Paul S

I'd imagine an Ibanez SR300 will weigh less - probably substantially so - than any Squier VM Jazz model, even the lightest ones. I have an SR800 and it is one of the lightest basses I have owned at well under 8lbs. Current and past VM Jazzes have been 9-10lbs mark. There aren't many lightweight cheaper Jazz basses around - the lightest I have tried (and now own) is the Squier Jazz Deluxe, which is around 8.5lbs and a pretty good buy. Active, if you like that kind of thing. The Ibby and Jazz won't sound the same, though.

I've had Silver Series Precision and Jazz, both were lightweight and 'proper' wood, so I took it to be Basswood. I also had an E series MIJ Squier Jazz for a while that was made of PAF. Very heavy. Sounded nice though.

Thank you all for the input. Acoustic it will be. I think I will enjoy the thrill of the chase - always nice to have something new to look for. And thanks for the explanation, Mr. Skankdelver, sir. Pitched perfectly to a complete novice Actually, not a complete novice - I had a bottom of the range Fender acoustic when I was at school in the early-mid 70s. Wish I still had it.

I am looking at buying an acoustic guitar. Or an electro-acoustic guitar. I don't know which. Use - mainly for use at home but, never say never, might be used with one band for an acoustic set. Budget - secondhand, up to around £100, but this is subject to whether or not there is a huge leap in quality just beyond that. What are the pros and cons of acoustic vs electro-acoustic? Obviously, an acoustic is going to be easier to use at home but how easy is it to get to use on stage if need be? I assume it would need miking up? Or fitting with a pick-up? I have no firm idea! And are there any particular recommendations - I searched a bit and see Yamaha in general are good value, the F310 particularly so. Any info would be great, please! ta

Just checking out the PAL stuff - Bernie Marsden on guitar? Looks like a great band - went under my radar at the time. Thanks for that. http://youtu.be/f-_-KoGN_q4

I've recently been re-acquainting myself with some old Stretch stuff, which I am really enjoying. The whole history of how the band formed, the Mick Fleetwood thing etc is really quite fascinating. Anyway - the tone of the bass in the album Elastique is just exactly what I love about Precision basses and has some lovely playing on it. Cue opening track Miss Jones: http://youtu.be/HCzT0bxI6zo According to Wikipedia (so it must be true) the bassist at that point was Paul Martinez. Is it him in the TTOP vid of 'Why Did You Do It' that is on Youtube? They seemed to chop and change bassists fairly frequently. He has a website, which says a lot about nothing in particular. Anyone know anything about him - if he is still doing it, what else he has specifically played on? 'Big Log' Robert Plant, apparently. Given that Basschat is the font of all knowledge, someone here must know him or his dentist etc Ta

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1392379085' post='2367899'] There's a lot of Squier P's going for £100 or less on ebay recently. You could always swap out the pup on that too and a neck on a Squier P is [u][b]only 43mm wide.[/b][/u] I'd be very reluctant to do anything to the Ibby as you like it. [/quote] Only 43mm? 43mm is a floorboard compared to an Ibanez 800 neck!

I personally find it hard to get a P Bass tone out of any Ibanez I have tried. There is a rather smart looking Bitsa PJ for sale on here at the moment with a Mighty Mite Jazz neck that I reckon is a bit of a bargain at £185 delivered [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/228104-fs-precision-bass-special-bitsa-blackblackmaple-now-l185/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/228104-fs-precision-bass-special-bitsa-blackblackmaple-now-l185/[/url] The neck alone would have cost £100.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1392069169' post='2364416'] How many frets you need depends on what you want to play. [/quote] Yup. I am normally firmly entrenched below 12. Then one band decided to play 'By The Way' by RHCP, which needs 21 frets to play the intro properly, and I realised I only had that on a couple of my basses. Then having learnt it (I found it quite tricky - took me ages!!) the band imploded

7 in a rack, the rest in cases or gig bags - in my 'office' (man cave). One is at the menders.

They are very good. Been enjoying a load of their others, too. Hotel California?

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1392045880' post='2363967'] He seems to liken most things to learning to drive a car to be honest [/quote] Gear Acquisition Syndrome - manual or automatic? 4 speed? 5? 6? Got to try them all.

How about OBBM?

