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So, after lots of procrastinating, I have pushed the button and ordered a Yamaha TRBX174BL from thomann.de Thank you all for your advice - much appreciated. Once it arrives and I have had a play around, I will post my impressions and may post some further follow ups... just in case it is useful feedback for fellow novices (or maybe even experienced folks here might find it interesting too 😂)

Want to know what Teebs and Skinnyman are waiting for ? You'll be amazed at the answer !!!!

You're such a bastard.

Evening chaps and chapesses! Picked up a MIJ Jag body colour partially taken down, and I have taken the project on..... sanded all the way back to pretty much 1500 grit from 80 Bit of Amber Stain.... then some rub n buff gold.... gave it a bit more depth of colour. Gun oil with wet sanding and then buffing and take a little sheen off.... Neck not prepped yet, but this will go on it... Neck will get a Matt Gun oil doing - Neck is walnut with Tigerwood finger board There you go!

After about a year of the first inception its finally here! I'm so happy with the bass and would like to thank the Overwater team for the great service, workmanship & help. Some specs for you all - A standard Overwater 5 string P body & 35" scale length. I initially wanted a 36" but soon realised that 35" scale length is ample for a tight low B. Of course the P style body is classic & I love a classic (I wanted a P bass anyway) 5 strings because of necessity as a player & loving a low Eb for some Stevie Wonder grooves! Surf Green colour & the matching headstock. A classic look & some cool retro vibes. It was either going to be green or Daphne Blue, but I'm so happy with the colour and the brightness of the bass and the lovely gloss finish which is off-set with a classic off white scratch plate. Also they kindly added a lovely PC Custom signature to the back of the headstock. We've got a swamp ash body & one piece maple neck. This just stems from the similarity to my Am Deluxe Jazz & have always liked the response from that combination. Its hefty but not overly so. Indian rosewood fretboard. I haven't played a rosewood in ages but wanted that old school look & feel. This is where the no front markers came from. I wanted a clean crisp look similar to some other basses I've lusted over. It takes some getting used to (I didn't realise how often I looked at the actual fingerboard!) I have 2mm mother of pearl dots on the side though Thank goodness! We've got a reverse P & a MM style. The chunkiness of the P in passive is pure old school and filthy. Then we have the phattness off the MM style in the bridge. Another thing to add is the Neutrix locking jack socket which gives me great piece of mind. While experimenting with the John East/Overwater 3 band boost & cut EQ with mid range sweep, passive tone & pickup blend I fell in love. I can solo the MM, boost the bass & treble a little bit & Bam! it sounds exactly like a MM bass. pan all the way to the reverse P and we have that funky chunky stank face inducing thick loavable tone. Hardware wise we have a huge chunky Overwater bridge with 18mm string spacing. Which gives me plenty of room between each string for the old slap pop and its solid, designed so well especially for set ups and string changes. Next we have the classic Hipshot Ultralite 1/2 post tuners which weigh nothing and move very smoothly. Or pick both in active and have a warm crisp defined tone perfect for more modern grooves & soaring crisp top end (EQ is flat at this point) Comprehensive isn't the word for this circuit & pickup combo, it doesn't do it justice. I took it for a spin at a recent The Special Brew rehearsal and was met with compliments on looks, tone, & general grooviness (sadly not personally!) It cut through when needed for my solos & provided some great round bottom too. Following this I've also had my first show with it too! A depends gig with Ska Band The Navarones. I kept in passive with the tone rolled off a little for 80% off the show then bumped it into active with a slight bass boost for more "Dubby" styled songs. The bass is very comfortable, although it is a little heavy! and easy to play. Its very even between pickups & over all the strings too which makes life easier simply. It balances well and although the neck is wide it fits my hand perfectly with a lovely rounded edge to the fingerboard which screams quality. Iv'e also added a few videos using different tone/pickup combos here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa9pBo2qQ_6843_HoIfhT5B1MQ-S_Llfi

😁

Huge Mani fan here, and that black and white rehearsal footage of them after getting back together still gives me goose bumps, seeing the connection and smiles between them, is a joy. I actually bought that black Epiphone bass from Mani that he used at those rehearsals and the early gigs. Reni is also one of the best drummers I’ve ever heard or seen.

