Skybone

King of Wishful Thinking - Go West

If the hum disappears when you touch the bridge, I'd guess that it was down to a bad earth connection.

All Friends and Kingdom Come - Monster Magnet

The Streets of London - Ralph McTell

Girl From Mars - Ash

Nice and punchy sound to them, always liked the concentric pots. That Deluxe is a beauty, always fancied one of those as well. Stupidly part-exed my first Special for an Encore Strat. Always regretted it. Found another on eBay about 2005, unfortunately it didn't live up to my memory of them. Both were 1984 models.

I had the SB Special II (twice), which was the same bass, but with 2 of the "P" pole humbucker (instead of the J pickup at the bridge).

Forgot about this beauty: Korean "ProSeries StarBass 4 in Sunburst with case £825 - Basses For Sale - Basschat

If you can find one that has a solid spruce top, rather than a laminated top, that's a great starting point. They tend to sound a bit less "boxy" than one's that have laminated tops. Vintage used to do a solid top with a laminated mahogany back & sides for about £100. Good little guitars. An Auditorium or Parlour size would be a good choice for a non player, as size-wise they're a bit more manageable. I'd also recommend that your friend buys a set of wooden bridge pins rather than the plastic ones that come with the guitar. They really do liven the sound up, especially on cheaper acoustics. Taylor Guitars Bridge Pins, Ebony at Gear4music Another thing to look for is a "pure" acoustic guitar (no on-board pre-amp & pickup). At that price point, the pre-amp tends to be not the best. EastCoast G1S Grand Auditorium Acoustic Guitar - Andertons Music Co. Taylor Bridge Pins Ebony (Set of 6) - Andertons Music Co.

Recently asked a similar question in "Other Instruments": Electronic Drums - Any BC Knowledge Out There? - Other Instruments - Basschat My son wanted a drum kit, an electronic kit was the obvious choice, so I managed to track down a second hand Alesis Nitro Mesh kit. My son's made up with it, it sounds really good, and there's a load of tutorial stuff available online if you register the kit with Alesis (though he's happiest to bang about playing along with Spotify). The Bass drum pad is the usual rubber, but the snare & toms are mesh heads. The more money you have available, you'll obviously get a better kit, but the mesh heads are the way to go. Good luck.

Blood and Thunder - Mastodon

Revelation would be another brand to have a look at.

For some reason, this really appeals:

Religous Wars - Subhumans

No Limit - 2 Unlimited

Shout Out to My Ex - Little Mix

Lonely This Christmas - Mud

Night Swimming - R.E.M.

Failed miserably last year, so this year's starting out with no plans to acquire anything. However, this is subject to change without prior notice.

No plans so far, however, this is subject to change without prior notice.

Nice

Forever and Ever - Demis Roussos

Good documentary. NMA were an essential part of the "Alternative" culture in the 80's & 90's, a number of my friends at the time were huge fans, they were one of those bands that you either loved or hated them (I certainly knew a lot of people who hated them as well! ). Remember being dragged along to a couple of gigs when they played locally to where I grew up, and they were a great live band who fed off the atmosphere. Didn't understand the clog thing though.

No More Tears (Enough is Enough) - Barbara Streisand & Donna Summer

Can't Buy Me Love - Gerry Marsden's mop top mates