Delberthot

I got mine on Friday lunch time. Took it out of the box, tuned it, put it in a gig bag and gigged with it on Friday night. First time I have ever had a bass set perfectly for me straight out of the box. Only issue I had were frets 4 & 5 had popped out slightly so there was a good deal of buzz but only on the E string so I had to avoid playing Ab all night. It was easy enough to tap them back in on Saturday morning and then gig it again on Saturday night. I had planned to make it a backup to my Sire D5 but since that still hadn't arrived, I decided just gig with it instead. The Sire arrives today 😁

My long gone gold flake Warmoth '54 with all gold hardware and gold frets. Even the pickup screws were gold

Over the past 35 years I've played 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 string basses. Sometimes to suit the material I was playing at the time, others just because I wanted to. When I was in my Nathan East phase I was playing a 6, during my Chilis phase which has lasted on and off for the past 32 years I've played a Modulus Flea, Musicman SR5, various Stingrays and a Sterling, 2 12 strings in my Cheap Trick phase and an 8 after hearing Abe Laboriel play with Lee Ritenour. Right now I have only 4 string basses, some with Hipshot Xtenders, some without. I think in my ramblings I mean, play whatever you want - keep the 5 and get a 4, maybe a HIpshot with a double stop so that you can have two alternate tunings for your E.

Before we switched to using in-ears I used to use something like these. I'm very sensitive to high frequencies, especially our drummer's china cymbal! and these tamed those high frequencies for me while still being able to hear most things. They're not ideal and in-ears are definitely a lot better for me but at least I could still hear on the way home from a gig

Could this be what Shane MacGowan is singing about?

I am also in the process of returning something to them. A bass ordered on 15th August and received on 23rd. The bridge was wonky so I immediately asked for a return. After a week and a half of failed collections it was eventually collected on 4th September. They don't have it so I raised a PayPal claim against them as I want my refund. They responded today by trying to tell me that it was still with UK customs 14 days after it was collected so I have asked them to prove that this is the case

Just when I think that I am sorted for gear, something comes along that I really want (not need) To be honest I flit between bass gear and watches but unlike basses, the watches get kept until next thing I know I have over 40

I was looking to do something similar in the past and this is the preamp I was going to use: https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/retrovibe-stinger-77-classic-mm-stingray-bass-eq-pre-amp-2-band-pre-eb-circuit/ Assuming that there is enough room in the control cavity for the preamp and a battery

I've got a red one coming and having previously owned a Vintera with the anodised sandpaper scratchplate, does anyone know what scratchplate will fit these? It looks like a US MIM one should fit.

On 13th July 1985 I had heard Queen for the very first time so on this day in 1985 I would have been getting on the bus with my mum and heading to the record shop to buy the next Queen album on my list. My first album was Greatest Hits which I bought for £7.01 from Woolworths on my 10th birthday in 1985 before heading to the cinema. I can't remember what it was. I'm sure it was A View To A Kill but I could be wrong. Then after that I worked my way through their back catalogue from Queen all the way up to The Works which was the newest release at the time. They were £3.95 each if I remember rightly. At the time I was getting £11 a week doing a paper round so I bought an album and a copy of the Beano every week. I still have them all but didn't look after them so I ended up having to buy the whole lot again a few years ago

Finally succumbed and ordered a dakota red P plus a set of HB flats and a gig bag. Dakota red and Daphne blue are my two favourite Fender colours so it was an easy choice between the red and the blonde

I've had both a player and Vintera Precision but I found the neck on the Vintera to be too clubby for me. It just felt really massive and uncomfortable to move around the neck the way I am used to. That and the anodised scratchplate felt horrible every time my finger nails scratched across it. Having said that, the Vintera is definitely a step up in terms of quality and sound. The scratchplate could easily have been changed, it was just a pity about the neck

I finally made up my mind and decided to go with the Enhanced MP-5MN as I've been hankering after a 5 string and a bass with a reverse P pickup.

