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I had a Euro 5LX that I purchased from another member on here (although I purchased through a shared Facebook post and only found the ad on here later) and it was superb. Incredibly even sound across all the strings and a really good, solid low B. I prefer the models with EMGs compared to the rather darker Aguilar pickups they come with on some models now. I think the best thing about it was the finish, it had clear gloss all over including the neck but it was so smooth and perfectly applied that it could match a satin finished wood neck for playability. The finish on the body was like a mirror, just perfectly applied. Two things that did annoy me about it though, first being upper fret access, it is poor. That said, I've got a 6 string bass with superb access so I don't really need all my basses to have amazing upper fret access though it did annoy me on the Spector. The second issue was the bridge, which wasn't wide enough to thread certain B strings through. It absolutely needed to be strung with taperwounds, as I found when I couldn't get a .135 or a .130 B string through which had the windings all the way to the ball end. A known issue with the Spector bridge, the solution I saw suggested was to take a file to it and widen the opening - I wasn't brave enough and worried about damaging the finish. It was fine with taperwounds but obviously limited the choice of strings it could be used with. I'd love a Euro 4LC with the EMG P/J combo and will probably own one of those some day. I wouldn't mind owning a proper US 5 string either although they're the thick end of £5000, they are superb.

Factory settings are really just a starting point to make the instrument half playable. I can't remember any guitar or bass I've bought where I've stuck with them. A lot of the time the instruments are sent to the retailer not even in the recommended manufacturer specs, they're just in whatever state they happened to be when the QC inspector glanced over the thing. Generally, I like my neck straighter and the action lower than they come from the factory.

Those headless designs still look gorgeous, good to see the brand still going.

Your thumbs don't matter, it's all about personal preference.

I love a flat radius board, or a very shallow radius. For me I find it helps with faster playing more than anything as the consistent spacing and the way the strings are laid out (in a line across the bass, rather than an arc) it helps my hand find the next string very consistently and easily. I'm sure the net difference on bass is fairly small, it's a comfort thing as much as anything - with no radius to worry about, the neck can be nice and thin. If anyone plays electric guitar, try playing something with a fairly heavy radius like vintage Fender or one of their modern "retro" models and then play an 80s Ibanez RG, you'll feel like you've jumped out of a Ford Granada and into an F1 car.

I use a 135 for a B and a 105 for an E on a 35" scale bass and 105 for an E on a 34". I do have another bass with some light strings on. The issue with hollow bodies isn't the string feel but the note reproduction, they do lose some punch over a solid body. I could see how a hollow body in D without a really tight string could sound flobby and loose.

A bass set up for E standard then dropped down to D sounds superb to me and I don't have any problems with note definition at all. I find the slightly lower tension on the D really lets it growl - have a listen to Tim Commerford on the first RATM album for an example of how it gets just that little extra snarl and bite, it's lovely. Of course, your mileage may vary, particularly if using hollow bodies, or you like super high tension to stop the strings from breathing a bit. Also to answer a question earlier about hipshot detuners "shifting" and not flipping perfectly between tunings if used repeatedly, I find mine to be completely reliable on my Yamaha Attitude LTD II. Check the E, if it's out then you flip the lever to drop to the lower tuning, adjust the machine head and close the lever to raise back up and check again. Once the E is in, open the lever and check where the D is, then close the lever and adjust the little tuning wheel, open the lever and check the D. If it's still out, close the lever and adjust the wheel again until you get both of them bang on. Once it's set up, as long as your E doesn't go flat your D will always be perfect. Once you understand the process it adds maybe 20 seconds onto tuning your bass, it's very easy to get it right once once you know how. There is a video from Hipshot on how to do this on Youtube - ironically not on their own channel, but easy to find. They could be a little clearer with the instructions on their website. If you try to tune the E with the lever closed (so you're in the higher tuning setting) every time to drop to D and raise back to E it will go flat and then the D will go out of tune also. It's a little counter-intuitive, you tune the E note while in the D setting, but once you know what you're doing they're 100% reliable. I don't think Michael Manring's music would even work if these Hipshot gadgets were not 100% accurate when used correctly, his tunings would be flat and sharp all over the place and it would sound terrible.

They sound like they're mugging you off tbh, I'd have a frank conversation about your position in the band and be prepared to walk if they won't put you on their level.