What, ALL of it? Bet that took ages! All your posts, all those months - pages worth of unfunny... 👍

We all know that ex-Bananarama-ista Siobhan Fahey was half of Shakespeare's sister. But who knew that 'the other one', Miss Marcella Detroit, co-wrote Lay Down Sally when she was a backing singer for Eric Clapton and performing under the name Marcy Yaxley-Lennon?

Picked this beauty up from @Moos3h last night... thank you so, so much, and I hope you had a safe journey to the Riviera This really is a 37 year itch finally scratched... these were all the rage when I started out playing, I'd always fancied getting my hands on one and now after all these years I have. Yes it has some issues, as James pointed out in his ad: the electrics are not working and one of the switches is knackered... should all be straightforward (oh blimey, that's the kiss of death isn't it ) and if it still doesn't work I've got a Yamaha 2-band eq I can put in there instead; there's a hairline crack in the neck... I'll flood some thinned glue into it if it needs anything, but it doesn't seem to affect stability or playability; it's got a few major league dings in the body as the pic shows... I'm not sure what to do with these really, a refinish would cost a fortune and I don't want to spend a shedload of cash on it. I might just seal the edges of the dings with glue to stop any more flaking off, and call it mojo The serial number places it in December 1982. The neck feels great and it plays well, action is fine and all the hardware works. The missing knob is present, I'd taken it off when I took the pic. I've not yet plugged it in so I don't know how it sounds, but from what I've seen on yootoob the 1A core tone appears to be P-bass-on-steroids. I have a feeling that my bitsa P is going to struggle to keep its place in my working group. Happy day.

I cannot believe I managed to answer that. I am such a wood whisperer.

The potential for errors in parsing that sentence is not negligible. Possibly add a comma after 'parents'?

As per my response to the other thread: I wonder how many people have bought cheap and poor quality musical instruments over the years, struggled to be able to play them then abandoned them? Most beginners, indeed even a lot of seasoned players don’t possess the knowledge or abilities to make the necessary adjustments to get an instrument playable. I always tell students to beg or borrow that little bit more and get something decent, that won’t either inhibit their creatively or put them off playing.

Hey @Ant1972, we have a thread here about BCers prepared to help folk get their basses set up; Now we know where you are, we can see there are 2 gents who're not far from you. I'm sure they would be happy to take a look at the bass when it arrives, if you wish. To make sure it's set up to play well. @obbm Obbm Farnham, Surrey @neilp Neilp - Crawley There will be other BCers about too. Good luck with the bass.

I think having piles of amps on the stage is kind of expected for a Grateful Dead tribute, to be honest. Ideally, we would have a replica Wall, but even the Dead couldn't afford the costs of running that!

Nope. Its Welsh for 'genius'

Really??? 🙄🙄

Heres a post I've written about my new Overwater Custom P5 including pics, videos & specs https://www.phillcourtmusic.com/single-post/2019/05/14/My-Custom-Overwater-Bass

As a bloke playing £1000 plus basses I've been well impressed with 2 Squiers ,A vm jazz 4 and a 5er .Top quality build and sound

The difference is not great. Variation in individual fret spacing boils down to very little between 32" and 34" scale length . Unless you have very small hands, I'd stick with regular. There is also a much wider choice of instruments in regular.

No. Thats origami.

Isn't that one of those little furry things that turn into gremlins if you feed them after midnight?

Good point. I guess even a someone who has never driven will sit in a car and understand if the seats a comfortable, they can reach the pedals and like sitting in the cabin.

I think you're yanking our collective chains about the surname though, Mr Devlar...

Yeah, it can be great, but on the other hand, there are more risks for a newbie if the used bass happens to have been used and abused (worn frets, snapped or rounded off screws, knackered tuners, dodgy pots, iffy jack socket, warped neck, twisted neck, seized truss rod - followed by snapped truss rod adjuster) ... I do agree with you personally, but then I have more than one bass, and a "project" bass is an interesting hobby for me, rather than a big disappointment / royal PITA. 👍

I must admit that is the reason I wouldn't go now. It is great to go to a festival and camp somewhere when you are a teenager and live at home, it just sucks when you have to worry about whether your back is going to hurt the next day! Sounds a bit like reverse elitism though. I went 3 years and didn't care in the slightest who was playing. Why should it be different now. Ok, it was a lot cheaper then. So you saw the transition of being a kid running round being excited to be at a festival without your parents to someone older who could look down on them? I can't complain about that. I went to reading at 18, it was great, I was excited to be at a festival without my parents getting off with some girl. If that is what they are doing now, it seems like a good use of their time.

