Machines

http://www.warwick.de/en/Warwick---Custom-Shop--Options--Finish--Coloured-Oil-Finish-Ash.html#D0871794001362482823A114

I think it's a good starting point, but 35" doesn't necessitate a good B, nor does a 34" scale mean a bad one. That said, all the basses I've had that felt good were 35 or above.

Bias present, but Lakland 55-60 (formerly Joe Osborn) is 35" scale and the B is excellent.

Yes headphones work great, just want to be able to have a track playing in too from my phone.

I've had mine about 18 months and gigged it a few times. I generally just use it as a EQ/tuner which is somewhat overkill since it does so much more. I think it's good to have a few patches setup for specific songs etc and the way you can adapt them is superb. The only thing I wish it had was an AUX in for home practice.

My inlaws live in Lichfield. The guitar shop there is crap .

The absolute opposite of small bodied award goes to the Yamaha BB series. It wasn't an acronym for Broad Bass without justification.

Agreed on Corvettes. Here's mine with it's relatively larger bodied friends.

Superb choice.

Probably a 4 here. Just want a Stingray, everything else is great.

Isn't what the bass sounds like your choice?

It just makes me think he's unexperienced with recording bass and doesn't know what he wants. The basses he's specified are all very different and the only thing they have in common is being big names.

So he has no idea then and just wants you to do his work for him.

The Camel - Snow Goose album is a great example of a Jazz being used.

My local music shop (Express Music in Solihull) is fairly small, but I think has a reasonable stock of basses for it's size. It has about 8 in total being a mix of Ibanez and Squier. None are high end (£500 tops) but I think there is a good enough mix of styles to suit most players (there's a couple of 5 strings in there too). Bass amps are a different matter though, a Fender Rumble combo is it. I am spoilt with a few good shops in Birmingham though, I have PMT and GuitarGuitar of which both have something for pretty much every player. PMT is only a 10 min drive from my work, so some lunchtimes I pop in for a browse (GAS).

He could be on the forum .

It looks like 60's to me, the modified body shape may be the cause of the perspective change.

BB got me into the blues, now the thrill is gone.

I've tried one in a shop and watched a few YouTube demos of these. They were fairly decent and not as you described, but I also doubt there is a fault with the bass (Yamaha tend to have high QC). Then again, the demos tended to be more around the EQ switch than Bass/Treble controls. I am not surprised if the preamp is fairly naff in this respect - there has to be a compromise somewhere. Changing pickups generally doesn't work well in Yamahas as they usually have non-standard sizes, I've seen a few done with ugly gaps either side that I wouldn't have done myself.

Superb choice, I liked this when I was there last month.

How much ?

I find single pickup basses to have more of an identifiable character but also more limited. I prefer the versatility of 2 pickups but always feel I'm faffing to get the right sound.

Designed in Britain eh? But made in China I bet. Seems very overpriced

Other than wood choices or neck profiles etc, I don't think many custom builders offer much you can't get from the big companies with careful consideration (in terms of sound at least). I think 'handmade' is over hyped, to me it just means it took longer and hence cost more. Technology does indeed save money, and i'd say a PLEK machine is more precise than a luthier. The difference is on quality control of mass producers, not the technology. When you find a big maker than has high QC (cough Lakland cough) then there is nothing better than a very well made bass at a reasonable price. I've started moving away from the US made principle as some of what coming out of the far east at the moment is as good in quality but a lot cheaper. Other examples are G&L Tribute, Squier, Sterling by Musicman etc.