That was terrible on every level. I actually thought it was one of those things where someone dubs fake audio over the top at first. Kirk's guitar tone is terrible, so is Rob's bass tone for that matter, it's just an awful performance. Amazing to think that Rob's time on bass with Metallica is now longer than Jason's, but for me Jason will always be the Metallica bassist. He really brought the best out of the band in a live setting, maybe it was his dedication and focus on the music but Metallica were super tight when he was with them. I've never bought the Rob hype, I'm not into his loose style and clangy sound, but Metallica's live performances have degraded so much over recent years. They are probably at their best now since they have been since about 2004 in live terms, but still nowhere near as tight and powerful as they were. I know much has been said about Lars messing with Jason in the early days and deliberately dropping the bass right down in the mix for AJFA, but you'd think that kind of studio joke wouldn't make it onto a finished product. I think they just lost their mind when it came to mixing that album.

That Conklin is absolutely superb, could you tell us a bit more about it? I like your Aries basses too, I seem to remember seeing the one on the right hand side on sale here and considered buying it myself. Do I also recall seeing that orange-coloured Overwater on Bassdirect until a few months back? My only six in the collection is my Raro custom, it's my #1 player.

Purchased a Yamaha Attitude II bass from Marc, I paid by international bank transfer over a weekend so Marc kept an eye on his account so he was aware when the funds had arrived and got the bass packaged and shipped very quickly - the same day as the funds arrived in his account. The bass was as described in the advert and well packed. Marc's response to messages was quick and courteous - I'd have no problem recommending him as a seller.

It's good to see them catching up with the sort of developments that other manufacturers have been making in the last 20 years. I wonder if these new generation rays will be less prone to deadspots.

I'm not a fan of P basses really, I find the neck a bit blocky and I like more definition and grunt in my tone - the Jazz is just a much better fit for me. However, a P pickup and a J pickup on the same bass is one of my favourite combos. A P and MM pickup is a rare combo but also works very well. I just can't get on with the sound of a P bass pickup on it's own when it comes to my playing, but I will admit that in some music it just sounds right.

I like the fact that within twenty minutes I can be in Newcastle in my local shop to get consumables - strings, cables etc if I need them immediately and don't want to wait for overnight shipping. Their bass selection, both in terms of amps and bass guitars, is absolutely dire. Unless you really, really like Fender Rumble amps and Fender Ps.

My main is a six string P, a six string Jazz and a six string Stingray with a 35" low B like nothing I've ever heard. I can't think of anything that could replace it that isn't a custom with the same custom pickups and preamp. Maybe I'd trade it for a 35" US Spector but I'd be losing some versatility and the B might not be as solid. I think the B is a combination of the scale and the staggering mass of the bass. On the downside it's not exactly ideal for long sessions standing. My old Spector was better in thst respect but I'm thankful to have a decent back so weight is the least important criterion for a bass - my #2 bass is a 5 string Thumb!

I have a Thumb 5 BO, 2004 or 2005 (I can't remember which, 90% sure it's 2004), ovangkol neck and body, ebony fingerboard. Supposedly the worst of the worst for Warwicks, but it sounds amazing and plays beautifully - the action is lowest out of all of my basses, if it was fretless you'd be able set it up almost impossibly low. It is brighter and growlier than the all bubinga Thumbs, so it's probably not to everyone's taste. Just about the only upgrade I would make would be a brass nut but given that it only affects the tone on open notes I just don't think it's worth the hassle, not when it sounds and plays like it does now. Maybe I should be worried that the nut will snap, the neck will warp or the truss rod will break. Maybe I'll just keep playing it and enjoying it. If you've never played a Warwick, don't be put off by the "baseball bat neck" stuff. Sure, they're not Jazz thin, but they're more ergonomically designed than a tradition P bass neck, they have been made with the form of the human hand as a consideration. I was playing a Fender P this morning and couldn't get over how blocky the neck was. That said, I'm of the opinion that if you're of the right mindset, you can adapt to any neck type - I've got a Peavey Palaedium that makes a Jazz feel fat and I've got a Raro 6 string that is huge and I don't struggle on any them. If you can cope with a 4 string P bass you can play any Warwick without issue, as long as you have good left hand technique. If you tend to let your thumb slip over onto the fretboard you might have issues, but I think that would be the case if you were playing a 5 or 6 string from any manufacturer, not just Warwick.

