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She is amazing! And yes of course! Oh gosh where do I start, I am a massive massive Talking Heads fan, I absolutely adore David Byrne, I love how his music is so different and so 'free' is a word I like to use to describe because whenever i'm listening and dancing to Talking Heads or David's solo stuff that is how I feel, and I feel he is very creative and shows that well within his songs. I go to record fairs and try and find Talking Head vinyls and 7' singles to add to my collection (which is growing quickly lol) and the minute he brought out his new album in 2018 'American Utopia' I was hooked even more and there were rumours he was going to tour and then it came true! Hammersmith Apollo tickets went on sale and I purchased them as quick as I could, on the day of the event I turned up at 1pm, even though the doors didnt open til 7pm, I stood with some security guards and told them my passion for his music and they could see how much it meant to me so they said we will do everything we can so you can meet him, so it got to 3pm and a long came a man on a bike with his white chinos on and it was him! Honestly I was so so starstruck I couldn't believe it, the security guards introduced themselves then kindly introduced me, he asked how I was and if I was coming to the show he hoped I will enjoy it, of course I replied, because I was so starstruck David said to me would you like a picture with a lovely smile on his face, I said yes please and as we were having the photo taken he kept cheering, I wrote him a letter and gave it to him, the letter contained how much his music meant to me and helped me through difficult times in life and that I wanted to thank him, the only thing I forgot to ask was for an autograph, but to this day I'm still amazed i've met him, they say don't meet your heroes because you can be let down by the experience, but hey my experience was great, and when i uploaded photos of his concert to my social media, his official account liked them which made me smile even that bit more. Best concert I have been to, so lively, he spotted me because I was right at the front smack bang in the middle. I wish I could do it all again! Here is the photo of me and him! I've also attached a photo of him liking my post of him performing

There are tools that don't get used very often but when they do, boy are they useful! Take the Stanley No.80 Scraper Plane, for example. I think this was around £15 from ebay a few years ago: My task was to remove the bookmatch band-saw dints, tearout and chatter. I didn't want to use a powered sander because of the potential harmful dust, ditto with hand sanding (and it would take a full isolation period of time to do it!), hand-scraping better but hurts my arthritic hands and some of those dints are quite deep; normal planes a no-go because of digging in an tearout. But the No 80 is absolutely perfect. Decent surface removal but no tearout at all. Once it was almost there, I wiped over with a damp cloth to spot the dints that still showed. Great way of seeing the sort of colour this is going to be, too Can't wait to see what those grain lines are going to do once I start carving the chamfers

Apologies to one and all. I got it wrong. The ideal number of basses is NOT nine as I had droned on about earlier in this thread. After further deep regression analysis (and the recent purchase of "just one more" bass), it's now clear to me where I got my assumptions wrong. The ideal number has nothing to do with not getting into double figures to assist us in shielding our mischief from our better halves, as I had previously incorrectly assumed, but everything to do with the number of fingers on both hands to enable us to properly count them. The ideal number is actually TEN. As you were folks. I will be issuing a press release to this effect shortly.

... pics of my fairly recent first build (version 2). The first version had a Radial Tonebone Bassbone in place of the DI and instrument switcher, however it was far from silent for some unknown reason. Hence this layout, less extra electronics and as quiet as it should be. There is also a Cioks DC7 underneath the Nano + powering it all.

The biggest thing is to play the bass if you can before buying. Doesnt matter if it’s made by Dave down the road or Fender or whoever-if it feels right, it’s a good price in your range then go for it. No matter what the name or looks of it does not feel right to play or sound like you want you will always fight it and not be happy

Thank you! And yay! 1 V7 left in stock on andertons, its gonna be mine mwhahaha! Thank you ALL! So much for all your help, it's been a really nice welcome for me joining BC, I certainly will post pictures once it has arrived and hopefully do an unboxing youtube video for you all hehe! Yes I dable in quite a few instruments, music is such a passion for me

Cheers for the comments. I'm hoping this headed version works well - we'll see!! I've finished veneering the front and back of the headstock and I'm pleased I decided to do it - I'm really pleased how it has turned out. Next job will be lots of shaping and sanding on both the body and the neck.

Honestly, we're terrible! There's Lozz expounding the qualities of the Jazz while clearly playing a Precision in his profile pic, while I'm banging the drum for Precisions, while playing a Jazz style in my profile pic! 🤣

^^^This^^^ There are pros to both.... The Jazz has more flexibility, in that you can choose between an awful nasal bridge pickup that sounds nothing like a bass, or a nondescript, bland neck pickup sound that sounds a bit like a bass (underwater). Additionally due to the single coils, by adjusting the balance between them you can create a wonderful annoying background hum. The Precision is less flexible, but looks cooler, is cooler, and sounds like a bass should. 🤣

I've come to the conclusion that less can sometimes be more, particularly if it means they're more likely to get used in a band mix!

