neepheid

You mean another version?

Down the hatch(es)!

Or more accurately, what they're about to do next year... https://sire-usa.com/pages/2024-models Z series - looks like a mashup of a Stingray and a Lakland 44/55-0x to me F series - single cut, Fodera shaped objects? G series - semi hollow confections some extra Vs (Jazz-a-likes) and a full scale U series.

The inquisitive mind got extra inquisitive... I knew that tablecloth would come in useful for something! Modern Neutrik on the left, 20ish year old Neutrik on the right. You can see there's a few mm more clearance between the tip of the jack and the body of the connector and it's all the difference between fitting tightly into the cup jack socket or not.

I don't think they open every single box they send out and plug in test things - I'm sure they'd argue that's the job of the factory, and I'd tend to agree. It is unfortunate to receive a faulty item, but that's the risk you take when buying at distance, and how simply/quickly/efficiently it's dealt with is the yardstick I use to determine whether a company's doing good or not, rather than blaming them for something which should never have left the factory.

Additional, the cup style jack socket might give you trouble with some right angle jacks. Depends on the jack plug. I tried to use an old cable (like super old, probably my first ever cable, it's probably about 20 years old) and the Neutrik on that didn't quite manage to engage fully, would pop out every so often. The Neutriks on the end of my obbm cables - no bother. So maybe Neutrik tweaked the design in the past 20 or so years, idk.

Nice one. I'd like to also report a good experience with Andertons recently. I ordered one of those Soloking basses and the courier tracking went cold and started saying scary stuff like "DISCREPANCY SCAN". I contacted Andertons and they got back to me within the hour and helped me out by telling me some info we don't see, that it was showing for them as "Misrouted", which helped a lot. The following day they got in touch off their own bat to tell me that DHL had confirmed to them that the bass would be out for delivery that day which shows that they were actively keeping an eye on the situation. That was good of them. Bass arrived ok, just took a scenic route via Edinburgh so it looks like a case of "oops, I put that parcel on the wrong truck/van". So, yes, happy with their customer service, very attentive and proactive. Two thumbs fresh.

The arbiter of taste has spoken! This video is invalid!

We did The Darkness "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" for a while, but it's a bit of a left field choice and fun though it is to play it wasn't hitting the required spot like a bit of Slade or Shaky.

I'm sure a lot of people haven't. Also, they did say in the video that they'd only just encountered these basses for the first time. I usually scoff at these sort of claims (seriously sceptical about these so-called "reaction" videos) but I think that true this time. Personally, I prefer if they do a bit of research on the product and tell us authorative stuff about it rather than chin stroking maybes, but hey if I'm not happy then I can always make my own video about it. I'm not going to make my own video.

I have attended many bass bashes, everyone I have encountered has been respectful and careful of other folks' gear. Anyone from BC who behaved otherwise would probably become an instant pariah on here, so there's that.

Bathroom scales are the best I can do - this one is 4.4kg or 9lb 11oz. No lightweight, but I've owned heavier.

OK, done...

What a stupid name! I should clarify - I find the name very amusing because I am the last person who enjoys a bass solo, so to play anything that has "Soloking" on the headstock is ridiculously off the mark! Points for the cheeky, Gibson-esque logo though. Right, now that's out of the way, what have we got? Something which has been heavily inspired by the Fender Roscoe Beck IV - in terms of body shape, pickguard shape and electronics. It's not a full blown rip of it though - the pickups are different, the headstock is different, 21 frets instead of 22, less switching options (no push/pull mids thing and the mini toggles are two way, not three, no detuner). Enough waffle, pics please. So, what to make of all that then? Well I've spent a bit of time with it, but only in headphones and at low practice volumes. There's a lot to like here, especially for £250. If you hadn't told me the price I would have guessed at least £400. There are little touches that I would not expect to find at that price point - Roasted maple neck Sculpted neck heel Better than expected hardware quality - tuners feel good and tune up surprisingly quickly, bridge is decent Strung with D'addario XL strings Pots turn nice and the taper for the volume control is actually useful (tone is a bit all or nothing, but I'm not bothered about that - rarely use the thing) Fit and finish are really good, lovely metallic black with a cream three ply pickguard goes very well together, fretwork is decent with no sharp ends, satin finish on the back of the neck (gloss haters rejoice - I'm not bothered but I know some people are). Soundwise, it's pretty punchy, if a little on the "generic" side - it sounds like... a bass. There's nothing wrong with that, it's very functional and even pleasing, but it doesn't really carve out a voice of its own. You've heard these tones before. The series/single switching makes a useful difference to the tone, single is quite sweet and airy, series beefs up the lows and mids in a satisfying way. I'm not a big fan of bridge pickups as I might have mentioned, but the bridge pickup in series definitely has some useful bark about it and less of that annoying honk that they can exhibit. I'll reserve final judgement on the sound side until I get it in a room with a band. All in all, I'm very impressed. To my eyes at least, this is a damn fine looking instrument, feels great to play, punches way above its weight in terms of VFM. It's so cliché to say it's a steal at £250 but I am left with the slightly naughty frisson of having gotten away with something I shouldn't have. Right, enough of my waffling. Hope you like the pics, and I would definitely recommend this bass to anyone. It would make a fantastic instrument for anyone but in particular would be a stunning intro to bass for a beginner and at £250 it's well within beginner budgets IMO.

