kwmlondon

But the Les Paul is a signature guitar. Every bass made by Sire has Marcus Miller on the headstock - if you wanted a Les Paul or a Sire bass would you really be that put off by the fact it's got an artist's name on the headstock? Or do you think those are maybe different to a signature model where it's a pretty standard, off-the-shelf instrument e.g. a Roger Water Fender Precision or Guy Pratt Betsy bass? Don't you think with a lot of signature instruments you don't have to advertise the fact? Sometimes it's a canny purchase - The Bass Centre Betsy bass is supposed to be an absolute belter of a j-bass...

Wrong? No. Funny. Definitely. Like it or not, people do have preconceived ideas about what kind of music you play based on the type of bass you have. I quite like being an antsy bugger though!

I agree. Unless you're in a very specific tribute type of band where the audience expects a certain look (imagine a Beatles lookielikey with "Paul" playing a Status headless) then you can use whatever you want. It's all in the fingers, after all... Can't play disco on a Rickenbacker? *cough* Bee Gees? Can't slap on a Precision? *cough* anyone heard Forget Me Nots? I play disco and funk on a Dingwall with a Darkglass ADAM pedal. Go figure...

Gonna see Ida next week!

Yeah, totally, I’d forgotten the while pointy headstock thing! You don’t see so many these days…

And which would you feel pigeon-holed playing? I'm gonna kick off and say I'd happily own a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz bass. I love early-to-mid-70s Fender Jazz basses and the GL ones have a great reputation. They're proper disco funk machines, as well as being great for rock. I'd feel able to use one of them in pretty much any situation I'd use a 4-string. I don't think I'd get a Dingwall NG as it seems just a bit too focused on the hard-rock/metal genre, though I think they're awesome instruments. I own a Combustion and I can kind-of sneak it into a lot more situations than the NG without looking like I'm in the wrong band! The darkglass tone capsule is also less versatile than the EMG.

Look, I've been banging my head against the screen for ages trying to get some music recorded but I've got the start of something that I actually quite like the sound of. I don't know where it's going to go - I'm going to leave it for a while and come back to it and maybe think about some vocals and an arrangement, but this is a sort of starter/demo/

Portable yeah?

This is really helpful. Been using Bass Gallery in Camden and they're fine, but this is a lot closer to where I live!

Well... if I had a rehearsal space or if a venue had back(breaking)line that never got moved it'd be awesome! I mean, if I trundled into a regular pub with something like that I'd get looks...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126339102383?itmmeta=01HQ46DRRBBCM5GRBECF6JWZ7K&hash=item1d6a65b6af:g:etwAAOSwP7Bl01eJ&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwPPEqQ6lGQcsaeaNxsW9lavr4AJQfBMzRp5%2Fg%2B3rge4pplbpuVhwEWg7HxkWqm1lddLSDuERcCajChcjS8X%2BXCclnnOcZw7RmeJvFWxfAaDK22ERWMow0Oau2qDn4JRuT7wF%2FBZOidZ9IBsNh4ibTrDuHPyru%2BmZnqy1Zk3MOYUisxqtx6%2FGYFkQzyAI4fllmp3yo8BsxtO52wFJyb35T8aW0nIPDleSW87Iq0TVOE2RMs6KsXsns9IBFx%2Bhf5waKw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5yMt4a5Yw

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en

Bought an octave pedal from Mike. Arrived in good time and exactly what I was expecting. Great process, smashing to deal with and I'm very happy with the new toy - many thanks!

Alex and I exchanged our amps! He got my MarkBass LM III and I took his TC BH800 away when we met up on a cold Sunday morning! Great process, much appreciated!

Yeah, I've had hankerings to get a fretless 5 string. God knows why. It took me two years to be able to get to grips with a FRETTED 5 string... probalby the mission for the rest of my life to make a fretless work but hey.

I wonder where the next bargain basement country of manufacture will be? Pakistan? Bangladesh? A newly independent Wales?

I don't define myself as a fanboi. I do think that as long as you can get a Sterling Sub Stingray for under £400 you have a choice. I see Sterling 'Rays at under £700 which puts them roughly in the same ball-park as Sire, Ibanez or Yamaha. The MusicMan brand has a fair bit of kudos but it's not like Fender or Gibson who can trade off the name and sell some utter cr*p for top dollar so I'm not going to write off the buying public as idiots and MusicMan as con artists.

Yeah, it's the Sterling Sterling. But then it's got us talking about it so while it may annoy people it's not going to actually put anyone off buying one? The £1100 for an Indonesian bass? Well. I don't know. I'm holding off judgement. If you'd asked me four years ago would I pay top dollar for a Chinese made bass I'd have laughed but then I got a Dingwall and I have never had a regret about that so... Maybe the wood, components and build quality will be up there but they'll be competing with much cheaper Sire and Yamaha basses that are flawless so good luck.

@spacecowboy I'm a very happy. Just bought a PSU for my pedals from Ben. Great comms, arrived quickly and works so what more can you want? Thank you!

I want a Rickenbacker 5 string. I mean, no way. But pwhoaaaar! https://www.promenademusic.co.uk/rickenbacker-4003s-5-string-bass-mapleglo/