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It depends on the tone you want to hear . I’m an old school flatwound guy , most of my basses carry them , a few have extremely old rounds that are just as thumpy as well worn flats , and I do keep fresh rounds on some others. I usually gig with a Dano Longhorn that was made in 98 and still has the factory strings on it , I have a set of LaBella flats ready if I lose a string. The Dano has a great deep woody thump with the ancient strings and sits beautifully in a stage mix. However I usually practice with a bass that has fresh rounds.

I don’t believe Reunion Blues make leather bags any longer, their old ones are legend. I only found several leather bags available , a couple were silly expensive , and looked absolutely gorgeous. I looked at Levy and Warwick Rockbass bags , and found a good price on the Maruszczyk. The bags I have now will certainly outlast me.

I wish somebody in Nova Scotia stocked these. I would love to try one , and would probably replace my Ampeg 210AV practice cab with one. I’m running a SWR Headlite with it for now. It’s a great practice rig , but I like the smaller , lighter thing a lot , and these new Trace cabs push those buttons. I have another practice rig I keep at the in-laws , a Phil Jones C2 with a GK MB200. And that’s a sweet little rig.

A Dano Longhorn is what I normally gig with , but these shortscales are what I tend to spend my time goofing around on these days. Also a Gretsch baritone guitar that didn’t make it to the photo.

I’ve been in Covid isolation , but expect to be back in the saddle this weekend . Regular gig in my favourite dive , not a loud band but not in the PA so I need to fill the room . I’ll probably run the Forte with a single HDN112 .

Bag arrived this morning and I’m really happy with it. Now the Levy leather is softer but this Maruszczyk is beautifully made and will easily fit most long scale basses , with the exception of my Eastwood Classic IV , which is a big hollow body bass . I have a nylon Eastwood bag for that , not a big deal. The storage compartments on the Maruszczyk have Velcro , whereas the Levy has leather buckles. They should be fine . I plan to use it this weekend and am looking forward to driving it around . I’ll probably put some leather conditioner on it. Here’s the two side by side , the Levy is actually a guitar case , but my Dano Longhorn fits perfectly. edit … my Flying V will not fit either , but I didn’t expect it to

I really don’t need anything more but still watch the local kijiji like a hawk.

Looks good! I’ve been surprised by Eastwood’s offshore build quality. Some years back picked up a white Classic IV for a good price, it’s not bad. Still play it. Much better made than I thought it might be.

Scumbags , do everything they can to rip you off , and then say it’s your fault.

Simply gorgeous. Congratulations !

I have two Rics , an 80 4001 , bypassed the cap , strung with Thomastik flats , and a 76 4000. Mostly use short scales these days , but I love those Rics.

Thank you. Already coming down to the home stretch , I was lucky to have a very mild variant. But know quite a few friends that were hit hard. I hope to be back in the saddle next week.

I’m in quarantine at the moment , tested positive with almost no symptoms. I did two gigs last weekend and think I picked it up in the backstage area at the changeover at a festival. I suppose the inevitable is inevitable , I had been so careful over the last three years. Since things have reopened after the last closure I’ve noticed crowds are not what they once were , and some venues are now gone. It’s been a rough go for bars and restaurants. I’m just a blue collar musician mostly playing mid sized rooms. But I love the work. And pray we’ll find a new normal. I love that bass ! And hope you’ll be out in public again with it.

That could be just the ticket! I hope it will help with the stress.

First you serve the song. You don’t need to show everybody all your skilz or everything you know in one song. That’s showboating , not being a musician. Musicianship is all about ensemble playing, and working together.

I’ve had periods where my primary bass was fretless , and play upright, although today my main basses are fretted. I’ve been the house bassist for a weekly blues jam that has survived for over twenty five years and have noticed … when a guy shows up with a fretless bass … they tend to over play. They seem more concerned about melodic fills than setting a groove. Instead of playing the song they insist on something interesting and clever. Usually to the detriment of the groove and song. Now I did not say every one , but by far the majority. Just an honest observation …

I was referring to the work on MacCartney’s bass done by Rickenbacker , not the repro. I wonder if Dale still making the odd acoustic or if that has ended with John Hall’s retirement.

It’s wonderful that those guys have achieved an internet guru status in the Rickenbacker world. I’ve messaged Dr Quist about set up things and his replies were prompt and specific. Amazing to have that resource!

I spent an hour bouncing between the Trib and a US model , and then came to the conclusion that they were pretty close , and bought the Trib. It was a very early Korean one. As it turns out I’m simply not a five string guy at all.

I thought MA did that one.

Simply gorgeous. I get a little weak in the knees looking at something like that! Congratulations! A new bass can initially feel a bit odd , but simply putting the time on it will remove that. Over the years I’ve acquired a good number of different basses and no longer have many specific preferences.

Look at what 4005 basses are selling for , Gibson , Ball Family Reserve , and Fender custom shop are more expensive . It’s a limited run instrument that will increase in value if their past runs are any indication. Oh it was too rich for me but I loved the bass.

The Jupiter looks like it was influenced too , but they did give it a distinctive headstock!

Fender manage to put out Jazz basses at quite a few price points , and even the lowly Squier is generally a fine playable instrument , or on the other hand you can get a hand built custom shop version for considerably more money. I got my first Fender back when there was just one Pbass in the catalogue . You had some colour options and it seemed no two at the time felt the same . You’d play a dozen to pick out the “one”. There was just one Jazz bass too. And they were equally inconsistent. The builds are a hell of a lot more consistent today. Play it for a while before you get carried away modding it. They’re quite nice just as they are. Looks lovely! Congratulations! edit … I’d tort that thing!

A Unicorn popped up on the local online buy&sell , kijiji. I dawdled and an old friend snagged it. I prefer short scales these days and was somewhat relieved , and yet somehow he wound up flipping it to me to buy something else a couple of weeks later. The Unicorn is a great bass! Mine is the RUB-1095 Deluxe with a fat old humbucker on the bridge. Very nicely made , very enjoyable neck. Great sounding thing. And it just fits a Les Paul guitar case! Recently another rare Riverhead Jupiter popped up for sale and I convinced my buddy to grab it. Unfortunately production ceased after the factory in Japan burned down in the late 80’s.