HeadlessBassist

This. Exactly. These days, if you have an opinion opposite to 'the herd' [no matter how considered and well thought out], you're automatically labelled a racist, bigot, or some kind of fringe lunatic. Back to the point at hand though, our beliefs, no matter how extreme or otherwise, have nothing to do with the music we play together. We're there to entertain either ourselves, each other or an audience. Politics should never come into it. If people can't separate their beliefs from what's truly important, they need to get over themselves and get a life. It's good to have principles, but please, keep them to yourselves. The music is more important.

Sadly, we're seeing more and more of these 'divisions' in the world today. A lifelong friend of mine really surprised me the other day. He'd come along to one of my local trio gigs last Friday and really enjoyed when the Drummer's daughter got up to sing a few impromptu numbers with us. So said Drummer's daughter was due to perform her second go at her solo act in another close-by local town on Sunday. I invited my friend, because I really wanted to support `Kate in her performance endeavors. This time, my lifelong friend (a very educated man who travels the world consulting in lean manufacturing) says, "Bit too BNP for me." "Huh"? "British National Party. They were always headquartered there." "We're just going to see Kate perform. Not to engage in political activism, LOL!" "What do you mean? I don't like racism." "No, just that you object on the grounds that a few people in the area may be racist. Racism is everywhere." "I don't want to bump into any." "So you're not going to go back to America on Wednesday for work on the grounds that Trump is a lunatic, then..?" 🤔

I've been more than a bit smitten with my '95 Aguilar equipped Stingray, so you might say this is a natural addition... After selling off a few instruments over the last few weeks, I picked up this 2023 Stingray Special 5 in 'Smoked Chrome' yesterday. I first saw it when @lowregisterhead had it up for sale on here. I knew where it went, and traded a couple of instruments along with quite a few pictures of the Queen in order to acquire it yesterday. The setup was very good and curved accurately to the fingerboard as was, but I put 40-125 Elixirs on it last night, and today made some small adjustments, including raising the humbucker according to MM specifications. The Neodymium pickup still has the typical 'MM chewy sizzle' (yes, that's a technical term!) and looking over it, you can sort of see where the money has gone. I think MM are going the premium route these days, making less instruments, but really concentrating on top quality (and raising the prices considerably too!). The Special's new titanium tuners are much thicker and feel great in the hand, and the border between the glossed headstock & the oiled neck is utterly perfect. I've always liked basses with ebony fingerboards, too. Consider me suitably impressed!

The AutoCar Podcast, "My Week In Cars".

I geddit! It's the ultimate multi-purpose bass. You can play wuffly DB lines with the Novak MudBucker, Classic Rock with the Precision pickup and never dare enter the dusty end where you run out of frets, and if you happen to be the second coming of Jaco, you've got the fretless section for some fanatical runs and general slidy soloing... It's the OEM Fender GAS Killer! Every bass you can imagine, all rolled into one!! Verdict: Nah... I'll take nine of the £1400 chambered Blu DeTiger Signature Jazzes and one Laura Lee Jazz instead, please.

Music Man Caprices are one of those mythical instruments we all know about, have heard and desire. Their relative scarcity has kept prices very high, sadly. They're like Unicorns in the mist and people seem to hang onto them for dear life.

In this case, I'd be going used Mike Lull P&J.

A Trombonist friend of mine had some great comedy business cards in the 90s. They said something like; "Rich Thomas, Test Rockets Flown, Battles Fought, Races Won, Virgins Enlightened, Bars Quaffed Dry, & All Round Good Guy!"

@Blondy I knew your Brother well. First and foremost, he'd be very proud of you and so very encouraging. That should be your first thought If you're feeling nervous, block the audience out of your mind. Play for you, and play for Nick. I'm sorry I won't be able to attend the afternoon's events, but after my Sunday afternoon theatre gig in Leeds, I'll be racing down to Peterborough and joining my friends Mike Brooks and Jaymi [the PinkBassMan] for a curry evening in celebration of Nick. Oddly enough, curry was the last meal Nick & I shared. I hope the afternoon event goes down smoothly.

Ooh, is that for me..? It might go very well with the eventual Kiwi-produced Graphite Neck. Is that cut from one piece (rather than the usual two pieces joined?) If so, it's going to resonate very well!