The 3B was the one I always wanted as a young lad. They used to have them on the back page of Guitarist magazine IIRC

There's only Mick and Keef left from the original lineup. They can't be far from calling it a day given that Mick is 80 and Keef is not far off.

I've been using using Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkies for about the past 8 or 9 months and finding them much punchier, especially the E string, than either D'addario EXLs or Fender nickels. I don't think they last quite as long as D'addarios but the difference in price makes it negligible money wise

I developed quite a staccatto style of playing after using so many flabby / wooly sounding speakers back in the day. I've always played far too many notes and the aforementioned speakers just made the whole thing sound flubby and indistinct until I began doing this to separate each note. That and favouring the tips of the fingers gives me quite a snappy, punchy sound. Plus, having played so many Musicman basses my natural position is right where the pickup would be on a Stingray/Sterling regardless of what bass I am using at the time.

I've been thinking about a Harley Benton as well and found this Youtube Channel to be really good - no chat, just playing.

My band in it's current form will end at the end of this year so I don't want to buy anything at this moment. However, if I happen to be fortunate enough to still be playing next year then I would really like a Musicman SR5 with ceramic pickup. Ideally in Lava Pearl if I can find another one (or my old one) at the right price

You should be fine for the double stop level for doing that. It's a bit trickier changing mid-song with the double stop than the regular lever. Back when we used to do "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, I started the song in regular tuning, then dropped the E to D, then again to B for the chorus and back up to D again for the verse just for the hell of it and because I am a massive show off

Music that you like to listen to and music that you like to play can sometimes be two completely different things. There are literally 2 songs that my band plays that I would listen to in the car or the house but I enjoy playing all of the others. I'll never forget learning the live version of Crazy by Beyonce, the one where it goes into Crazy by Gnarls Barklay in the middle - it was excrutiating listening to it. Sounded like a bag of cats being tossed off a bridge. Yet I really enjoy playing it. As long as you enjoy the playing element then that's the most important thing regardless of whether or not you'd listen to it yourself.

These were all over Ebay around maybe 2008ish marketed under the "Wesley" name. I had one of the 5 string Jazz basses - incredibly cool looking but also incredibly heavy. They still pop up on Ebay from time to time https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wesley-4-String-Purple-Acrylic-Bass-Guitar-Lined-Fretless-/334926453240?hash=item4dfb2c19f8%3Ag%3A0DEAAOSwLc9kmUes&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4BSIX3g5vtJrepmgK1sq5IpKCFt4Kwp21pRiJUMVDgfrI02xWc%2FA2ca6l8UhRhF9fyVv%2F5aoXcMLZv4uc%2FMGL4uS69Gs%2FNTq1zrMIwOjh+H4VttC61jLhWQrk%2BvLEhxE9JIu3vlGAlGPbqy%2BHPiVXxe0BVoKD3gixolmjaQLxA2h7oDrxU3YysJcNk5UnpI%2FbAX5%2BZq%2BFQ3Y7fp6vsKthz1Y83tfPai3IZurdNYeT%2B2%2Fb%2FhgfyuuXKcSTg4fl6EQPC5rPXN30djJ1Uged1RzUgYQQDI%2Fmmy9Pz36W1ayIsc|tkp%3ABk9SR9zP_OWnYg&nma=true&si=jREFqSL1QJ%2FJlDELswFnSUTAlHY%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I have astigmatism so wear glasses to drive and operate a PC (not usually at the same time) but I'm far too vain and rock & roll to wear them while playing. 🥸

If you check Talkbass, I'm sure that someone over there did exactly that a few years ago (could have been 10 years ago or more) - loved the sounds, hated the bass, so took the innards and fitted them to a new bass

Whenever I've played passive jazz basses I've always had both pickups and tone full on and boosted the mids on my EQ. It's my favourite jazz bass sound