LeftyJ

That was my first thought too, but I couldn't think of any other bass company with a U other than the Kala U-bass (for which there [i]are[/i] custom Hipshot-licensed tuners, incidentally, but they're not stamped with a U as far as I can tell).

I'm happy both my Streamer LX basses have a gloss finish. While I do like to keep my instruments properly maintained, I don't like a really high-maintenance instrument. I feel the same about Music Man necks with their oil finish, they can get incredibly dirty and almost gray after a lot of use. When I got my Stingray 5, I had the whole neck lightly sanded and re-oiled and it looked like new afterwards. I like the wire wool tip, but would be scared to do this myself to the face of a bass body.

This "too many" you speak of sounds foreign to me.

As a young kid I played the recorder at school. Two of my classmates did too, and it was fun for a while. I really wanted to play the guitar though, but my parents wouldn't let me as they thought it was just a phase and I would lose interest quickly. I didn't. When I was 16 I finally bought one myself. I went electric straight away, and got a Squier Affinity Strat with a small 10 watt Kustom amp. Then I started listening to Dutch band The Gathering, who I've been following ever since. Back then they were a very influential metal band as they were one of the first that mixed very dark and heavy metal with angelic clean female vocals. They released a record called "How to measure a planet?" which was a departure from their dark metal sound, but still had the beautiful vocals of Anneke van Giersbergen. What really stood out to me though was the bass! There is a lot of heavy, overdriven bass on that album. The track that really stands out is "Probably built in the fifties" where there's a quiet bit during the bridge that ends with the bass playing a big palmmuted riff with an incredibly heavy distortion. I wanted to sound like that! So I bought my first bass soon after. And eventually joined my own female-fronted metal band Eve's Fall

Ouch, those Z and F series basses look wonky. That's got to be the blobbiest singlecut bass design I've ever seen. If they're going to offer that Jazzmaster guitar in lefty I may be in trouble though! The specs on that J7 look great.

Does the SRMS805 have one of those Ibanez preamps with connectors on the PCB board labelled "BEQ3" and "VM3"? If so, before throwing money at it, try switching the output connector between these two connectors. One has a treble rolloff above 2kHz of 6dB per octave, which is pretty dramatic and almost muffled. The other output doesn't, and sounds far punchier. If it's currently wired to the VM3 output it might save you a couple hundred. Pics below borrowed from a Talkbass thread about the EHB series, which also feature Bartolini-licensed Ibanez pickups and electronics.

I feel the same, it's the long lower horn that makes it look weird. I don't mind the deeper cutaway, but the long horn makes it look wonky.

My best live sound was with my Status S2 Classic 5-string straight into an Ampeg SVT2PRO and SVT810, when playing with my doom band. EQ flat on both the bass and the amp, and just a tiny bit of tube grit. Worked wonders supporting two big sounding 7-string guitars tuned down to A, it sounded huge. Many musicians in the audience complimented me on my tone afterwards. The backline was the venue's own. Bassists were free to bring their own amp head, but had to use the venue's cab. I was the only one using the venue's head, as my live sound normally comes from an SVP-PRO preamp - which happens to be the preamp section of the SVT2PRO in a 1HE unit. So I left my preamp at home and just went with that amp. The other 3 bands on that evening literally all had Ibanez Soundgear basses and Darkglass heads, and none of them stood out sonically. Best studio tone was my Ellio Martina Forza 5-string through a buffered 3-way splitter, with one unprocessed channel straight into the (Studer Vista 5) desk, one channel into my Ampeg SVP-CL preamp set clean with a fairly flat EQ, and one channel through my Fulltone Bassdrive into a passive DI. Sounded great in the studio, but I wasn't happy with the final mix because of how it was EQ'd (too much sub, too much top end click, and no mids).

Duh, it's a chronic disease that we just need to live with. Basschat is our therapy, albeit with some unfortunate and expensive side-effects

Can confirm, I have a pair of these that I love. The dual headband (with adjustable spread between the two) makes it very comfortable to wear and it stays in place very well. Sounds great too, with a lot more oomph than I would have expected from the fairly compact shells. I also have AKG k240 Studio and k171 Studio headphones, of which I prefer the latter (closed back, on-ear) for their bigger lows. The k240 has a little better clarity but they're not far apart. Of these three, I've come to much prefer the HD-25.

