retroman

Feel for your plight.... I managed to injure my wrists a long while back, and have slight tendon issues with my wrists sometimes. As much as I love the sound of a Fender P, or a Stingray for that matter, after about half hour, my left wrist is really hurting.... The Jazz bass suites me perfectly, can play one all day without an issue, and have been looking for a well built USA Jazz for a long time.... +1 For the Squier Precision Special. Got one here at Retro Towers, and it's a fantastic bass. Swapped the pups for SD 1/4 Pounders, and it sounds great. Have also considered nailing a Jazz neck to a P body for a long time, and never got round to it

[quote name='The Goatreich' timestamp='1319118126' post='1410135'] I saw the bass player from Yob with one of these the other day and it looked very sexy!! [/quote] Proper band! Love "Solid Ball Of Molten Lead" off "The Illusion Of Motion" Think I have seen him with a Ricky before?? Seem to recall BC's Farmer61 has a proper white Thunderbird IV

I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to be in the position to buy a new amp, and spent quite a while in a shop that had a lot of bass amps, and with an open mind, tried all of them! Tried all the transistor/ hybrid stuff first, and most seemed to need a lot of time fiddling with gadgets on the amp to get a semi reasonable tone from them, but still sounded lacking. Was quite impressed with the MarkBass stuff, but couldn't get my head around all the bright yellow! Last one I tried was an Ampeg SVT CL, and loved it straight away. Still got it. The weight of it is a killer though, and I can appreciate why this puts some people off. A few months ago GAS got the better of me, and I bought a Marshall VBA400 advertised on this site. Loving the Marshall as well. Way more powerful than the Ampeg, and gives very loud drummers something to think about! Gets a lot dirtier than the Ampeg tone wise, which is great for all the heavy rock/ metal stuff I do. Despite the Marshall having an extra two power tubes, it is a fair bit lighter than the Ampeg. Both amps sound great through the Ampeg 610HLF cab. So, all in all, very happy with my lot. I do keep looking at the Orange Ad200, and the Matamp stuff though............ Each to their own though, people like different things, for different reasons

Ah, one gig springs to mind.......... Another band on the bill turns up late, and starts lording it up a bit.......10 minutes later, "can we borrow a strap"? Another 5 minutes later "can we borrow a lead"? For forks sake!!

Had a quick noodle on a Geddy yesterday, and the action was insanely low, and not choking at all!

Genuinely pleased to hear that you are getting on well with the Zon Chris

Interesting thread! Had to think long and hard, but the ones I really would hate to get rid of... Alembic Orion 5.....So beautifully built, amazing player and tone. The standard I judge all others by. 1980 Rickenbacker 4001. My first decent bass, played my first ever gig with it, and of great sentimental value. '76 Bicentennial Thunderbird. Prezzie from the Mrs, just spent 3 days in the studio with "Big Bird" Sounds huge 1990? Aria Legend P bass copy. My first ever bass. Plays amazingly well, nice neck, but crap ply wood body!! sensible head on, the Alembic would be the last to go, as it really is my "go to" bass, but the Rick and the Bird would rule my heart, so to speak

Just sold Chris a bass, An absolute pleasure to deal with, friendly, prompt, and polite communication both by PM, and phone, and enjoyed meeting up with him for the sale. Would not hesitate to deal with Chris again, a credit to Bass Chat. Thanks Chris, Rich

Cheers, will give them a go. Been really liking DR's on the whole, and been using SunBeams, HiBeams, and DDT's, and wouldn't want to go back to the more regular brands. Will try some Newtones next time for drop tuning sets.

Just had the same problem with a set of new DDT's. Tuning top string up to pitch, and the core wire let go at the bridge end. Painful experience as well, as I had my hand over said string, gently plucking it as it came up to pitch was a 5 string set 45-125. Different end of the bass to the OP's problem, but thought it worth a mention, as it was core wire failure too. Might have to give the Newtones a go then. Got to buy some strings soon for C standard tuning

"Is that a lead guitar"?

I've had a similar bad experience when buying new.... Ordered a bass, had a massive wait, and then recieved a bass which I easily found over 20 faults on....That cost just over £1k. In this day and age, it is completely unacceptable to have even minor faults on an instrument that costs over £1K. We live in a modern world of CAD, CNC, etc, so there is no excuse for this from a major manufacturer. I've given up looking for decent quality basses from the major american players, and now mainly look at the second hand market, where there can be some serious bargains to be had. I got a really good deal on my Alembic compared to what the build cost would have been new, and the thing just oozes quality, and attention to detail in every aspect of its build. It even has tiny brass threaded inserts for the screws that the electrics cover on, Was also well impressed by one of Jon Shuker's top end basses that I had a go on in recent times. In all fairness, the Stingray I had was a beauty though

Yeap, love playing bass........ Did have a weird six string thing with a tiny neck once........Nah, got rid, and got another bass! Nothing like playing with a good drummer, and good guitarist, and working the space between the two. Had some fairly memorable moments along the way. The first was a few years back when I had my Trace Elliot V-Type full stack, with the Gibson EB2 plugged in. Got it well cranked up, and had plaster falling out the ceiling! Drum kit was a mess of buzzing snare drum, and rattling symbals too! Most recent happy moment was playing a gig, with trusty 5 string Alembic tuned low A, into my Marshall VBA400, and Ampeg 610. Someone commented after the set that he could feel my bass in his guts! Nothing like feeling the floor vibrating, trousers flapping, and watching the grille on the speaker cab shaking as you lay down some serious low end

Saw 80's thrash legends "Annihilator" a little while back, and I'm sure he was playing an Epiphone Thunderbird Pro. Sounded pretty good as I recall.