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10 guitars seems a bit excessive

DR Hi Beams or Fat Beams - they meet all your requirements. Easily the best strings I've ever played.

This. That fat, smooth, juicy sound we like in isolation is often completely wrong when playing live. I like to check, either using wireless or a long lead, by going for a wander out front to listen how the bass sounds in the mix. Often, I find I need to thin the low end to remove the mud and boost the mids and top to make it sit right. The resultant sound can be none too pleasant when I'm stood next to the rig, but if it's what works in the room, I'll put up with it.

Finished the first coil of the humbucker this afternoon, did 7000 winds in total and then wired it up to test the output. Works well. Managed to keep it looking quite neat, very pleased. Will make the bobbin for the second coil tomorrow and possibly get started on the winds if I have time. Managed to get a good technique going clockwise, will be strange doing a counter clockwise wind now. 😆

From where I'm sat on the sofa I can see thirteen, and this is the room that supposed to be kept relatively bass tidy, ie not littered with them. There's lots more in other rooms but, as I can't see them at the moment, they don't count.

Well it's between 7 and 8 basses each, but I think we should all spare a thought for @Mykesbass who apparently owns -66. For tax purposes, presumably.

Not just the drums that will bury you, but the bottom end of the guitar will fill your sonic space. The other big difference is how bass sounds out in the audience compared to how it sounds on stage. Don't get too worried if it doesn't sound great when you stand next to the cab, it's what the punters hear that really counts.

I've owned one since the mid/late 80s, and have used it extensively live and recording. There really are few parts, and generally from Tom Lieber directly. The basses are probably some of the most neck-heavy made - it is impossible, with the strap on the provided pins, to play without holding up a significant weight. Waaay back when I got it, I crafted a three point strap, the third part going from the main strap, with a d-ring that goes around a tuner. Completely eliminates the problem, so I can tell you how it actually plays - which is terrific. It's a short scale, and super fun. Weirdly thin body - crazy thin. It's unlikely there's any mainstream instrument with a body as thin or light as this, which is a major reason for the neck dive. A crisp tone with a fair amount of variation due to phase selection between the pickups. It has a characteristic of cutting through a mix with clarity, without needing to be cranked up. It sings nicely. I don't find it at all suitable for slap. But for most other uses, it's always a pleasure. But it won't do what some more modern basses can. For example, my EB MM 5 string does what those do, and the Spellbinder can't even approximate those tones. The Spellbinder is hella fun to solo on for the tone and short scale. It will never produce Fender-like tones (which is just fine - why would you with this instrument?) - it has its own distinct character. It's so not for every player - maybe not for most - but it has something I haven't felt/heard in other basses, and I've been playing consistently for almost 50 years, and have been a serious collector, and gone through a lot of instruments.

I've been putting this project off for years... I purchased the neck and electronics in lockdown with the intention of making a body... Never happened. But I snagged a pre made body on ebay, that I plan to heavily modify for upper fret access and or reshape generally. Neck is from a Polish luthier i beleive...All norsdtrand electronics, Nordy MM in the bridge, nordy Jazz at the neck, Babicz bridge. Ash body. The plan is to stain/oil the bass only because i like the fifuring in the wood. ill try and source a small pieve of ebony yo make a controll plate. Ill be using laser scanning, 3D printing and my CAD design skills to help finnish this, so its likley that it will exist in the virtual domain long before the real one. Wish me luck 🙏

Thanks for all the replies above guys, good to hear that unlike some other territories, buying from Japan appears to be a consistently positive experience 👍

The Bucket - Kings of Leon

I'm surprised you say the bridge is terrible. Sure, it's an inexpensive vintage-style affair and not exactly a hipshot or hi-mass babicz or omega. But I would expect a Wilkinson bridge to be more than adequate.

I see all your puny 2 or 3 bass bands... And raise you 11!

D'addario pro steels.

I use stainless steel Elixirs. They’re not as bright as uncoated steels (think week old steels sort of sound) but I get almost a year out of them.

Thanks. There is one in decent looking condition for sale for £140 on Gumtree, I reckon that is about as cheap as I'll be able to find a reasonably decent Bass so am going to go for it.

Thirteen is unlucky for some. I think you should buy another just to be on the safe side.

