Jonesy

The volume of reviews could be the issue here rather than Google purposely hiding them. Their algorithms will remove anything they think is spam, so a business getting 150 odd reviews in the last few hours is getting logged as suspicious and probably banked for review to make sure they're legit. They might come back. I thought some of the reviews were harsh though tbf. It's a crappy thing that they've done, but some of the reviews were written by people saying they were just going to go for a look at the venue and they've cancelled because they found out about the charge. They hadn't actually used the barn, but reviewed it anyway. It'd be a bit like giving a bass a bad review because of an issue you heard about, without actually playing it.

A referral scheme makes sense and isn't a bad idea in principal, plenty of businesses use them. It sounds like they've just thrown that out there as a way of trying to deal with all of the negative backlash though. 'Oh stinky poo, we've made a bad decision. What can we say to get out of it' There's no way that original email was written with the intention of introducing a sort of loyalty scheme with preferred suppliers.

And the classic pro before them, that's the only bass I genuinely regret selling. They're dirt cheap, feel great and sound monsterous!! I tried a classic pro and the full fat Gibson at the time and thought the Epiphone sounded much bigger. Little things like the machine heads were better on the Gibson, but the Epi ones were still decent

They're whaaaaaaat? I thought they we're in the £1.5k-ish territory - just looked and must have been thinking about the non reverse models. £300 extra for all of the upgrades def doesn't seem too bad then.

I'm just listening to 'Call on me/That's the way love is' and, although the 70s albums are good, I'm much preferring his earlier stuff. Spotify seems to have some pretty huge gaps in his discography, but I'll get through what they have and check out the rest on YT.

I hadn't much outside of 'Ain't no love.....' so gave 'Dreamer' & 'His California Album' a listen this morning. I really liked them, but sometimes when he sings he sounds like he's coughing up a loogie! 🤢

It costs a lot and might not be anything that new......but look at it! It's very easy on the eye. I guess either way you look at it, it's mostly aimed at collectors rather than players, but they've addressed quite a few niggles with the bridge and eq options with this.

So, hot on the heels of the Gene Simmons T'bird, Gibson release.....another signature T'bird! OK, so it's not a Grabber/Ripper reissue that I'd love to see, but this one makes a lot more sense to me though. I mean look at it. PHWOAR! https://www.peachguitars.com/gibson-rex-brown-thunderbird.htm

It's been a while, so have some great slow blues from Johnny Winter....

Good point! I was thinking that the only body I'd be happy to put a fretless neck on would be the Harley Benton PJ. However, I do have a G&L SB2 Tribute that I could see if I could find a fretless neck for..... The only unlined neck I could see on allparts was a finished PBass one for £407. I'll do some measuring and see if it'd fit. My only drawback is that I think I could get a decent fretless bass outright by the time I factor in the cost of fitting a decent neck. The G&L tribute Kiloton fretless is tempting (despite being sunburst and lined) at just over £480. It'd be nice to try one before ordering one in though.

Ah, what a gorgeous bass! I used to have one and it was the P bass that turned me back on to P basses. This model has the US pups and upgraded hardware, they're lovely basses and have amazing necks. Enjoy your new purchase!!!

I'm going to sound extremely fickle here.......but I'd rather not another sunburst bass. Otherwise the revelation PJ would be my go to choice. In an ideal world I'd have an unlined PJ in lake placid blue......but without the £2.3k price tag the Tony Franklin comes with. However, I think revelation are the way forward. I spoke to them the other day and they should have the unlined P in the UK in the next month or so....but in white now as the red is discontinued. The Dimavery MM is an interesting choice though. From what I hear they're up there with Harley Benton in terms of quality and equally cheap.

Hahahaha! It sounds like he just has a knackered input jack and is just pulling the lead in and out. I do love 'Warhead' though, such a tune!

Good shout! I've seen a couple of thunders come up here and there and will keep an eye out for one. I hear P&O also look out for them when they need boat anchors, what was yours like?

Ta for the extra info. I could get away with doing most of that, but would have to tap out when it comes to drilling holes I reckon. Ah, I didn't know HB did an unlined fretless. Ta for the heads up, I doubt that neck would fit in the PJ body I have, but the bass itself is another option.

I do like the look of those and when I was searching through the forum the Portamento was getting a lot of love. If one came up second hand and in budget I'd jump at it as I've heard nothing but good things. However......trying to balance GAS vs the waiting game will be difficult!!

Nice! Really like it without the control knobs too. Did you have to do much fettling with the neck, or does it drop straight in? I'm guessing it doesn't come predrilled too? And one last Q......are there side dots on the neck in the right place?

