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I wonder how many of these items will still turn up on the end of 2018 thread, 'stuff I shouldn't have bought, but still did'!

I didn't say it was a good deal.

I think the key is the fact that the chap was an "older gentleman". I'm 64 and I can remember when I was in my teens/early twenties, a "real" Fender was a pretty rare beast in Blighty, unless you were a pro'. Now, they're everywhere and you can choose between US, Mexican, Korean, Japanese, etc instruments, all Fender branded, at varying price points. The guitar hero at the school I went to was the only bloke for miles around with a genuine Strat' and the copies hadn't started appearing yet. When I finally got my first "proper" Fender ('72 jazz, which I still have), it cost me several months wages and was a real red letter day.

On this evidence, she has a cracking pair of lungs . . .great voice.

Absolutely. Just wondering how many on here can honestly say that out in the audience they could tell the difference between a P and a J for eg. Ive been to a few concerts this year and the myriad of diff basses might have well been wash tubs for the difference each instrument made.

I found the Ultimate Drive quite lacking in bass for me... The American Sound has tons on tap though due to it's 3 band EQ that still has decent low end without having to boost the bass. It's pretty versatile too, just at home with a mellow Precision and flats or a more aggressive Jazz with rounds. I think I got mine for £15 used! I've yet to try the Orange Juice though but will probably get one to try soon - might order the out-of-stock one on sold by Amazon for £38 delivered (normally £50 everywhere else) as they would have to honour that price when it came back in stock!

My objection is to actively forcing people to do something they don't need to do. I'm not a fan of making superfluous rules.

I actually think it helps the debate a lot in that there is no set perspective, one can have one's own taste and preferences about an instrument but I think if this thread has highlighted anything it is that there is no definitive set of criteria that make a vintage bass superior to a modern one or vice versa. There may be something about the materials used in construction, the manner of it's manufacture, but in the end personal preference seems to hugely outweigh any other factor, somehow that pleases me a lot. One thing I do know is that the reasoned arguments and totally friendly discussion on this thread has kind of warmed an old misanthrope's heart! If I were ever attracted to a bass that was considered vintage I'd be straight on here asking for advice, that's for sure.

At the risk of sounding like a utter fool, can someone explain to me why people like older instruments, vintage basses and the like? I’ll tell you for why. Years and years ago I was sitting in on a Killing Joke rehearsal, I’d just been to a West End music shop with a friend of mine and he’d purchased a cheap Washburn semi-acoustic. Geordie (KJ’s guitarist) asked to look at the guitar and plugged it into his rig “It won’t sound any different to mine” he said, laughing and gesturing with his head towards his beautiful 1952 Gibson ES-295. And guess what? It didn’t sound any different, not at all. So what’s the point of vintage instruments other than a display of what you can afford? I’m not knocking anyone who owns such instruments, I’m just trying to understand it, not least in case I’m missing out somehow! Surely modern instruments benefit from being designed and built using modern methods and technology? I have played vintage basses and very expensive modern hand built basses and none of them have sounded or played any better than any of my sub £1000 (and in a couple of cases sub £500) basses. I have talked with the luthier who sets up my guitars and basses about that and he speculated that most instruments simply aren’t set up correctly and that makes so much difference to the playability and tone (I have to agree here, I think I realised the first time he set up one of my basses that I had simply never played a correctly set up bass before). So, in summary, how or why are vintage instruments any better than modern, current models? I have never found this to be the case, is it just a myth or a marketing ploy, is it just peacock strutting with the most expensive or rare items? Or is there something I’m missing or just don’t know or understand, is there an old Jazz bass out there that I’d play and have the vintage revelation? I am mindful here of the story about the chap who only discovered his second-hand $35 violin was, in fact, a Stradivarius after it was run over by a bus, only then did he realise it was worth a million dollars, nothing in the playability or the tone led him to think it was anything special before he saw the name.

Well..? Don't just sit there..! Get to bed..! ...

I've never understood the obsession with resale value. Maybe because I've never bought any instrument with an eye to selling it on at some point. I've always bought because I have an actual need for the instrument at that particular moment in time. If I can afford it and it's something I'm going to use then I'll buy it. At the time I rarely think I'll be selling it later. If at some point I no longer need it I'll probably sell it or if I think I might use it again in the future it will go into storage. When I sell stuff sometimes I make money compared with what I originally paid for it, and sometimes I lose money. If I loose money, I look at the that amount as the rental value of the instrument for the time I was using it. TBH the amount I've spent on guitars and basses in real terms is small beans compared with what I was spending on synthesisers in the 80s.

