Pseudonym

Maybe we're spoilt for choice these days. As several people have said here, there's a formidable amount of material with few good ways to sort through it -- and every recording made today is subject to comparison with decades of readily available recordings. A Briton of my age and tastes had certain predictable ways to get into music: lots of gigs, specialised radio shows, a lively and partisan music press, subcultural word of mouth, trial-and-error record purchases etc. That process took time and money, but it was almost a rite of passage. Whatever it was that you liked about the music -- technical virtuosity, emotional heft, a connection with your own life -- you probably grasped why you responded to it, and who you were as you did so. Today, it's both easier and more difficult to conduct that kind of deeply personal aesthetic courtship. I don't think music is getting worse. I do think that my old habits need occasional adjustment.

Cheers for the warm welcome. I've wandered around a bit and this looks like a proper place. There's even a photo of my old supermarket on a "General Discussions" thread, so I already feel at home.

This is slightly tangential and I'm new here, but I offer my experience with late-'80s MIJ Fender guitars in case it is helpful. I bought my first MIJ Strat new in 1987. I bought an identical guitar three years later. Build years were probably 1986 and 1989 respectively. They were both fantastic: very well constucted, with some of the tidiest wiring I have ever seen. At least as well built as the early-'80s US Precision I had at the time. I was distraught when I lost them. The only difference between the two Strats was tonal, and it seemed to be down to the wood used. Both sounded good, but they did sound quite different through amps, played unamplified, and especially when I rapped the body with my knuckles. Possibly it was just chance that the differences were even noticeable. If the basses are like that, however, the inherent sound might vary quite a bit from one example to another. If it were my money, I'd want to be comfortable with how it sounds unplugged as well as amplified -- and, if satisfied, I'd be extremely optimistic.

Greetings to all. I'm a British writer based in the U.S. who records music for relaxation and for creative procrastination. I play guitar and flirt with keyboards, but don't play live. Bass was my second instrument until I sold a thoroughly battered Fender Precision for a pittance in 1989. Thirty years without a bass is definitely too long, so I'm getting reacquainted with the subject. I'm here to learn and to contribute from time to time. Looking forward to getting back into it. Best wishes, and see you around.