Old Horse Murphy

Nappies yes. Glasses no

Do you clench on your sleep? Your hands that is... I often find when I've been gigging or when I'm stressed about (or focussed on) something I clench my fists when I sleep and often wake up feeling like I've been fighting. It could be something as simple as that, or certainly a contributing factor. That said, eight hours a day practice on a regular basis is quite a lot. It might be worth going for quality over quantity for a while.

I had a play in one of these today and was really impressed. If you like sparkly guitars (I do) it's a beaut. The fit and finish are easily as good as anything I've seen from Fender at any level and the neck is just great and incredibly playable. It doesn't feel as glossy as a Geddy Lee for example, which I think is a good thing. Sound-wise it's a very good 70's Jazz bass and the pickups are very responsive with lots of useable sounds. The one I tried was just over 8.5lbs which is a good weight for one of these (some seem to be nearer 10lbs) and I really like it and it's giving me naughty thoughts. I appreciate that £1,399 is a hefty price for a Mexican Fender but it's not too far off the JMJ and actually, if I were to buy a new Fender I'd probably go for one of these as opposed to paying another £500 or so for a US Fender where I don't see that the additional premium would get you much more other than a good quality case. I love the colour scheme too with the block neck and can't imagine you'd get a US one in this finish outside of the Custom Shop for some considerable time. I don't know who Mikey Way is but he's obviously got some good taste Seriously tempted and need to speak to my wife and start the long conversation about why I need one of these in my life.

When I saw Elton a few years ago, Bob Birch (God rest his soul) was playing bass for him. He used a SR5 too and it was just a masterclass in sound mixing as well as bass playing. Just wonderful.

Nice! I only have one gold bass at present.

It wasn't the best vocal performance but she still has something about her and I enjoyed watching their set. There are a lot of performers who've aged a lot worse than Debbie:

If it's friends and family I don't think it can be cancelled

Yes, love them. Just great pop music with a real 80's vibe. The 1975 and Chvrches are my two favourite contemporary bands right now. The only issue I have is that I can't watch them live as I find the singer, Matty, really quite obnoxious. Other than that I'm a big fan.

Yep, exactly the same for me

Love Prefab Sprout and Martin's playing. Appetite is (for me) such a great understated bassline, along with the outro of When Love Breaks Down.

I've had similar before in my fingers. It is quite disconcerting when it happens but it doesn't last long and is infrequent. I think it's more of a muscular/lactic acid/overuse thing rather than anything more sinister. I often get it if I go mad on a rowing machine too, due to gripping too tightly. It could well be down to dehydration too as that can do weird things to your body. As others have said though, if it continues get to checked out. Dr Google really don't your friend with this type of thing, as @Franticsmurf rightly points out.

My guitarist has got a couple of old Peaveys. One is definitely fully valve but the other is a solid state preamp with valve power stage. When they're working (one in particular is quite temperamental) they sound fabulous. Our singer/rhythm guitarist puts her electro-acoustic through a preamp direct in to the PA desk.

My lot excluding my DB

Keir sold me a lovely Fretless bass in a faultless deal. He packed the bass within an inch of its life for the courier for me and kept me informed all the way. A top guy and highly recommended 😊

Thanks 😊 It's obviously a traditional P Bass pickup routing compared to a reverse P on Sandberg VM/VT's and this one is passive too so it's definitely less modern sounding. I was going to put flats on it but my other P Bass has them already so I decided to keep this with nickel roundwounds which adds a different dimension to the sound.

So I decided to divest myself of some gear I had lying around that I wasn't using. This (surprisingly for me) included my 75 P Bass. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, in fact it was gorgeous. The problem was every time I picked it up I just felt really underwhelmed with it. I changed the strings from rounds to flats and back again but it really wasn't doing it for me sadly. Anyway, long story short, I took it in to see Will at Bass Bros with a few other bits, left with a good wedge of money and made the mistake of turning my head to glance around the shop and my gaze happened to rest on this Masterpiece VS4. After a few plays on it and a lot of (not much really) humming and hawing I decided to buy it. It plays like a dream and feels like an old friend. The ageing is borderline vandalism but for me it works. The pickup was replaced with a Dimarzio (original included) and it just does that P Bass thing in spades. It's light too at around 8lb 4oz and I can't put it down. It matches my other Sandberg too which is nice. I wasn't meant to leave with another bass but these things happen I guess....

Thanks mate, I knew they did a Gary Tallent model a while back but couldn't find too much info as I think they've been discontinued. That said, I think they're discontinuing the Bantam too...

I lost my Spector cherry a short while ago with this used Bantam I picked up for a good price. I thought that the combination of the body shape and where the strap pin sat on the top horn combined with the shorter scale would make the bass feel familiar to my usual Fenders and it worked a treat. The light weight (just over 7.5lbs) together with the shorter scale made gigging with it an absolute pleasure and the build quality is superb too.

My 72 Jazz

A good one tonight once again in the Forest of Dean. The band was really tight and we played really well. As always an appreciative and vocal crowd at a place we've played several times now and have been invited back again later this year. I used the Spector Bantam all night and for the first time in a long while had no aches or pains from my hip or back which was a huge bonus for me, especially after well over two hours of playing.

So for purely ergonomic reasons I decided to part ways with my Guild Starfire I as it just wasn't working for me. I did however, miss the weight as I've got an issue with my hip that (although healing slowly) is still problematic. A few days ago I saw a used Spector Bantam advertised on Bass Direct and decided I'd go and try it out. I've never owned a Spector before but was attracted by the weight (just over 7.5lbs) and wanted to see how the bass would sit, given the top strap button sits a bit further up towards the dusty end than my usual Fenders which are near enough level with the 12th fret. After kindly being lent a strap to try out, I found the placement of the strap button meant the nut and lower frets sit pretty-much in the same place as my 34" scale basses so the Bantam immediately felt familiar and my hands didn't feel cramped at all due to the shorter scale. The bass is immaculate and I loved the EMG electrics so decided to take it home. We have our first proper date tomorrow but the way things are going right now, I think I'm on a promise.