Rayman

Sire V9 or M7 (V7 or M5 for cheaper but awesome versions) would be where I'd be looking. That's from New. Personally I almost always go second hand. Ibanez 5ers are easy to play, narrow spacing and well built. A Yamaha BB is always a safe bet. I've heard the San Dimas comes with a very unexciting Pre.... Otherwise a lovely bass, if you're prepared to upgrade the Pre to something more useable. Having said that, the bass player with Diamond Head (old school rock) was using one the other night, and it sounded really great. I LOVE the look of the San Dimas.... I'm tempted myself..... but having researched the M5/M7 I'd probably go down that road..... (If you can live with the headstock).

We played the Manchester Academy 3 a handful of years ago. All was going well until I stepped forward to sing one of our more popular songs, caught my foot around the lead and pulled the DI box off the top of the amp. My bass went dead, and I had no clue what had happened. After looking at the sound woman, who shrugged her shoulders, I binned the bass and sang the song without it. Bloody technology coupled with a clumsy pillock.... not my finest hour.

Like Kiwi, I don't have any keepers. They're tools, and none of them are particularly precious to me. I've had hundreds over the years. Although the Aria Integra 5 is the nearest thing to a keeper.... bought for me by my partner for Christmas.... trouble is I haven't decided if I'm keeping her or not yet.

Update for anyone interested.... my tech measured the pots, said they were fine and replacing them would be pointless. So, I brought it home, and raised the pickups. I didn't think it would make a difference but it really did. The Barts obviously need to be nearer to the strings to function properly. You'd think, after 40yrs I'd know that already. So now it sounds awesome. Happy days. Maybe a John East pre might go in it in the future. It'll be worth it, it's a really comfortable bass to play.

My 68 is up there with an Overwater Progress 5 I had, which even Chris May (who built it) agreed was a beast.

Yep, it's half the weight of my IGB68/5, very nice thing indeed, hopefully the upgraded pots will help its slightly polite sound. The IGB68 sounds immense, but of course that's active.

Late 90s Aria with Barts. Light, nice action, ergonomically nice to play.... surprisingly average sound. I'm guessing that the original MIK EQ is a bit crap, so it's going in for new pots etc. Anyone know anything about the Bartolinis? Any danger they designed to be active? This bass is passive. Other than the sound at this point, I'm very happy with it.

I remember the likes of Vantage and Westbury all being a cut above the usual crap around in the 70s/80s.

I wonder if anyone has gone the other way? Preferring a warm tone for a long time, but more recently going brighter? I'm talking more about home playing/listening mostly. Obviously a gig often demands a particular tone, so that's slightly different.

As the years pass by, my taste in tone has definitely changed. 20yrs ago I was into Marcus style zingy slap style, plenty of top end to the point where the audience at gigs we're wincing as I went at it on my Stingrays. Now, it's very different. I prefer a much warmer tone. I love a round tone, with the top end rolled off both of my Arias. It's funkier, and sits in the mix much more comfortably. I still love Marcus, but I really struggle with that bright zing now. Is it an age thing?

You can pick up a 90s/00s Aria for a couple of hundred quid, and it'll dump from a great height on basses 3 times the price IMO. Having just spent an hour on my IGB68/5 I couldn't be more convinced.

I really liked some of their recorded stuff...... but after seeing them live I wasn't that impressed. Surprising, as I expected them to be amazing live.

I have a couple of Aria Integras, great basses, well made, MIK, the electrics are decent I'm no hurry to upgrade anything, but they're heavy. The 5er is very weighty. As far as Westone, I can only remember what we thought of them in the late 70s early 80s..... just ok. The Thunder 1 was a common starter bass, I wasn't overly excited by the one my mate had, but the Thunder 3 is meant to be a sought after 'classic' these days. I've seen some silly asking prices, in MY opinion, for some of these old MIJ basses, but each to their own.

I don't own one, but borrowed one a while back. I put TI flats on it (my favourite strings anyway), and it was really awesome with them. For me, the difference between those and tapes, is that TIs are more versatile. They still have some top end if you need it, whereas tapes are a bit more 'one trick pony' IMO. NICE pony to ride though if that's your bag.

Kinal MK5 Overwater Progress 5 Lakland Joe Osborn '78 Fender Precision Warwick Fortress There are SO many.... if I could have one back, it would be the Kinal.

Ahhh yes.... I remember, a Stingray yep.

NICE mate..... I don't even remember what bass I bought from you maybe 10yrs ago, probably a Precision?

Yeah... Zenta, my mistake, it was a long time ago! Lol. My mate had Jedson guitar, I had the Columbus, they were both pretty poor from what I remember.

Avon yeah... Kay.... Zentor.... there were loads of them.... and we thought they were all crap, well, a lot of them were. I remember playing on some horrific driftwood, and I'm not sure the Columbus was any better.

Around 1980/81, I was 15, and my first bass was a Columbus Jazz from Rhythm House in Stockport. Even back then, if it didn't say Fender on it, I knew it wasn't the real thing, but amongst the Cimars, Westones and Mayas coming in from Japan, (in those days, we didn't rate the MIJ stuff at all, we thought it was a cheap copy of the real thing, funny how they're sought after now) the Columbus seemed like my best option and the most affordable Fender copy. It saw me through my first years and gigs, but got so battered in the end, I remember it being pretty unplayable. I honestly can't remember what happened to it ultimately, it probably went on the tip.

There's a blue Jetstar on the bay now. I love them. The Korean made basses are really awesome. I had Korean Dearmond Starfire guitar... sold it to Gordon Giltrap. Fabulous thing it was.

THIS THREAD IS 10 YEARS OLD !!! (Edit: not this thread.... zombie threads... y'know)

Anyone mentioned action? Sorry if yes..... I used to love a super low action, and had an issue with the output on the B... a Stingray and an ESP Horizon spring to mind. I've since raised my action to about 3mm at the 12th on my Aria 5er, and the B, via some EB Super Slinkys (pink, light gauge) rings like a piano.