TheLowDown

So what differentiates someone who can recall lyrics from someone who can't so easily?

I don't tend to listen to lyrics much nowadays.

I don't see where I've stated anything as a fact. I've made clear what I've heard from other people and also my own experience of playing 4, 5 and 6 string. I play all of them, but I made a lot of effort to become familiar with the fretboard, but regularly switching means that it's advantageous to. The opinion of some 5 string players is not my own. All 3 are fun to play and are used for different purposes.

It depends. Except for a small number of modern genres that make use of the 5 extra notes, almost everything can be played on the 4 string. Many people who switched to become 5 string only players and then went back to 4 string said that they ended up becoming lazy and uninspired bassists. Because of the economy of motion they found themselves playing only in a small box which gave them an excuse not to know the fretboard and to rely too much on fixed patterns. They also ended up playing the 5th string only because it was there. Not because they needed to. One problem I found with 5 and 6 strings is that they complicate things unnecessarily. For example when it comes to walking basslines it's far easier to play them on a 4 string because there are less options, but having less options is much more of an advantage because you can be more focused. So, no you don't need a 5 string. Only if you think you do. Having said that, if you're a 4 string player then I recommend buying a 5 string if only because it forces you to think differently and to reconfigure where the notes are on the fretboard each time. The best bassists are those who can easily switch.

I think the HBs are made at the fair price, and the Hofners are charging much more than they're worth.

The Harley Benton one is decent https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_beatbass.htm

There's going to be lots of problems with deliveries in the run up to Christmas and possibly New year as the Royal mail and couriers clear the backlog, according to a friend who works with the RM. This verifies it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55364955 People are also sending loads more parcels from an increase in online shopping due to covid.

Damn good price that 👍

No, on the desktop with FF. I always use a popup blocker but it has no effect. The only way around it is to allow granny's cookies.

My bass came through last Monday after I ordered it the week before. The postal system is going to be overwhelmed with people buying gifts rather than going to the shops, so I think I may leave it til the new year when i order something next.

I know, I'll make a special effort to like her cookies for Christmas 😉

Don't worry, the one you'll get is as in the OP and not on the website picture.

The website has some disadvantages though. It's frequently glitchy, often doesn't load at all, and the huge pop up granny asking if I want cookies is quite annoying.

Finger exercises and warm up for around 15 minutes with the metronome. Then arpeggios, walking around the fretboard singing the notes with my eyes closed, and then i'll open the book that I'm learning at the time. At the end I may do some jamming to varying rhythms and time signatures with the metronome or a drum track so that i put into practice inversions, quickly finding the notes and intervals on the neck and making up basslines.

Playing arpeggios - major, minor, dominant(though not for triads because there's no 7th), half diminished - daily appears to have helped. It kinda sinks in like osmosis. I find it difficult to hear the difference if playing quickly, so I tend to let the note that's different ring out more. For example, for 7th chord arpeggios I will play the major arpeggios(root, 3rd, 5th, 7th) and then the dominant(root, 3rd, 5th, flat 7th) arpeggio, but I will let the 7th ring out a little longer because that's the note that's different. I will then play the minor(root, flat 3rd, 5th, flat 7th) arpeggio followed by the half diminished(root, flat 3rd, flat 5th, flat 7th), but let the 5th ring out longer and with emphasis. Stew, I definitely recommend trying to sing the note as you're playing it when practicing arpeggios(chord tones being much more important than scales for us bassists) and scales so that you can hear the collection of notes where the chord toens comes from. Even if you have to go into a soundproofed room. Many of us feel the same way about our own voices.

It's only boomy in passive, as mentioned above. It's not at all boomy in active mode. The range of tones is actually very versatile, although I rarely change the settings once I've found something I'm happy with. . Good luck with the Ibanez 👍

I was just listing the negatives, and every bass has them. If they were a bass to reconsider I wouldn't have bought 3 of them.The Ibanez has plenty of downsides too as the only practical advantage of it is its preamp(there's no passive switch on the Ibanez), and you're more than doubling the cost for that. Paying more doesn't necessarily mean a better bass. I unscrewed the screws but it doesn't alter the height - it just removes the screws, so I don't think there's any foam in there. I'll have a look later.

That's not what they're saying. As mentioned, they could have chosen any instrument, but they chose the bass because bass and guitar are seen as being similar to many people. The message says nothing other than "hey guitarist, why don't you try a [instrument] instead".

Yes, they definitely look alike. But to be fair, apart from outlandish designs, all basses fit into one of a handful of design templates.. The Yamaha RBX JM2 also looks like many that have gone before it.

I have both the fretted and fretless. They're surprisingly lightweight for a 6 string. The active/passive push-pull button can easily be knocked so you need to watch for that, and it's very audible. In passive mode it lacks treble. No shortage of low end with this one. The stock pickups can't be raised or lowered.

I don't think this is meant to be a slight on bassists. They could have chosen any other instrument to indicate that they shouldn't be playing a guitar, just so happens that the bass is the guitarist's bro.

I suspect so. Come to think of it, the lighter weight quotes seem to be taken from the black version. I have the HB B-450 and B-650 too, and the depth of the neck on them is almost half that of the MB-4. The tuning pegs are like huge metal monoliths, so they add to the weight too.

Sunburst. Maybe they're heavier. I've seen the bass quoted as being around 8lbs which is a good kg lighter. I expect there to be some variance in weight between basses, but surely not this much.

My MB-4 arrived today. It's much heavier(4.5kg) than I expected it to be for a 4 string, and is even heavier than my HB 6 string! The neck is chunky, but playable.

That photo is still on the website https://harleybenton.com/product/mb-4-sb/