PatrickJ

Of my 4 current basses I've only ever gigged 1 of them, the 5 string Jazz. After the last gig I played where I only used the B string for a single song I decided to switch back to fours. Since then I'd been switching between a Fender and Sandberg PJ for rehearsals. The 4th bass in my collection, a Sandberg VM hasn't left the house. I quit the band before buying it so it's just been used for home noodling.

Not sure what is defined as super wide but for a non-leather option I've had a Levy's 3.25" Neoprene strap that was pretty comfy. https://www.levysleathers.com/product/guitar-strap-pm48np3-blk/

Sounds great, I really enjoyed that performance.

Dumb question for this thread I know but having never played a vintage Preceision can you enlighten me on the differences between the 60s and 70s neck profiles? My only 'Fender' P is a MiM PJ that has a jazz neck.

Ha, they were actually the first band I saw live when I moved to London

What is this bass? It's the most un-fender fender I've ever seen.

Amazing the previous owner hadn't done anything about it. Glad you sorted it.

Inspired by the "show us your rig!" thread and being the owner of a, quite frankly, fugly Markbass head & cabinet setup I'm now on a quest to find a good looking (and great sounding ) rig. I'd love to see some glamour shots of your amps and cabs.. I grabbed some from the aforementioned thread as a starter for this gratuitous thread (hopefully I credited the right people). @Merton @VTypeV4 @Wavemerchant @DanEly @Paddy515 @wateroftyne @Cat Burrito @jrixn1 @l. W.

Me either, I can't stand rounds these days.

From what I've seen on the BC marketplace Markbass doesn't tend to hold much resale value, even the Italian stuff. so although 750 is not a bad price it doesn't strike me as much of a good deal.

Another update from Jon. Really liking the headstock shape.

Flowers In The Window - Travis

Jaco Pastorius I wouldn't say that I'm biggest fan of Jaco's music, in fact of the list of Rotosound's endorsee' there are many more I would choose to listen to. That being said I do think Continuum is a lovely composition and some of his work with Joni Mitchell on Hejira was fantastic. However the reason I nominated him is I remember reading when I first picked up bass playing that he had a different colour silk wrap for each string. He saw notes as colours and wanted that represented within his bass - as a newbie to bass playing I really liked this connection between music and colours and it's stuck with me ever since. Now I'm a few years on in my bass journey I'm starting to play more funk I recognise Jaco's contribution to the evolution of the instrument and how the 16th note grooves he famed for have inspired so many of the players that subsequently inspire me.

Me too, I'm rehearsing the At least I'm not this guy! speech.

Nope, me too. Part of it for me is significant performance anxiety that robs a lot of the enjoyment.

Any responses thus far?

I went from playing 5's back to 4's because i just couldn't get my technique to a point where I was able to successfully keep the unwanted noise under control. Weight wasn't a problem but I do have small hands and didn't find a 5 very comfortable to play in certain positions. The difference is I only had 5's to avoid retuning or swapping guitars at a gig. for songs in alternate tunings. Other than that I rarely used the B string, it sounds like you on the other hand really value the range and positional options a fiver gives you. I'd stick with it and work on the technique intensively over the coming weeks to see if you can get it where it needs to be. It's expensive to swap guitars (I've learnt the hard way) but I don't regret getting back to 4 strings.

Good luck

I like the idea of supporting British brands more (despite actual country of product manufactoring). I have a Shuker bass being made for me at present (English elm drop top and John East pre-amp for a real English feel). My straps were hand made in the south west by Heistercamp. I've also had GAS for an Ashdown amp for a while and quite fancy giving Barefaced cabs another go. I can see me following this UK brand trend over the next few years. For me this is not about nationalism but simple pride in our nations ingenuity and a desire to support our local economy.

I've had some Ashdown pedals and didn't think too much of them, an acoustic pre-amp and the nate mendel distortion sig, but I've always fancied one of their tube / hybrid amps. If I get back into a band then I might consider an ABM - and I've had Gas for a Little Stubby for some time. Those CTMs look killer, does this mean the SVT is going up for sale?

I think I remember reading your original post on this and thinking it was interesting. Who ran the course and where was it?