Cato

Another vote for DR Hi Beams, the zingiest strings I've ever found. And don't be taken in by Dunlop Super Brights as I was a few years ago. They're average bright at best.

4 basses 3 electric guitars 1 acoustic guitar.

60

I've come close to getting a pelham blue one. Never played one but it's so pretty that if I didn't get on with it I could just frame it and hang it on a wall.

Article with a bit more detail about how and why. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/zz-top-bass/

I can't believe how light he makes it look. It makes my back twinge just seeing it.

There's a chap called @Bassassin on here who will almost certainly be able to help, but it would probably help if you could post some pics of the bass.

I think most people, including myself, find it much easier to sing while playing guitar than to play bass and sing. I think it's maybe because you tend to strum guitar in a steady pattern whereas a lot of basslines tend to be more rhythmically complex.

There are some chords, especially barre chords that you'll struggle to voice correctly if you're not using your little finger. In terms of moving from bass to guitar you'll already have the finger strength and toughened fingertips so that's 2 hurdles that confront complete novices out of way. You'll also already know your way around the fretboard. A lot of the rest of it is just practicing chords until yourfretting hand gets used to instantly making the right shapes, but again your bass experience with moving those fingers around on the fretboard means it'll probably come more easily to you than a complete beginner. In my opinion 90% of guitar playing is no more difficult than bass unless you're aspiring to be the next Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen.

I'd guess most of the price tag comes from it being, depending on the precise date of manufacture, either 1st or 2nd year of Jazz Bass production. Would I spend 9k on it? Definitely not. But then I'm not a collector and the only basses I've ever seen that I have any interest in around that price point are Alembics, But I bet there's a collector somewhere who'll make an offer , maybe not 9k, just because underneath the cosmetic tradgedy it's still a very early Jazz bass.

They're lovely, quirky looking things but I'm not sure I'd want one as my main instrument and they're not so cheap that I could have one just to have something a bit different in the collection.

I've never seen a reason to choose. I've got both scattered around the house, generally I find myself playing whatever is closest to hand when the urge strikes. Lovely guitar btw, I've never owner a semiacoustic and I often worry that I might be missing out.

There are pretty much no post market modifications you can make to a bass that will increase it's market value, regardless of how expensive they are. As for the bass being suitable for any genre of music, that's true of any bass. Having said that I can't tell what model Squier it is from the pictures, but £220 isn't an exorbitant price for a recent 2nd hand CV or VM model.

It's growing on me.

I have a weird reaction to certain specific colour combinations on basses and guitars, in that they actually make me feel slightly nauseous. Tortoiseshell scratch plates on red basses are the worst offenders, but that Mono Neon sig is definitely setting it off.

It's certainly distinctive....

https://thebassgallery.com/products/ken-smith-bespoke-b-bass-1981-ex-stanley-clarke I've never seen that before. I can't decide whether it's a masterpiece or the ugliest guitar I've ever seen.

Steve Harris from Iron Maiden. Maiden were the band that got a teenage me into proper music, so naturally when I started playing bass it was Steve I tried to emulafe. My music tastes have had a couple of fairly drastic changes of direction since then and I no longer listen to Maiden or any 'heavy' music but my default right hand setting when noodling on the bass is still the Harris gallop.

Spent an enjoyable hour or so learning the Cures 'Just Like Heaven' on bass and guitar then building up the different tracks on a looper pedal. It's a pretty simple song with a structure that works particularly well when done on the looper.

I've got a B1ON and a Helix Stomp. I genuinely think certain effects, such as the envelope filters and the synth, sound better through my bass and amp on the Zoom than the Stomp.

There have been efforts to bring the electric guitar into the 21dt century, but they've generally been rejected by consumers. Often the new stuff has been poorly executed like Gibson's robotuners and their Firebird X but even the stuff which works as advertised such as the Line 6 Variax has a limited following.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/squier-fsr-classic-vibe-bass-vi-purple-metallic-0374582577?msclkid=ffc85fab6ab71f5673223cfc9690effc&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=IMP || Main Catalogue || PLA 1 [Generic]&utm_term=4576236124598320&utm_content=squier

Sounds like a QC fail at the factory. If it's a big retailer I'm sure they'll sort a replacement for you, even without the box. Years ago I had a Squire Jazz bass from Anderton's that arrived with a dead neck pickup, they replaced it with no hesitation or additional costs on my part. I just gave the broken bass back to the same courier who dropped off the replacement.

I'm fan of the Fender Hi Mass. Not because of any sonic differences though. It's just a really solid unit that locks the saddles in place to prevent the lateral movement you can get on some BBOTs (my Sire 1st gen V7 springs to mind) when you really dig in.

It's about £300 more than a pro ii. The Strat and Tele options are a fair bit more interesting than the bass ones, which are rather limited in terms of pick up choice. If this had been an option when I was buying a pro ii Strat last year I'd probably have done it because the options allow me to put together pretty much my dream guitar. Not sure I'd want to pay the extra for a pretty standard passive Jazz bass, albeit one in a very pretty colour scheme. I'm sure others will be up for it though.