LeftyJ

Quite the rare Warwick there! That's an "Infinette", a semi-hollow Corvette / Streamer hybrid that predates the Infinity but ultimately inspired it. Very unusual and very cool!

I was going to argue musical instruments were exempted from CITES rules a few years ago - but then I googled it and found out the B-word meant the UK dropped out of that exemption

This right here. You can actually see it in your last pic if you look closely: the upper line is where the bottom of your string sits, and the bottom line is where the nut slot appears to sits

Hugo Prinsen Geerligs of The Gathering. They were my gateway into modern metal back in 1997, when I first discovered them, and through their development into more atmospheric and progressive styles they also dragged me along into different styles outside my comfort zone - almost straight away, when they released their double album "How to measure a planet?" in 1998, which was nothing like its precursors. I've been following them ever since.

Please tell me you covered Willie Nelson's "On the road again" On the road again I just can't wait to get on the road again But one Al Krow is making music with his friends And I can't be arsed to swerve around again

Or no pickguard, like an actual L1000 (how is your 5-string neck labelled L1000, and not 1005?)

The current S-locks are vastly different to the old Schaller Security Locks though! The strap button and screw are one single piece, made on a lathe. They no longer have a Phillips screw head but require an Allen key. The locks themselves now accommodate thicker straps, and use a large thumbwheel instead of a washer and a nut. The thumbwheel locks in place with a little lockscrew which works great. I'm quite happy with them on my basses and guitars. The strap buttons come in three different sizes now, but size M is standard (and indeed slightly thicker than most normal strap button screws, on purpose). The S is both shorter and thinner, and the L is both longer and thicker.

Those earliest ovangkol necks really weren't Warwicks finest hour. Both my Streamer LX's are from roughly the same era and aren't perfect either (but no twist, thankfully). They play fine, but my 4-string LX can't be set up extremely low because of a small microbend at the 3rd fret and my 5-string is the most sensitive to changes in humidity out of all my instruments. This appears beyond what a fret level can solve. I think you'd need to remove the lower frets (or possibly all), plane the fingerboard, reset the nut and refret. That doesn't come cheap.

Not half bad! I'm intrigued.

This sums it up pretty well for me too. I buy used most of the time, only rarely have I bought a new bass. The last one was a German-made Esh Stinger that had been hanging in a store for years and I paid €800 for it NOS in 2014-ish - and without that massive discount I wouldn't have bought it. Most of my instruments came from private sellers. My most expensive bass was probably my 4-string Status S2 Classic that had to come from Israel and I had to pay customs fees and 21% VAT when it arrived. All in all it came in at around €1700 I think, which is still good considering they were around €4000 new in the end.

I know the owner of the lefty model all the way at the bottom. It's an interesting beasty for sure, but I don't like the wonky shape. That Helectrix model is really cool!

My Grand Prix (Grand PRE, get it? ) is the "redface" version, which in this case is a stupid nickname because all that's red is a small area around the SWR logo. If you're familiar with SWR amps there are no surprises on this one: it's got the typical SWR controls and tone. It has the aural enhancer, 4-band EQ with semi-parametric low mid and high mid, a push-pull pot on the bass knob for a high pass filter, and an FX blend on the front panel for the effects loop. On the back there's two balanced XLR outputs (one for recording with a ground lift and switching between line and direct), one with its own volume control, an effects loop, an output to tuner, two unbalanced outputs to a power amp or amp head, and an unbalanced output that sits before the preamp's master volume. On the front there's a headphone out with its own volume control. It's a great unit and very versatile. I bought it for home use, but I'm usually too lazy to plug it in and play either through a combo amp or straight into my little USB mixer. Good call, I should try that. I have a few JJ 12AX7's laying around.

Ampeg SVP-PRO, SVP-CL and an SWR Grand Prix here - though I only really use the SVP-PRO. The SWR needs maintenance, it has a constant little fizzy hum. The switch in one of the push-pull pots was broken but is working again now, and a previous owner modified one of the output jacks for some reason. Then again it was cheap (€100).

Aye, reminded me of Paramore a LOT. I thought it deserved to finish higher up.

