, and many people use string dampers to reduce the natural sustain.

Strings make the most important contribution to the sound and feel of any bass, in my opinion. I have five of my six Precisions set up with D'adarrio chromes, and was perfectly happy until I got a sixth bass from a forum member who had it strung with LaBella flats....so now I am starting the process of restringing them all with LBs as I loved the sound and feel of them as soon as I tried them. I'm hoping there is a market for lightly used Chromes!

I spent years aspiring to the dizzy heights of a Columbus Jazz! The first bass I owned was a short scale Vox, before that I had use of a friend's brother's old short scale that was possibly have been a Burns. If Squier or HB had been around then, I'd have learnt a lot faster!

Hang on, I've not got a red one yet!

Yes, but I am saying fatter string, lower pitch, given some experience or advice, = same tension. BEAD simply means moving the EAD strings one position over, ditching the G string and adding a fat B string to fill the gap where the E used to be. I know it works, I've done it, and since that project ended have reverted to EADG tuning using 3 of the 4 strings, plus the G string, with no adjustments required.

To my understanding, the tension is the force that the string exerts between nut and bridge. A string requires less tension to provide a lower frequency fundamental, so increasing its thickness (gauge) restores the tension to that of a thinner string tuned to a higher frequency. Though I may well be wrong, I'm just a bass player, standing at the back, next to the drummer, not attracting any attention.

I had a T' bird set up BEAD for a short-lived project last years and the gauges suggested by D'Addario were spot on, it felt exactly the same!

Well, to be fair, the tension would be much higher if you tried to tune BEAD without changing strings, but with the right gauge for the B string, it should be very close to standard. D'Addario have a neat app on their site to help you select strings to give the same tension when tuning up or down from EADG.

Oh good, perhaps my 2017 EB4 will suddenly become a collector's piece, 'last of the real American Gibsons'. I was thinking of selling it, but maybe I should hang on for a while!

Pretty much anything by Robert Hunter will alter your world if you're in the right frame of mind... Well I ain't often right but I've never been wrong, Seldom turns out the way it does in the song. Once in a while you get shown the light In the strangest of places if you look at it right.

Now why didn't I think of that? I've got plenty of bungee cords around the place, just never considered them for that purpose! Excellent idea!

I wouldn't be too happy if I had to spend a whole gig with my foot gaffer taped to a cymbal stand!

I think Richard Harvey went on to write scores for film and television, He was certainly a virtuoso player of an underrated instrument.

Listen to this (two minutes in, but there's plenty of good bass during that time) and then say that!

The weight is about the same, just by holding one in each hand. The neck and rolled edges felt very good, frets just need a clean or at worst a quick polish. That might just be me, as all my other Precisions have been set up by a pro, and he does clean the frets very well. Hopefully I can compare the two at a rehearsal this week. I think I'll have to sell my last alcohol related purchase, a rather nice Gibson, which sounds, looks, and feels great, but I simply don't use it, as everything I play is best suited to a Precision!

Well, I took delivery of a brand new in the box Road Word 50s Classic within the last hour. I quickly replaced the round wound strings with a set of used Chromes, and it certainly does play well (only other one of these I have played had the original strings on, which really don't suit it IMO). Sound (though a small home practice amp) is close to impossible to tell apart from the un worn Classic 50s. In terms of feel, the RW neck is better, though the frets feel a little rough.I'll have that sorted when I get the bass properly set up. Out of the box, it's pretty good, apart from the strings. By a quirk of luck, good timing, and an alcohol-induced lack of sense, I paid less for my road worn than I paid for my Classic 50s a few months ago. I'll add a picture of the two of them side by side for comparison. Of course, now it's here and I like it, I'll need to sell something to pay for it and make room in the house. I'm pretty sure that whatever I sell, it won't be a Fender though!