HeadlessBassist

More peace, love and harmony. Maaaaan. It does look great, though!

The mute kit is on it's way from Bass Direct as we speak...

Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you! I noticed that too - the mute springs appear to have been put on back to front. One of the first jobs I'll be sorting, as well as the new black scratch guard which has now arrived.

As far as I know, yes. It's the satin finish - Natural Velvet finish. I'll be able to tell you if it's ever been refinished when I pick it up tomorrow...

Sorry to hear you're out of love with the band, Andy. I guess I'm in a lucky position where I get to work with lots of people, but I can't afford to play for nothing with people I don't want to be with. I feel for you and hope you'll find some great, like minded folks to make some great music with soon.

The issue you're going to have with tablature is that it doesn't usually give you a clue of the rhythm. Can you follow the chord symbols and improvise the parts? Also, are the songs printed in classical notation?

Oddly enough, I was chatting with Lee Sklar on Brooke's Bass Corner live chat the other week. That's an interesting bit of lateral thinking

Those Player II's are getting some lovely figured wood, especially on your headstock. Hope you enjoy your lovely bass!

Hey SSG's (sweet, sweet guys!), I'm in the middle of doing a deal for a rather nice 1995 Stingray (which I think a couple of BC members have previously owned.) Only thing is, it's been modded/monkied with and I want to get it as close to stock as I can. It's had an Aguilar OBP 2-band preamp added, a blend control (is it's now four knob, as opposed to three on the control plate), a side jack socket added, and it's previously had Aguilar pickups added, including a rout for an "HS" configuration. The current owner has removed the single coil pickup and replaced the Aguilar humbucker with the proper MM one which was kindly sent by the original 'modder', so it looks fine now (or will do) with a new black scratch plate (on order as we speak), but it has four controls, one of which doesn't work, being as the single coil has been excised. Here's what I'm thinking - add a new jack socket to the four-hole control plate and maybe turn the side jack into an XLR? Or maybe leave it as is and just have a fourth control that does nothing. Any other options you can think of? With mods... (photo credit SweenyRod) ... and currently

Congratulations on scoring a lovely bass! Y'know, sometimes one certain bass just fits you like a glove. Enjoy!

Interesting point, Joltax. I tend to think in terms of there are two sounds with various basses. One is the one you want to hear - the combination of the pickups, strings and the tonal qualities of the body wood/percussiveness of the fingerboard. The other is too much preamp! Some preamps just boost quietly in the background, and others just seem to swamp and overboost everything out of all proportion. Of course, it's all down to the frequencies chosen by the preamp designer and the quality of the components, but it is fascinating.

Quite a lot of the EMG pickup sets are active, but without the 2/3 band EQ. Same as the Bass Centre Guy Pratt 'Betsy' signature - there's just an extra rout for a 9v battery under the scratch plate usually.

Does it come in a JJ as well, Mep..?

This is interesting, and reasonably priced too...

Agreed! 😎👍

Odd choice of words - A C E is an A Minor Chord.

By a Neapolitan Second Chord, I assume you mean a Neopolitan 6th (flattened chord II.) I think we're talking semantics here if we're honest. It sounds like I'm talking from the classical training world and you're talking from the popular/jazz training world. Basically, 'Music Theory' is an academic subject which we teachers teach instrumental students in order to fill in the gaps when they're learning to play.

No, I am talking about the 'academic' Music Theory examinations held by the ABRSM. You're talking about what people just happen to know. Two completely different things. Oh, and A - C# - E is an A Major Chord in Root Position.

Au contraire. The Music Theory should work along with the Sight Reading. If you don't know how key signatures, time signatures, rhythms and chord progressions work, all you'd be able to read would be seven basic notes. Yes, the ABRSM Grade 5 theory is vastly more useful than an 'O'Level (or GCSE) in Music, but any teacher worth their salt will teach some theory as you go along with lessons, otherwise you'll be left with large gaps in your knowledge. If you had no reading ability whatsoever, music theory would be utterly meaningless.

Listing all your past basses is an interesting exercise. We really do run in trends - I've owned 19 Fender basses over the years.

Year started playing: 1977 Number of basses: 9 (currently) - Just listed all basses over time. I'm reckoning 74. Maybe missed one or two! Music Theory: 10 - Music degree & two teaching diplomas. Technique: 10 Groove: 9

That looks very nice, Alex. Especially like the clear guard. Looks very sophisticated. Enjoy!

I never liked sunburst finishes either, until I discovered the proper burst finish with a lot more red in it and barely any yellow. Now for me, it’s THE Jazz bass colour scheme. Sunburst/Tort cannot be beaten! The "EX T" marking on the heel of a Squier JV (Japan Vintage) bass neck likely indicates an export model, specifically for the Japanese market. The "EX" likely refers to "export," and the "T" might denote a specific model or variant within the export line. It looks like a really nice bass for 1983. Congrats on scoring a lovely bass for what I hope was a bargain purchase for you Here’s my American Original. Sunburst for the win!