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Warning: If you get sent a link to listen to the new Ed Sheeran and Elton John Christmas song, don't open it. It's a link to listen to the new Ed Sheeran and Elton John Christmas song.

Just took receipt of this from Bass Bros. Growing up on late 80s / early 90s rock my first bass was a Squier HM bass, pointy headstock PJ pickups. I’ve got other “quality” basses: American Standard J and P, a selection of Thunderbirds, Spector, Rickenbackers and as much as I love them, this just feels and sounds right!! Great bass, love it.

so good people of BC I have owned my '73 P bass for just over 32 years now and I have never played another P bass with the same shape neck profile. The 70s jap reissue has a shallower profile. PB70 US My JMJ Mustang, however, has the same shape. I've not even measured it so cant be sure of nut width. But are the depths different for the different nut widths? gratuitous pictures of said '73 for your delectation

Courtesy of @thebrigof this parish, my new toy. Looking forward to trying it out and pissing off the neighbours later

I don't need another amp, I don't need another amp, I don't need another amp.... I must resist.... Hey Russ, recognise the TA503 that you sold me 10 years ago?

Grass In Pocket ～ Pretenders

My best gig in a long and fairly average musical career was playing Rock City in Nottingham with my Bowie Tribute band. This was January 2022 for a charity gig so not paid, but to be honest I'd have paid them. It actually surpassed all our expectations because - there was a stage manager (in a very sharp suit) to receive all the bands at the stage door entrance - we had our own dressing room, complete with toilet and shower, with our band name on the door - there were roadies/stage hands to carry your guitar onto the stage (we were using their drums and backline) - there was a 32 channel monitor mixer at stage right - that's right, just for monitors (us pub players are just not used to such luxury) - the light show was awesome - there was a decent crowd in who loved it and we played as well as we ever have - the head stage hand said..."you guys were very good" afterwards - we were the only tribute band on the bill, we played right before these guys https://cosmicskull.org/ - Bowie played there, on that very stage in 1997 (goosebumps) The only downside was we only had 30 minutes Thanks @Bluewine for posting this thread, it's allowed me to relive a cherished memory. The sadness is that the band has now broken up so no chance of a repeat performance 😢

I don't believe any guitar dealer worth their salt would have this as their contact address: [email protected] 🤣

Reasons I prefer a Precision - They sound just ‘right’ in most group environments. They rarely get interference from the split coil pickup. The body shape means they are easy to put on a stand. Simplicity is a large part of their appeal - one vol / one tone control. Still one of the coolest basses ever. Reasons I have a Jazz - Slimmer neck gives an alternative / at times easier feel for some gigs. Two pickups allow for more variety of sounds if required. Reasons I use a Precision Lyte PJ for my main gigs - Weight, or rather the lack of it. Variety of sound - although with the blend control set flat the P pickup generally dominates the mix, it’s nice to add a bit of J pickup occasionally for some songs where a bit of ‘honk’ is needed.

Well, my BRG wonder is ready for delivery after a long, long wait. It'll be a long weekend... https://unicornbass.se/

You've only had the bass a few days, you haven't even had a full volume go with it and you're asking about replacing the pickups? Give them a chance to impress you before you decide they're somehow lacking! I've been where you are - it's an expensive business and leads to more sideways moves than actual upgrades. At least give it a few weeks and a fair go before even thinking about such things...

Staring at the Sea: The Singles will give you a good overview of the evolution of the band from young post punk type oddballs to miserable alternative bleakness and beyond to weirdo popstars... and that's just the earlier stuff. I love 'em in all variations.

Nice pic and very cool vintage P reissue Is it Fender MIJ ? Blue

I've just got back from rehearsal to find bass has arrived. Out of the box, tune up. It is a tad heavier, just over 8lbs, on my scales but still on the lighter side of OK. Has new roundwounds on, I prefer TI Flats - I'll change them tomorrow. But - WOW - that neck. 😍 Sounds amazing, too. I'll take some nice pics etc.

Well, I've just plugged mine in and compared it to the Trickfish Bullhead 1K... Personally, I prefer the Trickfish, but by a FAR far smaller margin than I was anticipating. I've had the privilege to own and use a sizable number of excellent amps over the years, (Mesa M-Pulsa, Mesa Strategy Eight:88, GR Bass Dual 1400, Markbass SD1200, Markbass Multiamp, Orange AD200B, Trace Elliott V4, among numerous others!) and I will quite honestly say that this pokey little £149 purchase is an astonishingly good bit of kit for the price! Everything in it has a use, nothing superfluous, the fan is quite quiet, the LEDs behind the push buttons and master volume are a great touch, the build quality easily rivals brands costing 5 or even 10 times the cost. I would bet VERY good money, that if you stack this little critter up in a blind sound test against 5 other amps costing 10 times as much and told someone that one amp was £149 and the other 5 were +£1500 that this one would not be identified as the cheapest of the lot! If you're on the fence about buying one... get off the fence! £149 is absurd for this. And this is coming from someone who's last three amps were a Mesa Strategy Eight:88, a GR Bass Dual 1400 and a Trickfish Bullhead 1K.

