Grahambythesea

Clever, not my taste though.

I’ve owned 2 US P’s in my time. A 70’s and a 90’s which were both fine (much better than my J that came newcand unplayable, the neck needed a shim!) I have huge respect for the man who designed the P nearly 70 years ago, but even he redesigned it several times in his life time. Personally I find the neck width too wide, but you can now get Ps with J sized necks which solves that problem. However the company making them is not what it used to be and the quality for the money is sometimes very questionable. Other makers seem to be able to produce their versions to a better standard than Fender. This thread is about what to get for your 50th. If you have survived gigging, carrying the additionally heavy gear needed for bass playing and the stresses of life upto that age without ruining your back, shoulder , arm and any other part of your anatomy then you’re amazing. Probably many of us need to find something that weighs in a bit less than the average 10lb of a Precision. However I feel it’s case of been there done that got the tee shirt, time to move on.

I bought a 66 Gibson EB2D, had always wanted one but it was definitely a mistake. The neck was not a comfortable play, the mud bicker way to powerful and the bridge pickup tinny. Swapped in the end for a Guild Dreadnought acoustic. Still love the shape though.

Thanks, and to Linus27 for posting the track. Having heard it that’s not a sound i’ll be looking for, much as I love my 12 string guitar, the bass just doesn’t do it for me. So that’s one less person vieing for these rarities! 😜

There’s also a helpful “fix” described on TB under the heading “Quick 3 point bridge adjustment screw fix for Guild B-302”. This guy stripped the thread on the front adjustment screw and had to replace it. However what he says and shows gives good insight into how this bridge functions, which is similar to the Gibson 3 point about which there is much info here and elsewhere.

Gary Fletcher of the Blues Band plays “upside down”. The 4+2 method is great to ensure that your fingers are in the right place without having to stretch to far. Start with your middle finger on the root note and you really can’t go wrong.

Did you order it direct from China, did you have to pay import duty? I quite fancy one of the 335 basses which seem to be on offer at a little over $300.

That’s a very convincing replica, the originals have a reputation for neck dive, how is it on this one? I quite like the gold but understand that you wouldn’t want to look the same as your guitarist - the days of matching guitars is long gone.....

I’m with Geek99 on this one. If they are really brass, the corrosion with clean off easily. Does the bass have other brass parts? I remember Arias having some really smart brass fittings.

So it’s a 12 string bass grouped as 4 sets of 3? How’s that going to sound?

That looks an unusual shape body, nice wood.

I ha e a Spectorcore 5 fretless and it is superb for the money. Ebony board, Fishman Piezo plus the EMG ( now replaced by a Bartolini I believe) and a modest weight. If I have a criticism it’s that on the 5 the string spacing is quite narrow, about 17mm I think. The 4 has wider spacing.

I see you have the shirt as well 😄

Why do we sell the ones that should be keeper?

If you have adjusted to the extra string, then I think there is no going back. You are absolutely right about it being easier to go down to the B string, this will help you if you have smaller hands as the stretch between frets is much less above the 5th than below it. Good luck, go for it!

The Gibson EB5 seemed to become like Marmite, but mine knocks spots off the Fender Jazz V I used to have. Passive but powerful - pull pots change the pickups from humbuckers to single coils.

Interesting that Fender have put their hands up to a “misbuild “. What does this actually say about Fender Quality Control? If such an obvious error can get through what other faults are going by undetected?

When not playing bass I mainly play acoustic. I sold a Takamine 12 stringsome years ago because it wasn’t getting use. But I missed that lovely jangle so I bought this Taylor 654ce when I saw it and it’s superb.

Personally I like the tort scratchplate and who ever used the tug bar/ Thumb rest anyway? When I had a 74 P I changed the black scratchplate for tort because it looked so much classier! Maybe they should give you a bigger discount to keeep it 👍🏿🤑

They look great, however if weight is a concern, then read the spec. It isn’t a hollow bodied guitar but a solid with wings. I’d ask the seller to weigh it for you. I was very surprised about the Gibson Midtown which looked hollow but wasn’t and weighed 9lb. This may be similar as the construction is much the same.

Why not? Thunderbirds are old enough to have only been able to be fitted with flats back in the day! Bear in mind that generally the strings are thicker so you may need to file out the nut a bit. However faced with a similar problem I found that La Bella Low Tension Flats are much thinner than most and fitted without alternation to a bass set up for roundwound strings. Give them a try.