Just beaten to the post here by Lozz........I'm afraid to say if you already have a 4 ohm cabinet already, you can't pair it with any other cab as the Markbass amp will only run a total load of 4 ohms. If you had two cabs of 8ohms each, then your amp will 'read' a 4 ohm load and give its full 500 watts power out into two cabs, bigger and better sound. I would have to say sell the present 4 ohm cab and get two of the 8 ohm cabs.

Y'know, although I've had loads of gear over the years, I don't think I've ever posted anything in the review section..! That's a shame about the Class AB stuff. Maybe they've decided that the Subway is finally 'there' in terms of equivalent performance? The amount that were moved on on BC not long after launch makes me think... maybe not?

Yup a complete naive newbie me, susceptible to the slings and arrows of outrageous advice from my West Country advisers, although at least I know the difference between a HPF and a LPF, thank goodness. And I do tend to avoid 12 string basses.

@kodiakblair I should have written it better you are right, but honestly you can tell @Al Krow anything, he’ll probably believe it and then repeat it as gospel, or he’ll quote you and change bits to suit himself

SGC/Nanyo did plenty of neck thru P/J's. JHS brand Vintage do a couple. Need to add "Unity Series" in small letters under Peavey Dyna bass if you want a neck thru PJ, plain old Dyna is a bolt on with 2 single coils.

We bought one of these, 2m x 2m: https://www.rollerbannersuk.com/wide-premium-roller-banner/, thinking that 2m x 2m sounded quite big... A 2m long aluminium cassette seems quite big when you’re trying to get it into the venue without smashing lightbulbs, knocking drinks out of punters' hands and so on, and 2m high seems quite big when you’re trying to put it up in places with low ceilings, lights, etc., but to be honest it looks possibly a little underwhelming when your drummer's sat in front of it. However it is quick and simple to set up and take down, and I think the only viable and bigger alternative is a vinyl banner which will need to be attached to a frame that you have to assemble each time, and I can see that becoming old very quickly! As an aside, that photo reminds me perfectly of the gig - the hi hat stand was missing the bolt that locks the legs in place, so I spent the whole gig with my foot on one of the legs so the whole thing didn’t fall over!

IME the most important thing is that you have a way of being able to put it up that doesn't rely on being able to gaffa tape it to the wall behind the band. Also that it can be put up high enough to be completely visible over the drummer and backline.

Advertising pull-ups work quite well, easy to transport, position onstage and no need for pinning stuff to the walls. Pretty cheap too- Vistaprint and the like do them.

I got one and I like it! I was looking for a Trace Elliot Sound "in a box" and I got it with the Transit B. I like the usefull EQ and the two band compressor. The pedal is made in high quality and roadready. My impressions: Klick

I have no Mrs - and on that basis you should bring her with you next time we meet, @Al Krow 😂

Mk1 Yamaha TRB5P would fit the bill.

Looks like he's still got his own hair, own teeth, and his voice is still as good as ever, so I reckon he's doing pretty good. Who says musicians have to age well anyway? That's why I took up bass and gave up a potential career as a fashion model ;-)

Nah chorus + dirt makes a lot of sense! So it sounds like you prefer to use the Mojomojo in a similar vein to me (i.e. more overdriven). Time to discover some AC/DC or a bit of Free - All Right Now? If you want transparent then I'd recommend the One Control HGBM. That's the cleanest overdrive I've come across and works just great with filters or octavers. And it's tiny.

My Reply would be "Pay the full asking price and collect it and you can use it as often you like."

Metal, doomy/stoner type stuff drop b tuned, nothing recorded with it yet, I've got quite a few basses but only used it with my Tokai Hardpuncher so far, i cant see any bass being a problem with it, there's a lot of variation in eq built into it.

You'd also have to test first whether simply taking the neck off the bass and replacing it made any difference to the sound.

If I had a penny...