Hello, I'm completely new to bass and this forum so hoping I could have some help, I want to get my first bass very soon, and i'm stuck between the squier contemporary jazz bass and the squier 70s jazz bass, my spending range is up to £350, any suggestions is highly appreciated and your thoughts on what bass I should get, I don't want anything that isn't going to last and that i'm going to be regretting my purchase too, I want to be certain. Thank you! Hope you are all staying safe

Oh wait, wrong Byrnie. 😁

The DPD guy who picked up the flea had delivered the sadowsky the day before...he looked at like me as if to say “you prick” hahaha

Do I smiley face or sad face at that? Can I do both? 😢 😂😂 @The Greek

Reason 1. The top horn looks like a marital aid. Reason 2. The tuners look like they were put on by a well known eBay improver. Reason 3. They probably sound great and play nicely but you will always be thinking of reason 1 or 2 or both.

Welcome to Basschat. My prediction is you’ll own 10 basses by the end of the year and respond to every future post with “it’s all in the fingers” 👍

Welcome @pepsi-abi. See, the thing is you can get right into a debate like this and never settle on a bass and never get started into actually playing. It would be a one in a million chance if you happened on the bass that you are going to stick with for the rest of your playing life first time! Obviously the lockdown situation makes trying things out virtually impossible but don't get stuck in the inertia of indecision which we will all exacerbate by chipping in with our comments and knowledge (altogether a great thing I might add). You seem to have a strong idea about what style of bass you want so just get one, personally I'd go for the Sire, I bought a five string Jazz recently and was well impressed, I've had a few Squiers and none were as good as the Sire IMHO. I think it is important to start by getting your hands on a bass and start learning, once that's under way you'll then begin honing your criteria for a better (as in more suited to you) bass. These threads can go on for pages and pages, it will (mostly) all be extremely useful info from some very wise and experienced bass players, being a member of the forum has revolutionised my outlook and equipment totally, but nothing will really get you playing and understanding your personal relationship to an instrument like getting started with a bass in your hands. Good luck, stick with it, it's the coolest instrument. I wish I'd found something like this forum over forty years ago.

Au contraire..... the ideal number is as many as you can fit in your room/cupboard/storage facility! lol!

Sadly still all too true. I was really fortunate. I'm a diabetic and my consultant at the time was all over it - he'd had a couple of friends/colleagues from medical school who'd gone from being up and coming, top flight surgeon-types to pretty much bed rest, so he really took it seriously. In fact, he took me as a bit of a case study/guinea pig to see what treatments might help. Not many are that lucky.

When you get the bass you want, I recommend learning to set the action up on it. For decades I struggled with badly set up basses, until I found basschat and realised how easy it is to set them up properly to make them easier to play. Oh.....and buy secondhand if you can. As when you upgrade you won't lose money when you sell it on (basses and guitars are one of the very few things that don't depreciate if you buy them secondhand).

I am a big fan of the Ibanez basses, the SR300 range are great value for money and worth a look. I also have a Squier Jazz bass deluxe (discontinued now I believe) which I bought as an entry level 5 string with a view of upgrading in the future. It has been an absolute joy to play and I've never felt the need to upgrade it. You really can't go wrong with the Squier basses in terms of value for money. Colour is important - odd as it sounds, if you like the look of your bass, you're more likely to pick it up. My first bass was a horrible sun-burst effort and I couldn't wait to get rid of it! Shallow I know. Enjoy the search - that's part of the fun!

Damn right!

He’s just jealous as us Manc’s know that on the 7th day God created Man-chester

It's also worth having a look at Vintage as another great value for money bass in your price range. There are also some good reviews for the Sire basses https://www.jhs.co.uk/brands/vintage/vintage-basses

Forgot to add that the happening happened and yes I can confirm...it is stonking.

I did, couple of years ago at the Fleece in Brizzle.

I’d love to say you were wrong. But you got it first time. 😂😂

Can't be many left now from your list @Reggaebass

I look at it this way. I own Fenders, Sanbergs, G&L but if I was starting all over again, I would buy 2 Sire V7 Vintage model basses. Two because I would need a backup for gigging. One in black the other in that candy apple red colour. Just get the black one ordered and let us all know in a week or so how happy you are with your new bass!

