three

Wow, I got up this morning ready to go to the cenotaph and then deal with a lot of hassle that’s arisen in the past few days. I opened this thread and now I’m blushing! Thank you very much all for the incredibly kind comments – the feelings are entirely mutual. I’ve met some of the most lovely, humane, and humble people I know through Basschat. Thank you! Onto the Suhr, i’m absolutely delighted that this has returned to where it belongs! It’s an absolutely gorgeous instrument. It really needed a good set up when I played it, though I was massively impressed by the fit and finish. What a lovely close to a long story!

I haven't played a Serek, though hear only very good things. I have owned a couple of Wilcocks. Both superb basses and Viv Wilcock is building some outstanding instruments. I only sold mine as I prefer active basses (I think this is something that Viv now offers). My personal favourite short-scale is the US Spector Shorty. I think that there were only around 40 built (and I suspect it's a discontinued model), though one with lots of variations in terms of finish and electronics. They appear rarely but well worth a look if you see one. There's the European built Spector Bantam and it's fairly similar to the Shorty - I haven't owned one, but I'd imagine that build quality will be superb. Another favourite is the Alembic small-bodied short-scale (Stanley Clarke and other options) - weird ergonomics and not cheap but, as one would expect, extraordinary instruments. We're fortunate to have some great builders in the UK and beyond taking short-scale very seriously.

I saw something similar a couple of days ago and was quite surprised at the revival of the format - I think this was some sort of classic album and taken from original masters - about £1200. I was aware that there's a very strong market for Studer and Revox machines (prices have increased dramatically in recent years) but the release of pre-recorded open-reel does seem strange - I imagine there's a small but (affluent and) enthusiastic market. Personally, I don't really miss the hiss of open reel machines or the crackle of vinyl.

I play Alembics. Idiosyncratic is a word that I sometimes use. Sometimes, I use other words

Is the bass a 'standard' 30" shortscale or is it sub short-scale? I'm sure we can come-up with suggestions (though it gets a little more tricky with sub short-scale). It might be worth taking a look at Newtone - they have dedicated short-scale sets available but can custom wind pretty much anything: https://newtonestrings.com/product-category/strings/bass-guitar-strings/?v=7885444af42e