Lw.

Recently moved house so have the space to get my music stuff out again, I'm sure my new neighbors are enjoying it as much as I am!

I've got one of the cheapy Fender electro-acoustics - the idea of an acoustic bass guitar is nice but in practice I'm not sure if they really work: - I've used it for home practice but it's not as nice to play as my precision due to the body size - I've used it for acoustic rehearsing in a band, was ok but you have to be playing it at full beans with the guitarist barely stroking the strings to get the volume balance right - I've done a couple of "acoustic" gigs with it but the guitar was mic'ed up so the bass went DI into the small PA. I suppose the sets looked more acoustic but I could easily have just taken my electric - The most useful thing I've found for it is noodling in the garden during the summer. Though this is obviously limited by if you have a garden & if it's actually sunny on your days off! In terms of your questions; I wouldn't worry about the fixed bridges, the set-up can still be sorted. I suppose you can get them in most scale length but I think they tend to be shorter but given the size of the body you don't feel like it's a really small bass.

I've never been a believer in in fretboard wood types having a huge influence on tone - there are just too many other variables in play that just swapping the necks wouldn't even be definitive. In terms of aesthetics I've always associated rosewood with being vintage & maple with punk so would go rosewood-flats & maple-rounds. Having said that my precision is maple, strung with flats & I played it in a hardcore band... 🤔🤷‍♂️

Both should always be the option.

I'd be looking at the amp. I've heard other people using them & they've sounded great so I know they're decent amps but every time I've had to use one I've never been able to get a sound out of it I liked, even using my own cabs. I assume this is because there's something clever going on with the EQ that isn't immediately obvious; as you own it I'd either spend a load of time reading up on what the EQ is really doing & so try to get it to sound nice, or just sell it & get something a bit more straight forward.

For me part of the charm of a P-bass is their simplicity & vintage styling (one pick-up, two knobs, classic shape), one of the reasons people go to the more bespoke builders is because they want more than that (active circuitry, fancy woods, lightweight machinery etc...) so going to a bespoke builder for something classic would miss the benefits of both for me. Whilst Shuker undoubtedly make great basses, if you want a classic P then I think Fender would be the better option. How much is the Shuker? About 2k? You'd be looking at a used custom shop or a new USA (vintage style or not) Fender for that - both would be really nice basses. Now if I were going for a super-jazz type bass I think the argument would go the other way...

All about personal preference. Playability is just a combination of what your hands & mind like - I've played a huge variety of basses & my go to bass is a precision with wide spacing & a soft-v neck profile. I can play songs on that that I can't on my others - I assume it's a mental thing plus having the space for my fingers to move. You'd think closer strings & thinner necks would make you be able to play faster but that hasn't always been the case in my experience.

Good to know thanks - I'll head & check one out come payday.

I thought I'd dredged this post by accident then - I've been considering getting one & was reading this earlier! Are they that good? I've just had a change a living arrangement recent so could do with the option of silent practice, my main amp is at the studio so I'm just using the headphone output on my cheapy practice head & it's not that great; not particularly good sound & the volume control on it doesn't work well when you've got you phone plugged in too.

The only issue with posts like these is you just get people listing the stuff they've got, which is not bad but can make things difficult. One thing I would say is that the cabs you've mentioned have a range of baked in tone (or not in some cases) rather than specifically listing that you want a certain sound. What kind of music are you playing? Just to muddy the waters further (and conform to tradition) I'd say you should probably hear some TKS cabs while you're doing the rounds; light, moderately affordable & decent tone with the drawbacks of not being as point blank loud as some of the others. A short summary of the brands you're looking at (from my experience): BF - I've never been able to get on with them (just don't seem to work for me). Do flap trousers though. Aguilar - nice tone but pricey Fearless - don't know, never seen or heard one Harkte - decent cabs but not stand out at anything GK - I do like these. Good tone & performance

No necessarily - everyone's hands & ears are different. I was annoyed I missed out on those Matt Freeman's, I tried several of the "70s" one they replaced it with but they were all rubbish 😫

P-basses are such an odd beast; they're arguably the most basic form of bass yet the variation in tone & feel is absolutely massive. If you are half-decent with a set of tools I'm sure you can make a perfectly usable bass from just buying the parts & bolting them together yourself but then you can get nice basses for not much money from the main manufacturers so what's the point? I went completely the other way & spent a fair bit on a (used) Fender Custom Shop (journey man '57 relic) - it's brilliant in every way, though the price was more than you're looking to pay. But it's essentially a posh version of the Roadworn series which is itself a more expensive version of the Classic 50's so I'd imagine there's a fair bit of the same DNA flowing through there. If I was to get a 2nd P I think I'd go for one of those cheap kits, replace the really bad bits & bolt it together myself so I've got something I can just leave in grotty gig venues & not worry about it.