I wasn't aware there were any "design flaws" with Schallers or that they needed any special technique to fit. I've been using them on my instruments for years, just screw on and forget. Maybe every few weeks I've check the nuts as I'm picking my bass on and they never seem to loosen noticeably. That said, I've never heard of anyone having any problems with Dunlops either so you can pick whatever you prefer I suppose, I've just never been a fan of the aesthetics of the Duncans with that big "dog water bowl" arrangement they have, but functionally I've found both to work just fine.

I'm not a fan of the technique, for the same reason I don't like those string mute things because I like clarity and definition in my sound, not everyone does and that's cool. It has a time and place, like playing early 70s pop tunes on a P bass. Context is everything and using it in a situation where you need clarity and authority in your sound just wouldn't be appropriate, much like slapping Beatles songs wouldn't be right if you were trying to sound authentic to the originals. I do like Janek Gwizdala's use of the thumb but he uses it like you would playing fingerstyle on a guitar, mixing the thumb and fingers to play more complex parts. It doesn't affect his sound too much since he has an overwhelmingly dark tone anyway.

It would be easy to answer this with a list of £150 instruments with terrible setups and cheap electronics, but I'll answer with choices where, based on the price, you'd expect better. I have played a Rickenbacker and just couldn't find a single thing I liked about it. At least with a Precision or a Jazz, the retro design doesn't hold them back, they can still sound and feel excellent to me. The Rickenbacker just doesn't have a sound or feel that does anything for me and the build quality and fundamental aspects of the design don't stack up for the money they cost. Another one that sticks in my mind is a Warwick Thumb broadneck 5 string. I love Warwick and I have a Thumb BO 5 that I love to bits, it couldn't be more different to the BN 5. Because the broadneck essentially has the neck of a 6 string Thumb but with 5 strings, the string spacing was enormous. The neck was huge but I could have lived with it expect for the fact it made the string spacing feel just too big. However, I have changed my philosophy on basses now and if a bass sounds how I want, I'll get used to how it plays, regardless of scale length, neck size, string spacing etc. However, this Thumb sounded terrible too. It had the soapbar pickups from the 6 string, as the jazz size pickups as the regular Thumb uses are too small. This had the effect of taking the pickups out of that typical Thumb sweet spot (jammed right against the bridge!) and they just sounded flat and lifeless. The whole bass just felt and sounded dead. No slight on Warwick at all, as they're one of my favourite brands and have been since I first heard Ryan Martinie playing a Thumb BO 5 in about 2001.

Again carrying on a theme of having superb basses, my brother now owns a Pedulla Pentabuzz and I do love it. I've only had five minutes play on it but it is superb. It confirmed to me that my next fretless must be at least a five string and I won't bother buying something without a coated fretboard, or a synthetic board.

I'm interested what everyone thinks the best bass they've ever played is, but specifically an instrument that they did not own, and why not. Perhaps it was a bass that belonged to a friend, maybe you got to play your musical hero's personal instrument or maybe you played something in a shop that you just couldn't put the money down on? For me, the best bass I've ever played that I didn't own was a Zon Sonus 4 in Bubinga that my brother owned. I remember the sound being so lively and even, it was almost like the bass had it's own compressor built in, but in a way that didn't limit any dynamics, it just made every note sound so even and clear. I think the materials in the neck may have played a part as I found his Status basses, or which he has owned a few over the years, to have similar qualities and it's a trait I've looked for in my own basses even though I haven't owned anything with a composite neck yet. Sadly he mustn't have thought much of the Zon as I seem to recall him only owning for about a month or so before it was swapped for something else. I expect I will own a Zon or a Modulus at some point, or perhaps a Peavey B Quad if the right one came up for sale. So over to you guys, what have you played that has amazed you and why don't you own it now?

Without having played the specific models in question and purely going off general experience, Ibanez tend to be slim, both narrow across the board and not shallow from the fretboard to the back of the neck. I had a Spector Euro 5LX and it was quite substantial, wider and deeper than Ibanez but quite rounded and very comfortable in the hand. The Ibanez BTB models are quite wide and flat with a pronounced D profile, a bit different to the other stuff like the Ibanez SR line. In general I try not to get too hung up on neck profile, but width or string spacing. I go for basses based on spec in terms of what kind of sounds it will give me, the size and shape of the neck is a secondary concern.

