bassbiscuits

Interesting thread. I bought a brand new old shape passive California TT4 a few years ago and initially loved it. By far the best neck and best off the peg intonation/set up etc I've ever bought. Didn't need to touch it at all. Light as a feather too and lovely authentic light relicing. But.... I couldn't get on with the sound onstage. Just felt too lightweight and scooped sounding - lovely by itself but a bit lost in a band. The whole thing was a bit polite and new sounding for me. I wish I'd persisted a bit longer, maybe swapped the pickups etc. As it was I got impatient and traded it in for something else after about a year. Hmm.

Nothing wrong with acoustic gigs at all Blue. I love the challenge of reinterpreting songs into really good acoustic numbers, and selecting (or even writing) material to do with an ear for it being performed acoustically. As I'm getting older I'm finding singing in an acoustic setting is a lot easier than trying to howl over a loud band. And there's some surprising mileage in easing off the gas a bit on some loud songs and discovering a whole new quiet, sparse acoustic version in there too. Enjoy it!

Ah the age old conundrum of playing stuff you actually like, vs playing something you think is rubbish just cos punters like it. Me? I make sure there's plenty of songs in my set that people know and like, but nothing I actually dislike. Life's too short to play songs you don't like. Plenty of good ones out there. EDIT: This doesn't apply to depping obvs - there you just have to decide whether you like the band/material enough to do it.

Those songs aren't really that shameful. You want to try looking interested while playing Wonderwall for the zillionth time...

I've had brilliant mileage out of a set of NYXLs I've had on a bass for about two years. They've done about half a dozen gigs and lots of rehearsals and still sound decent. Not as bright as new but I'm not ready to change them yet. I find the regular D'Addario EXL165 nickels great too. Weirdly the first set I had went dead really quickly after a sweaty gig, but every other set of them had been fantastic. Makes me wonder if something happened at that gig which I wasn't told about...

Nice one man. Sounds great.

I have five straps - two leathergraft softees, two comfort strapps and a generic seatbelt-style thing. Some of my basses/guitars have straplocks, and some don't, so some can share straps and some can't.

That is true actually - I stand corrected. It's an awesome looking guitar

Nice one - great playing too. Ive got a MIJ mustang with flats which I thought sounded good, but yours with rounds (I assume?) sounds great - real nice attack on it. Very nicely done mate

Maybe i explained badly I don't think Fenders look better worn than pristine - i just think that they take the whole battered look a lot better than some other manufacturers ( a battered Les Paul looks rubbish for example ). I've got no problem with pristine instruments. I had a 1996 USA P bass and played the absolute b*llocks off it for 10 years, even drunkenly slamming a fire door open with it after a gig. It didn't even make a mark on it, the paint was so thick.

Maybe its just me, but things like strats/teles/P basses and J basses can look good in slightly battered condition cos they are very workmanlike instruments, and have the history to plausibly end up in that state. But things like that Fodera just look damaged. It's beautifully crafted, with stunning wood etc, and then wrecked to look like its been played to death. Nah, not for me. Incidentally, i'd expect to see a decline in headstock fag burns now, as you can never smoke at the gig anyway...

But if they are better basses, it isn't down to the relicing is it? It's down to them being the highest end of Sandberg's range, offering the customer relicing as well as vibration treatment etc.

It's strange too that if you were shopping for a genuine vintage instrument, dealers often make a big deal of offering "the cleanest example I've ever seen" etc. But in terms of fake aged stuff, people seem to want the most battered instruments possible to show how many years of hard gigging it has (not) done.

The difference between the finish on my 1970 precision (medium wear and tear) and my 2015 mustang (absolutely pristine) is 45 years of gigging. That's the way it should be. I don't really get artificial ageing. I don't hate it, but I wouldn't pay for it either.

Tho not by me, aged 12, unfortunately. It was the only thing I could afford at the time - a whole £60...

Satellite you say? Crikey my first bass was a short scale Satellite which was absolute junk. Even as a beginner, it was clearly barely playable and developed a bad neck twist/warp within six months of me owning it. I remember it had a very thin, plywood body too. Hopefully in landfill by now.

La Bella 760FL on my precision bass. They were secondhand when i bought them three years ago, and they are still going strong. They aren't dull and thuddy - they've got a warm, rich tone to them, but very smooth and full at the same time. Got the same on my MIJ Mustang bass. I've also used TI flats and D'Addario Chromes on other basses and they were great too. TIs a bit too light for my taste, but sounded lovely.

I'd leave it as it is if it already plays and sounds perfect. Sunburst perfectly suits the old girl.

Ah thanks Dave. I still play bass, but its not with any regularity compared with my acoustic solo work. But i've been here before - I didn't touch my bass for about four years before joining my last band. It's a lifelong game though isn't it, not a sprint.

Nowt wrong with that Bob. My main thing these days is as a solo acoustic singer/guitarist, free from the dramas, frustrations and demands of the bands I've been immersed in for the last 15 years. Very enjoyable it is too, and about as good a fit as i can manage between my other family/work commitments. Good luck with it Bob.