Paul S

I've never spent massive amounts on basses but, even so, seem to be slowly but surely decreasing the amount I spend. Time was I'd spend £1K +/- but nowdays I tend to cap at around £400. The most I paid for a bass was £1500 4 years ago for a custom spec lightweight Maruszyzck Jake 5. Same spec now would be £2000. I sold it once my need for a good 5er had passed. Of those I still own the next most expensive outlay was £780 on a Gibson LP Jnr DC soon after they came out. My most valuable bass is a Squier JV Precision, worth around £800 in the unlikely event I sell it. One day, I guess. Other than that, all sub-£400 and down to £70 I paid for a new HB PB Shorty. I enjoy and play them all and honestly can't see me paying much more in future. Unless the sub 8lb Rickenbacker 4001 comes along, anyway

A sub-8lb Rickenbacker 4001 in Jetglo.

IIRC the bass player with the Bootleg Beatles was a righty who learnt lefty for the part.

Back in the day there used to be a female detective at Basildon who used to do this exact thing when sufficiently inebriated. Or sober, tbf.

My reasons initially were to lose the brittle high end that I am not keen on and also lose the rough feel of rounds. But key to my total immersion in flats was finding the right ones for me. Not all flats are created equal. My epiphany was trying TI Flats which, for me, have it all. They are bright but not brittle, smooth but not glassy and I love the low tension.

I like what a J pickup adds to a P but miss what it takes away even more so, generally, if I encounter a J bridge pickup on a P-type bass I'll ignore it. I actually removed one from one of my Yamaha BBs to the consternation of one or two BB fans here I do have 2 basses at the moment with twin pickups, albeit not P/Js, where I actually prefer the bended tone. I have a Retrovibe Renegade faker with Rick-style pickups. For me and that particular bass the sound I like is everything full on and the pickup selector centred. It isn't as clanky as a proper Rick but, actually, I think that is in its favour as I prefer the mellow tone more. But it still has that odd hollow Rick thing going on. Also I recently acquired an Epiphone Thunderbird IV Classic Pro - the one with a through neck and Gibson pickups, on which the controls are VVT. With that I stick everything on full then just back off the neck pickup V a touch - there shortly comes a point when there is a sudden sweet spot, almost a boost. That is the where the money is for me. Haven't used it in a band context yet (Friday, can't wait ) but feel it will claim it's place just nicely. As an aside - having owned, sold and missed a Gibson TBird I thought I'd take a chance on the Classic Pro, believing it would somehow be a lesser thing but sufficiently TBirdy to scratch the itch without spending Gibson money. But you know what? - I can't actually tell the difference in how this Epi plays or sounds compared to the Gibson. I am sure there must have been corners cut with hardware and electrics but clearly not where it matters. If I were to stick a Gibson truss rod cover on it (which I won't) I bet no-one would be able to tell the difference. Quite an astonsihing bass, all things considered - especially the price But nowt to do with PJs, so apologies for the ramble.

I like to think of him as an early, but discarded, prototype of Rodin's 'The Thinker'

Or a nearby weighbridge, perhaps?

Probably an idea to mention it, though. It is kind of what the feedback system is for. If there are folks out there who are not prepared to take any responsibility once a bass has left thier possession the rest of us would like to know.

I have one just the same, even down to the 3D bridge

Also worth considering TI Flats, which are proper flat but also have some high end. I prefer them to Cobalt Slinkies which, for me, were a compromise that failed to hit the mark on all counts. IMO, IME, YMMV etc.

Another deal with Mark - strings this time. Same thing - well packaged, quickly dispatched, great comms etc etc. Look forward to the next one.

I've used a rubber pick before now. Also leather, but the rubber one was closest to finger tone. Also using the fat end of a normal pick gives less attack, but not quite the same thing. I'm really trying to improve my fingerstyle but, man, it is taking sooo long.

Bit of a story here. I was after some info on the comparison between the Epiphone Thunderbird Classic Pro vs Vintage Pro and a search showed that Pete had both. So I PMd him out of the blue and asked him some stuff. During the course of this it came to light that one of his Classic Pros was a particularly lightweight one - most are far too heavy for me. At the time there was also one on eBay in excellent condition (Pete's had a slight issue) so I put forward the mad idea that I transfer the cash to Pete so he could buy the one on eBay then I would buy his lightweight one. Win/win so far as I could see. And Pete agreed! So that is what we did. Thank you, sir, for thinking outside the box and allowing this to happen

Solved! Too small.

Interested in the inside dimensions if you have. I have a longish bass (Thunderbird IV Classic Pro at 127cm) arriving soon that won't fit into a regular case - the outside dimensions of this look promising at 132cm. I emailed Jackson to ask but they haven't replied. Older T-Bird Epiphone hard cases vary for some reason, some are longer and will fit, others won't. The new Epiphone hard case will fit for sure but is both heavy and expensive, trying to save a few pounds of both Muchas gracias

That's scrubbed up beautifully!

Or maybe Gotoh Res-O-Lite, which might even possibly be a straight drop in.

Yes.

16th April, ye Olde Smack Here at a recent rehearsal, recorded on an iPad and actually came out clearly. Bass is my new-ish Retrovibe P30, a short scale 50s style P. Ignore the old pa on stands, it is the litttle thing poking up next to it, plus another one out of shot, sat on the sub. I'm off over the right somewhere. https://www.facebook.com/djangostrat/videos/6877946578947102