Russ

I have a herniated disc between my C5 and C6 vertebrae, so upper backache is a thing. I had physiotherapy, and luckily I got a guy who was experienced with musicians and explained some of how the weight of an instrument is distributed. Based on his suggestions, I raised my bass up from just above waist height to mid-belly height and it's made a big difference. In terms of the biomechanics, it's now sitting in a spot where the muscles in the middle of your back are compensating your balance instead of the muscles higher up your back and in your shoulders. Also, the lower you have your bass, the more work your shoulders and upper back have to do because of the position of your arms. You have to raise your elbows a little to keep your wrists straight, but not a lot, and it becomes second nature after a while. Conversely, if you have lower back pain, wear the bass lower as it moves the distribution of the weight upwards, which sounds counter-intuitive, but it works. There's a "sweet spot" there that you'll find. Setlists - bigger font and use more sheets of paper? Screen on pedalboard - if you're a Zoom guy, consider an upgrade to the B6. The screen is bigger, brighter and, most importantly, in colour - there's different colours for the different blocks, which makes differentiating them without having to necessarily read them much easier. Love my B6. Just wish it was a full steel chassis and had a built-in expression pedal. It has all the same stuff in it as your one, so recreating your patches will be easy.

I still want them to put the guts of the current HX Stomp into the case of the POD Go Wireless, so you have a proper, small one-box gigging solution that's more usable than the current HX Stomp and less of a compromise than the current POD Go, and has the built-in expression pedal, wireless system, etc. They could rename it the HX Go. It could stand to gain an XLR output too, perhaps.

It looks awesome, but not £2k awesome. I love me some effects, but even I don't need something that extensive. Was hoping for an updated HX Stomp or POD Go.

I dropped you an email the other day about it - hopefully you saw it. I'm looking for something that basically apes the MM Bongo preamp, with those particular frequency centres, so if the Flexcore can have its frequencies adjusted to match the MM ones, then it could be a goer.

Glad to hear it, John. Going to drop you an email about possibly ordering a couple of custom preamps - ever done a 4-band (with low/high mids)?

Just a note of caution... beware if you have a sensitivity to silicone. I had no idea I had one, but then I decided to buy a U-Bass, and started getting rashes on my fingers when I played it. So it ended up getting returned. Great sound with a proper upright "thud", weighs nothing, but is not hypoallergenic!

Hoping John is OK. I know he's had some health issues over the past couple of years but he's always bounced back. I did notice Maruszczyk have taken his preamps off their options list.

My mistake then. I think, at some point, they did drop the switch. Might have been when they "soft-rebooted" the Sterling line a few years back.

The old SB14s (the original Sterling series) were very close to the US Sterlings - all they were missing was the coil selector switch. I'm actually still looking for a CAR one! Most MM replacement pickups are made to replicate the Stingray pickup - the Sterling pickup is more like a 4-string version of the pickup in the Stingray 5, with alnico magnets and a phantom noise-cancelling coil. Delano do an alnico MM pickup that'd probably a closer match to the Sterling than the Nordstrand. As for a replacement EQ, the Retrovibe one gets very close to the original Stingray preamp and it's stupid cheap. I'd actually leave the stock circuit alone as it's close enough to the original and maybe just upgrade the pickup.

One place where G&L have found a bit of a niche is amongst cash-strapped Tool fans. Out of the box, they probably have the closest thing to a Wal sound of any production bass. Obviously the electronics are very different, but they have a very similar character in the high mids. So a lot of Tool fans have been gravitating towards them as it gets them "close enough" to the Chancellor Wal tone.

The 5s are 17.5mm, whether it's a US or Tribute model. They're very similar - the Tributes have flatsawn maple necks compared to the quartersawn ones on the US models, they come in a much more limited range of finishes, and the body woods tend to be heavier, but, otherwise, they're practically identical. The pickups and electronics are the same. G&L Tributes are one of the best bargains out there, basically, and are criminally overlooked, considering their Leo Fender lineage.

Just another couple of names for the list - I seem to recall he was playing Canadian Lado basses for a while. I can't find a picture of him with it, but I'm pretty sure it was one of these: He also played an Ibanez Sabre-style bass that was a kinda flip blue/purple colour. EDIT: Joe Lado is now 80 years old and is still building guitars. They also have a FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ladoguitars

Actually been finding myself wanting a late-80s Longhorn (b*ner) Jazz as of late. They're over 30 years old so they're classed as "vintage" now and they're still quite affordable.

I'm still waiting for some consensus on their long-term reliability. I haven't heard nearly the amount of complaints that I've heard about the old Portaflex series and the SVT-7, but I have heard a few. Mostly about the lower-powered models, strangely.

Martin have a new short-scale acoustic bass, the 000C Junior. They're actually guitar scale (24.9"), but sound very full and play like an electric. No 5-string yet, although I am trying to persuade them. DISCLAIMER: I work for Martin. But I don't get anything extra for pimping their stuff on websites.