Misdee

Another good one gone. One of those artists who we all took for granted, but now he's no longer with us I can't think of any equivalent singer-songwriter to replace him. I remember hearing an interview with Chris Rea once where he spoke about wanting to be like Joni Mitchell, where each album was a progression of his style regardless of commercial appeal or fashion trends. Well, I think he achieved that, so rest peacefully Chris.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of wish-fulfilment if you can afford it. I really don't go for the idea that anyone has to justify their purchases in terms of how and where they are going to use them. If it's your own money to spend, do as you please and enjoy it how you like.

Yes, that's a phenomena that mainly didn't exist back in the 1980's, except for things like JV Squiers and NJ Series BC Rich.

Some things are more expensive, but probably some things are less expensive. I don't think that bass makers have become greedy or rapacious as such, more that there has been a cultural shift in how they market their goods and present their worth. If people will pay, who can blame them? The big question is whether despite the proportionate price increases British people are more able to buy luxury items like high-end basses than they were 40 years ago because they are better-off overall. That's a difficult thing to quantify, but my instinct is that we are better-off, generally speaking.

Yes, exactly my point. I could go on forever with examples...so why not! In 1984 (such a great year for bass, not least of all because the Bass Centre at Wapping opened its doors and a generation of British bass players emptied their pockets) a new pre-EB Stingray was £525. That's £1725 in today's money. That's half of what a Pino Signature Stingray will cost you now. High-end bass prices have gone up in real terms when most other luxury goods have become more attainable, generally speaking. The reasons for that are probably very complicated, but to a certain extent I think the reason is that manufacturers of luxury products have discovered that a big part of what gives whatever they are selling value in the eyes of the public is a high price tag. The price confirms that what you are buying is superior quality. Warwick can probably make a Thumb Bass more economically now than in the 1980's and their profit margin on each unit will be greater, but by pricing a proper German-made Warwick bass at £7775 they are making a statement about where they consider their basses to be in terms of marketplace position. They are saying we are up there with Fodera, Wal, F Bass et al. Some people might even believe them.

More articulate flats like Thomastiks might be the way to go.

When I got my first Stingray in the '80's a pre-EB 2 band, I always felt that in a band mix I was inaudible due to the big scoop in the midrange frequencies that is one of the defining characteristics of that bass. I was used to more mid-forward tones like a Jaydee or Status ect. Tastes change though, and now I really appreciate the idiosyncrasies of that Stingray sound. It's both punchy and understated at the same time, if that makes sense. More recently, I especially like a 'Ray with flats. It never occurred to me back in the day that Bernard Edwards might have used flats. I thought everybody had ditched them asap when rounds became popular. Nowadays we know better.

I'm in complete agreement with you Pete. Under normal circumstances I play a P-style Bass 90 percent of the time. My personal experience is that I have a couple of boutique P Basses and an ordinary USA Fender P Bass and in terms of sound and overall usability there's no real reason to get a boutique P except I could get the spec I wanted. I love them all, but in terms of playability and tone the Fender at about half the price does just a good a job in its own way. The boutique basses were an expensive and unnecessary indulgence (but I don't regret it). When I see people paying upwards of five grand for a new boutique Precision Bass I just hope whoever buys it realises they will end up with something which at the end of the day is essentially very similar to a much less expensive example. P Basses are so much in vogue it's easy for some folks to get carried away with the mythology and lose sight of the practicalities.

I've got a Stingray Special and for me it's the best Stingray ever. It's light, comfortable to play and sounds incredibly punchy. It's definitely different to the vintage Stingray basses of my youth, but for my taste all the differences are improvements. The overall tone is a bit richer and less harsh in the treble whilst still being 100 percent Stingray, the ergonomics are much better and the reduced weight is essential for my aging back and shoulder.

That is a beautiful Rick. I've seen a couple of one-off Custom Shop basses that Rickenbacker have offered for sale in that dark Fireglo finish. Whatever it's called, I really like it.

To me, what is an expensive bass depends not just on the price but on what I'm getting for the money. £3000 is a lot of money if it's a boutique P Bass which ultimately offers only notional advantages over a decent regular P Bass at a fraction of that price. If I'm buying an Alembic then three grand is a bargain. At what price point a bass becomes expensive is open to debate, but what isn't open to debate is that nice basses have become more expensive. Allowing for inflation, high-end basses are significantly more expensive than they were in the past and that trend shows no signs of abating. For the equivalent price of a Wal with a fitted hardcase or Warwick Thumb Bass in 1989 in 2025 you can get a Spector Euro NS2 . For the price of a Status Series 2 in the late '80's you can now get a Stingray Special.

I've had the same problem with various sets of roundwounds over the years. It can, in certain instances, be to do with how the string has been cut and fitted. You might say "But I've had it happen with two identical E strings!", but that might be because they've both been fitted the same incorrect way. I'm not saying that's what happened in this case, but it's always a possibility when evaluating any case of Dead E String Syndrome.