Great cabs, love mine! The build quality is just ridiculous for the price too...

@wateroftyne Is that an S212 the Handbox is sat on, so just two 12" speakers? I've got two S112's which I guess will act similarly - how loud is it at those settings you're showing there?

At that budget I think I'd rather just go for a new Fender Mexican Standard or even a Squier VM70's (and save half your money) over a used bass of unknown provenance from the internet (different if you know the seller or get it used off here). The Mexican basses Fender are pushing out really are pretty good work-horse basses.

I've used one of those in a studio before - decent little amps I think. Substantially better than a lot of the stuff you get landed with when using rehearsal studio gear!

It could be argued you've already got a good value, cheaper bass (the Nate Mandel) and so seems pointless to get another one - may as well get a "nice" bass too! Depends on how much of a hurry you're in too - you should be able to get used CS basses for 2k or slightly less. Ebay prices don't seem particularly cheap to me nowadays, I fee like you could probably haggle a shop down to lower than those prices on used goods, just if you've got time to wait it out until something appropriate crops up. Can't give much comment on the vintage stuff - they're nice to play but have always been out of my budget.

Depends on your definition of pound for pound & what you're going to do with it. I think it's pretty clear from my post that I think the CS basses are the best. Are they 5/6x better than a Squier - for me yes. Twice as good as a Limelight - yes. Depends on your definition of "good". And it depends on if you're going to keep it - if you get a used Fender of any level then decided to sell it you're probably going to lose little to no money (I actually made a little bit selling a non-vintage jazz a few months ago). So the ownership is basically free, in which case pound for pound means nothing. Buying new would be another thing entirely, you're looking at losing ~25% of what you pay if you sell it so the Squiers are only costing you 100 (so marginal) whereas the CS's are going to lose you ~750, which I would be less keen on. Other brands would almost certainly lose you more.

What % of the 9.99 subscription fee do people think would be fair for Spotify (et al) to pay out to the content owners? Note I'm not saying artists here as the digital services don't wouldn't be involved in that relationship, just how much of their revenues do you think is a fair amount to pay out. The comparison between Netflix & Spotify is a funny one in terms of who the services are good for - I think it's fair to say musicians aren't getting a whole lot of money from streaming (without going down the arguments of recorded music just being promo material for tours) so it's maybe not a great deal for them. But Netflix's investment in TV is absolutely huge & has easy taken over the amount of revenue TV producers get from traditional TV sales - there are millions more pounds being plowed into creating content and so being paid to the actors/writers than there was a few years ago & they pay huge license fees to buy up other content - so really TV is getting a huge benefit from streaming, it's almost a bad deal for the consumer as they're having to pay multiple subscriptions to get the best shows from the different services which ignoring most of the other content.

You seem to have a large range in your budget; the difference between a 1k & 2k bass can be quite noticeable so not entirely fair as a comparison but for me the Fender CS P-basses are worth the spend. When I was looking for a P a year or so ago I tried anything/everything that had 4 strings & a P pickup over a period of a couple of months, this is ranging from £400 Squiers through every Fender range right up to proper vintage 6-8k basses (though I couldn't actually afford one of these), plus a load of other brands like Limelight, Sandberg, Yamaha etc... The best two for me in terms of playing feel & sound were both Fender CS - I ended up buying the 2nd to best one in the end! Considering P basses are the simplest of the lot you wouldn't believe the variety out there & how different they can all feel/sound. But the CS ones just do everything so right, from the grain of the woods used to the fit & finish, they just feel incredible in the hand as soon as you pick them up. I get that some people aren't into the relicing but the way they do the back of the neck is so nice & for me, not having to worry about the paint getting a slight knock when gigging is a plus (I play in quite a heavy band so there's a movement on stage). It might be worth you giving Wunjo Bass (in London) a call to see what they've got in - their website isn't very good but they get a fair few used/vintage basses through in your price range. It's not a colour you're after but they've got two natural 70's P-basses in at the moment that look nice (one maple one rosewood fretboards) - have a look on their instagram.

It's not all Spotify's fault. They actually pay out more of their revenues to the content owners than most of the other streaming services, it's the labels that are holding back most of the cash - by the time it gets to the artists, several large chunks of the cash have already been cut out. And let's not forget that the labels force Spotify to give them part owner ship of the service too so they're giving away most of their revenue to the people that will claw back any profit they make anyway.

Thanks for this WoT - very useful. I'll have to try & get on the list of one comes on a trial tour! It looks pretty damn good at that gig - almost the perfect set-up!

So how did it do?