Paul S

I have found that I prefer a wider string spacing for my rather agricultural finger style playing, which I seem to be employing with increasing frequency. With a pick I am happiest with 16mm but prefer 18 or 19mm when fitting my fat fingers in there.

That's because I am a tightwad

I'd nominate 'Another Brick In The Wall (pt 2) if no-one else has. Especially on the outro. The bass in Tom Petty's 'Break Down' lays down the vibe for the whole song, too.

I lied! 45mm nut width. Sorry about that, I mis-remembered.

Do have a photo? 😄 Go on then...

I have a Jake 5 string with a 43mm nut width that weighs 8lbs. Yes, a 5 string. Lovely thing it is too. So a 4 string will weigh a decent chunk less.

I had a Silver Series Precision once and, straight out of the box, it was one of the nicest Precisions I have ever owned or played. And when I then consider it cost me under £200 in terms of vfm it couldn't be beaten. I should never have sold it - lightweight, 40mm neck and, the best thing, the most fantastic woody tone. I've had a handful of other A series, E series MIJ Squier Ps and a couple of JVs (still have one) and although not as good as the JVs (but a fraction of the price) it was as good as the others. IMO etc.

My sister has bad rheumatoid arthritis and used them for a spell when she had to go off her usual meds. She said they helped but only a bit.

I am currently tempted by this Danelectro - the single cut 56 bass, which is short scale and very lightweight. Not as, ahem, 'distinctive' as the Longhorn. At the moment Amazon have it listed for pre-order, currently out of stock, at a stupid low price of £232.40 compared to the rest of the bunch at c£450.

A casa mia

I absolutely love this idea. Might well do it.

The 'one hit wonder' band Stretch had an excellent track on their album Elastique called 'Navy Blues' which is an undisguised song about an adult man lusting after a schoolgirl. The vocal has been double-tracked with a kind of breathless, dirty phone call effect (especially at the end) so I am guessing it was a swipe at paedos* (especially in the context of 'Why Did You Do it' being an angry song directed at Mick Fleetwood - the reason the band got together iirc). But even though I think it is an exceptionally fine song (bass tone to die for and superb guitar solo) I do feel slightly uncomfortable listening to it. Mind you it is so obscure I don't suppose many people would have heard it anyway *yes, I know, paedos don't always talk like that. Be a bit of a giveaway if they did.

How about some nylon tapewounds?

Hiscox are very good. I prefer the fitted SKB ones as they fit a P bass quite snugly inside and the latches seem tougher but that's just my preference. I am by no means lightweight (100kg +/-) and have been known to stand on both cases, with basses inside, to prove a point about how tough they are.

I live on the edge, me. I write cheques. I cross the road, too, sometimes. I just don't care.

I absolutely love these old ones with the split coil pickup. Sadly they are too heavy for me. The later models (version III?) with the Magnabass pickups were lighter in weight but don't have the same dark quality about them that those beefy old basses have.

I've had a bank account since I was 17. So that is nearly 45 years. For the first 42 or more of those years I paid for stuff - like the rest of the world - by writing cheques, which have my name, sort code and bank account details quite clearly written on them. No one has cleared me out of money or set up hooky DDs. I think you must be mistaken.

So they started off chrome? 🤢

I've been watching them live since they started, not necessarily the MK factor but just because I like the music. Always highly energetic. I think the current live line up is my favourite (the Alan Murphy era was shaping up nicely but sadly cut short) and the recording from a couple of years back, Sirens, saw what I believed to be a return to form of the purer jazz funk style rather than the poppier stuff. On their touring years I try to see them at least twice, generally three times if the itinerary allows and am looking forward to 2020! So I see this as a pointless cover of a dreary tune. Better than the original - they have managed to instill it with a semblance of life - but, well, just why? IMO, YMMV etc etc.

Fixed.

I don't suppose you've got a music stand tucked away out of shot? Might as well go for the full hand of faux-pas.

Off on a tangent, I know, but - pizza. If I am ever in shouting distance of Herne Bay I will try to manufacture a reason to stay for dinner. Bizarrely, given its location and demographic, Herne Bay has the best Italian restaurant I have ever been to in England. Run by a family of Italians, a wood fired pizza oven in the middle of the ground floor so you can see your pizza being made and cooked. I thanked the owner for making me the best pizza I had tasted in England and he proudly boasted that they had been awarded an accolade by a visiting deputation of pizza cognoscenti from Naples - the pizza equivalent of a Michelin star - the only pizza restaurant in England to receive such a thing.

Damnation.

Rewind the A string but force it downwards so that it wraps around the lower part of the tuner pole. That will increase the break angle at the nut and stop it popping out.