Kev

I do feel a lack of ability to memorise and retain information is being overlooked in a lot of comments here. If a person has a fantastic voice and performance etiquette, I don't think they should be stigma'd away from performing because of a lack of memory skill. If its laziness, sure, but I'm not sure how anyone would ascertain that without asking.

Vocalist in one band I work with has a tablet on stage with lyrics, doesn't bother me at all. Its out of sight and quite discrete. It would probably bother me more if it was fully visible in an ugly way to the audience, from a looking professional point of view, but its not a big deal. I'd much rather they do that than forget lyrics mid set, one certainly looks worse than the other.

Yeah, until I saw it in the flesh I never really picked up on the notably bluer edges, it really is lovely! And the neck is lovely all round really

There seems to be a somewhat surreal belief that in 2024 playing ability and fame are directly connected. They aren't. I'm not sure they ever have been, to be honest. But today, love it or hate it, "making it" as a musician is more about social media presence and reach than any other factor, by a country mile. Naturally, the big brands are going to react to that accordingly, and have done for a while now. Fender isn't giving a signature bass to some nerdy virtuoso who has no idea what TikTok is, because they won't make any money off it. Getting a signature bass isn't a reward for all your hard work becoming the best at playing bass. It's a business transaction, for the mutual benefit of the company and you, like any other endorsement deal.

Can I just quickly ask, what's the main reason you're looking to switch to 5 string?

When I first saw the pic, I thought it had been refinished because of how that forearm "contour" looked, but saw close up it's still the textured finish, and thought it unlikely! Mine definitely didn't have any kind of rounding there, very much the slab body, not that it ever bothered me. Only a Ric's binding does that to me...

Oh absolutely, no mistaking that bit of ebony figuring on the board! 😍 I thank your past self for its decision to move her on 😎 she's in safe hands!

This week I welcomed this absolute stunner to the stable! A 2016 PDN StingRay, key features of this one being the stunning Starry Night finish, roasted Birdseye Maple neck and an unmarked Ebony fingerboard, apparently the first run of 'Rays to not have inlays! I've wanted one of these since they were released, I grabbed a Charcoal Sparkle a couple of years ago but it just wasn't the same. It's a beauty, and transforms depending on what light is on it! HUGE thanks to Mick (@MM Stingray 62) for his patience with me over this, kept him waiting for two months whilst I scrambled the cash, all without a grumble. Cheers buddy!

Looks just like my first "proper" bass, I had the tort guard on mine as well, basically learned to play bass on it. Great instruments!

But that's just it though, its capture only, with a very limited selection of onboard effects (no compressor!), so all you can do is capture stuff yourself, limited to one capture in any preset, or sift through all the junk on the cloud and try and find something that works. No multiple rows, no clever signal chains, nothing. I thought it would be a plugin player, but its not compatible with them either. At the price point, why would you buy this over something like the HX Stomp, a fully useable multi fx/amp modeler? Again, I'm sure they've done their research and their targeting Kemper and Tonex and their offerings in this area, but I'm just struggling to "get" it.

I'm not the target market, and clearly the market is there, but from watching vids etc, I don't really understand who is...

That's appalling. Its an exchange for a bass with rubbish finishing, and they send that out? What is the point in dealing with shops like this anymore, avoiding this kinda thing is what they're there for, other than just turning a profit. Better off by used from Bassbros, you know its been checked out thoroughly then.

As riveting as this is...

Wild contrast on the neck for sure. I've noticed that cheaper basses seem to have the overly dark neck when advertised as "Roasted Maple", I figure its just to emphasise that feature over a the cheaper model (I'm going to assume that the Z3 is not roasted?). It does look a bit silly. I'm surprised to hear these issues, I always had Sire down as being an excellent value for money builder, perhaps they're getting a little too successful to still excel at their price point?

Haven't heard of her before, seems a solid player, signature model worthy? Not sure. Looked her up and found out two things, one of which was a bit of an "ohhh" moment, and the other was shock. 1. She's a TikTok star, one of those who made Covid their career boost, so fair enough. 2. That isn't a stage name, she's actually called that The bass sounds nice enough, love a sparkle finish!

🙃

Yup. And her not openly speaking out/refuting it is in line with what you'd expect as well, given how they appear to treat deserters...

To be fair, Billy Sheehan didn't replace someone who committed suicide following mental illness, which is a big factor here, given scientologist beliefs. Which is why Im sure they would have made ABSOLUTELY sure she wasn't part of that cult.

Its difficult, I know Mark is a bit of a marmite character but I like and have a lot of time for him, all my interactions have been good and he is passionate as anyone about bass gear and finding the best gear for bassists. Its the staff that seem to get so many complaints, that mostly seem to center around not really caring about the job, which is a shame.

Yeah, I mean that alone ends the argument of whether it was the right response or not...

Nothing has been verified either way on this. Most popular consensus is her parents were and she was born into it, but has later rejected it. She may have taken the bull by the horns with it, as the lyrics to the new single could literally be about Scientology. One thing's for sure, Linkin Park would have looked into this in a hell of a lot of detail, as if she was the person some are trying to claim she is, it would destroy what's left of the band.