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1392024839' post='2363605'] I don't disagree with those who are saying that differences in timbre on different strings or different frets can make a useful/important difference but the beginner doesn't need to start from there. [/quote] I'd also agree with this. All that other stuff is icing - get your cake baked first! Nuances of playing can follow later.

I was looking for some stacked knobs and was pointed in the direction of Axesrus - they do large or small bore, if you know which you need. http://www.axesrus.co.uk/Misc-s/1945.htm

[quote name='crashdesk' timestamp='1391694805' post='2360273'] That bridge looks pretty darn good. May give the coke/aluminium on a small area and if all else fails get some T-Cut. @Paul_S Did you have to polish the body at all? I will be looking to do that also. I did notice that some kind of thin glue has got onto parts of the body. For example, if you breath on it and then rub, you get this film like residue of a sticker on it. If you keep trying to polish it you end up just moving it all over the bass. Some ideas for the body would be good too. Thanks! [/quote] T Cut again, nothing complicated. I completely dismantled it to get in behind all the plates/knobs etc. And to get all the gunk out from beside the fretwires just a damp cloth and my fingernail. For really stubborn bits the blunt edge of a Stanley blade behind the cloth. I gave the rosewood board a liberal application of lemon oil as it looked really pale and dry, left it a while then buffed it up.

I have a 70s Fender Musicmaster that was rather scruffy when I picked it up. The bridge is an uncomplicated affair that comes apart quite nicely enabling you to get into the nooks and crannies. T Cut and an old toothbrush really do work wonders. Not tried the coke thing though. i wonder if Coke Zero would be the same? Maybe if I wanted to fit lighter gauge strings... [attachment=154431:musicmaster4.jpg] As an aside, I have modded it by having fitted a Precision split coil pickup with a new scratchplate and wiring loom. Sounds brilliant.

All my major GAS is cured for the moment. I have a slight hankering for an Aria Pro II single pickup CSB Cardinal Series in black - preferably the 'Black N Gold' model but the only one I have seen for sale recently was silly money. I'll wait until one pops up inexpensively.

Me, too. I give the strings a fairly hefty wallop when I get going and having the action too low just doesn't work. On two basses I've acquired fairly recently I have had to raise the action - one was a Squier Jazz Deluxe, the other a Shergold Marathon - on both the neck was virtually straight and the strings barely hovering above the frets. Yet, played lightly, no buzz. Too good for me!

I go line dancing (yeehaw etc) - and of the modern country artists I think Zac Brown Band are my current favourite. http://youtu.be/YU_8PrlRR5E http://youtu.be/k8peBbHUJzU

Taxman - a lot of basses can give you that sound, roll off the tone most of the way and you are there - including your violin! Although I would say the John Entwistle sound is at the opposite end of the scale! This Matt Freeman Squier Precision, for sale in the classifieds here, will give you the Taxman thump in spades http://basschat.co.uk/topic/227104-squier-matt-freeman-signature-precision-classic-vibe-with-maple-neck/page__pid__2348623#entry2348623 . It is one of the better Squier models and ticks most of your boxes.

Size of hands has very little to do with neck width preference, I would say. There are plenty of female bassists who play 5/6 string basses. I have fairly large hands and generally prefer narrow width necks - yet can find some wide necks reasonably comfy. Necks can vary a heck of a lot in depth which gives another variable in how they feel. It really comes down to whichever you find most comfortable which, unfortunately, means a lot of trial and error. Maybe, if you need a lightweight bass, that is the place to start from. As a rule most Jazz basses will have narrow necks but are heavier (ok, not all, but most). Ibanez SR-range basses are very lightweight and have exceptionally narrow and shallow necks. A lot of the P-Basses can be lighter in weight but have wider necks - although some models will have shallower necks. Also you might want to consider whether you want an active bass or passive one. Again, that narrows down your choices. So, for the sake of discussion, if you wanted a Fender shaped bass with two pickups that was light in weight, active and had a skinny, shallow neck you could probably head straight for a Squier Jazz Bass Deluxe or Precision Deluxe. While I have been typing this you added you want a retro sound. For me a P bass gives a retro sound, but I guess it is what type of retro sound you mean - both Precisions and Jazzes have been around a few decade. But at least that kind of eliminates the Ibanez/more modern sounding basses from the equation. Edit - Jazz/vs Precision tone - might be an idea to identify a song on which you particularly like the sound of the bass and post the YouTube on here - between us we should be able to point you in the right direction as far as tone is concerned.