Happy Jack

Valves don't last for ever, and you're buying vintage (i.e. old) valves from different manufacturers in different countries. They have had wildly different histories, so they sound different. If you buy two vintage Fender Precisions they will both sound like a Precision (just as your two ECC83s sound like preamp valves) but they're unlikely to be identical or to sound identical.

Yup, it was tatty - though still fully functional. My previous red one was in rather better nick but the two basses sounded just the same (a thin, unsatisfying sound) and both had endless crackles from the jack socket and volume control. These basses were 80s design statements and sat alongside plenty of other minimalist designs that looked good with spandex and big hair, but they were all built down to a price. If you can track it down, there's an excellent interview with the original Japanese designer out there on t'Web. I had the link once, but I lost it ages ago. It's the sort of thing that @Bassassin might be able to help with. Thing is, most of the non-electrical components from the 80s compare pretty well with the cheapo stuff being used today. If you rip out all the electronics ("all" in this case meaning little more than a pickup, a volume pot, a jack socket, and 30cm of cable) this is a really easy upgrade..

Before: After:

We usually play 3-hour gigs comprising three sets (2 x 45 plus 1 x 60). We do NOT play 3-hour sets ... I leave that sort of thing to @Bluewine. 😂

I will never, ever sell any of the basses that I haven't yet sold. Until I sell them, of course. 😉

I'll tell you what is really improving my bass playing ... this thread. I was already playing a reasonable amount anyway but, since reading the worrying downbeat replies here, I've taken to playing at least one full set - as live - every day, playing along to gig videos taken by @Silvia Bluejay. My covers band does three sets as either a full-fat rock gig or an unplugged acoustic set (so that's six sets straight away), my rockabilly band does three sets, and I'm involved in two other band projects with roughly a set's worth of music each. That means it takes 11 straight days to play through the entire repertoire I might be called upon to play post-Lockdown. I'll be damned if I finally get to rehearse with a band again and find that I'm the rustiest guy in the room ... [Pedantic] This isn't really improving my bass playing, of course, it's more a matter of slowing down the deterioration. [/Pedantic]

Or, indeed, a lectern ...

My boobs aren't big enough. 😉

That's me too. Thanks to a history of having all my gigs video'd by @Silvia Bluejay plus a couple of on-going studio / distanced / green screen projects, I've had more reason than most to keep playing PLUS I have learned the basics of video editing from a standing start with lots of material that I can practise on. One thing I have learned - which may be applicable to many on Basschat - is that having all this kit lying around anyway (instruments, amplification, electronics, computers) means that for very little money it is usually possible to break into a completely new area. Silvie and I discovered that all we needed for a decent home green-screen facility was £20 worth of green material and some bulldog clips ... we already had everything else that was needed. You don't even need a camera, your smartphone will do the job for you. Similarly, already owning a decent PA built around a Behringer XR18 (for use with the bands) meant that when we bought Reaper to use as an entry-level video editor, we actually had everything we needed to turn the Junkyard (my music studio) into a full-on 16-track recording facility. And bear in mind that we chose to buy Reaper (£70) because we could afford to and we thought we should; the product is supplied free on an evaulation basis, and it's up to the user to decide whether and when to pay for it.

OK, I'm off to the studio to see if I happen to have a cello neck that I bought years ago and forgot that I owned. Happens all the time ... 😂

And yet again! This topic comes up so often that I have finally got around to re-linking all the long-vanished photo links, hopefully making this rather useful again.

I've managed to find enough socially-distanced music projects to (i) find the incentive and (ii) keep playing at least fairly regularly, but I'm appalled at just how rusty I now am.

Free forklift truck with every one purchased, too ...

You can't mount a DB neck on a Fender Mustang. Don't ask me how I know ...

I was the same. I had 14 basses and I dropped one off for some work and found that I was down to 13 basses, and I thought 'I'm not going to let this happen again'.

Yes, it can be a lot of fun comparing the way different producers write about their contributions. Visconti (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tony-Visconti-Autobiography-Bowie-Brooklyn/dp/0007229453/ref=asc_df_0007229453/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310081590442&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4123669782585546034&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045963&hvtargid=pla-467232679897&psc=1) is at one end of the spectrum - it was me! me! me! George Martin (https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Need-Ears-George-Martin/dp/0312114826/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZIC2FSN6TDTX&dchild=1&keywords=all+you+need+is+ears+by+george+martin&qid=1612462079&s=books&sprefix=all+you+need+is+ears%2Cstripbooks%2C145&sr=1-1) is absolutely at the other end - oh I did very little really, it was all 'the boys'. Glyn Johns (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sound-Man-Recording-Rolling-Zeppelin/dp/0147516579/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EQUN7W8MM2LX&dchild=1&keywords=sound+man+glyn+johns&qid=1612462139&s=books&sprefix=sound+man%2Cstripbooks%2C145&sr=1-1) falls almost exactly in the middle. All three of those books are - for different reasons and in their own way - an excellent read.

I never knew his father's name ...

Absolutely fascinating.

... then you'd be living in North Korea.

I don't drive a Transit.

One control? Nonsense! I can see four ...

Just to keep things tidy.

And, of course, objects in the mirror are closer than you think.