vonbladet

I was just playing through mine (which I've had for a couple of years) last night and thinking how much I liked it. I would have paid (a bit) more for something (quite a lot) sturdier, if there was such a tradeoff.

[quote name='jacko' timestamp='1498214018' post='3323150']
Hard to believe but despite having been a fan of Stanley since the 70's I now find him a bit tedious and would much rather see ZZ Top again.
[/quote]

Speaking of bands who [i]do[/i] make it to Birmingham. (Which is where I saw them on their last tour.)

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1500220788' post='3336280']
I'd strongly recommend the J&D '75 Jazz Bass - £109 and better than the Affinity Jazz I used to have.
[/quote]

I never had an Affinity Jazz but I am very happy with my J&D '75. I hear good things about the Harley-Benton JB-75, too. Basically anything with a 75 in the name and block inlays will be fine. A shoot out between those two, the Squier 70s VM (which is billed as a maple body) and maybe the Affinity would make a good YouTube video.

[quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1447886618' post='2911319']
It needs a new battery, set of strings (don't know whether to use roto nexus or nylon tapewounds), some lemon oil and a bloody good polish, but I like it.

What are the controls on these beasts?
[/quote]

Series-parallel toggle, active-passive toggle (you don't need a battery unless you like that kind of thing!), volume, regular tone, active tone (I think it's a fixed Q boost with sweepable frequency, but I use the passive switch on mine to not have to find out).

[quote name='chaypup' timestamp='1447609455' post='2908888']
Bottom of the range, bolt on neck entry level bass.
[/quote]
[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1447610196' post='2908903']
My first bass was a Thunder 1A - compared to most of the other stuff at the time it was a great bass....
[/quote]

My first bass still [i]is[/i] a Thunder 1A. I'm a fairly rudimentary player, but I haven't shown any signs of outgrowing it yet. I put D'Addario Chromes on it and keep it in passive mode and it magically turned into a heavy, poorly balanced but otherwise pretty decent P-bass. The hardware is solid, the wood is decent, the electronics are functional, and it sounds like a P-bass sounds. Anyone hoping for a budget Wal or something should keep looking, but it does a perfectly good job of what it does.

(My second, and very recent, bass is a J&D jazz bass that - literally - cost less than my wife's most recent pair of shoes, and that's fine too as far as I can tell. It is possible that I am both cheap and easy to please.)

Apart from Sid Vicious there's that Stuart Sutcliffe from the Silver Beetles. I told them "You'll never get anywhere with that muppet on bass - he's faking it most of the time and when he isn't you wish he was." But would they listen?