TrevorR

[quote name='DavidMcKay' timestamp='1445204280' post='2889650'] [color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I wasn't asking for anything other than A or B.[/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]As my old English teacher was fond of saying to the class, "Doesn't matter how good you think you answer is if you fail to answer the question."[/font][/color] [/quote] Nope, perfectly valid answer. Which one would you go for? Neither, don't find either aesthetically pleasing and both have red flag features whether it's the single pickup on one or the maple fingerboard on the other. That counts both out for me. And in answer to the inevitable challenge - but if I said "Here, you could have either for free!" then which one would you go for? It would purely be the one with the higher resale value - and that's REALLY not the question you're trying to answer!

If it's not cleared up in a couple of months then getting it checked out is definitely a good idea.

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1445177656' post='2889293'] Neither I wouldn't give either a second glance. They do nothing for me. [/quote] +1

http://youtu.be/kQFKtI6gn9Y

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1445190991' post='2889489'] As to the many complaints about feeling detached etc it seems to me that there is an element of perseverance involved to allow the wearing of plugs to become the norm... ...When we change any other technique (changing picking style, thumb round vs thumb behind, finger style to slap whatever) we just have to work through the "but it feels awkward" phase until it feels more natural. I'm sure that the same sort of principle applies with plugs. It certainly did for me and now they just feel natural for me (just quieter). [/quote] I'd be interested to know whether others who have preserved with plugs found that they adjusted over time and found the detachment to be less of an issue. That was my experience but I wonder how many others found the same.

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1445168926' post='2889218'] If you've got to the point of considering ear plugs you're probably well into damaged hearing territory. If you want to keep playing in a loud environment then earplugs are your only solution. It doesn't matter how much sound or tone you miss by wearing them, if you don't use plugs then what you will end up with is no definition at all in your (diminished) hearing. Get moulded plugs with proper filters, I use ACS and my compromised hearing has remained pretty much stable for the last 8 years. It doesn't matter what they sound like. It's a very easy choice, learn to love them or stop playing. This is as good as it gets and with anything less you'll be missing a significant part of your ability to hear before your much older. [/quote] [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1445169075' post='2889219'] I don't get the good ear bad ear stuff. If you played in a band for any length of time you've got a bad ear and a worse ear. [/quote] [quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1445174869' post='2889268'] Go see a professional audiologist and get a hearing test in a sound proof booth with properly calibrated equipment. I would recommend the expense of custom moulded plugs, I have some ACS ER26 which is the strongest removable filter, and normal conversation is quite possible when wearing them, they really do reduce the incoming volume enormously while retaining clarity and are much more comfortable to wear than generic foam or silicon mushroom plugs. [/quote] I think that nails it for me. I've tried a wide range of plugs - cheap foam(pointless, not much money but still a waste of it). Etymotic, Docs Pro Plugs, Alpine Music Safe Pro. Of the aftermarket ones it was the Alpines which I stuck with for the longest and found the most useful. I liked the ability to change the attenuation level with different inserts. However, when I got my UE in ears done I also got a set of plugs with swappable DBS filters. Really were a step above the aftermarket ones. Full range reduction but so much more usable/clearer than the cheaper ones. As to the many complaints about feeling detached etc it seems to me that there is an element of perseverance involved to allow the wearing of plugs to become the norm. I see a lot of guys wear them for two songs and then pull one out. I'm convinced that if one keeps on doing that they will always feel really unnatural. As others have said. It's a choice - make it work, suffer even more serious hearing loss or stops playing altogether. When we change any other technique (changing picking style, thumb round vs thumb behind, finger style to slap whatever) we just have to work through the "but it feels awkward" phase until it feels more natural. I'm sure that the same sort of principle applies with plugs. It certainly did for me and now they just feel natural for me (just quieter). And, hey, if I look a bit Mutt and Jeff and say, "Pardon?" a bit while wearing them in th e10 mins before a set (I always do this to give more pre-set acclimatisation time) it's a small price to pay to protect my hearing...

And it's the AwakenWal... https://open.spotify.com/track/4DQ2LaCYTlmoQwJApaXIHU http://youtu.be/HaTrjZBzuKE

I am absolutely sure that it IS Sting's own bass and I am absolutely sure that it was delivered to his management's office by Fender the day before he flew to Norway! 4 hours to go and £2600...

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1445088901' post='2888722'] I am so out of my depth here that it's not even funny, but I am genuinely enjoying trying to follow all this. [/quote] Those who have studied these things properly will cringe at this as is is very much a paraphrase rather than an academic treatise (it annoys the heck out of my nephew who studied music at Goldsmiths). But for the average muso you could do worse than the explanation of Pythagorean theory and tempering in scales in Howard Goodall's Big Bangs. A nicely simplified and populist explanation... http://youtu.be/41g2fSYZ4Sc Apologies to those who have looked at this properly...

[quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1445098933' post='2888804'] Secondhand Squier VMJ (or maybe a £40 Harley Benton Deko Jazz, if one came up), a loud amp that works, and a lead to connect the two. Oh, and a strap. Jon. [/quote] I'd add a headstock clip tuner but that's about it for need. But what's the fun in need?

Yup, French style... More like "TAWM-bruh" but with a slightly guttural sound at the back of the throat on the "r" http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/timbre I'd go for the UK pronunciation for preference myself...

+1 My first port f call for strings and bits...

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1445086932' post='2888713'] Not showing up any more. Let me guess, it was the Great Wal of China. Hadrian's Wal would be next and then the comparatively lightweight Berlin Wal, although Jeff wasn't entirely happy with the neck profile and traded it in [/quote] I'm guessing it might be this beastie...

All off at once, clean-oil-polish the fingerboard, relubricate all the bits the strings pass over and then restring from E up to G. Usually every 6 months or so - but then I'm not playing as much as I used to, don't punish the strings too much with my playing and have pretty dry hands when I'm playing so strings have always lasted pretty well for me. Been using Picato stainless steel rounds 45-105 recently which seem like very nice strings.

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1444984599' post='2887803'] Is that a Wal? I thought it was a Stingray. Perhaps I should post the link on the 'I hate Wals' thread. [/quote] Yeah, he forsook his beloved Ricky's and Stingray for a short while used a Wal for a few years while he was playing with Elton... Heh heh heh... that would be naughty... You shouldn't tease!

I wonder if it will sound as good as this fine Kay guitar from the 1970s (ass advertised in the Gratton catologue)... [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/turquoisemoleeater/guitars/KayLPFX.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='DavidMcKay' timestamp='1444988778' post='2887860'] Rob - you just had to go and do the W thing didn't you! [/quote] Mummy! Mummy! Rob said a rude word! He said "W**"!

Hey there, welcome to Basschat. I'm not IN Truro but WAS many long moons ago til I moved over the border. Sure you'll find lots of really great advice here.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1444892765' post='2886977'] Thanks Blue [/quote] So any results or conclusions from your experiments yet? Curious to know...

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1444907806' post='2887165'] It's about consistency and rarity. The OP doesn't seem to be particularly enamoured with Wals but that's what made the second hand values so high. [/quote] Well, that's the example I was thinking of but I didn't want to mention the "W" word...

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1444904694' post='2887116'] ...then you don't need anything other than a P or a J bass or their non-Fender equivalents... ...Anything more expensive or better-made is purely down to personal taste... isn't it? [/quote] Yup, as so often in such debates it comes down to the "needs"/"fancies" decision. For my car it's always been a "needs" decision. My basses have largely been in the "fancies" camp...

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1444857368' post='2886826'] No, sorry, guys. These all pale into insignificance compared with this. I just wish I knew how to recreate it. http://youtu.be/porkY6I0LLc [/quote] Ah, the fabulous Davey Paton. One of my fave players. Recorded in his brief Wal using phase IIRC. GREAT LINE, AMAZING TONE!

It is just the way that markets work (and that is not always in a rational way). The market price for an item is just whatever the market will bear at any point in time. I was having a chat over a cuppa last week with a friend who is an auction appraiser. He's currently curating the auction of a very famous person's memorabilia collection. It was interesting to hear him talking about Ho sprites change over time. How, for instance, about 15-20 years ago Buddy Holly merchandise commanded huge premiums in auctions. The same items are currently worth half to two thirds what they were back then. The market has peaked, the buyers now aren't buying that stuff. On the other hand, Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious or other similar vintage gear is more sought after and now commands higher prices. A second hand Ritter or Carl Thompson or whatever boutique luthier built bass currently commands £XXXX on the second hand market. If any of those makers walked under a bus tomorrow the second hand market prices would sky rocket - there would have been no change in the quality of the basses available but the market would bear higher prices through a range of emotional and economic factors. They would be seen as rarities because no more would be made. They wouldn't be any better basses or have more intrinsic value. Look at what happened to Zemaitis instrument prices once he died... On average second hand basses achieve whatever the market decides they will achieve and that is rarely directly proportional to the type of factors which have been stated here as things which should count towards their value. Crazy, but that's markets for you.

I was going to suggest the Dunlops too. It's what I use on all my basses and I really like them.

[quote name='grandad' timestamp='1444839609' post='2886585'] [url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_version[/url] Anyone ever tried to cover 4' 33"? [/quote] There is a wonderful urban myth (that turns out to be true) that on one of his post Wombles records Mike Batt left a slightly longer than usual runoff groove and called it One Minute Of Silence. He then got sued by John Cage's estate for infringement of copyright! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-11964995