Muzz

I'd agree that the SC (I have a ST, but I've heard/played through SCs a couple of times, and I'd probably swap my ST for a pair of SCs) is a great package, but 'best-sounding' is such a personal qualification as to be almost meaningless. Unless, of course, Precisions are the best-sounding bass, in which case I'm right and a lot of other people are wrong... 😀 Additionally, I don't think the a SC is a fair comparison for a good 410. A pair, tho, or a ST? Definitely.

Ouch. I think I'll wait for the wave of Early Adopters to try them first, then. That 212 will be much nearer to higher end of the price range, too - probably much nearer £1300, if your calculations are correct. I'm as keen as the next old physical wreck on a light cab, but pushing £400 for 10lbs less in weight (and the ST has wheels, too)? Hmmmm...

Yup. It appears that it's a Limited Edition (seems to be just the colour - I was wrong about Fireglo (and the exact price), but it didn't look that different to me): That Walnut 4003...I bought one new from GAK four years ago for £1600...I should have kept it as an investment piece...

Patented carbon wafers? Blimey. Anyone seen any UK prices? I can't find anything... it says they start at $969, but as they're not US products, you'd hope here in the UK we'd get better than the £=$ thing...because £969 for a 112 is a right old stinger...

Just for reference, there's a Fireglo 4003 on the wall in PMT Manchester at the mo. It's £3,395. I didn't take it down... I'm beginning to see why they don't put prices on them any more; the pile of stunned unconscious bodies piling up underneath it would make it hard to get to the other basses...

I know three local bassists (four with me) who run/have run Mesa gear, tho the biggest brand out there in terms of actually gigged stuff IME is Ashdown... I don't think any of the Mesa users bought them new...

Good news: the website says 196 watts continuous power...

Don't mention that at check-in, tho... ☹️

IMO there's no such thing as a crap song with an interesting bass line.

I had my first 8-string (a dreadful Washburn) in 1985-ish, and in that particular originals band it suited so well that for our reunion gig recently, the guitarist asked me where it was (I used the Stomp in the end, which did the job), but in the case in point, it was bang on for the songs I used it - ringing, open notes, etc. - but the fact there were two guitars doing similar things at the same time made it more difficult to, erm, kill.

Or just go the whole hog and play a 12-sting bass? Actually, don't bother; I bought one once - took it to a rehearsal with an originals band, played it on a couple of songs. No one noticed. Or cared... 😕😃

It does depend on where you're gigging: a function/wedding set will be primarily tuned to getting the ladies dancing (because when did you last see a bunch of blokes heading out onto the dance floor first?) and giving people singalonga hits, and that's also broadly true of a lot of pubs, unless you're on a rock circuit (not that there's many of those left) - play stuff people will sing and dance to, and they'll have a good time, and so will you*. * If you like that sort of thing, but then I've always loved playing bass for ladies to dance to...YMMV, etc, etc...

I'm gonna guess this was a while ago, because as I mentioned the earlier incarnations of Elixirs did shed. The new ones don't.

The newer version (which IIRC have been around at least a couple of years) don't suffer from the 'shedding' thing that the very early coated strings did. I use a pick 85% of the time (and not with a light touch, either), and I've got Elixirs which are 18 months old, and they haven't shed at all...

I put a split coil 'P-Type' pickup and a John East U-Retro in my ABZ4, and it'll do all sorts of tones now. It's still the most resonant, 'alive' bass I've ever played unplugged. The neck profile is a bit too chunky for me these days, tho, since I had my Shukers all made with super-skinny necks... Quite like these Ibanez ones, though they're a solution to a problem I haven't got, but it's nice to see a big manufacturer pushing the boundaries a bit...