+1 for American sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4AKnwHus7Y

I have recently acquired a 2009 AVRI 62 Precision. It's the same colour as my original 64 Precision. Same dimensions, same nut width, same neck profile. Let's just split out a couple of points and give my prespective on things. 1. If we take out prices, and age, and I walked into a room and was asked to pick one of the two, I would pick the 64. Why? How it feels to play, how it balances on the strap, and how it sounds through a variety of amps. That's a simple A/B comparison as done in real life. They are close - damn close. But the 64 edges it for me in those areas. Someone else might feel the complete opposite. So if we all had a chance to try a range of basses old and new, vintage and modern, I suspect some would go away with a new one, some with a vintage. And herein lies the problem. The vintage vs new debate is often clouded by the issue of price - if price were at parity, it would be a question like any other A vs B - some will like one, some another. Now, pre-CBS fenders probably did use a slightly better wood - often it was aged as stocks were available - not so much these days. Mine has a braz rosewood board - it feels nicer than Indian to play. Similarly, tools and techniques differed - I'd say the 64 has a bit more "character" compared to the AVRI. But, 2. Pricing. Is a vintage bass worth what it's often advertised for? Only the purchaser can decide that. Scarcity, age, uniqueness, history etc come into it, but ultimately it's only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. I don't think price is a fair indicator of relative quality as an instrument for a vintage bass - the price often doesn't reflect it's relative "quality" compared to a modern equivalent. The vintage market is difficult. Mainly because it's now more about collecting and possessing rather than playing or how it sounds. It's sad, but it's the way it is. My conclusion: is my vintage 64 better than my AVRI? Yes, for me. Is it worth the massive difference in price? Proabably not. But maybe for others in it's collectible value rather than it's value as an instrument.

Why did you post that when I was drinking coffee? Will need to get a fresh shirt out now and receive statutory reprimand from SWMBO

If this were me then I’d definitely try putting bass through your existing PA, using both speakers, to see whether that's up to the job. Assuming it is but you absolutely have to have something for gigs where you need a smaller footprint then I’d definitely be thinking hard about something like the RCF 735 that others have mentioned. There’s no reason why you can’t feed that from the main out connections on the front of your existing mixer so you wouldn’t necessarily have to buy a new mixer yet. Then your upgrade path is another 735 in the future, and a passive mixer, which would let you get rid of the existing PA. One other question - I’m guessing that somewhere along the line, or in your future plans, is something bigger than the acoustic duo, as your Ashdown rig is probably overkill for that? If that’s the case then the 735's would be more appropriate for a bigger band, so would make sense from that point of view. If not then perhaps looking at a smaller bass rig along with smaller active speakers could make some sense?

Cool story - thanks for sharing!

You've nailed the part most people miss, in an acoustic setting you could probably ditch all the amps if you set the speakers up slightly further back than you would a vocal only pa. That's tight stage area space saved and no need to upgrade for larger gigs where you can use on stage amps along with the 735s running harder. Buy cheap, buy twice.

Hello from Greece! I was really glad when I found this forum. None of my (musician albeit not bass-playing) friends could understand my happiness about simple bass things, e.g. the sound of the flatwound strings on a semiacoustic

That's peak. In reality, a lot less. The headroom will be useful for acoustic stuff, where you need clarity above all else. If the OP has a £1k budget, saving another £500 and getting a pair of 735s looks an excellent option to me and much better than buying budget kit that is no improvement on what he has.

It has to be the traditional Barefaced One10 recommendation. I`m selling an Ashdown RM112 which would pair nicely with the Superfly but it might be just that little bit too big (it`s not massive, just a regular 1x12), whereas the BF will fit the requirements nicely.

Ah, those memories of tea under the pier at Brighton, eh..? We all have 'em. OK, I see it now. An even better joke. It's our old friend, the Cuss Protector at work..! Nice one..! I tried, I really did.

Something I'll never need again is a comb. Does that count?

Chic and Nile were wonderful. Regardless of the genre the performances were superb. A super tight band full of great musicians and good vocalists. They also put on a proper show and created excitement and joy, whats not to like?

How about a Lindy Fralin Precision/Jazz Split Coil Bass Pickups Set.

I have said all of that because somebody has complained 400 quid for CV is too much.... well to me 1200 for Fender USA standard Jazz is simple robbery... 550 for Mexican Bass - still too much if we talk about overall quality... As always, we all having different taste and ways of spending money. One day maybe will buy Fender`s bass but definitely 2nd hand, lightweight with decent fretwork - IF find one and could play it (so buying here wont work)

I lose most of my money through magic. I get paid one day, and when I look at my bank balance 48 hours later, hey presto! it's all buggered off.

Came across this guy by accident, looking for something else completely. Love his voice & his passionate delivery. Talented chap too.

Oh I don't know, I liked it, not a lot, but I liked it

I tried many times to use Geoff's fretting hand position, and TBH, its impossible for me due to some hand shape / size I have to use my normal shape fretting hand. I find its working ok. I'm never going to be Danny Thompson, but it'll be fun

I watched a video a little while back in which Carey Nordstrand put a set of these in an MTD Saratoga USA and compared the tone to a set of (I think) Bartolini J pups. Worth checking out on YouTube.

Very nice!! You’ve done a lovely job of the sunburst!!

This One. My Lakland 55-02 Deluxe. Fits my Needs an my Taste the most. A wonderful Bass.

I don't think I'll ever sell this, I've had quite a few basses come and go but this one is a keeper.