Old Horse Murphy

There is of course something far worse....

Couldn't agree more. Much more talented than me but leaves me completely cold. As for the smug expressions...

👍

I don't earn my keep from gigging as I have a full-time job but will have lost around £5-6k this year if all our gigs are cancelled.

It's an off the peg colour. Music Man seem to have gone all Earth Wind and Fire with their latest colour offerings

Just prior to lockdown I was invited to play bass and sax in a pretty successful and busy covers band specialising in a lot of 80's music which to me is a dream gig as firstly I love a lot of 80's music and secondly, getting a gig where I get a chance to play both instruments is pretty rare. It soon became apparent though that because of some key changes and because a lot of the bass lines involve a low D or C# that I was in all likelihood going to have to play a 5 String again (I know there are other options but hey, we all need an excuse, right?) I've played 5's before but in all my years of gigging, never actually gigged with one as I've always at the last minute reverted back to a 4 stringer (comfort blanket thing). In all honesty this has often caused me a few sweaty moments in trying to re-map songs on the neck often at very short notice, so I decided to use lockdown to really "learn" the 5 string. The first step was putting all the 4 strings away and just getting on with it....and wow, it worked a treat. I've had a few rehearsals so far and it's really gelled nicely: so nicely in fact, that I decided to move some of my 4 strings on and invest in a couple of really nice 5'ers. I've always loved Music Man basses and always found the SR5 to be a thing of beauty. The ones I've had though have been pretty heavy and sounded either too boomy of too thin, or a strange mixture of both. Having done some research on the new Specials though, I decided to take a visit to Bass Direct and came away with the one in Chopper Blue. They really are fantastic instruments with the usual Music Man build quality but with the Neodymium pickups, 18v electrics and incredibly light weight (both are under 8.5lbs) they're a no-brainer for me. Having bought one, I clearly need a backup (ahem) and so after selling a few basses I also bought the Aqua Sparkle one with ebony neck from Andertons. It really is very very sparkly in the flesh, but it is an incredible bass to play. Music Man really have upped their game here and I have been hugely impressed with the changes they've made. If anyone is half-thinking about trying these I'd recommend they do. Although they look pretty- much identical to the older models, they really are very different beasts and to my mind at least, a step up in terms of quality, comfort and sound.

I'm slightly late (as always) to this thread but have been reading it with a lot of interest. I've had numerous forays in to 5 Strings and have always beaten a hasty retreat back to the land of 4 strings because a) its what I'm used to b) struggled with the width of the extra string on the fingerboard (an old hand injury) and c) never had the courage to gig with one and always reverted back to my P Bass at the last moment (this last one has often been an 11th hour decision that has cause me a couple of stressful moments trying to effectively adapt my neck geography the spot rather than stick with the 5). Lockdown has given me time to re-evaluate a lot of things, including my bass playing: that and joining a new band just before the world went crazy (crazier) which actually justified the low B. Now having had some decent time to play a 5 string and develop my own technique that doesn't hurt my left hand (certainly not trying to stick to the one finger per fret method) and to really "learn" the 5 string has been a revelation. The scales have certainly fallen away from my eyes and I actually find it more intuitive than a 4 string to such an extent that I haven't really picked up a 4 string for the last couple of months and just concentrated on the 5 string. As someone on this thread said and I couldn't put it better myself, sticking with it and not trying to switch back and forth between a 4 and 5 has helped me massively. Having played bass for many years and considering myself to be pretty competent on the 4 string I'm sure I'll switch between a 4 and 5 at some point but at the moment, running back to Mummy is too tempting and I really need to work on the muscle memory to play a 5 string, especially if I intend to gig with it at some stage (fingers crossed). I certainly won't be taking a 4 string with me when I gig just to avoid all temptation. 35" is just a bit too far out of my comfort-zone and I really notice a massive difference when playing a 35" scale bass, so I'm sticking with the venerable SR5 for the time being.

I love a good pointy headstock. These are on my list too. Well done

Hmmm, sorry to be totally un-PC but if you had, I don't think the colour would have bothered you in the first place....😎

Lawrence bought one of my Mono Vertigo cases in a totally hassle-free deal. A nice guy and a great person to deal with. Highly recommended

My two: a 2020 SR5 Special in Aqua Sparkle and a 2020 SR5 Special in Chopper Blue. Both are great but these new Specials are, well, special.

We've had all our gigs including private parties, festivals and social clubs cancelled until October. I'm expecting them to be cancelled too if people keep acting as responsibly as they have so far with pub openings etc.