Quilly

In a band with 3 other 40-somethings and a young 20 something on drums we are all equally unreliable, I.e. Either putting kids to bed or chasing tail

It's a good thing to have somebody tell you the difference between what you want and what you really need. I'm sure there's lots and lots of Rickenbacker 4003 s and SVT monsters purchased from thomann et al on line and disappointed customers discovering that their teenage object of desire isn't exactly what they thought it was. These stores don't offer advice and will happily take your hard earned cash for the white elephant of your choose. So an expert opinion is invaluable.

I had one of there for a short while but it was impracticality heave but I couldn't fault it at all for the money. Sounded great. Dont understand all the bugera hate out there.

On the other hand I did buy an SVT clone by bugera from thomann that was marked ex Demo when in fact it seemed perfectly new. It was a great amp to be fair but I got rid of her Before it caught fire and/or I got a hernia lifting it.

They look great IMO. Definitely different. And much prettier than the bongo, which is just weird looking .

I paid €1300 for a Sandberg bass from session.de. When it arrived there were definitely signs of player wear. Not much mind and the plastic scratchplate film was still intact. So I wasn't denied the pleasure of removing that baby

I found Musicman stingrays to be really reliable when you're not sure of the quality of rig you might have to play through. It was always heard in the mix.

In fairness they have basses and gear that I had never heard of before. It opened my mind to the possibility of playing excellent alternatives to the usual big brands of gear.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1426375194' post='2717531'] Why do so many builders not lacquer their necks anymore? I guess it's just a cost cutting exercise (that they don't always pass on to the customer) or maybe they just haven't got the skills to do it. Call me old fashioned but I would not even consider buying any bass or guitar with an unfinished or oil/wax finish to the neck and/or body. [/quote] Personally I really don't like that glossy nitro finish on older basses. I fing they don't rest well to sweaty hands. I much rather Matt finishes. Each to their own I guess.

Sold a stingray that I bought over 10 years ago. I wasn't playing it much and it was no longer my go-to bass. I wanted a modern jazz type bass and now I own a cracking Mayones Jabba 4. If I had the money again I still don't think I'd buy a stingray, kinda outgrew the sound of them but I still miss it being around. It was a tank of a bass. The biggest regret is selling my Warwick fretless corvette (German) it was beautiful but I couldn't justify having it. It just wasn't getting played at all and I wanted a Sandberg fretted bass. In hindsight I think I ended up with the 'correct' basses for me but they were cracking instruments.

The only thing that puts me off these basses is the silly layout of the controls. They took the guitar design and just shoehorned things like an eq , passive -active switch etc in places where it doesn't seem to be intuitive. There do look nice though.

I saw Kim Gordon break an E string at a sonic youth concert. I've never broken one, I've been playing for nearly 30 years on sone really crappy basses.

I usually play in pubs without a pa and I never needed anything more than a 2*10. My terrorbass 500 rarely sees beyond noon.

I have great time for Sandberg and Mayones. I currently have a Mayones Jabba 4 but I couldn't say it has a traditional 'jazz bass ' sound. It sounds a lot punchier, 'thicker' in my opinion

Should do. It's has more of a valvey old school tone than hi fidelity fizz.

I bought the Japanese 2 pickup version (curiously called a jaguar) it has a 28.5" neck with bass strings. To be honest I wasn't impressed with the tone from it as a bass. I restrung it with baritone guitar strings and it sounded really interesting. Like a spaghetti western guitar. I sold it on eventually. It was a bit of an oddity in my opinion and I just couldn't find a use for it. If I wanted a 6string bass I'd go out ant a proper one. This is neither here nor there.

The Seymour Duncan 'hot jazz' a nice p bass thump from them. Not scooped like the quarter pounders.

Beware when buying on-line, some of the photographic techniques used in their photography make the basses look a lot 'fresher' than in real life. I bought a couple of fenders from him that were rather tired and needed some work. In hindsight I didn't get what I should have got for a stingray that I traded in. My fault I guess. He's not the cheapest either.

I have one of the early orange terror bass amps and it completely died on 2 seperate occasions. The first time it was still under warrantee so orange repaired or for me, the second time I had it fixed locally and that fixed it for good. There's a design flaw regarding the power amp capacitors. It's been going great now for a few years. Sounds great. Top Tip: replace the 12ax7 tubes wiry 12at7 tubes. They're not as gainey and give a cleaner sound.

Just received an 08 Jabba 4 as a trade against a USA jazz. I just love this instrument. It oozes high build quality. The one I have is passive with Delano big-pole pickups and a series parallel switch. It has a great midrange punch and does what you'd expect a jazz to do. It's a bit 'dark' sounding compared to a jazz but that suits me fine. The neck is just the business. Slightly fatter than a jazz but thinner than a p bass. The hardware in general is top quality and the bass in general feels as solid as granite.