neepheid

Dinna worry, I've had a Squier P and a Fender Cabronita P in the past. Also got a G&L L-1000 (the ultimate evolution of the P bass by the man himself, you could say) so I think I'm good. I'd be getting this just to see for myself how good (or not) a sub <£100 bass is these days.

Smiley noted, but apologies all the same - my barbed comment was meant for people who reacted with a surprising (or should that be unsurprising) amount of scepticism to your review. I wonder how many people have actually tried the instrument in question before dismissing it simply based on its price.

I'm considering buying one of these just to stir the pot or at least give a proper, objective reply. They're £86 now so they'd better be amazing! As I'm sure you all know I have no deep care or desire for P basses, so if I end up liking one, you know it's good

Also, there seems to be a limited edition 60s Classic Vibe in Sonic Blue with matching headstock. Now that's also nice.

If it is Schaller, I found them super helpful and sent me spare parts for a broken M4S tuner FOC when I was restoring a Gibson Victory bass.

Yer ma's house. Who cares? This is not an attack on you, you were just the launchpad. I'm on Guinness number 4.

Cheap shot it may have been, but it made me laugh so I guess I'm going straight to hell. I don't know how helpful your contribution was though, regardless of your intention. How helped would you feel if you went into a car dealership and you said from the off "I don't want brand X" and the salesperson goes "sure, take a look at this wonderful, low mileage brand X"? I can only speak for myself but I would find that really unhelpful at best.

But it wouldn't have been funny then

I respectfully disagree.

Any time I'm in for something on eBay, you bet I'm there in person during the last 5 mins and my bid will be going in with circa 5 secs to go. You're just lucky that our paths haven't crossed yet Also, in my experience for most things I'm trying to buy on eBay, the last few seconds are sniper alley. So believe what you will, I have experienced the rush of bids in the last few seconds many times, it's not a fairy story.

I'm happy to accept other people's take on the value or otherwise of rehearsals/practice as long as I'm not looked down upon for having an alternative opinion on the subject. I like rehearsals and I find them beneficial. I speak only for myself. Don't like them, or don't see the need for them, absolutely fine also.

That just makes it even worse, plaster cast indeed

In my experience, weekly rehearsals are vital for staying sharp and tight. No amount of solo swotting can make up for the feel of how things hang together when we all play together. But then again I'm not gigging every week, so maybe that's why I feel the benefit of it. I find a lot of these types of conversations gravitate towards cover bands, where it is wholly feasible to simply learn your parts on your own and rock up to the gig and hope that everyone has been as diligent as you. Speaking for originals bands, I say that time spent playing together outside of gigs, either playing the songs we already do to keep them fresh or jamming out new ideas is necessary - I don't think I could come up with new songs if the only time we got together was gigs. Yes, some people might say that jamming out new songs is not the same thing as a rehearsal. But it's all just words - and I reserve the right to interpret the word "rehearsal" as "time spent playing as a band which isn't a gig", especially when it comes to the originals band.

This will end up like a plaster cast at this rate

The Epiphone neepheid Signature Jack Casady Signature bass? Wait, that doesn't work

He does moan about keys a lot... Nah, he's a great player and I'm looking forward to hearing what he comes up with for this new song, lots of room for a nice solo in there.

Last week our sax player couldn't make rehearsal. This band's next gig isn't until December so I wasn't super bothered about going but the rest of the band were keen so I went along, thinking it would be more social than musical. But no! Someone casually mentioned that we had some pending song ideas that had been rattling around for a few months so we dug one out and had a jam. One session later, one fully formed song structure, words, chords, reasonable idea for how the drums go, main bass riffs for verses and chorus done. It's the most productive we've been since being allowed to resume rehearsals. I love it when this happens, and I guess my point is that you never know when it's going to happen. Chances are good we'll have a new song ready for December's gig. It'll be this band's second post lockdown gig and first post lockdown public performance (last one was a wedding, thus private) so it'll be nice to have something new to present.

Did you get sorted?

It's not something I pay a great deal of attention to. I'm all about the item itself, not where it came from. Basses - China, South Korea, USA Amp - China Cab - would be UK, I guess, being home made (not by me) Effects - dunno, China probably. A home assembled Wooly Mammoth clone that I never use, so technically UK? It's all baloney anyway. UK "made" electronics means "assembled" to me - do we even make anything electronic from base materials here on Financial Services Island any more? If we do, I shudder to think of the cost and diminished returns - if indeed there are any.

I don't do a lot of soldering - I've still got the Draper reel of 60/40 I got soon after my first soldering iron when I was a lad, probably 2mm. I tried to go lead free a few years ago but it was awful and went straight back to the good old stuff

Forget "sacrilege". I have restored 2 "vintage" Gibsons I received in poor condition by stripping them down and having them refinished - even in colours they were never available in when new - a Victory Artist in metallic gold and a Ripper in trans cherry red. Furthermore, I did not use period correct electronics in the Ripper (SD remake pickups and modern pots, and the rotary wired for neck only in place of the daft out of phase setting which is standard). I was not struck down with lightning and I still managed to sell them for decent money when the time came. I would venture that this sacrilege thing is more of a vintage Fender thing, especially pre-CBS ones where Leo himself might have breathed on that lacquer - all 25% of it that's left - don't you dare scrape that off! Also are you looking to resell - is that even the motivation here? If you're looking to just have a nice passive bass to keep then do what you want to it. If authenticity was your goal then you'd need to find the correct preamp and pickups and it sounds like you can't be hooped with that, which is absolutely fair enough. Question arises - what makes it not "comfortable to hold in a playing position"? I don't understand - here's what went through my head. Some of the lacquer cracks are quite jaggy and you play bass naked. Some of the lacquer is so bad that you fear it might slough off if you play it. So you can see why I might need some clarification on that one...

What are you learning bass for? What I mean is - are you learning it purely for its own sake and will be playing solo to yourself, or do you intend to play in bands with other people and other instruments? If it's the former, then knock yourself out getting lost in the minutae of "this bass sounds like that". If it's the latter, then just get a bass you like the sound AND ergonomics of and get playing with others. Once you are creating a whole sound with other people, as long as it sounds bassy then it'll work. I am also of the opinion that most punters won't give a hoot what kind of bass you're playing, it will be mostly other bass players who notice (or care) about that kind of thing. Having played for around 15 years (seriously for 13) and gone through I don't want to know how many basses - it's at least 40, for shame, it has taken me far too long to come around to what I like. Single, central pickup (I find bridge pickups utterly pointless - useless on their own and just suck the mids out of the bass when used in conjunction with a neck pickup - will ignore it for the right 2 pickup bass) Humbucker over single coil Fat, wide (or both) neck Erring towards passive over active (no battery worries, no array of controls I rarely touch) Prefer dark fingerboards (rosewood/ebony) over light ones (maple etc.) but purely as an aesthetic choice as I believe whatever differences in the 5mm thick strip of wood glued over the top of the neck make are so inconsequential in a band setting that I simply do not care. Sounds like I should have a P bass, right?

Nothing wrong with that, it's a classic finish for this bass - I think it's always been available in black since its introduction.

Oh well, f us then.

The only signature bass I have ever owned is the Epiphone Jack Casady signature. The Jack Casady association was not the motivating factor for my acquisitions - it probably helps that it's not a reimagining of a currently available base model - it's the only affordable AND readily available way to own something approaching a Gibson Les Paul Signature bass.