I decided to keep my Bass VI and had the headstock painted black to match the body. I also had a custom decal made, based on the 60s 'Fender VI' logo, but using the original Squier JV logo. It's not 100% right - 'Electric Bass Guitar' should be a touch longer and the Pat numbers below should be indented, but it's close enough. David Wilson did a cracking job on the headstock and the turnaround was only a week. The stand is angled so the light catching the headstock makes it look a different colour to the body, but they match! It's got a Staytrem bridge and trem arm, Gotoh tuners, and La Bella flats. I might upgrade the wiring at some point and maybe add a Fender trem, but neither are priorities just now.

There’s No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother, They’re Burning Big Louie Tonight - SAHB

Wish I Could Be Like David Watts - The Jam

Growing up we had a monthly performance evening for all ages of music students. Most months had an adult band or soloist give a mini concert demo. That pretty well normalized performance as the purpose of practice.

Only limited time for another quick play today. Once again, for me this bass just feels and sounds right. My only slightly negative comment is that, in common with many cheaper basses, the volume control is 'all or nothing' - full on at full rotation and zilch when backed-off a tenth or so. Thankfully the tone control is more evenly progressive. Re neck edge binding, there's a small radius to the edge but with the 12"-radiussed fretboard it feels fine to me. So here are some pic's of mine as opposed to HB/Thomann publicity shots:

One of us! One of us!

Fred loves it too!

I’ve just picked up this morning a super light Ashdown Studio 210 combo. I already have a lovely Ampeg B200r combo but it weighs about 70lbs/32kg and we just started rehearsing in a place that has stairs. No thanks. Saw this the next morning on eBay. Usually sell new for about £550 but managed to snag this s/h for £180!!!

We first started playing this back in 2017 when we asked to perform a Christmas song on a local radio show and it was a toss-up between "A Wombling Merry Christmas" and this. It's been part of the set for all late-December In Isolation gigs ever since. We finally got around to recording our version earlier this year and although we weren't able to properly emulate Slade and record it in LA in August, it was done during one of the heatwaves earlier in the year. So, I give you our version of the Greg Lake/Prokofiev classic "I Believe In Father Christmas". We've decided to release the storming Matt Pop remix first with our more conventional version and accompanying video (which we shot earlier in the week) coming out a bit closer to Christmas itself.

^This guy gets it^ 'Sir Psycho Sexy' for me too. Funky Mutron goodness from Flea, tight rhythm work from Frusciante, and a wobbly vibraphone to boot. This track has it all. If I had to pick a 2nd favourite then it would most likely be 'Coffee Shop' from One Hot Minute. Flea is ON POINT!!!

And the answer is.... it's just a normal tone control and both pickups are on all the time. I see a 3-way pickup selector switch in the future of this bass. In the meantime, no problem enjoying it for what it is.

There is no best way to learn, You have to choose yourself.

I could have lied, but it's Stone Cold Bush.

I'd stay away from Mixed Up... quite messed about with.

If I was gigging an Ampeg head of any variety and needed a backup, the Mosfet Veyron at this price would be a no brainer. I'm gonna talk myself into buying one aren't I....?

Two shots of the Eastwood Hooky in action on Saturday:

Facom

Suspect's A Vice ～ Stiff Little Fingers

I almost bought one last year. Sound and neck feel were excellent. But, I thought it was just as ugly in the flesh. That's not to crap on others choices - It's all personal, but I'd hazard a bet that's unquestionably the reason such a great bass never took off to the heights of it's stablemates.

Started with a P. Didn't really gel with it. Had a J. Even though it was nice, it lacked "clout". Had a Yamaha Attitude, but you need 2 amps or FX capable of parallel-processing both pickups' outputs. Bought a G&L SB-2 Tribute on here. It's great. Dial in a tone and leave it alone for the night. I like the down- sized body, too. Less cumbersome than the Fender items.

I bet that they got the specs wrong and that the supposed tone knob is indeed really a pickup blend knob. Wouldn't be the first time Harley Benton and Thomann got the specs wrong in the spec list of their products.

I set "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran as my 7:00 alarm. Now I wake up at 6:00 so that I don't have to hear it.

That's what I started with. That and YouTube can teach all the theory you need. After about 6 months I think I paid £100 for 3 lessons with someone local. He pointed out a couple of bad techniques I had picked up (bad muting, and plucking strings with inconsistent volume) so I think it was worthwhile before they became too ingrained. Then I found jamming and playing songs with real people very beneficial as bass tends to be a much more 'social' instrument (tying rhythm and harmony together) than instruments like guitar and piano which work okay practiced/played solo.

Just in case you weren’t following the build thread, here’s my Thunderstangbacker