Agent 00Soul

Maybe I just don't have the GAS gene. Then again I still have/use the first electric I ever bought as a teenager in 1983 which freaked someone out on a different thread. The wife jokes are pretty funny though. (I assume they're jokes??) Mine built me a storage rack for the instruments that I do own. I can't believe I never thought for that. It's great!

Do most of you live in private houses? I've only ever lived in flats as an adult and I've found that the lack of space (as well as being left-handed) is a great check on either GAS or accumulation.

I have my first electric guitar too. I got in when I was 14 in 1983. It's a lefty Fender from the late sixties so worth some money now (but it wasn't in the 80s or most of the 90s) and I still use it occasionally, but I've mostly hung onto it for this reason combined with sentimental value.

I'm not sure if you are a lefty like me, or the photo is reversed as sometimes happens online. I've found that lefty's need to be extra-cautious when flipping equipment because when something is gone, it's often really gone. And finding a replacement or even something similar if seller's remorse sets in is very difficult indeed.

That is my dream situation! I'm currently nosing around Shake Some Action that you suggested too.

Starting a project is more likely. I've found interesting bands are harder to come by as you get older. Unless you know a large network of likeminded people already. Sites like Bandmix haven't cut it. I'm just not sure it's even possible at my age. This is uncharted territory for me. But I appreciate all the suggestions!

I remember them telling me that they were made by LaBella. Lots of the companies like Sadowsky that make strings "on the side" job out their own spec designs to only a few string companies as they are the only ones tooled up to make them en masse. They certainly don't sound or behave like regular LaBellas. Unless I am suffering from the placebo effect.

That sounds great! I'll check them out. Thanks!

I took my own advice and prompted two different AI models about the instrument in the photo and they both bombed. They thought it was a Burns Vista Sonic. Fail.

My rule about this is that if you just don't care, sell it. If you have even the slightest hesitation, hold on to it until you don't anymore because any money you earn will eventually get spent and then you will have nothing anyway. And once the instrument is gone, it's gone.

Based on all the stuff I’m reading on this forum, can I assume to say that, at 57, I am about the average age here? If so I have a question: Can anyone recommend strategies for finding people our own age to play music with? Specifically, either originals or less common stuff like garage rock, shoegaze, trip hop, or Cavern Club/Hamburg-style beat. The only options I have found locally are either weekly blues jams – I’ve never had any interest in that – or ads for pub bands who want to want to play covers to get people dancing – also not my thing. I moved to west London 5 years ago and it’s become apparent to me that all the interesting stuff is in east London, but the people there are in their 20s and 30s so that’s no good either. Do I have to face the facts that maybe it’s time to hang up my bass strap and pass the torch to the young’uns?

The Black Label flats were my favourite. Our rehearsal space in Brooklyn was down the street from the old Sadowsky factory so I just used to walk over and buy them direct. The current Blue Label flats that replaced them sound quite similar, but a bit more modern and hi-fi I've found. I still love them.

This is especially true for we left-handed players. Finding a lefty instrument in a shop was pure luck and they often weren't interesting (and almost always painted black for some reason). The internet made what seemed impossible, a decent selection of all kinds of lefty instruments, possible for the first time.

I bet AI could answer that if you input the photo and use the question you asked us as your prompt.

I saw Men I Trust in London in 2024 - the bass really stood out in the live mix.

I've tried lots of string brands over the years. Here are some of my experiences off the top of my head, if they are of any use to any one. I didn't include stuff I don't remember any more or are discontinued. Also to note, unlike a lot of flat players I change string sets when they wear out. In no particular order: Sadowsky - best strings over all in both sound and how long they last, but expensive Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Nickel - the most comfortable to play and sound great, long lasting but when they die they really die La Bella Deep Talkin' - sounded great on the hollow bodies but a bit muddy on the solid body, but I replaced them with... Pyramid Gold - my hollow/semi-hollows are strung with these, very long-lasting but also expensive Rotosound Jazz 77 - the closest flat I've found to a round wound twang and treble, stiffest tension but worth it if you want the sound without the grinding and fret noise Rotosound Tru Bass - tapewound but sound like flats, surprisingly bouncy sound on a P-bass D'Addario Chromes - deep bouncy sound but wear out too quickly GHS Brite Flats - nothing special

I have a 50p coin for the first player I see with one of these.

That explains a lot. The mid-80s was when I first started playing bass. I got so sick of being unable to sound like the stuff I liked, even after a revolving door of basses and amps, that I just quit. In the late 90s, with bands like Stereolab and Air as well as Serge Gainsbourg and the "Melodie Nelson" bass sound as a talking point, in the magazine interviews and also musicians on the ground, everyone seemed to be saying said flats on the bass were the crucial ingredient. So I bought a set and that was the sound I hadn't heard before on one of my instruments. I played non-stop until Covid, age, and changing countries more or less put me out of action. But the vast majority of players I interacted with in those decades, used flats too - even for hard rock and psych.

All my basses are strung with flats, including my Jaguar which has the same pickups as a Jazz. Rounds and grounds just didn't do it for me. I'm in a bit of a musical bubble here where we all use flats, but I'm assuming from the amount of stuff for sale that the vast majority of players use rounds primarily?

It is interesting how these trends go. When the amps first came out, they were the best thing since sliced bread. For the past few years, they really fell out of style. I hadn't seen a pro playing one in ages. TC Electronic itself has been moving to the lower end of the market for many years now. Nonetheless, if I had a young relative who was considering to learn bass, I would definitely recommend buying one of their cheaper combos based on my experience with the RH450.

I was in a shoegaze/dreampop band on and off in the 2000s and 2010s called Soundpool. As if you can't tell from the rig in the photo. It's the most stereotypical shoegaze bass image ever.

I have a RH450 and RS212 speaker cab that I bought the year they came out, years before the RH750 came along (or I probably would have bought that). I guess that was around 2010/11 and never had a problem. I basically played through it several times a week until Covid. It transversed North America multiple times. It only broke once and sounded fantastic in dreampop, garage rock, and cinematic bands once I dialled in the EQ. It could even hold it's own in what had to be one of the loudest bands NYC - we played at near-My Bloody Valentine levels. I would pull it out of storage and use it again if I returned to playing music. Maybe yours was a lemon?

I bought a 2011 Fender Japan Jaguar bass new as my backup. When I switched bands, I started using it as my #1 for the mental change and it broke in much faster. Once it had broken-in, it sounded so good that it became my main bass. It still is. Fender Japan is fantastic! The body is alder or ash, not basswood, but I'm sure it would have been the same situation.