Painy

Available in "Dorian Grey" if you fancy it.

I spent 20 years refusing to play anything with a pickguard and anything but active basses All my basses are now passive and have pickguards. I spent 15 years saying I'd never buy another Ashdown - I'm now absolutely loving my ABM head. I don't think there's anything I'd completely rule out for a potential GAS attack at some point in future - I'm far more limited by finances than I am by sensible judgement .

My current band will have been going for 22 years this coming summer so I don't have any real plans to change band anytime soon but we have been looking for a new singer for nearly 6 months now and have been gigging with a couple of dep vocalists since the start of November. We did think we had found the right guy a few months ago but that all fell through (fantastic singer from Belgium who had only been in the UK a couple of months but turns out he was in breach of some of the rules of his sabbatical from his job in Belgium and was forced to go back or repay a load of money). Anyway, it's all been a bit disheartening to be honest and we've seen so many people that weren't a fit or were one of the aforementioned time wasters that I was all but ready to pack it in. A couple of weeks ago though I was contacted by an old friend (who is a really great singer and also an excellent guitarist) who saw our advert on join my Band and is interested as his current band will be calling it a day after New Year's eve. We've sorted out an audition with him in the new year so fingers crossed but if that doesn't work out then I think I may just have to start looking for something new.

Sounds like its definitely worth a punt then and as CameronJ says, easily flipped if it's not what I want (can't lose all that much on a pedal that's only £50 to begin with after all).

The Orange Juice seems to be referred to generally as bass friendly and the demos on YouTube sound quite Darkglass-like. Just wondering if anyone knows how it is for low end loss? I had a Knightfall briefly which was a nice drive but, despite reports to the contrary, it still suffered with the typical guitar drive pedal issue so I moved it on. The Orange Juice looks a bargain but if I've got to spend out on top for a blend pedal to use it with then I may as well just look for a used bk3.

Well someone is trying to cash in already! https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F182974300694

Well today I got a DVD and a couple of books. I wasn't complaining though as a couple of weeks ago I'd already had an early present from Mrs Painy - one of the bargain Gibson EB 2013 5 string basses from GAK .

To be entirely fair to Thomann here, they can only update you on tracking as regularly and accurately as the courier updates them. Can't blame you for feeling a touch impatient about the arrival of a new toy though .

According to Google you're about 3804 miles out .

Gigged mine for the first time last night. Very different sound and feel to my Squier VM P5 which is pretty much my perfect bass (don't care that it's an 'affordable' bass - it sounds and plays perfectly for me) but I got this for a bit of variation so that's actually a plus. I definitely find the slightly less chunky neck and more radiused board of the precision easier to play and it is much brighter, aggressive and more articulate than the Gibson which is generally what I want for most of what we play. For a fair few songs in our set though, that brightness can just be too harsh and what's needed is a bit more muscle. This fulfills that role brilliantly! Much darker with fuller lows than the precision but also a big big low mid punch. I actually found that I preferred it with the neck pickup coil-tapped though as that added a touch more clarity to the notes without losing the character of the bass. While I do find the precision neck a bit more comfortable personally, playability is still very good and I really enjoyed using it at the gig. I even like the way it looks .

Looks like a full gigging rig for an elf.

Well from the sound of things I got lucky with mine and got a good one - haven't found any of the issues any of you guys have reported. I'm still really pleased with it having spent a bit more time playing it now too but I'll be putting my preferred strings on it when they arrive (hopefully today) and see if that makes it even better.

Crazy aren't they! May I recommend the "Leech" passive volume attenuate pedal available for about £26 from eBay .

Yup, definitely included for £399!

Well I've now had a chance to plug it into my gigging rig. First thing I noticed was that the pickups are seriously hot. This is one of those passive basses that kicks out more than most active basses. Fortunately I have a passive volume attenuator pedal on my board that I used to use to keep the Sterling SUB Ray 5 I just got rid of under control so I was able to balance the volume with my precision easily enough to compare them (and to allow me to easily change between basses at gigs- Secondly it is very much in Thunderbird territory tonally with both humbuckers on full as you might expect but with the coils tapped I didn't think it sounded like a jazz at all - more a different flavour of the same sound rather than something completely different altogether. I already have a jazz anyway so for me this is a good thing. This is also apparently a "tuned" coil tap so neither the output nor the low end drop out in comparison to the full humbuckers. I'm now really looking forward to the real test of gigging it next weekend but at the moment it's feeling like an absolute bargain !

It's actually really good - probably one of the best I've played actually and I've been a five string player exclusively for about 18 years. Very balanced with the other strings - not flubby at all!

Surprisingly comfortable actually. I just sold a Sterling SUB Ray 5 because the nut width was too narrow for me and that was 45mm but this is much more comfortable in my hands. It's not all that deep front to back but that's because the back of the neck is flattened so it still feels quite chunky (in a nice way) if you wrap your thumb over the top. The flat back also means that it feels really good to anchor your thumb in the middle of the back of the neck too though.

Definitely pretty punchy. I'd say more t-bird than j but the big pole prices give it more top end bite and definition (although not as brittle as say a stingray) One thing I've noticed is how nice it sounds with the tone rolled off. Normally I really don't like the muffled, woolly sound it gives on most basses but on this out stays really nice and clear - just thicker and smoother.

Just measured it at 43mm.

Well mine arrived early this morning and after a quick set up (I like a super-low action) it plays really nicely, sounds great and I can't see anything to pick fault with finish wise. If I'd paid GAK's original (and already really cheap) price of £529 I'd have been thrilled with the bass I've just received. At £399..... Well, if you like the looks and specs and you have the funds available, if say definitely grab one while you can!

Mine is arriving in the morning The included hard case would normally set you back a third of this on its own!

I just have got one for this kind of money (thanks Mrs Painy for the early Christmas present)! No one home to take delivery tomorrow though so it's being delivered Saturday morning. Edit: Just £399 including fitted hardcase and next day delivery for a USA built Gibson in case you're wondering!

The fiver is very much on my radar at the moment (I'm really liking the natural ash finish) but would mean distance buying with no chance to try first. Don't suppose there's any chance you could let me know string spacing and nut width and also whether you'd describe the neck as shallow or deep front to back? Would be much appreciated .