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Managed to persuade our very own Beedster to part with his gorgeous Japanese fretless P bass. It's even more lush in the flesh.

A week or two ago I took a drive north to pick up a bass I bought from the BC marketplace. I kept looking at it, passing it by, thinking about it, not thinking about it, continuing with my macrame antimacassars, essentially I was curious but not gassing. I sent a message asking if it was still available and the buying process began. Anyway, the seller was far enough away that after driving up I booked a hotel and we arranged to meet the next morning. On seeing the bass in the flesh so to speak, I was struck by how beautifully made it was, how light it was and yet I remained stoically underwhelmed by it. I paid up, put it on the back seat and set off home. Arriving back I stuck the bass in the rack and left it there to languish, I'm not sure I played it for a couple of days, when I finally did I was, again, just south of whelmed. Another bass bought on a whim that I'm going to lose money on I thought. A few days later I had a jam with a friend of mine, just some songs he's learning with his guitar tutor, some Beatles, Neil Young etc, I plugged the Acinonyx in and kind of forgot about it, and that's the whole point. I have gassed after some lovely basses and, more often than not, I've bought them purely on the basis of aesthetics, not ergonomics, not sound/tone, and, I shouldn't be surprised should I? That a huge percentage of these basses didn't suit me or my needs, they simply satisfied my desire to own something a) because I could and b) because I liked the look of it. Rarely (if ever) did I take my needs as a band member into account. To be honest that was exactly what I did again with the Acinonyx, only this time I wasn't even sure I liked the look of it, after all, it's a funny looking f***er innit. That whole point I was on about. When I was rehearsing with it I forgot about the instrument, how it looks, how it feels, entirely, I just played it. It was supremely comfortable, ergonomically right for a change and, so comfortable, so 'right' that, well, we just got on. It has a limited range of tones and yet play it in a band setting and those tones are the right ones. Given my druthers I would never set my bass to any of those tones, which is obviously why I've never been satisfied with my tone! The Acinonyx doesn't give you room to fånny about tweaking stuff for ages until you tweak yourself into a sonic corner. I play through an FRFR powered speaker so I just set that to 'default' and then pressed a couple of these crazy buttons... ...I can't even remember which, and I forgot the bass and just played music. If you push all four pickup buttons down at the same time (easier said than done!) it switches the pickups into series mode. Anyway, I'm no good at technical stuff, it was more how, for some reason, I was almost totally indifferent about this bass until I plugged it in and loved it. We are always looking for something perfect, exactly the right tone, exactly the right look, essentially we are looking for something that probably only exists in our heads and that no physical bass can actually live up to. Inevitably I'll buy a bass, clearly for all the wrong reasons, rush home, plug it in, declare it to be the best bass I've ever had and invariably sell it a fortnight later at a loss because there's a lot more stupid stuff going on in our heads psychologically than any of us is prepared to admit to. I should, at this point tell you all that the Acinonyx is the best thing since sliced Fodera but I'm going to stick with underwhelmed because underwhelming is clearly what I should have been looking for all this time, I'm not even going to say this is a keeper, I'm just going to stop typing and play it.

A German Streamer, from 2000, this thing needed some love. I picked it up for an absolute steal, because of the condition, and spent today cleaning, oiling, waxing and setting it up with a new set of TI flats. The word on the street with these, is that the pickups are weak and uninspiring. Cobblers. Yes it’s not as high an output as some of my basses, but so what?? turn up the amp?? These pickups sound beautifully honky and funky with flats. The TIs have a nice brightness to them which helps cut through. Absolutely lovely tone, comfortable to play, nice action (after a LOT of truss rod work), it’s a truly fabulous thing, quality German build and parts. Absolutely love it, very happy.

I returned to the pub I had my wedding reception in for the first time since 2018 last night. It was a lowkey acoustic set as the main part of a newly establishing open mic night (we had the long main set). As with a lot of Wiltshire pubs, a couple of all day drinkers in there who had long gone beyond the point that they should have stopped. I replicated my bass parts on a mandocello and took some lead on the mandolin too. I sung some lead lines and did a lot of the onstage banter. It was just a fun evening. My missus came down to support us and I was amazed how many people remembered me from 5 years back. The pub has a Dr. Who theme due an old John Pertwee episode being filmed locally in 1971. Here we are just before going on. The Dalek didn't come in. There are steps! Some of the locals...