Last gig of the year (and surprise definitely last gig featuring our now former singer) with Nine Lives at Wilsons in Aberdeen. Decent crowd, busy with Xmas parties and whatnot so quite a few new faces. Lots of folk up for dancing and had some good fun with them, lots of nods, winks, air guitarring, general nonsense. It petered out a bit towards the end as the parties moved on but the regulars stayed and we had fun with them too! Also Gordon the "guitarist" was in attendance to show us up as usual! Great gig, a much more fitting sendoff for our singer (as the previous gig was a bit on the quiet side). But that's definitely it now - we've been having a rotten time finding a replacement but we've got someone hopefully coming for an audition on Tuesday so fingers crossed! Gear revamp too, which went really well. Pedal reshuffle - I've finally grown up and am using a compressor now, an old Yamaha one that I forgot I had and I have replaced my OD with a Joyo Monomyth which gives me EQ, OD and DI in one box. I'm really enjoying the compressor - this isn't revelatory when written down, but my fingers are still in disbelief at the joy of not having to pluck so damn hard to achieve the same net result. Also with its level control I basically have a master volume at my feet, controls some of my more lively basses before it even gets to the amp. Bass was sounding phat and authorative last night, chunky and tight but not obtrusive or obnoxious. I'm sold. Basses used last night - G&L Tribute LB-100 and Reverend Triad.

Gigging last night - all in good time...

I know you're joking, but I can assure you that it works just fine, in that it hold the strings in place, intonated. The three point hate is getting a bit old - there are worse bridges out there by some distance. I don't mind it, it works, it doesn't eat babies. Set and forget, job's a good 'un. I can see how its foibles would irritate a tinkerer or frequent string changer. I just leave it alone to do its job, seems to be the best approach.

A "you might not be fine" here - one time I was impatient and tried to use long scale flats on a short scale bass, when I was winding the E string onto the tuner, the string basically exploded and unravelled as it was being bent round and tightened up. It's the only bass string I've ever broken.

Having used many different kinds, I will say this for cloth covered - it's lazy boy's wire because you don't need wire strippers, just cut the wire then push the cloth back. Apart from that, I found it no better or worse than any other hookup wire. Wire be wiry.

Eh, it's just stuff. If you can afford it without jeopardising the roof over your head and the food on your table then go for it.

I'm a series sl@g, I love the sound of pickups in series! Each to their own. At least the switches are there and the pickups are already split at the series join - wouldn't take much to replace the switches with 3-way ones and rewire if one was so inclined.

Mini toggles are 2 way, series/single. So a coil split, that's all. Was getting confused because the specs mention a 3 way control but they're talking about the pickup selector blade. Can also confirm that the jack socket cup isn't so deep as to prevent the use of right angle jack sockets (Neutrik ones at least).

Well, it has arrived. Pics soon (I'm supposed to be working...). First impressions favourable/good/great. More details soon.

That's interesting. Andertons doing their best memory hole impression to try to imply that these are revelatory then?

All of these easily remedied things would actively dissuade you from buying a bass? You're easily put off!