William Is Really Nothing ～ The Smiths

Dumpstaphunk. . . .

Since I’ve been on my bass amp journey to find my ideal band sound I’ve really discovered the major difference between the isolated bass sound compared to the playing with band sound. At rehearsals last night I found that having a far brighter tone ( pick playing ) really made the notes stand out in the mix which was good as I like to be heard !! As a guitar, drum, bass, vocals band playing rock it’s crucial I don’t disappear into the background ( buried by the drums ) The CTM100 valve amp is definitely making a difference in the sound, a lovely tone for sure and just enough snarl to make it fit. I can now really see why certain genres the picked PBass with a valve amp is the perfect fit.

Down In The Hole - Tom Waits

@Ashdown Engineering make a Lomenzo Hyperdrive in a sensibly sized enclosure. IE about half the size it is currently.

We are the 1% that owns 99% of the world's basses.

FullSizeRender.MOV Final got the midi cable I needed to get the infinity working now to work on the top tier just need the boss gt1000 core to turn up!!

A US n°1 hit from 1980 Christopher Cross - Sailing | Andy Salmon

Simultaneously too many and not enough.

that's cheating mate! no jams allowed

I may be biased as I have too many anyways, but I am a big fan of the SR in general, and I really do consider them to be the new standard for everything. The SR300E or SR300EB basses I have tried (the new generations, with the powerspan pick ups) all sounded excellent and punched way beyond their weight. If you're unsure, Joshua Young plays an SR300. Does not seem to hinder him....

Fawkes on the run. The Sweet

I first ever saw him doing this set with his Dad, it's a cracker from start to finish. I love the way he plays. https://youtu.be/CuN6EcoKvX4

True. Now, the "standard" nut width is 38,5mm/1,5", which is the Jazz Bass. It represents over 80% of the sales and is favoured by over 75% of the players. At the time it was labelled as the A neck with Fender. I'm in favor of the Vintage Precision 44mm (1,75") that was the C neck at the time. (note that at the time, again, the letter was regarding the nut width and not the shape). But there is very few basses with this nut width. (Warwick Dolphin, Buzzard and Stryker NT have it by default). The modern other manufacturers (Spector being one of those) has a standard of 40mm. Some like chunky "U" neck (over 22mm neck thickness on first fret). Some prefer flat neck, or round, or Oval... I think that today it's more difficult to be sure of what you like. When I was younger, I had access to four musical instruments store in my midtown in France. So I could try a lot of different basses and shapes. Today people often rely on advices on internet which is by definition flawed as my advice for the best bass neck for me will be agreed on by a mere 5% of players (44mm, "oval with soulder" shape and 20mm thin.) The aim for the manufacturers is to sell instruments that fit the most players. hence the decreasing median nut width, I guess.

You certainly may be right, and tone is subjective. However, when I had a HB JB75, which I imagine would have the same pickups, I was not under the impression that outpot was low for an alnico pickup. So I wonder if there might have been a setup issue in terms of strings-pickups distance which may be affecting tone as well

Bought a Charvel bass for £200 back in 1994 and it is the only bass I currently own.

I've ended up going for the Zoom L8 following @skidder652003's enthusiasm for his band's L12, which should do the job nicely for the 4-piece covers band I'm taking the lead on this for. It's pretty modest in terms of cost (a little over £300) but the ability to provide 4 separate/tailored outputs to each band member will facilitate us getting wired / wireless IEMs which is the current plan, and the lack of individual monitor outputs was the key constraint to the otherwise excellent Allen & Heath mixing desks we've been using and which have done us proud since 2014.

I’m in Bristol Monday morning, so could pick it up for @BreadBin if you’re around during the day? Or if you work in Bristol centre?

Yes, one fewer than I would like

I have some hidden from the Mrs that well, that I haven’t seen them for years 😂😂😂😂

Tuned and plugged in... For £202 delivered this is simply ridiculous value! Stuck it thru a couple of eq pedals (Colourbox v.2 which to be fair makes everything sound good and a Spark Booster -4 knob version which just elevated the basic sound and would work well as an always on unit with this bass in place of a 2B eq a la OBP-1 or Sadowsky type unit. They both added added more to a fundamentally decent J bass sound.

Let's Stick Together Briton Ferry