Ah, the Imprecision Bass 😃

Does she sing or play the guitar, or what..?

also, just found this on YT....

Finally back out there again. Acoustic gig with "She's Right I'm Left" Saturday 4/25 Reveres Restaurant Delafield WI *8:00 - 11:00 * This a late night for me. I won't get home until 1:30.

Just swopped the stock Pups from the Player Series and added the Dimarzio PBass pickup These are a bargain at present and for anyone liking rock these Pups work well More mids and growl ( fairly hot pups ) and for finger playing they are an improvement I feel

Lol cheers🤣 He made one for My BB1024

Coo for cats - squeeze

Sound And Pigeon ～ David Bowie

Bought an Aguilar OBP2 & PJ set from @cetera & fitted them last night/this morning. A good upgrade from the IBZ C4 pickups (as good as they are too). The amount of low end it is now able to produce is phenomenal! Should be able to go well with my synth bass stuff.

Spotted these on a surf-by. Bought a B-Stock one for £95 inc. postage. Result.

This months photo got the creative juices flowing very well... In fact I had to concentrate very hard putting this thread together, I normally listen through again as I am collating it, but I got drawn in to all the tunes far too much The choice of photo was by @Wolfram who, most impressively, took the win with his debut entry. "I created this image with DALL-E, a natural language artificial intelligence image generation system, from the prompt: "a photograph of two convertible red Ferraris racing through a dystopian city at night with lens flare and atmospheric neon lighting". Take inspiration from the subject of the photo, or from the transformational impact AI is about to have across the creative industries - good or bad? " Have a listen through these and some will amaze you, really! As usual , vote for your 3 favourites before midnight on 28th Feb 1 @Dad3353 There are those that praise highly the musicality of the Ferrari exhaust notes; there are even specialists whose sole task is to tune the beggars. I'll let you judge as to the success of their labours... A collection of sound samples, carefully crafted into a short symphony, with some pertinent tyre squeals for good measure. 2 @NickD The picture evoked memories of the computer games of my youth, so I tried to cast my mind back to the kinds of soundtracks those primitive programs would have. 3 @Leonard Smalls When I was a kid in a small village in Cheshire AI meant a chap with a rubber glove impregnating livestock... And if we're talking about gettin' jiggy with the Artificial Insemination Man there's only one choice, Funk! 4 Lurksalot Quite often you hear a song about cars that sounds a bit cheesy. so here is a proper cheesy one, Ferraris with cheese, Italian cheese. 5 @Doctor J Driving Ferraris around a dystopian city cost me a lots of 10p pieces in the 80's. Beating the clock, getting time bonuses and moving to the next stage were all that mattered, accompanied by 8-bit hard rock. 6 @upside downer A late night cruise by two artificial Ferraris through the mean streets of Artificial City to an artificial electro-synthpop soundtrack. No strings were plucked in the making of this melodic, mood music. 7 @Nail Soup I've gone for the boy racer angle, although with a punky sound not traditionally heard from such a vehicle..... so I present "Ford Cortina with a Home Made Flame Job". 8 @SH73 Here is my entry, Instrumental song recorded Tuesday morning, bass recorded Tuesday evening, mixed and mastered Tuesday evening. 9 @Wolfram Two harmonised guitars race bumper to bumper in a high-octane charge, wrapped around a song musing on the imminent demise of this breed of vehicle.... and perhaps their human drivers too? I present "Endangered Species". 10 @AndyTravis A tension between rhythms, like tension between how much technology takes over, a constant push and pull… That is a fantastic set of tunes, you may well find 3 votes insufficient , but that's just the way it rolls Get those 3 votes in before midnight on 28th February folks

How does he get away with that syrup? Looks like something you’d pick up for a fiver in a fancy dress shop.

Hi All, Just to let you know that my new Warwick Gnome PRO CAB 12/4 arrived yesterday. It is perfect for my purpose and sounds even better than I thought it would. A lot easier to man-handle too than the one I currently have. I'm well happy with my purchase. My thanks to you all for your postings. Roger

Every Day I Bite The Rook ～ Elvis Costello

I like it as it is, save yourself the work and just use it and enjoy!

These are the sort of things that keep me up at night, Ped.