I like your taste,Si. Now I know it's Sherwood Green I can see it right away. Excellent basses made by a very good people. Let's us know how you like it.

Is that green or charcoal grey, Si? It's very nice whichever. So essentially a passive J configuration on the MM- inspired body shape, by the looks of it. What pickups have you gone with? I'm a big fan of Lakland's own pickups myself. I think they're very underrated.

For my taste, this music is very hard to listen to. It's all too much to take in. There's too much going on. It's relentlessly dynamic, and has no dynamics as a result of that. I'm not averse to complex instrumental music by any means, and the virtuosity of the playing is there to behold, but all I can say is I'm surprised Simon Phillips hasn't got anything better to do.

I can thoroughly recommend listening Red by Black Uhuru. Every track is a banger, and it features Sly and Robbie (and the rest of the Compass Point AllStars) at their very best. I've been listening to that album since it came out in 1981 and I never get tired of it. The first few UB40 albums a great, too. Good songs, good playing. The early 1970's to the mid-1980's was, for my taste, the Golden Age of Reggae. Check out anything on Studio 1 Records from that era.

Regarding Mohini Dey, I wouldn't condemn her as being a bad person for playing unnecessarily complex bass guitar, or for trying make some money from it by endorsing AI, or whatever. I just think she's either made some bad decisions, and/,or been badly advised by someone on how to further her career via social media. In the Internet Age there's so many more opportunities to make bad decisions that can be instantaneously shared with the whole world forever. Everybody makes mistakes, I've made plenty of my own and then made more when I should have known better. It's important to keep things in proportion. No one has been irreparably harmed by Mohini Dey and whatever she does on social media. Myself, I couldn't care less about AI, it's going to do whatever it's going to do. Nothing is going to hold back that tide. Bring a crap bass player and trying to make a few quid doesn't make her The Wicked Witch of the West.

That's very helpful and informative, thank you. So essentially there's nothing too wrong with the Legacy in itself, but it's still distinctly different to the HAZ that's such a big part of the Spector tone. That's fair enough. I don't have a HAZ-style preamp as a point of comparison, but my assessment of the CST with the Legacy preamp is that played through my Bass Driver and Diamond BC1 Bass Compressor the tone is pretty epic and easily identifiable as a Spector NS2. It certainly seems to get fairly close to the sound we all know and love. As I said before, I'm no expert and this CST is my first Spector, despite having wanted one for more than 40 years. I'm in the market for another one, maybe even a USA model so I'm doing my research. I've got a lot of nostalgia for the Kramer-era Spector basses that as a young hopeful, I used to oggle in upmarket guitar shops in the USA in the late '80's. I've been toying with the idea of ordering a custom NS2 that looks like one from that era, with a HAZ pre, of course. That said, my CST seems so good that I might just get a Euro Doug Wimbish to keep it company. It certainly makes more economic sense to do that.

I first saw/ heard Danny Sapko demonstrating various basses on YT on behalf of Gear4Music. I remember being impressed with his playing, especially because his style actually lets you hear what a bass sounds like. It might sound simple but it's a trick that eludes so many other would-be equipment demos. A four minute double thumping slap and tap fest doesn't really tell me much. And he was wearing proper clothes.

Never mind bass influencers scrabbling around for money, you ought to be making your shameless depravity pay. Only Fans Terms and Conditions are easily accessible online. You owe it to yourself and all the other sick bastards out there.🙂🐕🐍🙆

Leonard, are you trying to claim that mantle for yourself?

Regarding Mohini Dey being one of the best bass players on the planet, it's more accurate to say she is one of the most bass players on the planet; she plays an awful lot of notes, but it never seems to add up to much. Yet another bass prodigy who never found a way to make meaningful music. Myself, I'd put Danny Sapko way in front of her in terms of being useful on the bass guitar. The vast majority of these bass "influencers" are all fairly similar in that they have formidable skills but lack enough self-awareness to realise that their playing isn't very interesting in itself. They don't seem to have the creative intelligence to make something more worthwhile. And yet they are offering advice. I like Danny Sapko because he has no such pretentious or delusions. To me, he's not part of that world and long may that remain so. I certainly don't begrudge him if he gets some free bass stuff, though. Better than that even, someone should to send him some proper clothes to wear. He is undoubtedly Britain's Worst Dressed Man, and that is quite an achievement considering both Dominic Cummings and John Barnes still live in the U.K. Never mind YT videos about visiting Andy Baxters ect, he could do with a trip to Primark at the very least.

My mistake.

Those embroidered denim jackets with patches now on display as artefacts at the V&A Fashion Museum. Quite fitting, I thought to myself when I saw that, considering that so many of the blokes that wore them at the time looked like Vikings and Anglo Saxons.