All the above is sound advice, but the best advice is...pick one and get playing. Squiers are great for the money and easily saleable when you want to upgrade. There are Bass Collection Jive basses you might want to consider http://www.basscentre.com/bass-collection-jive-bass.html I have one of their Power Basses and it's excellent

Frank's a real BC gent and that recommendation would certainly sway it for me. It also seems to me that you're keen to explore the tonal options available and something like the Sire is going to be able to go on that journey with you. FWIW, I've been playing bass for a fair few years (although not as many as some of my fellow BC'ers on this thread, Frank included!) but have just bought my first Sire (s P7 5er v2) a few weeks back. It's lovely instrument and holds its own with others in my herd past and present that cost a lot more. I'm really looking forward to gigging it, when such things start happening again!

The bonus being you can use the Sire in passive (just use the first 2 control knobs - tone control, master volume and pick up blend (move between both pickups - towards the neck for a more warm punch and towards the bridge for more bite), then when you're used to it the active mode brings it to life and you can use the lower 3 control knobs - high, mid (and freq) and bass cut and boost to fine tune to taste. Theres lots of videos where Marcus Miller himself describes how to use it. If it helps, the sires are now hands down my first choice basses, and I've been playing around 30 years now.

Not exactly, I’ll always be a Precision player through and through, if I could only have one bass it would be a Precision, no contest. That said I think it’s best to outlay the various points objectively on a topic like this.

That's all very well for you to say, you blue-veined custard chucking Member with a zillion gorgeous Spectors and sundry other basses...

Haha this is so exciting and interesting all this research on my first bass i love it, i really do appreciate it! I just don't want to get the squier and then think damn why didnt i get the sire as i want to try different tones or if squier is definitely the one as ive had my eyes set on it and just gonna have fun playing on it and not worrying about all the different tones lol

Blimey Lozz, what's happened to you? Did I just read you recommending a Jazz over a Precision? (Picks himself up off the floor 😁) But for all the reasons you've said, starting out on a Jazz seems to be great advice. There's always the halfway house of a PJ bass of course, where you can maybe get the best of both worlds, particularly if you go for a bass with a relatively slim-line playable neck. For £350 you could get a very nice nearly new Yamaha BB434 or a Sire P7v2. But that would be muddying the waters...although not in a way you would ever likely regret!

Out of those 2 I would go squier or this is a cracking wee bass form a cracking seller

I fell into Credit Management at an early age (supply of medical products and then retail jewellery supply) and also did a six year stint in project finance (telecoms sector) that ended about 18 months ago. It's certainly not something I wanted to do by any stretch...had I been a little more astute in the early 80s and had more supportive parents (who were more concerned about me paying my keep that finding a career I was genuinely interested in), I lived a cycle-ride from Shepperton Studios and a bus ride from Pinewood Studios, so would loved to have gotten into there and just found my way once in. If I had my time again, I would have loved to have studied Astronomy and found a career through that.

Lovely. Just the job.

Eric Idle on guitar? OK it's Bernie Marsden, but he sure looks like Eric there!

I think that every bass mentioned so far in this thread is of similar quality, it's just a matter of how you want to sound and how you want it to look. Another thing to consider is weight and ergonomics, depending on your build and strength. A set with a bass that's too heavy is a pain in the ar5e for anyone. The Ibanez, with their smaller, more sculpted body and slim neck tend to be much lighter and sound every bit as good as the alternatives in this price bracket. My partner bought the Fender Jazz she'd always fancied, but with it's large slabby body, heavier neck and big headstock, it didn't take her long to realise that she was much happier with the SR300 that she had all along. Given that a large percentage of how you sound comes from your fingers, you will always sound better on an instrument that you find comfortable to play, regardless of body woods, pickups, electronics, etc.

Also, having a 'search' on here is useful -- here's one thread that popped up:

Actually, my weird friend @Teebs has a Classic Vibe Jazz -- He will probably tell you about it!

And early mockup number 2:

Got this little Encore short scale from a fellow BCer, decided to mod it a bit, now it's a 50s hybrid P shortie. Wilkinson tuners, Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage pups, CTS pots and PIO cap, Dunlop straplocks, 51 control plate, box string tree. Came with Fender nickel strings, after a full set up it now plays and sounds really cool. Best bit is it only weighs around 4.9 lbs - crazy lightweight, and it's a proper thumper - goes from JJ Burnel with tone fully open to deep and fat with tone rolled off (James Jamerson territory).