Shaggy

When I was at the Electric Wood workshop a few years back I was amazed at how tiny an operation it was - really just a small workshop. I didn't see Paul and the guys there driving Rollers or Ferraris (unless they were parked hidden behind the lockup.....) so I don't think they're making a fortune in the bass business. Undoubtedly keeping it small is what preserves the desirability and cachet of the brand, and I'm sure it's deliberate policy not to expand or outsource and so devalue the image. I think a good few pros and players do still use their basses for what they were intended (Bilbo and myself for two), but yes; unfortunately they seem to have attained the same mystique as pre-CBS Fenders - rightly or wrongly - and increasingly will tend to go straight from the workshop into a bank vault, unsullied by a mere musicians fingers...... If you fancy a spin down to S Wales post lockdown Andy, you'd be more than welcome to try out my pair of Mk 1 Customs ( fretted '82 and fretless '85). Hopefully there'll be another BC-er closer though!

Nice - Greco make some of the very best Gibson replicas That second from last photo is either set in a tool shop, or the the best equipped shed I’ve ever seen......

Son of a Preacher-man - Dusty

Square peg, round hole - Wakey Wakey

That’s actually really nice, albeit a bit too 4005 derived..... Hmmmmm.....the missus has something that looks like that, in the drawer of her bedside cupboard. Who’d have thought she was a closet bassist?

Good idea, but too late!

Just to throw in another option; for me it would be self-build bitsa every time. You get a P bass with exactly the spec you want, save a bucketload of dosh if you source parts cannily, and have a lot of fun doing it. For inspiration see:

Similar, but rather optimistic starting price and some potentially serious issues....... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60s-Hofner-Verithin-Sem-Acoustic-Electric-Bass-Guitar-Project-Made-in-Germay/233853110042?hash=item3672bb471a:g:h7sAAOSwTBtdbBia

Seagull - Bad Company

Link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wal-Fretless-5-string-bass-with-extra-neck/203244542464?hash=item2f52519a00:g:c~8AAOSw0sZf-426 I’ll guess £5.5K Lovely facings on it - flamed (“ripple”) ash I think.

Not sure how historically accurate it was, but I thought “Sid & Nancy” was a fantastically good and powerful film. The Danny Boyle TV series should be good - Steve Jones always struck me as more of a level-headed musician than many of the original punks, and a very talented rhythm guitarist. As someone who started his bass career in a gigging punk band in 1977, I’ll be watching with interest......

Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon

Boys keep swinging - David Jones (aka Bowie)

I thought I’d posted a couple of pics of my ‘bic ages ago, but looks like I haven’t. 1976 long scale S1 with birdseye maple facings; imported from the US (in the days before customs charges became crippling). I tend to gig with my Warwick (LX Streamer Jazzman) these days*, but the S1 is a lovely old beastie....... *Edit: when we actually were gigging, of course.......

The old man’s back again - Scott Walker

Hammer horror - Kate Bush

Lol - I guess the 1970's was the era of the heavy bass (those of us who were around then had younger backs.....); I've never found my TB that heavy, but then my gigging bass for many years was a Gibson RD Artist which is kind of the bass equivalent of wearing weighted trainers for running training - anything else feels made of helium. A couple of gratuitous pics of mine: ser. no. in the low 20's so it's an early one.....

The Troubles - U2

Borderline - Madonna

Any song can of course be covered, but IMHO there’s a handful that never should be, as the original is so definitive - Jolene, Stairway to heaven, and any Queen song come to mind. I stand to be corrected, mind; many years ago my old blues band decided to cover Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”, which I was dubious about but it turned out to be one the biggest crowd-pleasers of the set.......

Nobody’s diary - Yazoo

Splendid isolation- Warren Zevon

Slipping through my fingers - ABBA

Robin the hooded man - Clannad

Endless flight - Leo Sayer