Unless the Strandberg basses are being made by Ola himself (unlikely) or in one of the custom shops, I wouldn't bother. I had a Strandberg Boden OS7 guitar and it was nice but it was the absolute top end of what I'd pay for an Asian instrument. The stuff coming out of the WMI factory is good but the prices for them now have gone up significantly since then and I just don't think it's worth it. Same with the Dingwalls, the Asian stuff is ok but personally I'd hold out for a real deal Canadian one.

Hey guys, I just want to share a few pics of my latest acquisition and as the reviews forum is very slow I decided to put it here - this isn't going to be a super in-depth review! I picked this up about 6 weeks ago from another member here on Basschat, as I had previously seen it on sale and really liked the concept of the instrument. I have been wanting something with a PJ pickup combo, but I also wanted something with a Musicman pickup. I also wanted a 6 string, having borrowed or played many but never owned one. I also love singlecuts and the general boutique style bass, and then this came along. It was built by Rosario Vasta in Italy, with a birdseye maple top and mahogany back. The fretboard is ebony, the neck is maple, wenge and bubinga. The tuners are Grover, preamp is a John East but I'm not sure what model. It has a push/pull tone pot for passive mode, volume and pickup pan. In active mode it brings in bass, lower mids, upper mids, high frequency presence control and a bright filter that has a tone shaping effect - this is hidden as a push pull on one of the concentric knobs and I'd forgetten it was there until recently. The pickups as custom made by Mama pickups in Italy and they incorporate a whole lot of magnets as you can see. The toggle switches next to the preamp controls active and deactive the various combinations of magnets. In effecti it can do a Fender P style neck, Jazz neck and bridge and a Musicman in the bridge. It can also run the coils to make hybrid humbuckers similar to a soapbar humbucker. I love the design - I think the previous owner must have taken some fairly direct inspiration for the lower horn from another bass but I can't remember where I've seen it before. It's similar to an Elrick but not quite as curved, but a touch more pronounced than a Fodera Emperor. The two slight protrusions on the bottom of the body next to the bridge are handy leg supports for playing in a classical position. The electronics are definitely among the most complex I've seen on a bass and do take some getting used to, it's not hard to get a good sound from the bass but if you really want something specific (say, a P neck and hybrid humbucker bridge with a low mid boost and bias towards the neck pickup) then it does take a little while to learn what you need to press and turn to get there. Because of the preamp and pickup arrangement, the sound is incredibly versatile. It's by no means a perfect replica of a P bass, J bass or a Stingray but I'd say it does a good job of getting you 90% there. Overall, the core tonal quality of the bass is an eveness across all of the strings and notes, it's very loud and clear. You can roll on the vintage warmth if you want it but I like a clean and honest sound and this really delivers it, though I think my Markbass rig helps in this respect. I wish I could record some videos with it but I don't have a setup that could come anywhere close to doing it justice. I wanted to avoid reviewing it when I first got it so I could have a few weeks to understand the foibles of such an instrument and avoid a gushing honeymoon review. The big downside to this thing is the weight. I haven't had it on the scales but at a conservative estimate I think it might weigh close to double what my Warwick Thumb 5 weighs. It's physically a big bass and the woods are very dense, it weighs a hell of a lot. I added Schaller straplocks because if this thing slipped of the strap it would devastating for the bass and whatever it hit. Whenever I play my Thumb after my Adamovic I can't believe how heavy the Thumb is - when I picked up the Thumb today I couldn't believe how light it felt, like I wasn't wearing a bass at all. I feel I could gig it without hurting myself or getting sick of it but I might be tempted to break out the Anthony Jackson bass stool for a few slower numbers! Another downside that turned out ok in the end was the 35" scale. I previously sold my Spector Euro 5LX because I just didn't like the extra string tension, but on the flipside I loved the clarity and the oomph in the bottom end. With this bass, I've strung it with .025-.045-.065-.085-.105-.135" strings and the setup is amazing. I love this string set because it gives the deep, clear B and the lighter top strings make it so easy to play. I honestly think if I were to get a full custom build now I'd probably get a 35" despite feeling so put off it in the past. This is the first bass I've played where I've realised that 35" doesn't have to be feel stiff and a little cumbersome compared to a 34" but it was definitely a gamble on my part. Anyway, enough talk, some pics: TL/DR + Incredibly versatile + Really easy to play despite the size + Incredibly solid bottom end - Heavy as a planet that has been sucked into a black hole