Very, very nice. Obviously a man of taste! 😎👍

Friday was a local trio gig outdoors, which was an opportunity to stretch the legs of the Status Stealth 2 for a change. It's a little bit darker sounding than my main S2-Classic ['the wife'], but definitely has the required punch and snarl. Lovely crowd of mainly friends, but we did a lot of off the cuff audience requests, including a lot of songs we'd never played before. It all adds more material to the 35 year old evolving set, I guess. Saturday, just home from the Lark Hill Retirement Village (very posh place) in Clifton, near East Midlands Airport with the Everlys and Friends Live Tribute Show, so back to the staple Jazz Basses. Nice job, with the dance floor full all evening, so good result. Just home and heading for bed now. After two nice local jobs this weekend, next weekend is going to be full on globe trotting mode again. Starting in Birmingham on Friday, Gt.Yarmouth on Saturday, Yeadon in Leeds on Sunday afternoon, and Peterborough on Sunday evening. Phew! 🤪

The tall one on the left is the TC RH750 in a 2x10 enclosure. That usually sits on top of the small 12" TC cab in the middle. (The cab has a spare BH250 head unit plugged into it at the moment.) I have another 12" TC cab in the garage, so I can use the RH750 with the 2x10 enclosure and both 12's if I really need to move some serious air. On the right is a BG250 2x10 combo (with the tool box on top.) Unless you play with the very loudest pub bands, I'd recommend the BG250 2x10 combo. It's got a lot of poke for it's relatively small output. I was actually thinking of selling the BG250 combo, as it's not being used since I got the MarkBass combo. So I also have a MarkBass 2x10 500w tilting combo which is very good, although the sound is very processed and not as sweet as the TC amps (more gritty sounding?) and much lighter to carry (17kg as opposed to 28kg for the big TC, which luckily has a built in wheeled trolley.) All in all, my favorite sound is the big TC RH750 2x10 with one extra 12" cab. It's compact enough and has more than enough power for most situations. It's bloody heavy to haul in and out of the house/car. The Jazz basses sound at their sweetest through either of the TC 2x10s. I actually have three distinct sound presets on the RH750 - 1. Status/Stingray, 2. Jazz Basses, 3. Precision Basses with a couple of notches of the on board compressor added, although I don't have a Precision on the fleet at the moment.

Yes, I think a case of mistaken identity! 🤦‍♂️

Another excellent point, well made.

I'm now looking around my Music Room and... "Oh Gawd! He's right..." 🫣

Ah, I meant the 34" scale nice shiny new one.

On the "Sterling by Music Man" range (often abbreviated to 'SBMM'), there's the 'Ray 2' passive Stingray and the active 'Ray 4' Stingray import models in the "Intro Series". These are the stripped back budget models like Squire Affinity, etc. (£300-400). Then there's the "SUB Series". Here, you have a bit better quality, options of 4/5 string and slightly nicer hardware. Think Squier Vintage Modified, but more expensive. (£450-) The main old Ray 34/35 standard models are now just called, "Stingray". These have the modern 3-band preamps, but are still Indonesian built. Further up the range you can buy these with exotic tops, or as a 'Vintage' 2-band model. Confused yet? (Think Mexican Fender Player II Series and above, from £1000-£1400.) Then you finally come to the 'real' Ernie Ball Music Man American range. Most Stingrays start at around £2800 for the 'Stingray Special' 18v model, depending on chosen finish and quantity of pickups etc, and the new "70's" model which is a downgraded version of the previous 2-band "Stingray Classic" for well over £3k. Finally, you come to the "Ball Family Reserve Models" with exotic wood tops, which retail from £4000 upwards. Any help at all? Thought not...

That's your home, that is.

Hey KWM, I know what you mean very well here. I have several Status basses and really nice ones at that. They rarely come out, but occasionally the right job comes in [like last night] where that agility, power, snap and howl is needed and desired. I've been playing these fantastic graphite instruments for 35 years, but nowadays the decent earnings come from a Live Tribute Show where a simple Jazz bass is the ideal tool. I always know my Status basses are there, and I've got guaranteed offers for a couple of them from other pro players whenever I eventually one day decide to sell them. (One in particular will only be wrenched from my cold, dead hands.) Sentimentality is a part of what we do. We sometimes, after all this manic trading and buying, find one instrument that just fits our hands, [backs], and ears. It's genuinely hard to let go of something that good and highly personal to you. I sympathise. Btw, did you sell that lovely Hybrid II MIJ Jazz in the end? HB.

Lovely bass and a total bargain these days! Yes, I think black hardware would suit it very well. The picture they did for you was very funny! 🤣