Paul S

How annoying! he was obviously a shoe-in, you were plan B. Wish them all the best and move on.

Sounds about right Baz. I have to dial off the lows a bit through my BF Two10 so, yes, plenty of bottom I make sure I have my compressor turned off as it adds too much fatnesss with both but otherwise it sits my needs nicely. I was using a Behringer BDI and this is a couple of steps up from that. I read someone this is a knockoff Sansamp?

I ought one of these on here and it does this very thing nicely. Seems very 'organic' and responsive to how much attack you play with.

I wonder how many were made?

Looks like she could do with a new corset - the old one looks to have shrunk. That is a lovely job, you must feel a great sense of satisfaction from such transformation. The grain is just alive now!

I moved mine to the upper bout in a 'normal' position - there is plenty of wood for the screw to bite into. I carried out some exhaustive tests first, of course, to make sure. I knocked it to see if it sounded hollow and screwed it to a bit that didn't 🤨

Michael answered my plea for a set of strings which arrived next day with a free badge, too! Cannot ask for more

The Hohner 5 string clan have pretty tight string spacing, which might not necessarily be a deal breaker but worth a pause for thought. Another contender I had completely forgotten about until just now - I had a Fender MB-5 for a short while. 7lbs, real live MIJ Fender that can be bought second hand for £300 - £350 because they were never popular. Passive Jazz in tone but different shape.

I'm in a similar position with my blues/rock band - could do with an upgrade. These columns are interesting - not encountered one for a full band before. Daft question but I guess you have a seperate desk to mix all the inputs and output that through this?

Would one of these work? https://www.completecareshop.co.uk/household-aids/general-aids/shopping-bag-holder-grip-view-large

Is that the one you are going to sell to me? Bit of a tight string spacing, mind.

And the video. You forgot to mention the video. There, that's me outed as a shallow chauvinist.

Totally. Any system is only as good as the laziest participant. My blues trio use Whatsapp for general chat and Timetree for an online diary, which works because there are only three of us. The Jovi band discuss things via Whatsapp then Doodle for nailing down dates. Google got too complicated as everyone is in multiple bands and we aren't too busy anyway so pumping out the odd Doodle isn't a chore.

Indeed. As per my signature I play in a Bon Jovi tribute and I probably enjoy playing this one more than any of the others. MASSIVE wave of emotion comes back from the crowd as soon as you hit the notes. Hugh McDonald was/is a damned fine bass player, as it goes, and wrote most f the basslines for the songs.

With the added bonus that you could have a entire pool of deps and no-one would be any the wiser.

I'm not a small chap and have fairly large hands but I find short scale basses really comfy to play. One of my current team is a Squier VM Mustang and I'd say if you can find one of these snap it up as they are very nice indeed, as long as you don't mind a fairly narrow neck. A previous owner had swapped the pickup for a Nordstrand NM4 and it sounds absolutely lovely, from a deep thud with the tone rolled off to a biting gnarly sound with the tone full on. So, yes, Mustangs can sound nice and growly. Here is an old clip of the average White Band with Hamish playing a gnarly sounding Mustang. He isn't a small guy either. On Ebay at the moment I noticed there are two Squier Vista Series Musicmasters for sale. One of them over-priced, one pretty reasonable. By Squier standards they aren't cheap but these Vista Series Musicmasters are a one of those jewels in the Squier back catalogue and very nice indeed. They have particularly growly pickups, proper adjustable bridge with a string through option and a wider neck. At one point I had a '79 Fender Musicmaster that I'd modded with a P pickup, one of these Vista series and a Squier VM Mustang, I'd say the Vista was the pick of the bunch. Sold them all, of course, when I moved to 5 string basses, now edging back to 4 string short scale again....

That's quite funny There's nowt wrong with these. As above, I have one of the Black N Gold versions of these and it puts a lot of much more expensive basses I have owned to shame in terms of fit and finish.

This Aria Pro II CSB 300 has just been popped up on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1983-Aria-Pro-II-CSB-300-Cardinal-Series-Vintage-Bass-Guitar-Japan-Matsumoku/233469993982?hash=item365be563fe%3Ag%3A-BAAAOSwkfReJLfj&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Exactly. All about context. In the 60s Clapton, Hendrix, Peter Green, Jeff Beck, Jimi Page et al started something of a revolution which became the foundation for what we have now. Same with EVH - a lot of folks feel his tapping etc is old hat but, at the time, he was the first to do it in the context of a rock band. If he hadn't done that it is unlikely that Steve Vai/Satch/Ingwe would have moved it along a bit. Anyway, no shredding here either - lovely version with a Hammond in place of the strings 😉

Edging its way forward in my affections is my Frankenstein bass, which is the body of an old cheapo Encore double cutaway married to the neck of a Hondo II H-1015 with a Ki0gon loom and an Entwistle P pickup. It is remarkably good and only 3.1kg. Its just been promoted from home practice and rehearsals to gig back up. I think I may give it a try out next gig, has a different kind of vibe to the Gibson LP Jnr DC.

I've had both and currently have the BF cover on mine. The BF ones have more padding, are stiffer and offer more protection. They also have 'Barefaced' written on the side that covers the grill so you know which way round they go The Roqsolid ones fold down easier and keep the weather off but offer little protection, although you can get one with a pouch that allows a sheet of something stiff to be slid into place to protect the grill. Depends what you want it to do really and whether you have steel or cloth grill? I have the steel grill, which is pretty hard wearing and will take some knocks, so I mainly need a cover to keep the weather off when loading in or out at gigs and was perfectly happy with the Roqsolid ones. It just so happens that my latest acquisitions were secondhand and both came with the BF covers.

Gosh, nit-picking or what! Not much planned for today? How about 'the perfect vintage and gnarly tone in his head' which may be different to the perfect vintage and gnarly tone in your head, and also mine. Does that work for you any better? 😁