Osiris

Sounds like it's a cracking little unit, Kev, I'll have to invite myself round for a cheeky listen 😃

There's a couple pf shouts on here for the Chowny SWB-1. They are indeed great basses, I briefly owned a passive one myself and they are well made and the pickups are sublime, they have a great punchy tone to them. However, the reason I soon moved mine on was that although its a 30" scale length the lack of a top horn means that the way it hangs on a strap puts the first fret in around the same place it would be on a standard scale bass. Yes the frets are closer together but you still have that stretch to reach the bottom end of the neck as though it's a full sized bass. That defeated the object for me as I wanted the first fret much closer than on a standard scale bass! Something to consider for anyone looking to get one.

Pink patent leather?

Pencil me in although it'd depend on where and when and any other commitments I have, family, band etc.

Anyone else think it looks like a deflated gimp mask?

Congratulations on the new bass, Dave, the VM is certainly a beast. I recently let mine go, it was the earlier Fender body shaped one in natural finish with black hardware. Every bit as stunning an a pleasure to play as yours. The only reason it went was because I've got a damaged nerve in my left wrist that is making 34" scale basses increasingly uncomfortable to play for more than a few minutes so I'm moving exclusively to short scales these days.

In that case you'd better chuck another couple of tots down your neck and decide to buy my Sandberg TT

Cheers for that, I was weighing up my finances with a view to possibly buying it but it sounds like you may have just saved me from a ball ache of a situation,

My copy of the CD arrived yesterday, I gave it a quick listen last night and was thoroughly impressed. Even my good lady liked it and it's not the sort of thing she normally listens to. She commented on your singers voice reminding her a little of Cerys Matthews, must be a Welsh thing

When I pull my finger out, but that usually takes forever when you're as dry and withered as I am!

@dmccombe7 I'm just sowing seeds. You said you were thinking of buying a Sandberg Jazz and I happen to have one for sale. You'll need it to keep the new one company

I'm trying, take the hint

Something like this perhaps? The word on the street is that it's looking for a new home...

3 pages in and I'm surprised that nobody has yet pointed out that you can get lots of pickups that are ostensibly the same e.g. a split coil P, a humbucker etc. That are voiced very differently. Compare a Seymour Duncan SPB-2 to the SPB-3. Or the stock Fender jazz pickups to the equivalent Hausells. Kind of renders this whole thread a bit pointless, doesn't it???

I have a PJ Mustang that I regularly gig and I love it! If you want classic Fender tone and feel with a short scale then look no further. You may also be able to stretch to a Japanese Mustang with your budget, it's the same body and neck as the PJ but with a single unique pickup that is similar to the P but with its own twist. It also has its own unique bridge design. I tried a couple of the Gretsch short scales after hearing good things about them on here but the ones I tried had had their necks finished with treacle, the finish was so sticky that I'd guess it'd be virtually unplayable on a sweaty gig. I don't know if all of them are like that or whether I just managed to get a couple of duff ones but it's something to keep in mind if you go for one.

Same here. There's something about the sound of a passive circuit that I just cannot get out of active circuits. I still own a couple of active basses but their sound just doesn't put a grin on my face like the passives do.

Looks interesting. I've been gigging the LD MEI1000G2 for several months now, I paid £200 new for it in the black Friday sales. Despite a few warnings on this thread not to bother with budget wireless in ear systems I have to say that I have no regrets. It has excellent sound quality, is very clear sounding and doesn't lack anything in the lows, indeed there is a good sonic weight there, or sound shrill with the highs. I'm using the obligatory KZ ZS10's with it. Wireless in ears for less than £250 I'll write a more detailed review when I get a chance but I can very highly recommend the MEI1000G2. I'm interested to hear what the new u500 system has to offer over the MEI1000G2 and if it's worth potentially upgrading at some point, although I'm so pleased with my set up that I feel no real need to upgrade!

Cheers @LewisK1975 that's exactly what I wanted to hear! I'll order myself a copy shortly!

Just went to purchase a copy of the album and PayPal looks like it's working fine for me. The only question I have is that it's not clear from http://www.whiteknightrecords.co.uk/ what format it is, I assume it's a CD? Hopefully it's not vinyl as I no longer have a turntable!

Just had a listen to both the Coverland video and the album preview and I think it's awesome! When I saw the Prog mention I was expecting something more self indulgent but the music is intelligent without being pretentious and varied without turning into musical masturbation. It's very accessible and there's some great playing throughout. Just one observation form the Coverland video, the drummer doesn't look like he's beating the kit to within an inch of its life. Where did you find him? Are there any left in stock?

Another vote for the Protection Racket bag here. There's also the Protec Contego bass case. I have both and would happily recommend them both as they are both sturdy and well made and offer good levels of protection without the bulk of a hard case.

Compression is topic that regularly crops up on here and there is great deal of misunderstanding about it as well as a few urban myths associated with their use. You really need to understand what a compressor does and how the various controls available to you do in order to get the best out of them. When used correctly they can transparently smooth your dynamics, or add some controlled squash, make the bass big, consistent and punchy sounding or even add some pleasing tonal colouration to your sound. When used incorrectly they invariably choke the living daylights out of your sound. If you want to get the best out of a compressor it's definitely worth the time and effort to do your homework first. One of the biggest misconceptions about compression is that people expect to hear it as an obvious effect like a distortion or a delay. You can set it to be an obvious effect but that is almost always going to be detrimental to your sound. Some folks set it up so they can hear it squashing their sound but by then you have usually gone too far. Less is more with effective compression. My advice would be to first and foremost do your homework. Read up online and see what the controls do and how people are using them. You might be better off trawling the sound engineering type forums rather than basschat if you want a more objective opinion on the subject!!! And it'd be wise to avoid any opinions that contain the usual gripes about compression killing your dynamics (which it does if you don't what to do with one) and the reasoning that some folks can completely control their dynamics with their fingers (which is to misunderstand the effective use of compression). As part of your homework, a great and cheap way to experiment with several different compressor types is to get the Zoom MS-60B multi-fx pedal. This unit has several different compression models in, each with their own flavour and all usable in their own way, my personal favourite is the model of the dbx 160 which is adds punch and a touch of darkness to your tone - just how I like it! Have a play with them and see what they individually offer. Play with extreme settings as well as more subtle ones in order to get a feel for what they are doing to your signal. Compression is usually more apparent in a band mix and at a reasonable volume than just messing about at home, so if you play with other musicians, take that opportunity to apply what you have learnt and use it in a real world situation. If you don't want to do your homework buy the TC Electronics Spectracomp as it does all the thinking for you and gives you a great, versatile compression pedal for a modest outlay!