The perfect strap is a matter of taste really. Some people like a rough material so their instrument doesn't slide around (especially when the instrument itself doesn't balance well and has a tendency to neckdive) and other people like a smoother strap. Some people prefer narrower straps, others like the better weight distribution of a wider strap. Some like a vintage looking leather or fabric strap, others a more modern look. It's a difficult gift if you're not sure what your boyfriend likes in a strap. The one in the pic looks like a basic (but quality) D'Addario or Dunlop one. As far as taste goes I think i would personally go with @jazzyvee's opinion. Leather is just a classic and hardwearing material and it ages nicely (when properly maintained). It also looks great with such a classic bass design IMO

I can think of only one bass gear purchase this year, it was a Harley Benton PB Shorty and since getting it I have played it only twice. It's a fun little bass but my Atelier Z Baby Z fulfills all my shortscale wants and needs - at a much higher quality level. Will likely be selling it (or giving it away to my also-lefty brother in law). My only other purchase that comes to mind is a g**t*r... A Cort Matt "Guitar" Murphy signature guitar from around 1999-2000. It's absolutely brilliant, it looks like a cross between a Les Paul and a PRS but it is most definitely closer to the Gibson. It's been modified with Seymour Duncan pickups (SH1 neck and SH4 bridge) but otherwise stock. It's a pleasure to play and the one-piece (most likely veneer) top looks great. At €350 used it offers incredible value.

The Movement - Tunnel Vision

That looks fantastic! I love that solid sea foam green top on a dark brown back and sides, looks great! Those P90's look unlike any other I've ever seen with that chrome window. Nice touch, kinda mimics the look of the classic Gretsch Dynasonic (DeArmond 2000) pickups.

I've seen many a cool custom decal that looks like a Fender one at first glance but isn't that I've liked. I'm sure there are a couple on this site too. The Faker Pretendin' Bass comes to mind. These guys sell decals for "guitar restorations", but also included some parody ones like Bender, Faker, F*cked, Fiender / Feind and Fondler.

As a lefty, I've always been put off by black and sunburst basses because for long it was all the lefties that any music store would stock - preferably only below €300 too. I've come to appreciate black now, but I'm still not a fan of sunburst - especially with a white or tortoise pickguard.

To me, any Jazz Bass with angled body edges instead of round looks wrong - and it's almost entirely featureless and naked. I just don't like the aesthetic, it's not nearly as elegant as the rounded edges of the original Fender design. The Aerodyne compensates this with the arched top and thinner body edges, which give it a sleek look. But still, it's not for me. It's also what's holding me back from trying out a Sire U5, even though I'm quite confident it would suit me in every other way. I like @Owen's analogy "cartoon of a Jazz Bass".

Close, the serial number starting with B86 dates it to February (B, 2nd letter of the alphabet = 2nd month of the year) 1986 The 29 in the model number is to indicate where it sits in the range - though at the time this model was built, there wasn't any difference really. The 2 indicates this is the 2nd series, with a more modern design than the older 800 and 900 series models. On the older series, the MC824 was passive with a rosewood fingerboard and the MC924 was active with an ebony fingerboard. On the MC2xxx series there was no longer an 800-series model. These were the final evolution (together with the 1986 Roadstar II basses) before the Soundgear series came out in 1987. You can already see many similarities in the body design . Initially the Soundgear range didn't really offer a successor to the Musician, as there weren't any neck-through models at first. In 1989 Ibanez introduced the short-lived SR924 though, with a clear nod in the model designation to the MC924. They were a cross between the Soundgear and the SB series (Sabre) in styling, with a body that was very thin at the edges, and they had unusually short body horns. They're rare to come by, and I think they're beautiful!

I liked them in my B2A with the preamp engaged. I didn't care for the passive tone, very dark and muffled IMO. It really came to life when switched to active, with more punch and clarity. I didn't get along with the ergonomics of the bodyless design and the awkward strap button positions (especially the front one, which was behind the 21st fret). I'm tall and have long arms, but it was still quite a stretch. I'm quite partial to my Status basses, the headless design and ergonomic body are perfect for me.

I've never seen one with that headpiece before! I only know them with these (which weren't as good as the individual clamps): Nice score, those are great basses. I had forgotten about those!

Came here to say this, I'm pretty sure this is the case with the RSD basses too Having said that, there's probably another issue at play here - possibly the preamp or the wiring, as @ead and @MOSCOWBASS pointed out.

Which is nuts, as you could buy an actual graphite-necked Status Energy for that kind of money.

That would be my suggestion too. That or a Washburn S-1000 and a bit of luck (as they seem to be going up).

Hey hungry, I'm dad

Looks like a great and effective way to get rid of your GAS. I bet it's a pain to lug to gigs though, and at 46dB you'd need at least a couple!