Grahambythesea

Well done for taking the leap. Try not to use the B as a thumb rest 🤣 Can I give you a tip, when playing in E or F try not to use the open E or 1st fret but instead start on the 5 & 6th on the B and go from there. You will soon get the hang of it and of course the advantage is the fret spacing is much more comfortable there.

I know Jackson an Charvel are the same stable, but is the Fernandes too? The headstocks and truss rod covers seem identical.

I had seen that they are finally doing a lighter weight bass, good to see a company thinking about the players and not just churning out the same old same old. Be interesting to try one when they arrive in the U.K. As it happens my daughter lives just outside SanLuis Obispo and I visit regularly, however sadly MM don’t do factory visits, unlike Taylor that lay on the most fantastic and informative tour, well worth the drive down the Coast to San Diego (although we were in fact taking the grand kids on holiday there, but I managed an afternoon off! )

Fender quality is an age old problem and a bit of a lottery. I bought a new Jazz 5 in 1996, when they first came out. It arrived with the neck set too low into the body cavity needing a shim and the pickups hummed under lights. Not great in a bass costing over a grand even back then. I also had a ‘95 fretless Precision that was superb, should never have sold it. So you pays your money and takes your chance! second hand from someone reliable is probably a good idea as they hopefully will have had it set up, but the worry is always are they trying to dump a dog! I’ve never had a Stingray, too heavy for my taste but I’ve never heard of one with poor QC.

Rob Allen makes a short scale 5 string and I think Ibanez have too. I believe they can work.

You ask what can you play on. T’bird. The answer is probably anything, although it might look a little out of place in a folk band. When you consider the range of artists who used them, Entwhistle in the Who, even if he did change the necks to Fenders, surprisingly the Four Seasons back in the sixties, there’s YouTube footage of them, metal bands of course. Don’t recall seeing a country band with them but I bet someone here will prove me wrong!

Actually there are. I too suffer the pains of aging bones, shoulders in my case. Initially I bought the Spector Spectorcore 5 which is partly hollow and about 8lb then I got the Gibson EB5 (2013j which is a remarkably light 7.7lb. I gather the 2017/18 version is also similarly lightweight. Of course in a bit more expensive category Maruszczyk does a light version with internal chambers which would also fil the bill, Elwood L. In the end health and welfare is paramount if we are to continue to play and not too would be the end of life as we know it!

I think these basses are probably like marmite!

Looks way more complicated than the Squier versions. Very Ventures 😆

Thanks. Not too bad as there appears to be a lot of wood there.

NO! That head just looks wrong on a P. shape body. Sorry not for me.

I keep looking and have to keep reminding myself that I traded mine because it was too heavy. Not having a 4 string anymore also makes keep considering either a J or P, but why? 5 strings are so much more versatile.

Good job you did the exchange before Brexit, otherwise you’d be paying duty in both directions and the Status would have to have spent 6 months in quarantine! 😂

Great looking bass. I remember seeing a video of Elvis which included rehearsals for a Las Vegas show when he introduced the band and even though the King said “on the Fender bass” the guy was in fact playing an Ibanez. I also remember trying one in Chappells, but was surprised how expensive it was! Didnt some of the production end up with Cimar on the headstock?

Spector Coda, as well as the two you’ve mentioned already.

I like the look of these, it would be concerned that there is quite a lot of body. Do you know how heavy the bass is?

Looks brilliant. Plays?

Someone Eldon here eckoned the Squier JV was better than a MIM and nearly as good as a US.

You’re dead lucky with that at that price, you probably spent as much again on strings and knobs! 😋

Particularly good if a band has brass in it. They like to play in Eb and Bb so it’s nice to have a low root note.