jontywisp

living with Rics is easy provided you can put up with some of the design peccadilloes for the great look and distinctive sound meanwhile my main change in taste has been that I started with treble-y JJ-Burnel-like clanking roundwounds for everything, but now prefer flats on all basses for all purposes

how about keeping the EBS 650 (you won't do any better for clarity and power), then putting something between bass and amp when you need to warm and thicken up the sound ? (even the basic Sansamp should do that nicely, and there are fancier options) so I suggest experimenting a bit more with the EBS plus suitable pedals I say this because your description of what you're after is pretty much what I think I get from EBS 650, as long as I add Sansamp or similar when I need something thicker and more old-school sounding enjoy

Ric with flatwounds through mesaboogie just sounds ace

Van Morrison (if I could put up with the occasional very grumpy stare) Al Green (for spine-tingling unpredictable vocals, plus rock-solid drummer) Teenage Fanclub (for the craic)

Denmark St is a total dump whereas the Bass Gallery is the best bass shop in the world ; fantastic stock, incredibly knowledgeable and friendly staff; and can usually be knocked down from asking price, especially on the used stuff

I love Sadowskys, they are real quality I was lucky enough to get a Metro back when the pound was high so a new Metro only cost £1100 but I can't agree that with Metros you're paying only for the name; the quality (and especially the consistency) is considerably higher than typical US Fender, even taking into account that the latter have improved

very cool painting !

1974 Fender P bought for £150 in 1977 has now become 'vintage' because I have was mint when I first got it, now looks very relic-ed...

thanks for the case-tip your original Verithin looks lovely

was on the verge of buying one of the new CS verythin basses on Burrito's advice, when I came across a vintage Hofner 500/6 bass on ebay Italy (don't ask), and went for that instead looks quite like the Verythin, except body is unbound, and very unusually for Hofner, actually has a bolt-on neck sounds absolutely lovely (if you like the Macca hofner sound or double-basses), and is by far the most characterful and idiosyncratic bass in my stable despite the very old-school features (floating bridge etc), tuning and intonation are fine particularly nice with Pyramid strings thanks to a very kind bass-chatter I've also now managed to get hold of a spare bolt-on Hofner neck

the Standing in the Shadows of Motown *book*, which focuses on Jamerson, has loads of photos and can still be bought from Amazon but I guess if you need to scan photos in from a printed book you will probably end up with poor resolution perhaps contact the wonderful guy who put the book together? good luck

would be nice if the US Guild Starfire reissue would come back they couldn't sell them in the 90s but now they're pursued like gold-dust

real country music is a close relative not only of folk but also of southern soul proper roots music, with some great rhythm sections any rockers who doubt this can usually be convinced by Gram Parsons or Neil Young moreover Gram's duets with Emmylou have the most devastating harmony singing I'm less keen on cheesy commercial stuff though