I like the design, but I don't like them always going for simple off-the-shelf parts. Those are regular P90 guitar pickups with a closed cover, like they do regularly on other bass models too (guitar humbuckers with closed covers). I understand they want to keep the price down, and they're probably only building a small run so having a bespoke pickup made for these isn't economically viable. But it still annoys me a bit

Many thanks, you were absolutely right! The key just needed to go in further. I've never encountered this before with any of my basses or guitars!

Thanks for checking, all! I'll give it another go when I get home from work. I'm not fully convinced though. I took the bass to a luthier on Saturday and he couldn't get one to fit either, from his extensive range of Allen keys. But as both @martthebass and @fretmeister pointed out, maybe I'm not getting the key in far enough!

For those of you with a Lionel, what size Allen key was included for truss rod adjustment? Mine is a 2023 model that I bought (barely) used and it didn't come with the key, and I can't for the life of me find one that fits! I have a VERY large set of Allen keys in both metric and imperial sizes and it's just not there. I messaged Sandberg on Facebook and got a quick reply from Gregor saying it's 4 mm, but I have tried three different 4 mm keys and they all spin freely. 4,5 mm is too big, and I have nothing inbetween. The hole in the truss rod nut still is very much hexagonal, and definitely not stripped. I can see it clearly and I'm sure of it. I had the exact same problem with a Harley Benton PB Shorty, that had the same odd size of truss rod nut and nothing would fit. I stripped that one, but that was a €50 bass so it sucked but wasn't too bad. The Lionel is in a different league though, so I really don't want to damage anything.

Not with the EMG's described, active EMG's are barely magnetic at all and rely on the built-in preamp to get the signal to a usable level. Unless they're passive EMG's of course, in which case, forget what I just said

I wanted to reply that was probably Conchita Wurst, but apparently she is actually Tom Neuwirth, who identifies as a gay man in drag - who famously kept their beard intact during their outings in drag.

I use a .125 too. I have tried .130 and .135 but never had anything over .135 on my basses. I like having enough tension in the low B string, but I feel like fatter strings sacrifice clarity, definition and intonation because the extra gauge makes them more rigid. On my Status basses I use their own Hotwire strings which are all taperwound except for the G and I love their quick response and great definition. That said, I'm not someone who experiments with strings a lot. I have used Elixir nickels for many years now, and only started using the Status strings because Elixir doesn't do double ball end sets - and stuck with them because I like them a lot. And now my venture into shortscales also forces me to start experimenting again, which is fun so far.

Same. My girlfriend can be hilariously cynical, so that should be entertaining

The first instrument I ever bought was a recorder (the flute, not the device). I believe my sister may still own it - and she can keep it, I enjoyed it when I was a kid but can't stand them now! I had lessons for a while when I was about 7-8 years old, but quit at the end of primary school and never laid hands on it since. The earliest instrument I bought that I still own is my Squier Affinity Strat that I bought new in 1999. It's a very basic beginner guitar, finished in 3-colour sunburst with a white single-ply pickguard which is now very yellow from age (I don't smoke, nor have I ever). I've modded it with 3 Gary Levinson pickups from a Blade R2 Strat with 3-way switching between the bridge and neck pickups, and a second 3-way switch that adds the middle pickup in either series or parallel for a total of 9 different sounds. I also added Gotoh tuners, a Graphtech nut and Graphtech stringtrees. It's a fun little guitar, but it hasn't left its case in years, The earliest bass that I still own was the 3rd I ever bought (out of around 30-40), a beautiful handmade 5-string by Dutch luthier Ellio Martina that I got used in 2006 (it was built in 2002). It was my main bass for several years, and it's the one that will outlast them all if I ever were required to downsize. It's incredibly comfortable and has a vast range of sounds, from somewhere between modern Jazz Bass to more hi-fi active sounds. It's not my main bass anymore (my Status S2 Classic headless 5-string is) but I'm unlikely to ever sell it.

FTFY. Otherwise I fully agree. I did like that 4005XC they did a few years ago, which was a 24 fret shortscale with the much more elegant body shape of the 330 guitar. That one was conceived as a 90th anniversary model and was a limited edition.