fretmeister

Agreed - but there is literally zero reason why any modelling device can't deal with guitar and bass now. The guitar version could just be updated with bass sounds. Job done. Instead they've done a bass specific one at a higher price. That's taking the michael.

I think I've owned more white basses (and guitars) than any other colour but I'm not sure I have a favourite. At the moment I have 2 black and maple, a green and maple, white and rosewood, and metallic blue and pau ferro. I don't mind any of them but I wouldn't be upset if they magically changed colour - unless tort was involved. Urgh. I do have a soft spot for the Sandberg aged finishes though - especially the Masterpiece really battered looking ones. No idea why they appeal and the base colour isn't important. Nice that the existence of them seems to enrage some people though!

Funnily enough I read a review that said players would likely be disappointed with the pickups if they played anything newer than about 1970. But that sounded perfect for me! 😀 Found this too. Sounds lovely.

The collaboration album with Cory Wong and Dirty Loops

I've taken the plunge and ordered the 5 string. Should be here on the weekend (Saturday delivery now includes Sunday!) Looking forward to it.

My only problem was a Mark Bass F1 head. Was dead on delivery from the shop so it was replaced quickly. The new one was fine. Don't think I've had any other issues with a bass amp.

I have often wondered this. I used to use Pressurewounds on all 4 string basses (their B is awful, so not on 5 strings) but it got to be so much hassle in finding them I gave up.

Don't think so. The only bass that I do occasionally think about was a Warwick Fortress Flashback that was in the Birmingham Bass Centre in about 1996. I had gone in there to to try a Hartke 410XL as they had one in stock and I was curious about the new fangled aluminium cones! I didn't even pick the Fortress, it was just handed to me. I thought it was lovely. It has the silly 2-Tek bridge on it. I've owned a couple of Warwicks since and even on the slimmer necks of the period they get too fat for me further up the neck so it wasn't likely to have been a successful choice, but it did sound very nice. It was probably about 12lb though - couldn't do that these days!

Ace. I have a tapered Warwick on my Mezzo 32 scale at .135 and it's fine for most things but is a bit flappy for slap. I'll probably need Newtone to make me a .140 tapered string though. Not many of them around.

£421 is getting a bit much.

I remember when people said "pointless / unrealistic" stuff about ipads, modelling amps, laptops.... All before anyone tried them.

Apart from the metronome, the surround sound, the adaptive sound where it changes with movement like being on a stage. It's not really the same product. Still, it's new tech and thus a bit pricey. Give it a year and Behringer will rip it off.

https://www.boss.info/global/products/waza-air_bass/?fbclid=IwAR3K7jcAnHZeRzcpYsEbpHASqfcesPI9TvYqaddohWNSlInyCwvF0Ke7WoE A mate has the guitar one and despite my initial skepticism, it's very good, if a bit pricey. I'm quite tempted.

What’s the biggest string that will fit through the B headstock doohickey?

Have you tried calling them?

An update. I have a bit of a droopy finger that won't straighten fully - this is expected for this sort of injury. The tendon is longer than it used to be. The long period of splint and cast use has caused arthritis in the proximal joint (1st one from the knuckle). I need to do about 15-20mins exercises when I wake up as it is basically swollen and rigid first thing in the morning, although that can be helped if bind the joint a bit overnight. A little bit of pressure stops the swelling. Anti-inflammatories help too. I do other 5 minute exercise sessions every couple of hours through the day as well. The therapists have been brilliant, wanting to understand the movements of a bass playing finger and figuring out how to assist. One of the exercises is to have a flat bit of paper on a table and put the hand on it flat and then pull all the fingers in to crumple it - sliding the fingers on the table. That is remarkably similar to plucking a string while using a ramp, drawing a finger along a flat surface with a string just being in the way. So I raised a flat topped pickup on my Sandberg to act as a ramp and it is letting me play far better than I have been recently. I have more control and just as importantly it's preventing my finger from hooking too much and stopping the fingernail catching on the string. I can now play as therapy as well. 2 of my basses have flat topped EMG pickups so they will get raised to be ramps. I've bought some epoxy for the others following Billy Sheehan's old method of covering exposed pole pieces with it and then sanding to shape them. I've been videoing some of my playing - close up right hand - so I can see what I'm doing more easily and adapt a bit. It seems that if I rotate my hand leftwards a little, so the string contact is closer to the left side of the finger rather than the middle of the finger pad, the movement restriction is less of an issue, particularly when the tempo is a bit higher. Also the therapists have come up with a strapping system that gives a bit more control in strengthening the finger while trying to straighten the tip, and that won't get in the way of playing. I can play at home without it, but I can strap it for gigs / rehearsals where I'm likely to play harder. The overall position now is that I can play the stuff my big band plays - not as well as I used to yet, but very close. The Billy Sheehan type stuff is a long way off, but I don't play that sort of thing very often anymore as I've become old and boring! Rehearsals start on the 18th Sept. Be interesting to see how it goes.

I've got the Ernie Ball capo that has 2 sides so 2 different radii for different boards. It's fine.