Rich

I found the Barts to be a bit woolly, there was some clarity lacking. I had EMG-TWs in the Shuker for some years but was a bit disappointed with their 'coil tap' mode, so I swapped them out for quad-coil Delanos and for me they are far superior. They've got the crisp clarity of the EMGs but there's none of the - how to put it - slight 'electronicness' that the EMG tone had. Hard to describe. I've got precisely 0.00 hours on Armstrong pickups, so I can't offer any comparison there.

Drop your panties Sir Arthur, I cannot wait till lunchtime.

Stop it, all of you. Please. You are doing my GAS no good at all.A Limelight build is the only way I'll ever get near my dream of owning a YOB Jazz.

Bloody good job, well done sir.

Ahem.

5 is the player, 3 stays on the hanger.

Shamelessly stolen from a post on Thomann's farcebook page... Your favourite non-guitar, non-bass solos. Sax, piano, drums, whatever. Just not guitar or bass. One of mine for starters... the late Kenny Kirkland’s brilliant piano solo on Sting’s live version of ‘When The World Is Running Down’, from the Bring On The Night album. Three minutes of ivory-tinkling fabulousness.

Sei Flamboyant 5 string. It was a stunning instrument -- I mean, just look at it -- but I couldn't get the setup right, so in a fit of pique I sold it. What a stupid, stupid move. Piezo bridge, Schack eq, Bart pickups (wasn't super-keen on them, but that's an easy fix), blue edge LEDs and a whole forest of stunning walnut. I should have given it to a luthier and got them to do it properly, hell I should have taken it home to Camden -- a decent setup and a set of Delanos and it would have been simply perfect. It was beautifully made, felt great to play (apart from my crap set-up job) and the sound was to die for. I often kick myself, very hard, for letting that one go. Arrrgh.

Realistically I could never, ever choose between my Shuker and my Wal. It'd almost be like asking me to choose between my children.

I couldn't. I could get down to two, but one of them would be fretless. I need that mwaah in my life.

That comes from a farcebook group of which I'm a member. If anyone in the group ever takes umbrage about something and announces that they're leaving the group, we all start posting pics of the most ridiculous frocks/ballgowns we can find in a 'bye Felicia' sort of way. It's our way of making their dramatic gesture look silly.

Why aren't different types of finish available? What happens if we want a mattery, or a satinary, or an eggshellary?

In the absence of a full glossary: "clown whore" -- one former member's now-legendary description of any bassist/musician who does not think of themselves as an 'artist' first and foremost. The rest of his argument was similarly ridiculous. I think he thought of himself as Van Gogh with flatwounds. He was quite rightly ridiculed for his ludicrous pseudointellectual posturing, and stamped off in a fairly spectacular flounce. "a waste of TIM" -- another former member who failed to sell any of his tat in the Marketplace and, rather than perhaps review his pricing or sales technique, announced that the whole marketplace was 'a complete waste of TIM' (sic) and and stamped off in another fairly spectacular flounce. "is Mark King better than Flea?" -- from a thread many many moons ago which posed the question "Who is better at slap, Mark King or Flea?". A lot of people felt that this was a bit like comparing apples to oranges as their approaches are so very different, provoking a fair bit of good-natured jocularity. IIRC the member who asked the question did not stamp off in any sort of flounce, spectacular or otherwise. The question has become a bit like a Basschat version of 'what would Jesus do?'. "is that bass any good for playing metal" -- similar to the King/Flea one above. The question was asked, "what's the best bass for metal?" (to which of course the answer is, you can play metal on absolutely any bass and 'best' is entirely subjective). Again, it provoked much witty japery and the member who posed the query did not put on their flouncing frock. If I've got any of the above wrong, please correct.

As are the terms "clown whore", "a waste of TIM", and "is Mark King better than Flea?"

Harry, what if anything are you doing for amplification?

As much as that? Pfft. You were lucky.

Harry, Teebs -- do you guys find the Thunder tends to neck-dive?

I reckon you need to screw those pickup polepieces out a bit further.

Hallooo

That's the badger, yes. Look, we're in danger of bogarting young Harry's thread here

Thanks it needs gold knobs, I'd love a set of the originals but have you seen the prices they fetch on fleabay?? 😮

Good call. You can't go wrong with those two, good solid basses both. L-R: bitsa P bass (modified since pic), Thunder 1-A, Shuker custom 5-string, Sire V7 5-string, bitsa 'Ray-ish fretless, Ibanez BTB 6-string. Missing from pic: Wal Pro 2-E. (PS. just in case you didn't know... 'bitsa' is a common term that refers to a bass that has been home-built from parts, i.e. made up from 'bitsa this and bitsa that' )

Hi Harry and welcome I echo everything this lot have already said. Also -- play along with stuff, no matter where you hear it. I remember seeing an interview with Billy Sheehan where he said that he used to keep his bass with him even when he was watching TV, and when the adverts came on he'd play along with them. Theme tunes, likewise. Any music that cropped up, he'd pick the tune out. It's fun and it all helps.