You'll inevitably get advice on what colour to change the scratchplate to - may I suggest a tan/ coffee colour

Lovely I recently moved mine on. Iconic looking things aren't they

Just got this sire Great Basses love the maple fingerboard 👌👌

It is real, read an interview with him recently where he discussed this, although some people would merrily pay 5 large to keep him away.

Aw considering the crap he comes out with, particularly about women, I thought he was very respectful with her as he gets schooled! Video link added:

Well you're not far away and you are more than welcome to come and have a noodle if you would like to.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Don't Ask Me No Questions

Haven't played my Elwood custom, other than for a quick noodle, for ages, having been 'Mr Short Scale' for the last 2 years. However, rather than use my Mustang for practising for an upcoming gig ('60s Mod type affair), I thought I'd use the Maruszczyk. Bloody hell! I'd forgotten what a totally awesome bass it is. Dialled just slightly towards the neck, it nails that P vibe, but with just a bit more clarity & smoothness than the Mustang provides. The Delano pickups were really growling nicely and it was effortless to play. Visually, it's not what this band requires (more’s the pity) but I'm definitely going to take it to next week's rehearsal just to see what the other guys say. Anyhoo, shameless picture posting time.

I probably won’t… but I’ll still think about it from time to time. 😝

It is the concept of 3D printing something for not much money which I can then populate with the contents of my parts drawer which I am finding very attractive. Up until a month ago I even had a spare 5 string neck lying around looking for a home.

I'm currently lusting after a Pulse II in Black Cherry (best Spector finish evaahhhh - along with the natural look).

This. Except I'd go for one of the Hohner B range.

The York branch is destined for closure. Banks Musicroom is believed to be the oldest music shop in the UK, having opened in 1756. A sad sign of the times.

Hello Simon. The bass you have is identical to mine which was my very first bass given to me by my parents for Christmas either 82 or 83 (memory fades). It was brand new and I have kept it ever since. It's my main practise guitar, although still use it on stage when necessary. It has been modded slightly with active meg's and Badass bridge. Love and it will never leave. In terms of value the previous posters are probably not too far off. A great guitar that has lasted well for over 40 years. IMG_3313.heic

NBD - Hohner Precision Bass, made in Japan, I "think" late 70's judging by some other online posts but I have no evidence, serial number starts with 86####. Believe it was unused for many years, broken nut which I have now replaced as well as new strings/intonation sorted. It has the original bridge cover, replacement thumb rest taken from my Harley Benton PB50, Pup cover is long gone, sounds decent. No clue on value or rarity, bought for £50, for now its a keeper.

While i wait for the bodys return journey, sounds like a repatriation!.. I thought i'd share this bit of an email i sent to Andy... This is my 'Mental Health' Bass... I've gone on (and on!) about my love of the Ibby Worn Pebble Body and Great Neck... and my wish for a Simple Passive P in the thread back in June '20 when you did a job for @donslow SR Body. This is about the same time Lockdown was in Full Swing, and I started to get to grips with my Mental Health. Went to the Doc, got signed off from work, and started on the meds... Getting the bits together to complete this project, has been great... spending and occupying my time, researching and reaching out to those for the Pickup, Tone Switch, Knobs and Strings, as well as you (Andy) for the Body Mod, is much more than blagging a discount or freebie... time taken to write the email, and joy in recieving a response, and willingness of those to support my build has had such a positive effect on my mood... and admittedly saved a few quid. I've been thinking about the finish, and your kind offer of a veneer for the front, but... If OK I'd be happy with the existing cavities filled and a route for the P with the extra control holes filled. Your veneer finishes are amazing, but the above will show the outline of the old pickups and controls... All 'PowerSpan, Power Tap, Active 3 Band EQ, Blah Blah Blah'... But then taken back to simpler times with a single P pickup, Vol and Tone... Just how my mind feels with all the stress and anxiety of complication causing my depression, and not something to be covered up, out of sight, but celebrated with trying to live more in the moment. Apologies for going on... I just thought i'd give a little insight as to the 'what and why's' this bass is about to me... Cheers, Paul

I'm in two bands, one an Instrumental Prog Rock/Synthwave fusion band, that's uses the big board thst you've all seen. I'm also in a Rock/Soul covers band. That just needs some basics, PITA to keep moving pedals, but I can't afford to double them up. But looking to start a dedicated little board. In tge meantime here's the little Rock board 😁

Well, drilling and screwing done. What a pair…