Muzz

Our vocalist makes his living from music - he has a wedding/function band, can go out solo (he's a great guitarist, too) or in a duo, so he's very flexible (and cost-efficient, too), but he's usually skint: getting gigs week in, week out, coping with cancellations, agent fees, illness - seems like most things that happen impact on his earnings directly. For example, if you've calculated £500 per week is what you need, a couple of £150 weeks mean you'd need to pull a couple of £850 weeks just to break even. What I'm saying is it seems (from looking at my vocalist's example, anyway) that it's far, far easier for the money to falter than it is to crank it right up again. He's divorced and his kids are grown up now, so he's renting a flat, and has a very understanding girlfriend. Even with this lack of other commitment in his life, he tells the rest of us it's very hard some weeks, and I can see it makes him very weary around music sometimes, and as has been said earlier, making your hobby your job mostly removes a hobby from your life. He also says there's no way the lifestyle is compatible with a happy family life, which is I guess what's behind the 'young/single/not-a-family man's game' concept expressed earlier. If you've no ties, plenty of drive and energy and you really want to do it, then go for it, but it's not a decision to be taken lightly. Even if I could manage the lack of money and family time, I'd be wary simply for the fact that it'd reduce my enjoyment of playing music - I've been in computers for 25+ years now, and I can't begin to tell you how bored with technology I am... Am I jealous of him? Sometimes, when he's on a good roll of gigs. Would I swap? Not a chance.

First Bass Owned: Satellite Short-scale Sunburst thing 'Go To' Bass: Modified SX/MM Precision 'Your' Bass: Modified SX/MM Precision

Having gone from LMIII - Classic 450 - RH450, I'm bound to say yes, it's a worthwhile upgrade, but I'd try the Classic 450 (or RH450) first to make sure that's the sound you're after. The core sound of the Classic 450 is the same as the RH450. I loved the LMIII, but found I was using a Sansamp BDDI permanently on it, and in a OCD-based drive to reduce kit to the minimum possible, I sourced and tried a Classic 450, which, with the Tubetone, I found I could get that valve-y Ampeg-y sound I was after (and a lot more besides). Once I'd used the Classic for a short while in a band situation, I was convinced enough to want to add the functionality of the RH450 (Tuner, adjustable EQ, programmable presets, greater connectivity on the back panel), so I part-exchanged the Classic for a RH450 on here. Because I did both moves with good people on BC for secondhand gear, the steps weren't half as painful as going straight from a LMIII to a RH450. If you're not bothered about the differences between the Classic and the RH450, then it's not worth the extra. If you are, it is. Mark at Bass Direct has lots of amps in (including the Genz stuff) so you can A-B (and -C and _D) them to your heart's content. Edit: just seen your location. That'd be a big day out, then...

If you're after a low-profile way of getting an amp, Vox do a small headphone amp for Bass which I've used before for bedroom practising. You need headphones, but you can also plug your mp3 player in and learn by playing along to your favourite tracks (I'm guessing from your username it'll be Peaches or Hanging Around ). You won't sound like JJB yet, but you'll be amplified, at least. Here's a link: [url="http://www.dv247.com/guitars/vox-amplug-bass-guitar-headphone-amp--57462"]http://www.dv247.com/guitars/vox-amplug-ba...hone-amp--57462[/url]

Aaah, but for the same money (which is what the OP was stating), you can put a MM neck and a better bridge on there, and [i]then[/i] there'll be a ruckus... Seriously, that SX I bought from you, once modded, is better than any CV I've ever tried (and I've tried a few). Having said that, once you've changed the neck and the bridge, that's the essentials of a good bass right there - a decent bit of Ash (or Alder) with a good pocket fit is hard to improve on, unless you want to look at luvvery woodgrain. And Chinese electrics are, I'd suggest, very similar... Modding isn't for everyone, tho, so I suppose if we only count out of the box basses, the CVs are better. But they're three times the price. Sue Ryder, anyone?

[quote name='lonestar' post='1120008' date='Feb 8 2011, 12:55 PM']I've had active basses and back to basics is the way forward IMHO. Having become very attached to my souped up SX Precision, recently purchased from WHUFC on here, over the last few months I'm starting to think that 2 pickups and 3 knobs on my beloved US Jazz bass is a bit more complicated than required. Given the cash I'd get a US standard P like yours any day. Nice ![/quote] Weeeelll, yes and no - I've just moved t'other way, P/J'd my souped-up SX and I'm finding it's nice to have an option. After all, you can turn the bridge pickup off and you're back to a V/T P-Bass. Back OT, was playing one of these exact puppies in PMT earlier today - very nice indeed. Gotta be maple for me, but I've played several of the new ones now, and they've been consistently great.