GAS being GAS, I've been playing with the idea of picking up a fretless over the past month or so. Maybe I'll play it loads, maybe it'll gather dust. Who knows? Either way it sounds like fun and something else to learn. I've never picked up a fretless before the other week, but had a go on a couple of lined fretless in a shop, just to get an idea of what they're like.... Player Series Jazz - seemed Ok, fretboard was really dry, but that can be sorted. Ibanez SRH500 - I liked it a lot more than I thought I would tbh, but wouldn't normally go for something that looks like it was designed after 1975. Since playing those I've realised 2 things......I think I want to go unlined for more of a challenge and I don't want a sunburst J with no scratch plate. I was thinking of spending £400 max and reckon my options are...... Revelation P bass. I'd probably prefer a PJ, but don't want sunburst. Dimavery MM fretless Fazley PJ fretless (although it is sunburst) Or I look at lined options..... Ibanez SR370. Despite what I said about the SRH500 looks, I quite like the 370 for some reason and have heard good things about the power span pups. Or go left field...... I have a Harley Benton PJ that I bought as a deco and must have ended up with one of the only duds. The necks warped, but I could pick up a HB fretless and put the neck on the PJ body. Or I do the same with a couple of Squiers and put a fretless neck on a non jazz body. Has anyone got any views on the basses above or can throw some other ideas out there?? At the minute I'm leading towards the revelation as I've heard good things.....

Yeah, I think you're right to look at a PJ for the versatility, as has been mentioned - MM basses are worth a look at too and fit what you're after. Sire basses have a really great pre amp in them and you can get a wide range of tones from them. The G&L L2000 Tribute is extremely versatile, but worth playing one just to see how you get on with the neck as it's a chunky one, the main selling point with these is you get exactly teh same pick ups and bridge that goes into the full fat USA version. Where abouts are you? Just thinking we may be able to throw some decent shops your way so you can get a feel of the different necks and their profiles, or throw something 2nd hand near you your way. TBF, it's pretty hard to find a crap bass nowadays and you can still get some decent gear (like Harley Benton, SX or Revelation) at the lower end, so I wouldn't go into this thinking cheap = crap. I regularly gig a £300 bass over a £2k bass and there is some great value to be had out there at the minute. On the amp front - I'd look at something that's about 15w for home use, Fender, Ashdown, Orange & Ampeg all make great practice amps for home use. I have a 15w Fender Rumble and don't need to go any way near above 9 o clock for home use, I'm always well under so 15w is loads. Depending on who else is in the house and how much you like you neighbours, the main thing to make sure it has is a headphones out for silent practice and an aux in so you can jam along to mp3s. If you haven't got a clip on or some sort of app then a tuner is a nice to have too. Or you could pick up something like a Zoom B1 Four. It's a great little pedal with a few decent effects thrown in and you can use it for completely silent home practice. I have an 8 month old daughter in the house, so have to make time to play around her naps. This is a great bit of kit for me! This is great advice and is what I'd do too. If you don't mind losing £300 or so if, in a few months, you've had a go at bass and want to shift that thing in the corner that's just gathering dust, then buy new. Otherwise, look second hand as you'll make your outlay back and be able to invest it back in a more expensive bass if you really want to upgrade later on. The only issue is that the Model T isn't that common and don't come up loads second hand, so if you have your heart set on it and don't want to wait then new might be your only option. Can't say I've played one, but I do like the look of them, and they come with decent EMG's from what I've heard.

You've got quite a wide range of styles of music you want to play and also quite a wide variance in price from the basses you've listed as possibilities. I'd definitely be looking at a J or PJ to cover the difference between slap and the grunt you want from metal and I'd stick to a 4 string for now. What's your budget and do you need an amp as well??

Just play whatever you enjoy the most, I wouldn't worry about any 'rules' around what basses work for specific genres. Although if it helps and you do think about these sorts of things, the bassists from Ash and Placebo both used Thunderbirds. Problem solved! Oh, one more thing....... Give us pics of your t'bird!! ☺️

I didn't know that Cass played with Gary Moore, I'm just giving the monsters of rock album a listen now though. Great stuff! Does anyone have any other recommendations of albums he's played in outside of Skunk Anansie?

I caught them about a week before Glasto at the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank and they were excellent then too. Cass sounded huge and he seemed like a really nice bloke. Half way through the second song, Mark somehow broke the skin of his bass drum. Fair play to him, he didn't drop a beat though and just signaled to their tech, who rushed on and took the drum away to replace the skin. He carried on using his floor toms for the boomier bits and the band jammed until the drum was back in place and good to go. I think that's the only time I've ever seen a drummer break a bass drum skin (unless you're including Keith Moon playing with explosives!). I was a bit skeptical about seeing them at a seated venue, but as soon as they came on stage everyone stood up. At the end Skin remarked that they were nervous about the venue too, but they were happy that no one knew how to use seats 😂

Yeah, I guess these ones are up there with the MIA in price. They are the equivalent of Vinteras though, so higher spec and vintage features compared to standard MIJ models. Last year, just after Christmas, they put a load of basses on eBay in an auction rather than BiN and they went for more reasonable prices, so it might be worth hanging on if you get the cash around the back end of the year. If you're around North London then Richard at Electrohill (in the same building), is worth a look if you're looking for anyone to do setups etc too.

Ah, Fender Fever aren't too far away from me, I bought my current MIJ P from them (in an auction on eBay). They're a good shop and have a nice collection of MIJ basses too. As for the price, MIJ basses (along with everything else!) seem to be creeping up recently and shops like FF or Bass Bros seem to have them at around the £1k-£1.2k mark for the non export or rarer models. Personally I'd keep an eye out for a second hand private sale and would look at spending £600-£800ish depending on model and condition.