Paul S

Yes. It was like a magic trick, 3 days after I started taking it the tremor all but vanished.

I have recently welcomed a brace of medium scale basses back into the fold - having owned and sold both and tracked them down again. An Aria pro II CSB 'Black n Gold'. These are beautifully made, top end basses with an aggressive tone that is all about the mids. I've had two before but they were both too heavy to keep, usually coming in over 4kg. This one must be made of different wood as it is 3.4kg. Neck dives as a result but a wide grippy strap offsets that. lso non-original tuners and knobs but I can live with that! The other one I am massively chuffed about. A few years ago I took a punt on a Yamaha SB-35 - very little online about these - and absolutely loved it. Then I, ahem, changed to playing 5 string basses exclusively, ahem. And sold it. Biggest sellers remorse I have ever had. The 5 string only policy decision lasted less than a year, of course. Unbelievably another one came up just before the new year, think I flagged it up on here, and as it stood was too heavy at 4.1kg. Luckily no-one bought it so I did, largely for old times sake, and presented it to the guy who does all my tech stuff to see what he could do to lose weight. He routed out 400g of wood from under the scratch plate - voila, no longer too heavy. I 'could' change the tuners to Hipshots or similar but these are superb and it would be a shame to take them off. Anyway, seems OK now at 3.7kg and a wide strap. No neck dive, either, despite the weight loss. This is a special bass and I am not going to sell it, ever.

I've had this done a couple of times. A few years ago now @Andyjr1515 of this very parish slimmed down a neck for me - a NOS Marathon bass neck - to make it nearer Jazz proportions. More recently a local guy Leighton Jennings took caliper measurements from what was for me a perfect EROS P bass neck and slimmed down a very chunky Allparts neck to mimick it. Both were extremely succcessful.

Did anyone mention early Commodores, before Lionel Ritchie took over the singing and went and spoiled it. Brick House, for me, is a distillation of everything the 1970s had to offer, funk-wise.

Great band. Carmine Appice was a force of nature. Theyt do a fab cover of Long Tall Sally, really powerful. This song is a regular in my band's set list - here at the John Peel Centre, Stowmarket 4 years ago now! We seem to play it faster!

I have a low grade neurological condition called 'Essential Tremor' (shaky hands, basically) and would have most likely have had to stop playing a year or so ago were it not for certain drugs that keep it pegged back.

My turn - Moondance!

For a tight(wad) budget, all my short scales (incl. Fender Mustang, Gibson SG) fit into this Thomann E-Guitar gig bag deluxe, currently £25 which is £2 less than I paid a couple of years ago. A couple of my medium scales also fit in it, although a recent Aria Pro II CSB is a little bit too long. It has a decent amount of padding, more than good enough to caddy from car to gig/rehearsal. And it fits sideways in my boot, which I like. https://www.thomann.co.uk/thomann_gigbag_deluxe_egitarre.htm

I learnt guitar playing along to the early Status Quo album Piledriver so when I migrated over to bass that's what I did as well. Nothing complicated and nothing's changed.

One for Gollum. Has to be said I am digging the Artex on the walls - don't see that often these days.

This listing on eBay (not mine) has less than a day to go. Vantage Avenger. Looks nice! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326408937508

My one and only dalliance with the world of tube amps - a Mesa Boogie Four:88. The very first time I used it in anger one of the valves blew during soundcheck and it took most of the pcb with it. It wasn't a cheap repair. Had a back up amp in the boot so all good in that respect. Truth be told I preferred the sound of my trusty old Trace Elliot anyway.

I think it would only be a fetish if you showered whist wearing a gig bag, rather than simply accompanied by one, and were unable to take a shower unless so attired. Anything else is just harmless fun.

Headstock looks 'right' somehow, unlike the Fenderbirds (IMO etc etc)

😂 It's like a scab you can't stop picking, isn't it! 😂

is it good?

The place I got mine from is out of stock, obvs, but it seems eBay has come up trumps! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285966903916?chn=ps&_ul=GB&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=285966903916&targetid=2361039923645&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9194237&poi=&campaignid=21697381820&mkgroupid=170109506289&rlsatarget=pla-2361039923645&abcId=10027101&merchantid=6995734&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAs5i8BhDmARIsAGE4xHxl3nhyi7PcPfFBUTxxKakp2RC-ApwwqpPj_tnMKsVWURunQbs0bVUaArHzEALw_wcB

I recently bought a couple of sheets of Decadry white dots, much the same as the old Letraset, which is a dry transfer - put the thing dot side down then burnish the back so it leaves the paper and sticks onto whatever you have stuck it on. In this case the side of the neck. Similar to the one ozzyrocks mentions above but massively cheaper (yes, I am a tightwad). It is undetectable to the touch and seems pretty durable. So far so good. Maybe a quick lacquer would help, if necessary. But it saves all that business with the UV pen which I found doesn't really work that effectively for long enough with glowdots or luminlay.

That's nice Nik. What bridge is it, just out of curiosity?

I had an MIJ Faker that the massed brains of Basschat couldn't pin down to any particular maker/distributor, blank trc, nothing on the pickups. It was fantastic - looked and sounded just like a real one to my ears and eyes. But heavy! Too heavy for me to wear comfortably for any length of time. Broke my heart to move it on but it now resides with @silverfoxnik I believe.

Oh oh. Better hope @prowla doesn't spot this. Ah. 😂 Some of the nicest basses I have owned have been Squiers. My old JV P bass was the best P bass I have held in my hands. Absolutely gorgeous. I've always tended to listen to my basses with my ears, not my eyes*. *Apart from anything with a tort plate, obvs...

Menorca - the most beautiful of places! Where in Menorca is home?

Wow! 😂 I guess 'people' might struggle with the complicated bits, Sherlock, but you could always give it a try. 😂

Good heavens, no. It is just that bragging how clever you are in front of a load of strangers seems such a weird thing to do that it is kind of memorable. And you've done it twice, now, not once. There's another guy on the forum who is also fond of mentioning his astronomical IQ. Could he wrong - in fact clearly I am - but I had the notion that MENSA folk had a code not to mention it.

Here we go again. The weight of a bass is not remotely important right up until something happens to you whereafter it is the only thing of importance. If it doesn't matter to you - well done, pray it stays like it. For those of us with back issues saving the weight of 4 mars bars at the headstock end can actually make the difference as to being able to move the day after a gig. Saying 'then honestly you need eat more red meat or hit the gym to build muscle mass' is just shallow thinking and rude - from a guy who frequently reminds us he is a MENSA member even more so. Remember, children - other people's experiences may vary from your own. 🙄