kwmlondon

Well… they had a b-stock for £228. With delivery. I bought it!

Hiya. What do you think of this? I fancy dipping my toes in 5-string fretless playing, and I LOVED the Musicman Stingray I tried a couple of weeks ago but I'm not prepared to stump up the £2,300 to find out it's not my thing long-term. Is this a reasonable punt? https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbz_2005fl_nt_deluxe_series.htm I mean, if it was dreadful I could return it couldn't I?

I’m afraid I may have given the impression I’m buying it…. Would that I could!

It is flipping gorgous. Is there a Sterlng version? Lovely as it is I'm not sure the USA-made premium is worth it for what I'd be able to do.

Eighty six pounds?!?!?! May as well buy an upright bass....

Thinking about it, I'm not sure I'm after the Jaco sound. I know I'm sure as heck never gonna play like him, so why play just one note that sounds like thext one will be a crashing disap guy when the nepointment?

I tried this baby out in The Bass Gallery. Oh my giddy aunt, what a charismatic and capable thing... https://thebassgallery.com/collections/all/products/music-man-stingray-5-fl Just wondered, how do people find fretless five strings? I play floating thumb so I don't struggle with muting, but anyone got any pro's and con's? I thought it'd sound much nicer with a set of flats for that ultimate whaaaaaaaa sound

Yeah, deffo. I'll post a link once they put it up online - it'll also be really fascinating to see the neck joint and electronicy bits and the pickups if they take 'em out. They are a nice bunch in that shop. Arthur is a canny old cove but there's a lot of very slick rip-off merchants out there so I wanted to put his prized Precision in good hands.

Bass now handed over and I must admit I’m very relieved to have got it to its destination safely!

Thanks, that’s really helpful to know. I’ll see what the bass gallery fellas say. On my way there now…

Just checked serial number against online lists and it's coming up as a 1973. I wonder if Arthur has gotten confused which year he bought it... I hope that's all it is! He's quite elderly and it was a long time ago.

Okay, here are some in the sunshine. It could definitely do with a clean and polish... and a setup but hey. The action is miles higher than I normally go for but it's fun to dig in!

Let me rephrase that. I have three basses. My Dingwall Combustion 5 is perfect for me and if anything ever happened to it I'd buy another one and it'd be just as good. The '89 Stingray I've had since 1993 and I love it and want to be buried with it. The third one is a nice bass but I just don't play so I'm getting rid of it. At the moment I think that rather than having a third bass I'd actually prefer to upgrade the preamp and bridge on Combustion, you know? I'd really like a passive tone control again. What I WOULD like would be to borrow a bass. I've never had a Ricky, it'd be interesting to mess around with one, or an Ovation Magnum. But I don't think I'd like to have the hassle of owning one.

Thanks. Very kind. And if you own a bass like this one well, I can absolutely see why. Just noodling around on the thing I feel like I've got an icon in my hands, you know?

Ah, well, I really REALLY want Arthur to get as much as he possibly can for the bass - he nees the money and I trust The Bass Gallery to do him right. But, I will admit part of me is thinking "why not offer him 15% less than the Bass Gallery would put it on for - he gets the same amount and I'd get a vintage bass for less than the going rate" but honestly. No. It's lovely, it really is, but I'm just not a collector and I'd never use it. I own three basses and that's too many for me - I'm actually getting rid of one.

Here you go... Arthur bought it new and took the chrome off the same day. Put it back on for the first time in 53 years!

Yeah, I guessed that but that doesn't mean you can join the pub quiz team! Unless you know a lot about sport - I'm rubbish at sport.

I mean, turning up to work with lunch in a 70's Fender bass case would be stylish and unconventional...