That Stevie is a damm good point and one I haven`t though of!😊

I was proud of that!

I've yet to really "hear" my new rig since I got it other than home use...but even then its already sounding majestic... My first gig with it next Saturday at the Kelso Scooter Rally and I can't wait to give some real welly...!!

🤔 Hmmm...

Teebs -> <- Skinnyman

I don't think you'll go far wrong with this approach. I wouldn't agonise too much about the practice amp - avoid anything super cheap but anything with a 10" or bigger speaker should be fine. Effects are nice but unnecessary at the stage and if you can find a second hand Roland bass cube or a fender rumble at a decent price, jump on it.

FWIW, they’ve slimmed down the headstock on newer Sandbergs. That said, I’ve never noticed neck dive on mine. I haven’t exactly done thorough tests on this though...I wear fairly grippy straps and never really take my left hand off the neck of the bass while playing!

Naaah, you're getting confused with the inventor of the piano key necktie

I got a short scale Gretsch Junior Jet 2 (4 string) a couple of years ago. For the money, it's a lovely instrument & very easy to play, with LOUD output from the mini humbucker pickups. Others on here have used flatwound strings on short scale basses, I left mine stock (roundwound). I find the 'bendiness' of the strings on mine a bit disconcerting, but thats in comparison with a full-scale bass. I'd recommend trying one (or any short scale bass) before you buy - it may be the 'one' for you, or not. @Skinnyman bought the same bass recently, he might be able to add his thoughts.

Good shout. Thinking on it, it's also been recommended that he get in touch with a local BCr to go shopping with.

The OP seems to be missing the point with Ronaldo's training. He didn't start off using the ankle weights he progressed to them. By this token we shoud all start off with super easy basses to play, then swich to massivey high action and huge string gauges once we have developed some stamina and technique. And Ronaldo, while being a great footballer, is a massive bell end.

Got a Squier 70s VM Jazz in Olympic White earlier this year - love it! Only thing I did was change the strings.

To be honest QC issues affect most brands. I certainly would not recomment buying Affinity on line, but if you try one in a shop and it has no issues you might just pick up a bargain. Just a shout out for Squier VM - I play one rather than the US Fender I also own as it sounds better. The VM was bought as a backup but its just so good.

Oooh yes, I forgot about her. I remember Clare playing a Bass Collection.

That was about the one thing I did know about Shakespeare’s Sister. Never liked the band back in the day but I used to really fancy their bass player, Claire Kenny! Good bass player too. Played for quite a few pop acts back in the 80s and played a lovely Aria SB just like mine. Wonder if she’s still playing?

If you are near to Andertons, go in and play any bass you can afford (imo you can`t go wrong with a budget Yamaha or Ibanez) and ask them to check the set up if you decide to buy. If you buy it online, most of the big stores don`t open up budget basses and check the set up no matter what they say so always better to go in person if possible. Save yourself £80 on a set up!

Strange but true..... It's odd how, with some things, these flaws are "character" and with others they're just unacceptable shoddiness. I had a Laverda twin motorbike which oozed character. Literally - all over the drive. It was so lumpy at idle that it would rock itself off the side stand. And yet.... It had an undefinable air about it that made it a joy to ride. Taking a corner at sixty put a grin on your face even if you knew that a Ducati or Honda - or anything, really - would have cruised through easily at 90. And Rics make me feel the same. They have "character" that would fail QC in any modern factory and you have a horrid feeling that you'd never get anything other than derision if you made a warranty claim. And yet.... On the right night at the right gig, you can make it thunder like Thor and it makes you feel fantastic. Like my Laverda, they're not for everyone and any right-minded person would run a mile and I wouldn't criticise anyone for not liking them. I like mine and that's really all that matters 😀 IMHO, obvs. YMMV

As promised, for no other reason than it came as a surprise to me when I counted them up.