neepheid

Back on the horse after a sad week, this one was for Chico 🐈 It was a cracking gig last night at the Butchers Arms in Inverurie. Started off slow with about 10 folk but it built up over the night and the place was pretty rammed at the end. In this week's episode of "there's always one", I can give you two! Comment of the night - lady when told that we can't just play anything she asks - "well, you're not a very good band then, are you?". Then there was the woman who wouldn't leave the singer alone - kept putting her arms around him, trying to kiss him, trying to steal the mic - whilst he's trying to sing the effin' song, what a pest! This is not "rock and roll" - we're all married! Perils of performing at floor level, and why having a frontman (or woman) to hide behind and soak up this kind of nonsense is very useful Played my Sire D5 at its first live outing and I am delighted with it. Got some nice growl and clank out of it. Quiet as a mouse (no buzz/hum), good as gold, happy to gig it anytime. I have heard some say that the pickup is low output. Well, that's what the gain and volume controls on your amp are for, yes? I thought it needed a little help in the low end, it's very mid focussed (which actually makes it a great live bass) but I did give the low EQ a bit of a boost also. Wilsons in Aberdeen tonight - lather, rinse, repeat!

"Backup engineer" - what kind of slick, organised outfit is this?

Assume they're all awful, and package accordingly...

In the context of the BB range it would be considered "entry level", but I don't think Yamaha has ever issued a dud BB. I had a BB300, BB350F and BB450 back in the day, all "entry level" but all competent instruments. No idea what the original price was, but I think you got a good price now. Also:

I hear you and know where you're coming from. My Korean made JC was a gold top, then I had a Chinese made Blue Royale limited edition, and my current one is a 20th Anniversary JC. I also find it reassuring that JC himself takes models straight from the factory and tours with them. He asks for no special treatment - "No ringers" as he's been quoted saying - he plays what you and I can buy.

Being a '76 and they didn't change to pickguard mounted pickups until '78 if memory serves, it should look like this under the hood as on this '75 model:

No problem with blue and orange - it's iconic!

Enjoying the Gulf colours, but that purple pickup top does detract somewhat, seems very incongrous to me. Ahh well, it's not my bass.

Having restored a Ripper from nothing but a starting point of the body and neck, I can confirm that it is a labour of love and in no way financially astute. The difference in my case is that I wasn't starting with a working bass.

Returning an otherwise fine instrument because its dirty is a total overreaction, and I advocated for making a complaint. I can't grip this concept any tighter!

Get a grip - it's dirty, not defective. A simple complaint will suffice.

That's sloppy as all feck from a private seller, never mind an established retailer. For shame.

An Epiphone Jack Casady signature with his name scraped off and mine in its place?

Perhaps whoever was in charge of levels gave them a default amount of bass and they nailed it? Trying to be positive here...

I don't get it, you "changed the setup and put everything through the pa" - did you set the levels? Didn't you just give them some bass anyway then (not in a narcissistic way, just as a start from here kind of thing)?

Damn, you missed me (and some quality bass face...)

Lack of hard case is a bargaining tool to put downward pressure on the price. Regarding storage, when I had my RD Artist, it fit into a Thunderbird bag. It is a less extreme, slightly more melty Thunderbird at the end of the day...

Was the G&L Tribute JB-2 ever on the radar? P body, JJ pickups, not a Fender...

Yup, that's an OG RD Standard. To the OP - perhaps I over-abberviated - does it come with the original hard case?

They're odd to place. Rarer than their more famous RD Artist brethren but with less features. Prices are all over the place right now. What are they asking for it? OHSC?

You do you - I'm of the opinion that the chances of buying a lemon are way smaller than "the Internet" and its campfire scary story approach to summarising relative quality control would have you believe. I've owned a Korean made JC and two Chinese made JCs and they've all been excellent. In the grand scheme of things, that data (much like the rest of the anecdotal pish that gets bandied about ad nauseum) means... very little.

HOW MUCH? Ha! What a waste of wood.

Finally! I had a right good moan about the protracted wait for this bass to arrive, but arrive it has. I haven't had a chance for war volume playing yet but from the time I've managed to spend with it I'm impressed. For those not familiar, this is Sire's take on the '51/'54 Precision. The horns are a little thinner/sharper than a regular '51/'54, kinda reminds me of a Cowpoke for some reason. Maybe a Cowpoke and a '51 Precision got up to no good... Really good fit and finish. Loves to be played with the thumb and palm muted - very responsive to that and there's a big difference in the sound versus fingerstyle. How wonderfully simple it is, just like a P should be. No noise whatsoever coming through either my USB interface or my Yamaha Sessioncake. The neck is lovely - the maple has been well roasted and doesn't even resemble maple any more. The front of the fingerboard is lacquered but the back of this neck feels almost unfinished and the rolled fingerboard edges feel very premium. Hardware is good - tuners turn smoothly and feel sturdy, the bridge is functional enough - it's a BBOT with brass saddles, what more can you say? Electronics seem fine, pots turn smoothly and the tone control sucks a good chunk of treble out at minimum. Bonus - setup was decent out of the box, intonation sounds like it's decent, if not perfect then certainly good enough. Weight - mine is 4.05kg - 8.9lbs. A good heft without feeling heavy, I'm happy with this. Balances no problem on the strap, no neck dive, for those who are annoyed by such things. It's just a simple, enjoyable, eminently playable bass. A successful modern twist on the OG Precision. I can see myself having a lot of fun with this one.

I get surprised every time I get referred to as a bass player...