Well, I've been around the block a few times on this, thinking such and such a bass was 'a keeper', but most have them have gone/are going, even the BB3000A I've had since new in 87. The only thing I'd say is a keeper is the SX/MM FrankenP I've got, mostly for the reason it stands me at £200, I'd probably get half that secondhand (unless someone played it first), and it's far, far too good to sell for that money. There's a great satisfaction for me in such an ideal instrument (for me, I suspect other people's opinions might well be different) costing so little, and as a result it has a personal value to me greater than the £s. Having used it in the studio to such great effect, where I thought its weaknesses would be exposed, has only reinforced this. With such a low financial cost, it'll probably survive the ups and downs of my cashflows - I can't imagine a situation where I'd need £100 THAT badly... Having said that, I did replace the body and pickups to convert it to a P/J just before Xmas (and I'm currently pondering Wizards for it), so it's more of a philosopher's hammer, I guess...

Actually, if you read post no.7, it includes a 'go to a shop' comment...

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1113956' date='Feb 3 2011, 03:06 PM']My kid brother owns a Harley shop in Chepstow and tells me that the motorcycle world is very similar. Most of the people who can afford an 'off the peg' Harley are middle aged 'mid-life crisis' cases who are attracted to the glamour of the brand. Is it the same for top end basses?[/quote] Yep, it's the same with biking, and not just with Harleys - last time I was at the TT a couple of years ago the place was full of middle-aged guys in the full replica leathers toodling around on brand new £10k sportsbikes with every possible bit of carbon-fibred extra. Up over the mountain, on the fast bits, the same blokes were still toodling along - I couldn't believe how many I went past on my big old daily-transport Honda, complete with topbox containing a packed lunch...now I've nothing against toodling along, but some of them were riding so poorly at speed they were actually a liability...

P-Bass FTW. As previous posters have noted, there are options MIA, CIJ, etc, but with your budget you'll be able to pick a nice one. You have an appointment at your nearest well-stocked music shop, as you know guitars you'll be able to choose a good instrument of the quality you need.

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='1113334' date='Feb 3 2011, 01:00 AM']Natural plywood wouldn't look too hot though.[/quote] Mine's solid - is yours plywood?

Have to say there's nothing there I like. That's a relief...

+1 on the Blitz - back in the day, I'd have killed for one of those - the nearest I could get was an Aria ZZB in black and white...

+1 to Bob's comments above, especially about Schroeders, though I use an RH450 now, rather than the Sansamp/LMIII combination I used previously, but that's more about my particular sound requirements and me obsessing even more about minimal kit. The MB head (and I had MB cabs before, too) was excellent, and as Bob says, you just don't need to lug around an SVT/810 anymore (had those, too). You'll note I used the word 'need', rather than 'want' there... In the rehearsal studio the other week, just for fun, we tried turning up the wick on the RH450 with my 1515L (earplugs in, natch), and even though I'm in a rock band with a loud drummer, before I'd got too far round the dial, all you could hear from the drums was the cymbals. I am now forbidden from doing that again on pain of, well, pain. God alone knows how loud your 1212 + 1515 rig'd go, Bob.

Only if the Alliance and Leicester start accepting "integrity tokens" in lieu of money for mortgage payments...

Mine arrived yesterday - with a maple board - result! It's issue-free, and after a quick setup and strung with some decent strings it plays really well. The body is worth more than the money alone - a very deep translucent Dark Blue, with nice grain showing through. The ferrules are a little small for the ends of the EB Slinkys I've put on it, but I'll address that later. For once I've no immediate compulsion to change the bridge, either. I think a nice gold scratchplate a la 57 Reissue will suit nicely, and perhaps even a second P-pickup. That's the beauty of these, they're a great platform to let your imagination run wild, with very little hesitation...

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='1109332' date='Jan 31 2011, 12:36 PM']In the vid Billy says the Fender P is the greatest bass ever made. So no point buying his Yamaha then?[/quote] A bit like Glenn Hughes and the BB2024 - there's vids around of him bigging the BB up, and then he goes into the studio to record the BCC album on...a Fender P. Yamaha must be thrilled...

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1109025' date='Jan 31 2011, 08:13 AM']I've always thought the Attitude was a really cool bass, and that it was one of the most 'identifiable' singature basses. It's so closely linked to Billy's needs and preferences in a way that say, the Yamaha John Pattituci isn't. The Yamaha TRBJP is just a top spec TRB, the Attitude a a bass designed especially for Billy.[/quote] That's the main reason I'd never even consider one - it's SO specific that you'd need to be in a tribute band (or be the ultimate fanboy) to play one. Much as I admire Billy, I don't want to play just like him (I hate the mudbucker, anyway) or sound like him (although a smidge of his talent would be good to take elsewhere) or even look like him. I have an 80s BB, and back in the day was pleased to see he played one (pre-Attitude), but I never took a drill, sander, soldering iron (or, Gawd help us, a tin of metallic pink paint) to mine to make it EXACTLY like his. I'm sure it's a great instrument, and having played one of the new £2.5k BB2024s, I can say they're as good as anything in the £2k market quality-wise, but it's far too specific for me.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='1107985' date='Jan 30 2011, 11:58 AM']I'm sure I've told my cautionary tale before but I bought an Overwater a while back. Now, don't get me wrong, it was a thing of beauty, the quality was outstanding and (in the shop) it sounded incredible. In my band it sounded awful and no amount of adjustment or different strings made it sound good. The thing is, I play in a pub covers band. If I'd thought for ten seconds, who plays a fancy custom bass in a pub covers band? It didn't make any sense at all and it just didn't sound (or look probably) the part. That's what Leo Fender made basses for, so it was back to the Musicman which sounded (as usual) great and appropriate. Moral - have a very clear understanding of what role the instrument is intended to play. Sometimes a battered old Precision is actually exactly the right thing, no matter how little or how much it costs![/quote] + a lot. This is so close to my own experience it's scary: beautiful Overwater (and a Goodfellow before that) is an unused wallhanging, standard Ray and £200 FrankenP are my working basses. Both great in the studio, too. Are you monitoring my life from an unmarked van, Blobster? Having said that, I have a slow-burn of GAS for a custom Shuker P, but it'd be so close to a Fender (just better built, and with a couple of tweaks) that I'm having trouble justifying the outlay. I know exactly what I want now from a custom build, but I've been through a lot of time, money and basses to find that out. I'm sure if I'd gone out to a luthier earlier with a big wad of cash, I'd have made an (even more) expensive mistake. I'm marking time with the low-cash option of modding at the cheaper end, SXs and the like, and having great results.

I got stung for more than £40...

Twas indeed Soloshenko's P I bought first (yep, it's great mate!), tho it had a log of a neck, hence my replacing it with a MM. The neck on the second one, which was a P/J with the 'new' headstock and a rosewood board, is miles and miles better. I've played worse on basses costing three or four times as much. Quality-wise, I can only presume I've had a couple of good ones, because mine have been fine. The only downside about ordering from Rondo now is the exchange rate. And the shipping. And the import duties on both. Bah. Although they did get the bass to me in four days, when the snow meant that another Royal Mail Guaranteed Delivery of mine took nine days to get 45 miles...

Ok, I have very positive first hand experience of SX basses: I bought one (a P) from here last year, put a MM neck and Schaller bridge on it, and then sold my US Precisions on the strength of it, it was that good (it's the one in my avatar pic). Then just before Xmas, I bought an SX P/J from Rondo in the States, transferred the MM neck and bridge, and it's also fantastic. Just used it in the studio for our new album, and it sounded like a good Precision should. No mods to the electrics for me (tho I have heard others have done so), just the neck and bridge, tho the neck was because I love maple, and adding a Schaller 3D is my favourite and first mod to anything - I've put them on more than just the SXs. For the money, and if you're inclined to mod, it's a no-brainer. IMHO, YMMV, etc, natch.

Gone for a Navy Blue one - it'd be rude not to. I've just landed an SX P/J from the States that got a MM neck onto it, and was just stupendous in the studio last weekend, so I'm firmly in the Bargain Basement Modders Club now... great for indulging in GAS on a budget...

Don't listen to old blokes waffling on...